The Best of The PhxP
I have a theory… concerning spiritual dryness and times “in the desert”.
There seems to be a large congregation among the cacti these days, and I will offer up a possible reason as well as a potential cure.
Each of our traditions offers a certain view of God, and if you want to continue to gather with that certain group you pretty much embrace their view. That perspective never varies much from week to week and book-to-book, so it will be the perspective that comes to your mind when meditating on spiritual things. They will tell you who God is and what He’s like, what He likes and what He doesn’t, and in your mind that will create a personality of God that is the God you relate to.
The problem is… that all of those perspectives fall very short of really engaging with who He truly is and what He desires in His relationship with you.
For example, while I was in Geneva among the TRs (Truly Reformed), I learned that in every service it pleases God if we refer to ourselves as “worms” at least once, and follow that confession by loudly “singing” the Psalms without musical accompaniment or a discernible tune. I asked God about this the first night and He referred me to Calvin’s writing on adoption and said that, as soon as they started howling the Psalms, He turned the sound down and asked Mahalia Jackson to sing over the top of them.
Seriously…
My point is that, if this were the only teaching I had about God, I would dry up and blow away from the lack of joy and constant severity. The pews looked like a gathering of people who suffered from severe hemorrhoids, who had come to salute Calvin for being faithful despite his own affliction. I kid because I care…
Each of our traditions will skew our vision of God in some way, and then those who claim to represent Him will often skew it yet further. Thus, you end up with a god made in the image of man and those gods are very easy to walk away from and they can never fulfill our need for the real thing. You end up in the desert, wandering about looking for a little shade and enough moisture to keep walking.
Here’s the cure: the red letters.
Open up a Gospel and deal with Jesus… not doctrine, not theories… just Jesus. “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” (Hebrews 1:1–3a ESV) “Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14:9 ESV)
Put yourself in the story… wherever it says He spoke to the disciples, put your own name in there because He’s speaking to you. Listen to Him… listen to Him rebuke the religious, and let Him confront you all over again with the reality of who your God really is. Get rattled and afraid and be challenged by His radical ways and His radical demands on you, and then reject all the demands that religious people want to put upon you that He never mentions. Feel the fire and the pain and the hope of His kingdom exploding into our world and join the revolution. Spit out the brackish fluid of religion and drink deeply from the well of living water. He will change you… if you dare.
Sometimes Oswald Chambers just ain’t enough…
Make your own application…
Rebuke the “religious”. Pretty good, dear Michael, pretty good, but be prepared because those folk whose religion is their crutch really hate someone kicking at it.
The joy of our Lord truly is our strength! ! !
I remember a song that used to be popular among teens: ” I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that He died for me.”
Well.. yes and no! As Xenia noted that just gets us to the starting line.
P.S.
“The Word of God IS alive and powerful………”. 🙏
Em,
The critics can do their worst…I’ve met their Boss…
Michael, 👍 👍
One of the big advantages of being a missionary in a dangerous country like Colombia is you just can’t not meet good people who might believe or practice something different from your own. We would come together for retreats, holidays, etc. and I gained many new perspectives and insights about God, worship, and church polity. I continue to try to read a variety of different books and gleanings from magazines and web sites. It helps me to understand and to consider. It may not be my own personal belief or practice, but understanding is a good way to enlarge one’s circle of friendships.
Story/ponder follows
When I was about 30 years old we lived in a lovely neighborhood north of Seattle. Most of our neighbors were U of W professors – wonderful and tolerant people. I wondered if following Christ tended to distort peoples’ thinking – the intolerance among churches.
Well, God saw and through a series of circumstances, we had to move. God relocated us to a cul d sac full of intolerance! One neighbor was a witch, one family was so R.C. that if you weren’t one of them, you were a heathen. The other two were atheists.
The result? We found a Church that taught the whole counsel of God. Coordinating the Bible, cover to cover. And in an atmosphere of real hatred, we grew in Christ. God really is a Good Shepherd…….
FWIW………..