If for some reason you find yourself here looking for my blog - I have now joined with a few other friends in a collaborative blog found at http://twopintslater.blogspot.com
much love.
Michael
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Thursday, July 1, 2010
breakthrough - what is it good for?
I have been part of Pentecostal churches for my entire life. It is been a rich experience for me, and one which I am incredibly grateful for.
One of the things that fills the central ethos of Pentecostals is a desire to genuinely experience God. We seek encounters with the Holy Spirit that will change and transform us. We read the bible and aim to experience God as we read it. We worship together and believe that the Holy Spirit is present to heal, restore and transform us in the process. We pray, and believe for 'breakthrough' and for things to change in our lives. These things have been a part of my heritage growing up, and remain a wonderful part of life, faith and church experience.
I do wonder though, as I have gone through the process of thinking through my faith, life and the meaning of the gospel, whether in our emphasis on experience of God we have missed out on the full and deep richness of the Christian faith?
I wonder whether sometimes in our desire to experience God as the ultimate pinnacle of our faith journey, we have turned Christianity into a purely vertical relationship. One in which terms like 'breakthrough' and 'another level' have become slogans that describe some kind of feeling that comes in an experience but are often disconnected from everyday life. And in fact, everyday life can sometimes be de-emphasised in favour of pursuing these experiences.
The scriptures seem to portray a faith that is both vertical AND horizontal. Our relationship with God and our relating to others are intimately linked. The writers of the bible say things like: forgiveness from God is linked to the way we forgive others. That is our unity together that becomes the 'temple' in which God lives by His Spirit.
The prayer of Jesus is that we would be one as He and the Father are one...
His prayer is not just that we would experience God, but that our relationships with one another would be transformed - and that in that transformation, we would find that we are experiencing God.
And so I wonder if 'breakthrough' in our lives might not only be a powerful experience of God, but it would be that something would change in our everyday lives. Maybe it would be shown in the way we treat people... that we would reach out to people in kindness, generosity, and love. That it would transform the way we approach our work, the way we behave with our friends and family, and the way we offer outstretched hands to the marginalised, oppressed and impoverished in communities - and as we see this taking place, we could truly describe this as 'breakthrough'... and maybe we could call it 'another level'.
But until our experience of God translates into these kinds of horizontal implications, we have lost our way. If we passionately pursue some kind of supernatural experience it can seem holy and very "Christian". BUT if we do not see the fruit of the Spirit at work, it may be very questionable how genuinely divine those experiences might actually be.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Not just a nice happy list of attributes. These require the movement of the Spirit in us. And if we are truly experiencing the Spirit at work, then in some way we should see these traits emerge.
I haven't read many Christian leadership books that elevate gentleness as one of the central characteristics of the Christian way... but perhaps "The Gentle Leader" would be a good title for a book someday. I guess I'll start writing :-)
Although maybe I should finish my other book first or my I will get told off by my wife :)
Well there endeth my thoughts and ponderings for today. I am aware that I have made gross generalisations in this post, and so forgive me for that. I am only picking on one side of the story... and I am aware that I in some ways I have painted a overexaggerated view of things. So bearing that in mind, I offer these thoughts as a critique of myself as much as of anything or anyone else.
Faith, hope and love.
michaeljamesfrost
One of the things that fills the central ethos of Pentecostals is a desire to genuinely experience God. We seek encounters with the Holy Spirit that will change and transform us. We read the bible and aim to experience God as we read it. We worship together and believe that the Holy Spirit is present to heal, restore and transform us in the process. We pray, and believe for 'breakthrough' and for things to change in our lives. These things have been a part of my heritage growing up, and remain a wonderful part of life, faith and church experience.
I do wonder though, as I have gone through the process of thinking through my faith, life and the meaning of the gospel, whether in our emphasis on experience of God we have missed out on the full and deep richness of the Christian faith?
