Why can't we say what we mean? I mean, really, why is it so difficult to communicate with one another these days?
There are many opinions on this subject, ranging from general civic indifference to the disconnect between people as a result of their digital connections through social media, to those living in fear of their neighbors...and on and on...
Then there are the Beatles...nearly 40 years ago, laying it out in plain, well, mostly plain English. "I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello..."
I think, therein lies the answer...for eternity, we have been living within the ambiguity of our words, daily eking out an existence from within the confines of our misunderstanding.
Bottom line: We just can't sort it out enough to spit it out...
Now, not everyone suffers from this malady. There are those who speak what they mean ad infinitum...incessantly jabbering on about everything and nothing...speaking without thinking.
The key, at least from my perspective is this...think about what you're saying before you open your yap. This may not be an iron-clad solution to our problem, but at least it cuts out the majority of misunderstandings.
This guy Jesus said it pretty plainly..."Simply let your yes be yes and your no, no; when you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong.
Ah, maybe that's the ticket...we are so self absorbed that we cannot separate our words from the context of how they, or any given situation affects us personally.
Maybe instead of worrying about what our words mean to us, we should think about what they mean to the other guy before we let them fly...?
I say yes, you say no...
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
FREEDOM!
One of my favorite "guy" movies of all time and I'm sure yours too, Braveheart, includes many compelling scenes. Not the least of which is the final frame, where Mel Gibson's character, William Wallace, is stretched out for his date with the disembowel-er. With his final word he cries out in both anguish and defiance the word "Freedom"! Leaving many of us with a heart wrenching visual of the price many have paid throughout the millennia for that which we all, on some level, still seek...freedom. Freedom from oppression, freedom of expression, freedom to simply be.
Depending upon your desired outcome and motivation, the quest for freedom always requires some form of rebellion. And therein lies the slippery slope, because rebellion, by nature, leads us toward some very nasty pitfalls. But I digress.
So, if you will indulge me, I will attempt to bring some sense of context to the point I'd like to drive home...
Rebellion is a necessary component in the pursuit of freedom.
I've grown up in church, so my worldview has always been seasoned by that particular influence and I fully embrace the meaning of being a follower of Christ. But this begs a question that perhaps, you've asked in your own cogitations on such things...
What happens to you when you "become a Christian"?
The Apostle Paul tells us in his letter to the Corinthian church, "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone the new has come."
Intellectually, I grasp the meaning of what he is saying, but never having really experienced a radical transformation of my own, I have always been curious.
I've heard people who committed their lives to follow Christ later in life say, that they could really tell that something occurred when they professed Christ. It was an immediate difference, like a light being turned on in a dark room. As I've said, this was not my experience. I committed my life to follow Jesus at an early age...somewhere around 7 years old. The motivation for doing so was that the Sunday School teacher was giving out free Bibles to anyone who "asked Jesus in to their hearts".
As I got older I began to understand the concept of what this really meant as well as what sin was and why I felt bad when I did something wrong...conscience and the conviction of the Holy Spirit reminding me that God had called me to live life by His design and the way I naturally wanted to go didn't fit with that.
Consequently, I responded to pretty much every call to ask for forgiveness of sins and weekly re-committed my life to follow Jesus.
As I got older I began to get tired of feeling guilty and I began to notice something peculiar in the lives of older people. What I observed, we would now call hypocrisy. As a result I became a little disillusioned with the whole thing, because these were supposedly, "mature" Christians...So, I decided to venture out on my own and reject the feelings of conviction and guilt that were placed upon me, primarily by people who were holding a standard up for me to reach that they weren't attaining to themselves. In this period of time I did what many teens do when they want to express such feelings of disillusionment and confusion and anger...I rebelled.
As I grow older and hopefully wiser, I look back on those years and notice a couple of things about what it means to rebel.
1. Back in the day, rebellion was looked on more disdainfully...
2. Though parents accepted the fact that at some point it would happen, they were ill-prepared to deal with the actual occurrence. (not entirely unlike parents today.)
In the present, rebellion is so common that it really isn't even talked about much anymore, unless the cops get involved or the neighbors dog starts digging up body parts in your back yard...
We've even embraced the appearance of rebellion in the world of church...screw tradition, have a cigar, brew your own beer in your kitchen, cuss while you preach, push all conventional wisdom to the side...be edgy...and why not? It's profitable, rebellion sells books, it puts butts in the seats and gets 20-somethings to go to church, especially if there's coffee involved... and we embrace it, much to the chagrin and displeasure of the older generations.
