We need to be the body, looking at other members as body parts, when they hurt, we should hurt as well. We are recreated in the image of Christ and giving eternal life through his sacrifice. “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with that we should no longer be slaves to sin because anyone who has died has been freed from sin..” (Romans 6:6)
I loathe and love my isolation even though I need people to keep me accountable, honest, and humble. I learn wisdom from others. “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” (Proverbs 11:2). I need people to bounce my ideas off of and discuss the issues that bother me, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17).
Sin keeps us grounded like a little child, shackled, bound to earthly desires. It is expected for us to sin ever since Adam and Eve ate from the Tree that God declared to them “Hey you eat from any tree but not from that tree.” “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." (Genesis 2:16-17). Obviously curiosity killed the cat and here we are sinning till our hearts fall apart. Human behavior, maybe Adam and Eve were victims of reverse psychology or perhaps they were in the mindset of an “immortal teenager.” I once was working at a summer internship in St. Louis, we did a theatrical play about time travel and Adam and Eve. After we were finished with the play one of the younger students (perhaps age nine or ten) came up to me and told me if he had a time machine he would go back in time and “bitch-slap” Adam and Eve, I said to him “yeah, that would knock some sense into them but they would still eat from the fruit.”
Temptation is a tough struggle, and we get tempted by the devil. We have nothing on Jesus who was tempted by the devil to sin (Matthew 4). The good news (two words used a lot in the Christian community) is that we can have a way out of our temptations, through Jesus. Paul wrote “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
We can avoid some temptations and Christians are looked at as hypocrites, Gandhi once said I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Truthfully we are nothing like Christ. He left us with instructions on how to live, and we are not doing it. If Jesus returned would he be happy with what Christians have been doing, I have no idea but I have a feeling he is frustrated. We have a painful issue of abortion (something I can’t even take sides on). I’m not into the idea of abortion and believe that a life is cherished and a child should be giving a chance to live. I don’t know go to the extreme for justifying the actions some Christians have done in the act of “faith.” I would want to replace the Molotov cocktails with daffodils. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
It’s using a sin against another sin.
I was giving the scenario of protecting a family, if I was in a cafeteria and someone came in with a gun would I defend and kill the person, I said no, I would aim to disarm and attempt to reconcile. It’s a tough argument and I refuse to judge the women who have to make that decision in a negative way. I will however pray for their safety and rely on the transforming power of God. I remember reading in a book by Shane Claiborne were he learned a incredible lesson from a young child. In his book “Irresistible Revolution” he wrote about how he interviewed a friend of his after the attacks were made during 9-11, he told Shane that it would be wrong to retaliate. Two wrongs never make a right. This is a deep rooted argument that only God can resolve. It’s an interesting issue that can expose a powerful sin that exists in all of us.
The issue of habitual sin, it gives us blind power or an illusion of being good. We are hypocrites, violent and flawed. It’s expected, we have high charismatic Christian leaders caught in heinous scandals, and we have lust in our hearts not just for flesh but for money and power. We drool and grin at violence on television, we can go from caring about people and social justice issues to focusing only on a baseball game (eating food that we know destroys the temple). We also have grace and righteousness; we have also had a great response to those in pain and suffering. We are left to do what God intended for us, he left us his followers and his word. We have people sacrificing their lives in dangerous anti-Christian nations serving people. We have people expressing love and grace for society’s misfits and castaways. The trash become treasures, the burdened become blessings.
We need to believe in the transformational love of God.
What about implicit or habitual sinful acts and attitudes that are deep seeded resentments to a social group? These sins are so transparent they are never mentioned in prayers of confession. They are dissociation or disconnect to our sinful nature. We overlook them and avoid them. For example I once had biases toward the poor that was clearly exposed during a summer mission trip, I was leaving a St. Louis Cardinals versus (the great) Minnesota Twins game. I witnessed what could be described as a modern-day Pharisee. We (my group of spirited Christians) had walked with a crowd out of the game (The Twins lost, but they always win in my heart). We heard a sound of complex muffled preacher projecting his beliefs through a megaphone. The man was standing hovering over the crowd on the edge of a staircase, the staircase was in the direction and we needed to use it to get to our car. The preacher was going off about how we need to repent and how we are all going to hell (This was actually Christian Day at the ballpark, where players shared testimonies after the game). The guy was screaming at people, labeling and discriminating. The whole “us” versus “them”, “me” not “we” type of ministry. I have a problem with the end of times, scream and judge type of ministry. It’s not attractive to be that type of Christian; I assume I would have a vein popping out of my head when I pray and a high blood pressure medication prescription. I’m a Christian, and at times I’m not sure that I’m going to heaven (gnashing of teeth, lake of fire), but by belittling and condemning others is not really an act of love,
It feels like a hierarchy and that the person judging is the king, not Jesus. Remember, Jesus talked about watching out for these people, I hate to judge but it felt like... "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. (Matthew 7:15) I love you sounds awfully inviting when it’s coming from a Christian drill sergeant. REPENT!! I LOVE YOU!
The man standing on the staircase was on the steps directly above a shaded area, dark and lifeless, or so I thought. Under the staircase was a person in ragged clothes. It was an older woman; she was frail, stoic, and lonesome looking. Nobody approached her, acknowledged her, or engaged her. I didn’t even. She was like a ghost, an illusion. Ignored by all, she looked hopeless and in dire need for assistance. I froze, feared her, and pitied her. I thought I must be thinking the same thing these other people are thinking while the megaphone music is ranting in the background. “She doesn’t exist” or “I can’t afford to help her” or “she might use my money for booze.” Yeah, maybe so, or she has a family. Maybe she uses the money for her children, my first impression for the poor was negative and labeling them as all dirty, drunks and not worth my time.