I wonder whether sometimes in our desire to experience God as the ultimate pinnacle of our faith journey, we have turned Christianity into a purely vertical relationship. One in which terms like 'breakthrough' and 'another level' have become slogans that describe some kind of feeling that comes in an experience but are often disconnected from everyday life. And in fact, everyday life can sometimes be de-emphasised in favour of pursuing these experiences.
The scriptures seem to portray a faith that is both vertical AND horizontal. Our relationship with God and our relating to others are intimately linked. The writers of the bible say things like: forgiveness from God is linked to the way we forgive others. That is our unity together that becomes the 'temple' in which God lives by His Spirit.
The prayer of Jesus is that we would be one as He and the Father are one...
His prayer is not just that we would experience God, but that our relationships with one another would be transformed - and that in that transformation, we would find that we are experiencing God.
And so I wonder if 'breakthrough' in our lives might not only be a powerful experience of God, but it would be that something would change in our everyday lives. Maybe it would be shown in the way we treat people... that we would reach out to people in kindness, generosity, and love. That it would transform the way we approach our work, the way we behave with our friends and family, and the way we offer outstretched hands to the marginalised, oppressed and impoverished in communities - and as we see this taking place, we could truly describe this as 'breakthrough'... and maybe we could call it 'another level'.
But until our experience of God translates into these kinds of horizontal implications, we have lost our way. If we passionately pursue some kind of supernatural experience it can seem holy and very "Christian". BUT if we do not see the fruit of the Spirit at work, it may be very questionable how genuinely divine those experiences might actually be.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Not just a nice happy list of attributes. These require the movement of the Spirit in us. And if we are truly experiencing the Spirit at work, then in some way we should see these traits emerge.
I haven't read many Christian leadership books that elevate gentleness as one of the central characteristics of the Christian way... but perhaps "The Gentle Leader" would be a good title for a book someday. I guess I'll start writing :-)
Although maybe I should finish my other book first or my I will get told off by my wife :)
Well there endeth my thoughts and ponderings for today. I am aware that I have made gross generalisations in this post, and so forgive me for that. I am only picking on one side of the story... and I am aware that I in some ways I have painted a overexaggerated view of things. So bearing that in mind, I offer these thoughts as a critique of myself as much as of anything or anyone else.
Faith, hope and love.
michaeljamesfrost
Sunday, December 20, 2009
thinking, thinking, thinking
I was thinking the other day.... In fact, I was thinking about thinking. I think that although we all think a lot, we often don't think about our thinking very much. Perhaps if we would take the time to think about our thinking, we might think a little better in the process.
This all might sound a bit funny, but I think its true. Some people talk like thinking is a bad thing to do - but in reality, its not that they're not thinking, its just that they're not thinking about their thinking.
When we fail to think about our thinking, we make a lot of assumptions. And as we all know, to assume can make an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me'... haha - that is an old joke and a bad one...
I am aware that the postmodern generation can be accused of overthinking sometimes... thinking at the expense of doing... But perhaps this is just because people are actually hungry to think... and they're sick of not thinking about their thinking.
The challenge of course, in all of this, is to ensure that thinking goes hand in hand with doing. In fact, thinking without doing is very dangerous. But I would argue that doing without thinking is also dangerous.... it is doing without thinking that has landed us in a big mess time after time.
Thinking about our thinking is challenging though... it requires us to reflect on what motivates us, and what inspires us. It forces us to confront our own biases and presumptions. It also stops us from justifying the means to get to the ends. Thinking about thinking can be uncomfortable. If we don't take the time to do it, then we can excuse the consequences to our actions by saying that we never realised and we didn't know. We can get what we want by spurious means, but never take the time to be aware of our own ambition.
And then, if we actually manage to accept the challenge of thinking about our thinking, we can struggle to find time and space to do it. We are all so busy making life happen. Getting things done. We can shove thinking about our thinking to the side. It becomes a luxury for those with far too much spare time on their hands.
But if I can encourage you to do anything these holidays (other than relaxing and having a sweet time with family and friends) - it would be to take some time to think about what and why you think about things. Take the time to ask yourself some questions...
