A convicting litmus test

One of the most troubling and challenging quotes I have read, an idea that gnawed at me (for my benefit) and from time to time haunts me still(again for my benefit) is a quote from C. S. Lewis's Mere Christianity

This excerpt comes from the chapter titled "The Great Sin" and the discussion of pride:

"the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others" (p. 121)

"if you want to find out how proud you are the easiest way is to ask yourself, 'How much do I dislike it when other people snub me, or refuse to take any notice of me, or shove their oar in, or patronise me, or show off?" (p. 122)

It is very easy for me, and my pride, to assure myself that I am a humble enough person. But a time when pride can be uncovered, when it cannot help keep itself concealed in our hearts and minds is when it comes into conflict with another's pride. Our pride is no longer hidden, it is rearing its ugly head, but often we are too enthralled with the desires of our pride to take a step back and see our pride for what it is.

The test is to see how much I am bothered by others' pride. If I am bothered by another's selfishness I can safely say it is because of my own. While it is possible to dislike pride out of righteousness, for me to credit that as my reason would simply be yet another expression of my pride. No, I am better off to note how often and how much other's pride bothers me, and use that as a gauge of my own pride. Most of the time I get ruffled by another's selfishness it's not because the situation actually warrants such feelings, but that my pride feels threatened.

I encourage you to take note of when and where you find yourself bothered by pride, and to evaluate your reasoning. You may find it intriguing and humbling to discover how much our pride is alive and well within us.

As with all things the conviction of sin is not meant to be an end, for us to wallow in, but to spur us back to Jesus who has made a way and washes us clean. If you discover, as I have with myself, that your pride is far healthier than you imagined, do not despair, do not seek (out of human pride) to fix yourself, but instead turn to Jesus who is transforming and sanctifying his bride. Amen

Conquering Strategy

A common yet effective strategy for governing a conquered people is to change their names. It has always been the victor who writes history; re-write the history of a conquered people, their names, and they lose their identity. It is interesting how much our names tell us about our identity. Giving a new name is giving a new identity. This has been practiced throughout history by numerous conquerors. A defeated nation becomes a new province under a name of your choosing to aid in demoralizing and controlling the defeated people.

This practice is illustrated during the exile in Babylon with Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. Nebuchadnezzar renamed them Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego respectively Daniel 1:7. (it is interesting to note that of the four only Daniel continues to be called by his Hebrew name).

We have all given into this practice of renaming as well. We were created perfect and have fallen into sin and brokenness. We have forgotten who we are. We allowed the world, satan, the past, and our friends to define who we are. We are a conquered people.

But a savior has come to free us, indeed salvation is come. Jesus, who created us (John 1:3), who knows our true names, identities, and purposes has come to liberate us and call us back to the identities that we have forgotten. Victorious Jesus has conquered the world to restore and rename all of Creation. As the victor Jesus has come to give us back our names.

But his victory on earth is not yet fully realized. And we continue to forget who we are and what God is calling us to (ex. 1 Tim 4:14). We keep falling back into our old identities, who the world, the past, our friends, and the enemy say we are. Truly it is God alone, Creator of all, who knows our true identity. He knows us best. His is the true reality, not blurred by the lies and the conquest of the enemy over Humanity. Turn back to God, to Jesus, and to who you truly are and were created to be. Let us walk this journey together, and remind each other of who we are when we forget.

Good or Bad?

Philosophers much smarter than I have long argued about whether people are inherently
good or bad.

I think the answer is ‘yes’. Human beings as God first made us were good. We reflected only characteristics of God (His communicable attributes). We were made perfect, God’s original dream was or us to be good and holy.

Then the Fall. The dream was tarnished by sin. We became a fallen broken people. Only one person has lived who was perfect and that was Jesus. The rest of us are sinful, but the good things of God have not been fully squeezed out of us, and the memory of being good and holy is not, however unconsciously, wholly forgotten by our souls.

So while I once only reflected God’s creation, now I have diminished in that respect and taken on sinful dimensions as well. Pride has taken root within me. I am neither as full as God created me nor as pure. I am broken.

Yet by God’s grace I am sanctified. There is great mystery in this, because I am and I am being transformed.

It is true that evil still lurks within me, pride still dwells inside me. I am fallen and I am sanctified. It is like living in two different dimensions. Jesus when he first met Simon Peter (John 1:40-42), did not see him as a fisherman, but as a pillar of his Church. He did not evaluate him by his sinful self, but by the dreams God had created Peter for, the same dreams that Jesus had come to redeem by his death. Jesus saw Simon according to his true identity, as God had originally made him to be, and so renamed him "Peter."

That is the paradigm I try to operate within. Not the perspective of seeing what is plainly before me living in the reality of who I am, but choosing to live by the identity which Christ is calling me to. I am choosing Peter over Simon, to see myself not as I have been but as I am being transformed. Also I am striving to see others not as they are, but by the identity and the potential that God has created them for and made possible through redemption.

So people are born fallen, broken, apt to evil, but by Jesus’ work of redemption we are able and becoming and to operate in the goodness that God first created us for.

A realization

Something I should have realized a long time ago:

Living for God and seeing his kingdom advanced on earth is not equal to ministry

immortality lost

We've all heard the stereotype that high school and college students think they are invincible and immortal. At what point does reality set in?

After contemplating my own mortality and my growing awareness of it, I have concluded that this change in mentality is not really age related. As you get older you do not suddenly realize that you are capable of being hurt. The root of our awareness of mortality is health insurance.

I could do anything, not worry about it, do whatever, until I started having to actively pay for something that tells me I will get sick and die. It is not wisdom with age that taught me, but the debt I owe to this company which profits from my frailty that has brought the revelation of my own mortality.