Now, don't get me wrong, I have intense respect and love for the heritage I have as a Christian and the traditions of the church, but I also love the progress the church has made over the last 15-20 years and if we had to be a little rebellious to get there, then, well, I think it's been mostly positive as well as inevitable...
As wise King Solomon once said, there's nothing new under the sun...Every generation rebels...trying desperately to NOT be like the generation before it, but unwittingly making the same mistakes and perpetuating the classic historical blunders...like starting a land war in Asia, or going in against a Sicilian when death is on the line...sorry, just a little shout out for the fans of the movie The Princess Bride.
The point is this: there is this tension between what we want to be and what we're being told we should be...
So in an attempt to assert our independence and "stick it to the man", we go all anti-hero or try and stick out from the crowd or blend in with the crowd, so as to not be noticed, or whatever your M.O., consequently wrestling with what it really means to be a follower of Jesus...a process that many of us are continually engaged in to one degree or another.
Rebellion, typically is the precursor to freedom, even in God's economy...stick with me now...subject change, ready, go:
Whenever God does something, he does it perfectly...that is His nature.
But, when we get our hands on it, human nature is to distort God's perfection...we make it in to what we want to be, rather than what God intended.
The classic example is found in the creation story, where God breathes into existence, man and woman in the garden of Eden...ultimate perfection; innocence; man in pure relationship with God. But temptation enters the scene, "why be content with being with God...he's holding out on you - hiding knowledge and truth from you..."; "you're not really disobeying, your becoming enlightened...gain control, power, real freedom, rebel...be god."
And that is the classic blunder.
The thing that we perceive to bring "real" freedom to our lives, only proves to bring bondage, heartache, despair and sadness.
You can see it all throughout history.
You see it in man's response to God trying to bring humanity back in to relationship with Him.
God intended for us to live in harmony with him, but he also intended for this thing we call the church to mirror that relationship as a beautiful expression of community and love. Well, men got their hands on this endeavor and in the struggle to work out a process, control, power and jealousy got in the way. We imposed rules and restrictions on one another and in so doing pushed the freedom in which God intended us to live, seemingly, way out of reach. The sad thing is, we do it to one another and we do it to ourselves, withholding the very thing we're looking for...freedom.
Again, we hear from the Apostle Paul, saying to the Galatian church, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."
Jesus was the visible expression of God's desire for us to live in freedom as individuals and as a collective, thus Paul's use of the word, "again". As I mentioned a moment ago, we got our hands on this thing and ruined it...but, thankfully,
Christ brought freedom from empty religion, hollow traditions and hypocrisy...Paul says, stand firm in the freedom that comes from realizing what it is to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Paul also uses the imagery of slavery to drive his point home. He knew his audience would connect with this illustration because under Roman occupation, Macedonia lived with the reality of slavery, as conquered people as well as slaves by birth and indebtedness. Paul knew that those who had been in slavery or who were intimately acquainted with it, would understand what it meant to be truly set free!
Slavery is a horrible part of human history. But as you may know, it is alive and well in the world today. Even here within the borders of the United States of America, women and children are forced into slavery in the sex industry. Let's put this a little closer to home. In Portland Oregon, you will find the 2nd largest sex trafficking market in the U.S. Not far from our doorsteps this hideous reality exists. If you could hear the testimony of those who have been rescued from this terrible existence, you would come to understand the joy, relief, the indescribable feeling of literally being set free.
Though I don't personally know anyone who has experienced liberation from modern day sex trade slavery, I know people who experience slavery of a different kind.
Many people understand what it means to be enslaved by addiction. Perhaps you or someone you know or love has been gripped by the power of alcoholism, drug addiction or pornography and what it does to an individual and their family.
Within these life controlling behaviors lies the illusion of freedom, an escape, a high, a fantasy, that temporarily gives a sense of freedom...but it is just that, temporary and what it leaves behind is a deeper emptiness, because each time the pipe touches the lips or the liquid pours from the bottle into the stomach or the mouse clicks to reveal sordid images, a piece of what once was a whole individual is robbed.
Though the intent of this post isn't to address these issues specifically, they illuminate a point too frequently missed...we are far too often in pursuit of an illusion of freedom and the rebellion that we thought would lead us to freedom only serves to bind us to a far deadlier captor than that which we rebelled against initially.
See, the point here is this: unless you are constantly moving toward Jesus, you are moving away from true freedom, toward a destructive illusion...