Why do you do what you do? What gives your life meaning? What motivates you? Who are the most important people in your life, and how are your relationships with them going? What challenges you, and what do you find difficult? Why?
All sorts of questions that help us to understand ourselves and our lives, and help us to understand the way we think on a daily basis. And if you come up with an answer to one of these questions, try and come up with 3 new questions to ask about the answer you've come up with. This can really lead you into a new level of understanding your sense of self, and your place in the world.
Thinking about your thinking can become a powerful and life changing pattern. At least that's what I think.
This all might sound a bit funny, but I think its true. Some people talk like thinking is a bad thing to do - but in reality, its not that they're not thinking, its just that they're not thinking about their thinking.
When we fail to think about our thinking, we make a lot of assumptions. And as we all know, to assume can make an 'ass' out of 'u' and 'me'... haha - that is an old joke and a bad one...
I am aware that the postmodern generation can be accused of overthinking sometimes... thinking at the expense of doing... But perhaps this is just because people are actually hungry to think... and they're sick of not thinking about their thinking.
The challenge of course, in all of this, is to ensure that thinking goes hand in hand with doing. In fact, thinking without doing is very dangerous. But I would argue that doing without thinking is also dangerous.... it is doing without thinking that has landed us in a big mess time after time.
Thinking about our thinking is challenging though... it requires us to reflect on what motivates us, and what inspires us. It forces us to confront our own biases and presumptions. It also stops us from justifying the means to get to the ends. Thinking about thinking can be uncomfortable. If we don't take the time to do it, then we can excuse the consequences to our actions by saying that we never realised and we didn't know. We can get what we want by spurious means, but never take the time to be aware of our own ambition.
And then, if we actually manage to accept the challenge of thinking about our thinking, we can struggle to find time and space to do it. We are all so busy making life happen. Getting things done. We can shove thinking about our thinking to the side. It becomes a luxury for those with far too much spare time on their hands.
But if I can encourage you to do anything these holidays (other than relaxing and having a sweet time with family and friends) - it would be to take some time to think about what and why you think about things. Take the time to ask yourself some questions...
Why do you do what you do? What gives your life meaning? What motivates you? Who are the most important people in your life, and how are your relationships with them going? What challenges you, and what do you find difficult? Why?
All sorts of questions that help us to understand ourselves and our lives, and help us to understand the way we think on a daily basis. And if you come up with an answer to one of these questions, try and come up with 3 new questions to ask about the answer you've come up with. This can really lead you into a new level of understanding your sense of self, and your place in the world.
Thinking about your thinking can become a powerful and life changing pattern. At least that's what I think.
Friday, October 16, 2009
a confrontation of justice
So I always have good intentions for updating this blog - and then get sidetracked by other things. But here I am again, after a season of backsliding... I have made a recommitment to blogging - I may need some follow-up at same point to make sure I keep to my decision, but in the mean time, here's a few thoughts :-)
I have spent the last few years rearranging my views on the world (or at least - having them rearranged)... I have realised that the gospel message is not about changing from one column to the next, from being 'in', instead of being 'out', but its about allowing God's Kingdom to come to earth. In other words, its about allowing God's desire for his creation to come about, in my life, and in my sphere of influence. God's desire for love, beauty, justice, truth, goodness... not a pressure to behave a certain way, but an invitation to be transformed, and to participate in God's transforming work in the world.
And in the midst of this revolution that I've been having, I have recognised that God challenges us to care for the poor and the broken-hearted. To seek justice for the oppressed. To spend our lives on behalf of those who need restoring, hope, change...
And this is a great idea isn't it? In fact, in some kind of way, this thing we call social justice has become a pop culture revolution. Everybody cares about Africa these days. It has even become cool for celebrities to adopt African children. What a funny thing.
But in strange sort of way, we fail to recognise that our way of life so often reinforces the oppression of those we profess to care about. We want to care, until it costs us something and then we don't want to care - at least not that much. We want our governments to do something about global poverty, until we hit a credit crunch and then we go back to looking after ourselves... and still what we call a 'crisis' (which is genuinely hard for many people - I do not mean to minimise this) is still far less serious then crises all over the world in places we can easily avoid if we want to...
