Category: distinctiveness

Absorbing the Evil, [Like a Sponge]

I have danced on the edge of theology for years.  I appreciate it so much and yet I am confused by a whole lot, and then sometimes just plain disappointed.  I do on rare occasion cross the line and wander into “The Twilight Zone”.  People who know me well start to get concerned. It is not something I do very often.

I’m intrigued with what I’ve found.  It is this principle of Jesus Christ absorbing the wrath of God, which we deserved.

“But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

Gal. 3:13, NLT

“This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.“

1 John 4:10, NLT

Absorbance is the theological concept that is being used.  Less lofty considerations are the diaper, Kotex, the sponge, toilet paper, and oil spill skimmers. (Hardly the stuff of theology!).  But these simple products all use the principle of extracting something unwanted and undesired and sending it to another location.

God’s justice and wrath on our sin was an indisputable fact.  In our rebellion we were getting exactly what we deserved.  Each of us chose pride, sin and evil.  Not just passive about it, we declared war on the Kingdom of God. Our sin is not a small thing, because it offended a Sovereign Majesty.

God cannot just sweep our sins under the carpet, and smile and just pretend they don’t matter.  We have broken the Laws of truth and love.  The Bible tells us point-blank that “the soul that sins shall die.”  “All have sinned, all fall short of God’s glory”.  We are in a tight place, very sticky.

God figured a way out for us.  He would send His Son to absorb our sentence of death.  Jesus would extract and then siphon off the wrath the we deserved.  He would sponge our souls, wiping off the dirt– the sin.  Jesus would absorb our transgressions, perversities, our rebellion and wick them away.

Jesus just doesn’t cancel our debt.  He pays it Himself.  His “credit score” is unbelievable, off the charts and He pays your debt.  He makes it like we have never sinned. This is Love!  The universe rolls around on these pivot points.  We have legally been freed.

I think I’m going to keep dancing to this tune.

ybic, Bryan

 

 

 

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Low Sodium Christians

“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

Colossians 4:6

“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?”

Luke 14:34

 Our distinctiveness for God is first evident in our communication.  The way we talk is the primary way we share; and it’s in the tone we use, the inflection of our voices, the vocabulary we utilize, and the way we articulate.  And all of this is communicated in just a few seconds of time.

We should be aware that when we say something it is instinctively and instantly examined. People, deep within want to know its veracity and authenticity.  But the above list is lacking one vital thing– grace, pieces of it, that break off and sprinkles all over our words and thoughts.  We added it all to our conversations, like salt on ‘french fries’.  This takes a ministry of grace, and we ourselves are made into a direct witness.

But not everyone of us is articulate, or gifted to speak.  But we are all salty!  Each of us has a savory presence of grace.  Every believer has it.  I’ve gotten to know two deaf brothers at my church.  They are sometimes neglected and avoided.  (But I think that is just fear.)  They use a ‘sign language‘ with gestures and hand motions.  They are actually quite articulate.  One of the young men has an opening door to Russia to do evangelism.

I guess I’m a bit taken aback by this.  A man who cannot hear or speak being used by the Holy Spirit in this way.  He jokes about being the ‘first evangelist to the deaf community in Russia’.  He is an inspiration to me.  My issue is with mental illness.  But handicapped people do quite well, they are particularly ‘salty’ and you’ll notice the difference.

Learning to communicate with grace is a lot like learning any foreign language.  My wife and I went to learn Spanish at an institute.  We learned so much I felt I was leaking out my ears.  Learning to speak “Grace” will be a challenge as well.  But we have the promised Holy Spirit.  He is the Helper.  He will show how to speak with grace to every person and situation.

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The Real Treasures, [Weaknesses]

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As Christians often our theology tells us that mental illness, depression, and bipolar disorder have no place in the believer’s life.  So we hide, sneaking into our sessions with our therapists, and change the subject to minimize our exposure to direct questions. We have had to hide our issues really well. 

But I would submit to you that it is we who are closest to the Kingdom of God. It is far easier for us to approach the Father, in our brokenness, humility, and general lostness. We have needs; a sound mind, a healthy body and we know it. We have no illusions of wellness, nothing can convince us that we are well. We are not.

We are broken and only our loving creator can mend us.

You might say that the Church needs us. An Archbishop was given an ultimatum by the Huns who surrounded his cathedral. “You have 24 hours to bring your wealth to these steps”, the war-leader demanded. The next morning the Archbishop came out leading the poor, the blind, the lame, and the lunatics. “Where is your treasure? Why have you brought out these… people?” The Archbishop simply and quietly replied, “These are the treasures of the Church, these who are weak are our valuables. They make us rich.”

We often can value giftedness more than weakness.

I am afraid the the Western Church no longer sees its “treasures” like it should. In our pride and self-centeredness we have operated our churches like successful businesses. We value giftedness more than weakness. We definitely have no room for the desperately weak. I suppose it’s time for the Church to begin to act like Jesus.

Church isn’t where you meet. Church isn’t a building. Church is what you do. Church should be a verb.  Church is who you are. Church is the human outworking of the person of Jesus Christ. Let’s not go to Church, let’s be the Church.

bry-signat

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My Imagination Isn’t Enough

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“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” 

Eph. 3:20

God has given us a gift, it is called ‘imagination’ (at least that is the word we use).  This gift allows us to grasp concepts, and trust the future for the best.  But imagination often gets interpreted as ‘imaginary’.  That is so sad.  Because they have nothing at all in common.  It’s worth noting, that the Kingdom of God has absolutely nothing to do with ‘imaginary’, but it has everything to do with ‘reality’.

The most real book in the world, is the Bible.  It communicates to us on a very comprehensive level.  Each of us, turning to the same chapter and verse will understand the essential core element, but we also get another layer; God speaks again and we now have ‘food’ for our individual souls. Perhaps, if it might not be too bold: the Bible world is the real world.

If we insist on functioning out of our stodgy, inflexible minds we’ll find no comfort in a God that speaks to us on this ‘supernatural’ level.  There well maybe a certain ‘weirdness factor’ and you can’t imagine the personal chaos and confusion that develops then. Especially if we dared to give into these ‘revolutionary’ ideas of having this direct connection with God.  (Sweet Lord, I might just be the ‘next’ Noah!)

Imagination has been given to us in order to see better; to see into the real world.  They can be compared to glasses, putting them on will allow us to see clearly into this terrain of faith.  Purity of heart will help us to understand the things we are looking at clearly.  When we enter into this gift of imagination, we will see the things held back from general consumption, and held in reserve for the ‘pure in heart’.

We really should grow this idea in our Christian walk of using our imagination for God’s glory.  He is sitting on the edge of His throne waiting to give us ‘bone-shaking’ understandings, if we will just reach out in His direction.  This will require us to keep our hearts pure, but that shouldn’t be a significant issue when so much is at stake.

ybic, Bryan

 

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