I don't want to ramble on too much longer here, but let's not forget, in our culture, one of the most powerful illusions is the illusion of perfection. The perfect marriage, the perfect job, the perfect church, the perfect kids, the perfect life and so on and so on...let me tell you this; freedom does not equal perfection. Because, perfection only happens when you're dead.
Relationship with Jesus brings freedom. Freedom from the illusion of perfection and the need to pursue that illusion.
Reality is this: relationship with Jesus is a struggle, every pursuit of freedom is.
The struggle is visible
The struggle is visceral
The struggle,ultimately brings victory...because in the struggle, we find what we are looking for:
Freedom
Identity
Purpose
All those things we hoped we'd find when we stuck it to the man. Freedom and rebellion go hand in hand. Rebellion is a necessary component in the pursuit of freedom, but it's all about the motivation...the why...Jesus' confrontations of the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of the day was perceived as rebellion...but when you look at the motivation, when you look at the end result, you see clearly, it was necessary and produced for us, Freedom!
Depending upon your desired outcome and motivation, the quest for freedom always requires some form of rebellion. And therein lies the slippery slope, because rebellion, by nature, leads us toward some very nasty pitfalls. But I digress.
So, if you will indulge me, I will attempt to bring some sense of context to the point I'd like to drive home...
Rebellion is a necessary component in the pursuit of freedom.
I've grown up in church, so my worldview has always been seasoned by that particular influence and I fully embrace the meaning of being a follower of Christ. But this begs a question that perhaps, you've asked in your own cogitations on such things...
What happens to you when you "become a Christian"?
The Apostle Paul tells us in his letter to the Corinthian church, "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone the new has come."
Intellectually, I grasp the meaning of what he is saying, but never having really experienced a radical transformation of my own, I have always been curious.
I've heard people who committed their lives to follow Christ later in life say, that they could really tell that something occurred when they professed Christ. It was an immediate difference, like a light being turned on in a dark room. As I've said, this was not my experience. I committed my life to follow Jesus at an early age...somewhere around 7 years old. The motivation for doing so was that the Sunday School teacher was giving out free Bibles to anyone who "asked Jesus in to their hearts".
As I got older I began to understand the concept of what this really meant as well as what sin was and why I felt bad when I did something wrong...conscience and the conviction of the Holy Spirit reminding me that God had called me to live life by His design and the way I naturally wanted to go didn't fit with that.
Consequently, I responded to pretty much every call to ask for forgiveness of sins and weekly re-committed my life to follow Jesus.
As I got older I began to get tired of feeling guilty and I began to notice something peculiar in the lives of older people. What I observed, we would now call hypocrisy. As a result I became a little disillusioned with the whole thing, because these were supposedly, "mature" Christians...So, I decided to venture out on my own and reject the feelings of conviction and guilt that were placed upon me, primarily by people who were holding a standard up for me to reach that they weren't attaining to themselves. In this period of time I did what many teens do when they want to express such feelings of disillusionment and confusion and anger...I rebelled.
As I grow older and hopefully wiser, I look back on those years and notice a couple of things about what it means to rebel.
1. Back in the day, rebellion was looked on more disdainfully...
2. Though parents accepted the fact that at some point it would happen, they were ill-prepared to deal with the actual occurrence. (not entirely unlike parents today.)
In the present, rebellion is so common that it really isn't even talked about much anymore, unless the cops get involved or the neighbors dog starts digging up body parts in your back yard...
We've even embraced the appearance of rebellion in the world of church...screw tradition, have a cigar, brew your own beer in your kitchen, cuss while you preach, push all conventional wisdom to the side...be edgy...and why not? It's profitable, rebellion sells books, it puts butts in the seats and gets 20-somethings to go to church, especially if there's coffee involved... and we embrace it, much to the chagrin and displeasure of the older generations.
Now, don't get me wrong, I have intense respect and love for the heritage I have as a Christian and the traditions of the church, but I also love the progress the church has made over the last 15-20 years and if we had to be a little rebellious to get there, then, well, I think it's been mostly positive as well as inevitable...
As wise King Solomon once said, there's nothing new under the sun...Every generation rebels...trying desperately to NOT be like the generation before it, but unwittingly making the same mistakes and perpetuating the classic historical blunders...like starting a land war in Asia, or going in against a Sicilian when death is on the line...sorry, just a little shout out for the fans of the movie The Princess Bride.
The point is this: there is this tension between what we want to be and what we're being told we should be...
So in an attempt to assert our independence and "stick it to the man", we go all anti-hero or try and stick out from the crowd or blend in with the crowd, so as to not be noticed, or whatever your M.O., consequently wrestling with what it really means to be a follower of Jesus...a process that many of us are continually engaged in to one degree or another.