Of course we could ask what business it is of ours to care so much about people in Africa or China or Cambodia... We could say that they all live a long way away and really have nothing to do with us. Perhaps we could find a way to justify saying that, if our coffee, clothes, shoes, appliances, furniture and most of the other things we rely on for a way of life were made without horrendous labour conditions, unfair trade, and in some cases, child labour.
So the gospel challenges us to consider this. And to consider this becomes very confronting doesn't it? Because when you really start to think about it, you realise that it becomes very inconvenient to think about it too much. When we start to think about the things that define us. The things that we simply 'have' to buy because otherwise we feel like we're falling behind. We have to fit in to the 'in-groups' and look cool, and keep up.. we have to get the new furniture, the new cars, the new house... because it is what makes us feel like we're ok. That we're making it.
When we think about it in logical terms we can easily recognise the injustice of the situation. But when it comes to the reality of it, it gets much harder doesn't it? When it means paying more money for something, or not getting that thing that you really want. How much do we really want change? How far are we really prepared to go to see a transforming revolution in our society?
This is the question that is bugging me. And so I thought I should share it. And I am interested in action. I am interested in changing the way I live. I am interested in challenging my assumptions and confronting my own selfish ambitions.
So I would like your thoughts. I would like your suggestions. I would like your critiques. I would like to see us do something. Please leave comments here to this effect...
And I'm interested in getting together to talk this through. I want to talk to people who are thinking about this kind of revolution and get some of us together to talk. To talk about how we go about changing. And some of you are probably already on the journey... So let me know if you're keen and lets get together.
peace.
michaeljamesfrost
I have spent the last few years rearranging my views on the world (or at least - having them rearranged)... I have realised that the gospel message is not about changing from one column to the next, from being 'in', instead of being 'out', but its about allowing God's Kingdom to come to earth. In other words, its about allowing God's desire for his creation to come about, in my life, and in my sphere of influence. God's desire for love, beauty, justice, truth, goodness... not a pressure to behave a certain way, but an invitation to be transformed, and to participate in God's transforming work in the world.
And in the midst of this revolution that I've been having, I have recognised that God challenges us to care for the poor and the broken-hearted. To seek justice for the oppressed. To spend our lives on behalf of those who need restoring, hope, change...
And this is a great idea isn't it? In fact, in some kind of way, this thing we call social justice has become a pop culture revolution. Everybody cares about Africa these days. It has even become cool for celebrities to adopt African children. What a funny thing.
But in strange sort of way, we fail to recognise that our way of life so often reinforces the oppression of those we profess to care about. We want to care, until it costs us something and then we don't want to care - at least not that much. We want our governments to do something about global poverty, until we hit a credit crunch and then we go back to looking after ourselves... and still what we call a 'crisis' (which is genuinely hard for many people - I do not mean to minimise this) is still far less serious then crises all over the world in places we can easily avoid if we want to...
Of course we could ask what business it is of ours to care so much about people in Africa or China or Cambodia... We could say that they all live a long way away and really have nothing to do with us. Perhaps we could find a way to justify saying that, if our coffee, clothes, shoes, appliances, furniture and most of the other things we rely on for a way of life were made without horrendous labour conditions, unfair trade, and in some cases, child labour.
So the gospel challenges us to consider this. And to consider this becomes very confronting doesn't it? Because when you really start to think about it, you realise that it becomes very inconvenient to think about it too much. When we start to think about the things that define us. The things that we simply 'have' to buy because otherwise we feel like we're falling behind. We have to fit in to the 'in-groups' and look cool, and keep up.. we have to get the new furniture, the new cars, the new house... because it is what makes us feel like we're ok. That we're making it.
When we think about it in logical terms we can easily recognise the injustice of the situation. But when it comes to the reality of it, it gets much harder doesn't it? When it means paying more money for something, or not getting that thing that you really want. How much do we really want change? How far are we really prepared to go to see a transforming revolution in our society?
