I'm standing on a rock in the fog and I'm declaring my thoughts as of this moment. When then fog clears, a little, I hope to discover that I'm not anywhere near the top of this mountain nor this discussion. If you have differing opinions or thoughts, by all means, call them out to me and I will stumble through the fog towards your voice. That being said...
The Reverend Glenda Hope of Network Ministries started out her sermon the other day by talking to the youth about overcoming peer pressure. She said something to the effect that its really hard to hold strong moral ground when dealing with your peers because of the fear that you will look to be a party pooper. But then she added that when you do stand your ground, you will feel good about yourself. And then you must fight the temptation not to think yourself better than your friends. Its kind of a damned if you do and damned if you don't approach to faith.
These thoughts sort of sum up what I've been trying to wrangle with for several weeks now. Its something I've called the Straitjacket of Faith, and believe me, I think I may be the only one suffering from these conclusions. So this may be a unique mixture of Christian Guilt and my own personality coming together to form gridlock in my brain.
Here's the gist of the problem: Hypothetically, let's say I see a woman and I like her and I want to ask her out. Being a crazy writer, my thoughts race ahead to all sorts of possible scenarios. And many of these scenarios end with my choice of either sinning or losing the woman. I have learned that the quickest way to God's displeasure is to knowingly sin - its double bad because you're not only sinning, but you're knowingly doing so and rejecting God in the process. Therefore, if I get into this relationship with the woman and said sinful scenario comes up and I knowingly reject God in order to sin, then I have really, really, messed up. End result: Its best to avoid that situation entirely. So I won't do anything. Gridlock. Straitjacket.
This is so clearly boneheaded a thought that even I have a hard time following its flawed logic. But the dilemma is still there. God wants us to seek perfection. God wants us to not sin. And yet, we're going to sin when we do things. Therefore, the best way to avoid sinning is to not do anything.
It reminds me of the parable of the servants and their talents. I feel like the one who buried his talents in the dirt so that they would not get lost or stolen. I would look like a genius if the other two servants lost their talents, but they didn't. Because in this scenario, the other two servants are perfect and don't make mistakes. But what would Jesus's response have been had one of the servants invested his two talents and lost them - showing up to his master with nothing to show for his hard work?
There is a risk inherent in doing anything. But it seems to me that seeking perfection and seeking Christ are two very different goals - and yet, maybe, the same thing. Maybe there is a perfection in seeking Christ that allows us to stumble and fall and make mistakes. Maybe there is a perfection in Christ that sees that sometimes we need to take the chance of sinning if it means better understanding.
I don't know. The fog is rolling in again and I still don't see clearly. I'd love to hear your voices on these thoughts.
3 comments:
I like this post - it speaks to the paradox of our faith.
In the simplest of terms, it is still about having faith in God, with the good works flowing from that (and not the other way around, which smacks of legalism).
That said, we admit that we are fallen souls, that even with faith in God, we will still fall short, but we gradually improve our behavior as we grow stronger in Him.
On this material world, we will never be perfect. Scripture is clear on that point - we will only be perfect when we are finally one with Him. When we draw closer to Christ, we begin the process of becoming more perfect - we begin the process of sanctification - but we will not attain it while we are in our earthly bodies.
As with anything, what we do and how we do things will depend on whether we pay attention to God's tiny (and yes, sometimes booming) voice in our lives.
Does this clear the fog? I don't know. But we must suffer for Christ daily. And I think being in the fog is part of it.
Andy, Randal - thanks for commenting. I think this paralysis comes from not wanting to screw up. Suppose your only options in some thing was between two sins. Knowing that you had to sin in order to move "forward" would you even want to move?
And yet, as you say, you can't go anywhere in life without taking a step. I'm not sure what path to take that doesn't include sinning - and yet, to sin is to reject God. So, I know of no path that doesn't include at least some rejection of God. If I stand still, I can't sin. But isn't the very act of standing still a sin?
Hey, Will -- I'm a perfectionist by nature, so I can relate to your dilemma. Knowing I will never attain that perfection on earth, but striving to reach it anyway, I often end up very frustrated.
But, God calls us to "run the race set before us" -- He's not asking us to just stand still.
In my church Bible study group, right now, we're studying Beth Moore's "Daniel: Lives of Integrity, Words of Prophecy", and it is talking about how we can live in this world, our "Babylon", without being defiled by it. Daniel had to "resolve" to live for God in the midst of a culture that was intent on pulling him away from his God. We need to "resolve" like Daniel to take the same stand.
The danger of our "Babylon" is that it's sooooo nice to us--- it makes us WANT to fall for its charms! So why would we ever want to go against it? "If it feels good, do it!" is Babylon's motto... So is Isaiah 47:8 (I think that's the verse) -- "It's all about me", is basically what it says.
But, it's not about us. It's about God. We are living in God's reality, not the other way around.
I highly recommend the "Daniel" study... check out the book -- it's available through Amazon.
Post a Comment