Rebellion, typically is the precursor to freedom, even in God's economy...stick with me now...subject change, ready, go:
Whenever God does something, he does it perfectly...that is His nature.
But, when we get our hands on it, human nature is to distort God's perfection...we make it in to what we want to be, rather than what God intended.
The classic example is found in the creation story, where God breathes into existence, man and woman in the garden of Eden...ultimate perfection; innocence; man in pure relationship with God. But temptation enters the scene, "why be content with being with God...he's holding out on you - hiding knowledge and truth from you..."; "you're not really disobeying, your becoming enlightened...gain control, power, real freedom, rebel...be god."
And that is the classic blunder.
The thing that we perceive to bring "real" freedom to our lives, only proves to bring bondage, heartache, despair and sadness.
You can see it all throughout history.
You see it in man's response to God trying to bring humanity back in to relationship with Him.
God intended for us to live in harmony with him, but he also intended for this thing we call the church to mirror that relationship as a beautiful expression of community and love. Well, men got their hands on this endeavor and in the struggle to work out a process, control, power and jealousy got in the way. We imposed rules and restrictions on one another and in so doing pushed the freedom in which God intended us to live, seemingly, way out of reach. The sad thing is, we do it to one another and we do it to ourselves, withholding the very thing we're looking for...freedom.
Again, we hear from the Apostle Paul, saying to the Galatian church, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."
Jesus was the visible expression of God's desire for us to live in freedom as individuals and as a collective, thus Paul's use of the word, "again". As I mentioned a moment ago, we got our hands on this thing and ruined it...but, thankfully,
Christ brought freedom from empty religion, hollow traditions and hypocrisy...Paul says, stand firm in the freedom that comes from realizing what it is to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Paul also uses the imagery of slavery to drive his point home. He knew his audience would connect with this illustration because under Roman occupation, Macedonia lived with the reality of slavery, as conquered people as well as slaves by birth and indebtedness. Paul knew that those who had been in slavery or who were intimately acquainted with it, would understand what it meant to be truly set free!
Slavery is a horrible part of human history. But as you may know, it is alive and well in the world today. Even here within the borders of the United States of America, women and children are forced into slavery in the sex industry. Let's put this a little closer to home. In Portland Oregon, you will find the 2nd largest sex trafficking market in the U.S. Not far from our doorsteps this hideous reality exists. If you could hear the testimony of those who have been rescued from this terrible existence, you would come to understand the joy, relief, the indescribable feeling of literally being set free.
Though I don't personally know anyone who has experienced liberation from modern day sex trade slavery, I know people who experience slavery of a different kind.
Many people understand what it means to be enslaved by addiction. Perhaps you or someone you know or love has been gripped by the power of alcoholism, drug addiction or pornography and what it does to an individual and their family.
Within these life controlling behaviors lies the illusion of freedom, an escape, a high, a fantasy, that temporarily gives a sense of freedom...but it is just that, temporary and what it leaves behind is a deeper emptiness, because each time the pipe touches the lips or the liquid pours from the bottle into the stomach or the mouse clicks to reveal sordid images, a piece of what once was a whole individual is robbed.
Though the intent of this post isn't to address these issues specifically, they illuminate a point too frequently missed...we are far too often in pursuit of an illusion of freedom and the rebellion that we thought would lead us to freedom only serves to bind us to a far deadlier captor than that which we rebelled against initially.
See, the point here is this: unless you are constantly moving toward Jesus, you are moving away from true freedom, toward a destructive illusion...
I don't want to ramble on too much longer here, but let's not forget, in our culture, one of the most powerful illusions is the illusion of perfection. The perfect marriage, the perfect job, the perfect church, the perfect kids, the perfect life and so on and so on...let me tell you this; freedom does not equal perfection. Because, perfection only happens when you're dead.
Relationship with Jesus brings freedom. Freedom from the illusion of perfection and the need to pursue that illusion.
Reality is this: relationship with Jesus is a struggle, every pursuit of freedom is.
The struggle is visible
The struggle is visceral
The struggle,ultimately brings victory...because in the struggle, we find what we are looking for:
Freedom
Identity
Purpose
All those things we hoped we'd find when we stuck it to the man. Freedom and rebellion go hand in hand. Rebellion is a necessary component in the pursuit of freedom, but it's all about the motivation...the why...Jesus' confrontations of the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of the day was perceived as rebellion...but when you look at the motivation, when you look at the end result, you see clearly, it was necessary and produced for us, Freedom!
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