This is the question that is bugging me. And so I thought I should share it. And I am interested in action. I am interested in changing the way I live. I am interested in challenging my assumptions and confronting my own selfish ambitions.
So I would like your thoughts. I would like your suggestions. I would like your critiques. I would like to see us do something. Please leave comments here to this effect...
And I'm interested in getting together to talk this through. I want to talk to people who are thinking about this kind of revolution and get some of us together to talk. To talk about how we go about changing. And some of you are probably already on the journey... So let me know if you're keen and lets get together.
peace.
michaeljamesfrost
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Remember
Well firstly I should probably mention that I haven't done one of these for a few months - but my justification is based on the fact that I got married only 3 and 1/2 weeks ago and that has taken a fair amount of my recent attention (which I think is a fair excuse!).
So there you go - I'm not sure that its a good habit to find oneself providing justification for such things ... but I also wanted an excuse to mention the fact that I'm married.
Did I mention I have a wife now? yes - I think I might have...
Ok so moving on!
Its a funny time of year as we head into the Christmas season. Christmas means so many different things to so many different people. Its a strange mix of the celebration of the birth of Christ, some ancient Greek and Roman pagan festivities, some sort of commercialised jolly old fat man who used to be a saint but whose clothes were rebranded by Coca Cola, and a general excuse for overindulgence in food, giving and receiving of presents (in my case, often the receiving of many mugs from various family members) followed by a bad case of rich food-itis the next day.
So what it is it all about really? I know its perhaps a bit of a cliche to write a 'reason for the season' kind of blog but hopefully it still holds some interest for you... it certainly does for me.
As someone who is endeavouring to follow Christ with my life, I guess its worth taking the time to think about why He came and what He came to do. So here's my little ramble on it:
I guess in order to think about celebrating the coming of Christ to the earth, its necessary to think about why it even happened in the first place.
The scriptures talk about a God who created a world with his words and creative power, and by the activity and motion of His Spirit. The ancient Hebrew people understood God's Spirit by the term 'ruach' which means spirit, breath or wind. They had an understanding that God's Spirit was not just an external force that existed outside of time and space, but is the very breath of God that gives life to everything He has created. In this way, God's Spirit is understood as the very life force of His creation. Without the continual extension of God's Spirit and creative intent into His creation it would cease to exist. Bear in mind that this is very different from saying that His Spirit is the same as His creation (that's an eastern kind of pantheism), but rather that His Spirit gives continual life to His creation.
As such, Gods will, purpose and intent flows into all of His creation by His Spirit at all times. At the beginning of the human story we find that God creates human beings in His own image and likeness. They are created as beings that would bear the image of God; a God of relationship, community and love. These human beings live filled with the Spirit and life-force of God flowing through them, and so we find God's will and purpose also flowing in and through them.
Sadly, these humans make a choice to set human beings on a different pathway. They decide to step outside of God's will and purpose - and in doing so they find themselves inadvertently separated from God's Spirit and from relationship with Him. Now at this point they do not die - despite a separation from God's intent and purpose...and Spirit... rather God in His continuing grace decides to continue to extend His life-force into His beautiful creation, but there is a fracture in relationship, and so also a fracture in the way things are supposed to be. We also find that the earth, which God placed under the authority of these humans, also fractures and is corrupted.
And so what we are left with is a continuing human story filled with brokenness. While the image of God still leaves its mark on us as humans, we find ourselves fractured and looking for meaning, looking for answers, looking for hope. We live in a world in which we desire something good but so often find reasons to destroy that which we hope for. It is not that there is nothing good in the world, but rather that goodness has now been corrupted. Many in the world find that instead of peace they experience war, instead of purpose they experience despair and emptiness, instead of whole relationships there are broken marriages and broken families.
Some view God as someone who stands in heaven with a bolt of lightning looking for who to strike down next, but the God of the scriptures is not that disconnected and disaffected. God is still intimately involved in his creation.