I wanted to help her but and stereotyped her. It fueled my prejudice toward this particular population. I learned that even though I hate the hate groups as far as the issue with the poor I could create my own anti-poor people group (by the way to the hate groups hating in the name of Jesus, I love you as people but your views are warped, horrible, so go read your Bible especially the “Love God and Love People parts, get some more education please). That sin hurt real, real bad.
I wanted to tell the man above the staircase screaming louder than cattle on a kill floor that he needs to take a breath and help the lady under the stairs. I wanted to say “Hey, you need to take care of this woman; she needs to experience the love of the people who worship El Shaddai (translated God Almighty). (Exodus 6:3). As I approached the man with the voice, I almost said something but the guy had bodyguards. I remember thinking is he a famous Christian, what the heck is this? They were two tough looking guys saying “I love you” with disdain, hatred and anger on their faces. I couldn’t tell if they loved Christians or soldiers in the movie “Predator.” One might have said “Repent or I will kill you” tattooed on his neck. I wondered if the other guy used a machete to turn the pages of his Bible. I was unable to help the woman.
My prejudice was exposed because I did not do anything for this woman. I walked by her, avoided her, refused to be the exception to the rule, and forgot to read between the lines of a WWJD bracelet. He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God. (Proverbs 14:31). My prejudice was exposed when I avoided asking her for lunch, going through the comfortable feeling and going along with the grain. It is simply ignorant feelings. I failed to see her as an individual made in the image of God and looked at her as a member of a group that threatened my comfort level.
I later discussed it with a few of the other people on the mission trip they had the same view. They saw the women and they too had a disconnect from her, avoided her, avoided to acknowledge that there is a homeless woman to help but we needed to get back to the dorm. That day we prayed exclusively for that woman.
I’m not use to seeing people of poverty. I’m from a small town which has limited amount of poverty or perhaps I ignore the reality of my town having poor people with feelings, just as worthless and stuck on my sinful worldview of this special population.
My mom once said that I would be “a voice for the poor.” I always ruffled my feathers and stroked my ego before when I heard that. We didn’t have a lot after my parents got divorced. We lived on section-8 housing and had food stamps for awhile but we made it. It was hard but with love, my mother and I made it through hard times. I didn’t want to have much to do with my father at the time but through treatment and patience we have an amazing relationship now. I had passion for the poor; I didn’t know anyone who was poor though. I do care about the poor but I got stuck in the sinful issue of labeling and discriminating. I look at the view that somebody else will do it. I learned it is the wrong way to look at the world. We need to make sacrifices and love others. It is wrong to think someone else will take care of it. I heard a story about all this horrible stuff happening around a man, the man asked God “Hey God are you going to do something about all this stuff, God replied “I did, I created you.” Loren Eisley’s story works well with this scenario.
“Once a man was walking along a beach. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. Off in the distance he could see a person going back and forth between the surf's edge and and the beach. Back and forth this person went. As the man approached he could see that there were hundreds of starfish stranded on the sand as the result of the natural action of the tide.
The man was stuck by the the apparent futility of the task. There were far too many starfish. Many of them were sure to perish. As he approached the person continued the task of picking up starfish one by one and throwing them into the surf.
As he came up to the person he said, "You must be crazy. There are thousands of miles of beach covered with starfish. You can't possibly make a difference." The person looked at the man. He then stooped down and picks up one more starfish and threw it back into the ocean. He turned back to the man and said, "It sure made a difference to that one!"
There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. (Deuturonomy 15:11). I struggle helping others; I try to help myself first. I need to reverse this view and help more. Jesus said “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me." (John 12:8).
How do we resolve this issue, I’m no expert but will try to stab a little of this issue. Pray for the exposures of our sins that are unconscious and lay dormant until exacerbated by reality of peoples true lives. Obviously we are different, diverse and predisposed to fear and challenged by our differences. When exposed go directly to the Lord, pray right away, pray often, ignore your own thoughts. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6). Be brutally honest with yourself and don’t hold back. Humbly yourself before the Lord and look directly at your sin, harness the prayer. Then deliver it to God and let God’s ultimate power take its course. It’s God of Wonders not God of Warriors. Believe in the transformation and change that I have personally witnessed. The great thing is anything is possible!
It may take time and patience. I’m again not an expert, I fail all the time, I struggle with this topic still. I’m not ready to give up all my possessions and work with the poor or even trust God enough to move into a poor community, I enjoy my comforts. I’m like you, a working process trying to rely on God and do the next right thing. It takes work, changing habits hurts and is discomfort able. My friend works with the poor in St. Louis, she goes and eats lunch with them and says that they would die to protect her. She trusts in the Lord and has a heart for people. If we ignore and bury our sins they do not go away. It is like putting a band-aid on a festering wound. There is no healing and when the band aid is removed there is still a festering wound. "My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together." Desmond Tutu
It’s similar to color-blind perspective, ignoring culture instead of honoring it. This sin issue needs to be broken instead of swept under the proverbial rug. God has the power to reconcile our baggage and organize our hearts. Keep it on your mind, pray often instead of avoiding, learn from mistakes and accept things you can change and believe in the transforming God who wants us to love not hate.
SHALOM
If no one has said I love you today, I love you.
Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing. Mother Teresa.
References
\Claiborne, Shane. The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2006. Print.
NIV Holy Bible (various pages)
"Star Fish Story." Home Page - NIU - College of Education. Web. 16 Mar. 2010.
I am going to have to re-read this, because it's so jammed full of wonderful things!! I LOVE IT, definitely what I needed. This is an awesome entry Dan. Keep it up. Glad you had a good week! Ahh! :)
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