And so in the end, God did the most remarkable thing in all of human history. He was not content in being present by His Spirit, so He became present as a man. The Christmas story is a story of the God of all creation who recognises that his creation is suffering and broken. His creation is in need of restoration and hope. His creation needs to be reconciled to its creator.
So Jesus is born. And he does not come to condemn the world but to restore and reconnect. He comes to bring reconciliation, hope, peace, justice, forgiveness and love. For those who believe Christianity is a judgemental bigoted faith - I apologize for the message we have given you... in fact it is quite the contrary. It is about restoration and renewal. Jesus came to show us true and real life. And he died and rose again to defeat the power of the broken pathway that we have all found ourselves on. He does it by suffering with us and amongst us - even at our own hands... Yet his suffering was not in vain - rather in it we find a God who suffers for us so that the corruption of our very selves may be healed. We are invited into a new journey to be restored to the kind of people God always knew we could be.
So this Christmas... let us take the time to remember why it is that people are stopping all over the world to sing, to be together, to love each other and to provide for each other. And let us take the time to remember all of those who are not able to do so yet... those for whom the restoring power of Christ and His Spirit needs to come. And let us remember the part we have to play in bringing reconciliation to God's creation.
Merry Christmas.
So there you go - I'm not sure that its a good habit to find oneself providing justification for such things ... but I also wanted an excuse to mention the fact that I'm married.
Did I mention I have a wife now? yes - I think I might have...
Ok so moving on!
Its a funny time of year as we head into the Christmas season. Christmas means so many different things to so many different people. Its a strange mix of the celebration of the birth of Christ, some ancient Greek and Roman pagan festivities, some sort of commercialised jolly old fat man who used to be a saint but whose clothes were rebranded by Coca Cola, and a general excuse for overindulgence in food, giving and receiving of presents (in my case, often the receiving of many mugs from various family members) followed by a bad case of rich food-itis the next day.
So what it is it all about really? I know its perhaps a bit of a cliche to write a 'reason for the season' kind of blog but hopefully it still holds some interest for you... it certainly does for me.
As someone who is endeavouring to follow Christ with my life, I guess its worth taking the time to think about why He came and what He came to do. So here's my little ramble on it:
I guess in order to think about celebrating the coming of Christ to the earth, its necessary to think about why it even happened in the first place.
The scriptures talk about a God who created a world with his words and creative power, and by the activity and motion of His Spirit. The ancient Hebrew people understood God's Spirit by the term 'ruach' which means spirit, breath or wind. They had an understanding that God's Spirit was not just an external force that existed outside of time and space, but is the very breath of God that gives life to everything He has created. In this way, God's Spirit is understood as the very life force of His creation. Without the continual extension of God's Spirit and creative intent into His creation it would cease to exist. Bear in mind that this is very different from saying that His Spirit is the same as His creation (that's an eastern kind of pantheism), but rather that His Spirit gives continual life to His creation.
As such, Gods will, purpose and intent flows into all of His creation by His Spirit at all times. At the beginning of the human story we find that God creates human beings in His own image and likeness. They are created as beings that would bear the image of God; a God of relationship, community and love. These human beings live filled with the Spirit and life-force of God flowing through them, and so we find God's will and purpose also flowing in and through them.
Sadly, these humans make a choice to set human beings on a different pathway. They decide to step outside of God's will and purpose - and in doing so they find themselves inadvertently separated from God's Spirit and from relationship with Him. Now at this point they do not die - despite a separation from God's intent and purpose...and Spirit... rather God in His continuing grace decides to continue to extend His life-force into His beautiful creation, but there is a fracture in relationship, and so also a fracture in the way things are supposed to be. We also find that the earth, which God placed under the authority of these humans, also fractures and is corrupted.
And so what we are left with is a continuing human story filled with brokenness. While the image of God still leaves its mark on us as humans, we find ourselves fractured and looking for meaning, looking for answers, looking for hope. We live in a world in which we desire something good but so often find reasons to destroy that which we hope for. It is not that there is nothing good in the world, but rather that goodness has now been corrupted. Many in the world find that instead of peace they experience war, instead of purpose they experience despair and emptiness, instead of whole relationships there are broken marriages and broken families.
Some view God as someone who stands in heaven with a bolt of lightning looking for who to strike down next, but the God of the scriptures is not that disconnected and disaffected. God is still intimately involved in his creation.
And so in the end, God did the most remarkable thing in all of human history. He was not content in being present by His Spirit, so He became present as a man. The Christmas story is a story of the God of all creation who recognises that his creation is suffering and broken. His creation is in need of restoration and hope. His creation needs to be reconciled to its creator.
So Jesus is born. And he does not come to condemn the world but to restore and reconnect. He comes to bring reconciliation, hope, peace, justice, forgiveness and love. For those who believe Christianity is a judgemental bigoted faith - I apologize for the message we have given you... in fact it is quite the contrary. It is about restoration and renewal. Jesus came to show us true and real life. And he died and rose again to defeat the power of the broken pathway that we have all found ourselves on. He does it by suffering with us and amongst us - even at our own hands... Yet his suffering was not in vain - rather in it we find a God who suffers for us so that the corruption of our very selves may be healed. We are invited into a new journey to be restored to the kind of people God always knew we could be.
So this Christmas... let us take the time to remember why it is that people are stopping all over the world to sing, to be together, to love each other and to provide for each other. And let us take the time to remember all of those who are not able to do so yet... those for whom the restoring power of Christ and His Spirit needs to come. And let us remember the part we have to play in bringing reconciliation to God's creation.
Merry Christmas.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
What do you know?
Well this is the first of these blogs that I have done here. It is a slightly strange thing writing something like this and wondering if people end up reading it, and if they do, who are they and what do they think??
So if that is you... welcome!
I thought I could kick this whole thing off by actually talking a bit about knowledge and truth. So yeah - we're starting with the light stuff :-)
The scriptures say that "you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free". But what is truth, and how do we know it? I have spent much of my Christian life trying to arrive at the knowledge of this kind of truth, and I think there have been moments in my life when I do seem to have particular clarity - and this clarity helps propel me into a place of freedom.
But as I have thought through my faith a lot more, I have begun to realise that my faith is actually.... 'faith'.... And the more I seek to know things, the more I realise that I don't actually really know too much at all. The more I seek to know about God, the more God's infiniteness seems to impose itself on my rather small human brain.
So how are we to know the truth? I think perhaps for me I had seen knowledge and truth from the wrong perspective. So there are a couple of thoughts I would like to propose here:
Firstly, we can often think that knowledge and truth are an endpoint. We think that what we are doing is trying to work our way through to figuring out the idea/truth/point of it all. We are trying to arrive at truth. But the more I have thought about things, the more I have walked with God and the more I have studied etc, the more I have realised that every piece of truth is a beginning, not an ending. We are not aiming to arrive at truth so that then we can simply believe it and move on. Every moment of truth provides us with a whole new set of questions.
In the bible, Jesus says that the most important thing is to Love God, and to Love your neighbour as you love yourself. Now we can take this as a great piece of truth and satisfy ourselves with that.... but that is actually not the point. It might be true... but it is not yet a walk of truth. It proposes a whole new set of questions... What is love? Who is God? Do I love myself and what does this mean? If not, why not? Who is my neighbour? And on and on it goes... Each of these questions leads us on a journey to take the true thing that the scriptures might say, and to actually allow it to resonate with our real, actual, everyday lives so that it can become truth in and through us.
Which actually requires intentionality from us. It requires us to actually care about what the scripture says, not just read it, believe it and move on because we've got our piece of truth.
Truth becomes a journey, not an endpoint. And it becomes a journey of relationship with God... as Christians we are not looking for ultimate knowledge about God but disconnected from God. We understand that our walk as a disciple is connected to actually coming to know more of who God is, and to be intimate with Him.
Which is perhaps why in the bible Jesus says "I am the way, the truth and the life". Jesus is truth. If we really want to know truth we do not find it in a bullet point, a doctrinal statement, or in our own revelation. We find it in walking with Jesus Christ.
This is real truth...
...truth that sets us free
...relationship
...journey
...Jesus Christ.
When we see truth simply as an endpoint, we can become arrogant about our realisation of truth. We can start to act like we have it all together and we look at others and tell them they should become like us. We can become the authority on situations and conditions. We see ourselves as the ones with the answers.
But in actual fact, our truth is in knowing and walking with Jesus Christ. And we are on a journey to know Him and to follow Him. A following that requires humility and servanthood. A following that requires us to leave behind comparisons and competitions, to leave behind posturing and ambition, to leave behind hypocritical attitudes, and to realise that our job is not to tell people how they should be like us, but to invite people into the journey of walking with Christ so that they too may know the truth - and it can set them free.
So if that is you... welcome!
I thought I could kick this whole thing off by actually talking a bit about knowledge and truth. So yeah - we're starting with the light stuff :-)
The scriptures say that "you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free". But what is truth, and how do we know it? I have spent much of my Christian life trying to arrive at the knowledge of this kind of truth, and I think there have been moments in my life when I do seem to have particular clarity - and this clarity helps propel me into a place of freedom.
But as I have thought through my faith a lot more, I have begun to realise that my faith is actually.... 'faith'.... And the more I seek to know things, the more I realise that I don't actually really know too much at all. The more I seek to know about God, the more God's infiniteness seems to impose itself on my rather small human brain.
So how are we to know the truth? I think perhaps for me I had seen knowledge and truth from the wrong perspective. So there are a couple of thoughts I would like to propose here:
Firstly, we can often think that knowledge and truth are an endpoint. We think that what we are doing is trying to work our way through to figuring out the idea/truth/point of it all. We are trying to arrive at truth. But the more I have thought about things, the more I have walked with God and the more I have studied etc, the more I have realised that every piece of truth is a beginning, not an ending. We are not aiming to arrive at truth so that then we can simply believe it and move on. Every moment of truth provides us with a whole new set of questions.
In the bible, Jesus says that the most important thing is to Love God, and to Love your neighbour as you love yourself. Now we can take this as a great piece of truth and satisfy ourselves with that.... but that is actually not the point. It might be true... but it is not yet a walk of truth. It proposes a whole new set of questions... What is love? Who is God? Do I love myself and what does this mean? If not, why not? Who is my neighbour? And on and on it goes... Each of these questions leads us on a journey to take the true thing that the scriptures might say, and to actually allow it to resonate with our real, actual, everyday lives so that it can become truth in and through us.
Which actually requires intentionality from us. It requires us to actually care about what the scripture says, not just read it, believe it and move on because we've got our piece of truth.
Truth becomes a journey, not an endpoint. And it becomes a journey of relationship with God... as Christians we are not looking for ultimate knowledge about God but disconnected from God. We understand that our walk as a disciple is connected to actually coming to know more of who God is, and to be intimate with Him.
Which is perhaps why in the bible Jesus says "I am the way, the truth and the life". Jesus is truth. If we really want to know truth we do not find it in a bullet point, a doctrinal statement, or in our own revelation. We find it in walking with Jesus Christ.
This is real truth...
...truth that sets us free
...relationship
...journey
...Jesus Christ.
When we see truth simply as an endpoint, we can become arrogant about our realisation of truth. We can start to act like we have it all together and we look at others and tell them they should become like us. We can become the authority on situations and conditions. We see ourselves as the ones with the answers.
But in actual fact, our truth is in knowing and walking with Jesus Christ. And we are on a journey to know Him and to follow Him. A following that requires humility and servanthood. A following that requires us to leave behind comparisons and competitions, to leave behind posturing and ambition, to leave behind hypocritical attitudes, and to realise that our job is not to tell people how they should be like us, but to invite people into the journey of walking with Christ so that they too may know the truth - and it can set them free.
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