Saturday, February 1, 2025

Why did Jesus Weep?

“When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.” -John 11:33-38

I have seen countless social media posts about the story of Lazarus in John 11. Specifically, why does Jesus weep in verse 35? You typically hear one of two interpretations.

One, he was mourning over Lazarus. This makes no sense to me. When you read verses 1-6 it’s plain that he purposely waited for Lazarus to die. As Jesus indicates, God and his son would be glorified through his death. As well as, so that they would believe through that glory. As indicated by verse 14. From his point of view, Lazarus wasn't really gone. 

Two, that he was grieving with Mary and Martha. This also makes no sense. If he had decided right then to bring him back, it would. However, as we already established Lazarus’ fate was already decided. Why waste time mourning with them when he was about to take away the reason for their sadness? We must look closer and probe beyond the misleading details to realize he was weeping for them, and not with them.

Some translations may have a heading like 'Jesus comforts the sisters of Lazarus.' This is not part of the original text and helped perpetuate this misunderstanding I am about to reveal.

The story also documents a few witness reactions. When this happens in the gospels, it often highlights their misunderstanding of the situation. This scene is no different. They are not an accurate gauge of what is really going on. It's a testament to how thick-headed the people were, and still are. 

However, there is one definitive detail here that clarifies everything. Notice the phrase ‘deeply moved’ is used twice above. This often leads us to assume empathy on the part of Jesus. However, the original Greek tells a very different story. The word in both cases is embrimaomai, and the deep movement it expresses is one of indignation, not sympathy. It means to snort in anger, to sternly warn, or to groan. Some older translations are far less vague by using the word 'groan.' The Message paraphrase is actually the most literal by saying “a deep anger welled up in him.” Not that I am trying to portray Jesus as completely without empathy. Rather say it's kinder to correct people for their obvious errors, instead of patronizing them only to enable them to repeat their mistakes.

Knowing this we can see that Jesus wept because, in his eyes, they were showing a lack of faith. Proving they did not understand what the messiah was capable of, or what that truly meant for his followers. I dare say we still don’t understand, and he still weeps over us because of our weak faith, and pathetic understanding.

This begs the question, Why? Poor translations aside, there is an apparent desire to water down his actual intent of correction. This may be a sign we love and cherish our mortal lives too much. We are not acting as if we truly believe it’s a mere drop in the ocean of eternity. That we are more concerned with our comfort, and short-term emotional distress than our long-term spiritual well-being. We want a God who takes trials and tribulations away so we don’t have to face them, instead of strengthening us by guiding us through them.

For example, God could have guided the Israelites around the Red Sea, it was a shorter path. (Exodus 13:17) He could have made the Red Sea disappear, but he chose to guide them through it instead. He could have parted it the moment the Hebrews got to the shore. Yet he waited until the Egyptians caught up to them. Yet by doing it the way he did, God's power is revealed. Also, the pharaoh would never be able to make trouble for them again. Deep down we want to be God’s spoiled children, not his victorious heirs. We want just enough faith to get by in the wilderness, not take hold of the promised land. We don't want to endure our hope, faith, and trust being tested for a second. We want to remain spiritually immature so we don’t have to take on the responsibilities of fully adult heirs of the kingdom who are set apart for a purpose. Yet we wonder why our virtual pharaoh keeps returning to haunt us.

This poor attitude definitely shows in the present-day church. What will you do about the fact Jesus may still be weeping over your lack of progress in your spiritual journey?

The Visual PARABLEist


 Jesus wept at the triumphal entry as well and for the same reason. Few talk about this passage though.

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

State of the Church

In previous years I have done other state of the church posts like What’s the matter with church and Revival. I do this because if we don’t hold ourselves accountable, who are we to correct anybody else. (Matt 7:5) It seems like an apt time to revisit the basic idea and address recent trends, and my growing understanding of the creed. Faith is ultimately a journey. As much as we may realize we need to be at point D, we need to complete A-C first. That can be hard to do when everyone around you is fixated on points E or F and pushing you to meet them where they are. Disrespecting the process of Ever-increasing Glory. (2nd Cor. 3:18) Yet they never consider that so much lies beyond point F.

The biggest issue is the root of many others. People are only going as deep as their comfort will allow. Often reducing the gospel to simply being a good boy. So we frequently don’t challenge ourselves to become better disciples or more righteous people. Let alone set apart for a purpose. Getting stuck in maintaining our clean slate, instead of allowing our story to be rewritten. Many churches may even cater to this by only going deep enough to maintain attendance, rather than risk frightening people with uncomfortable truths. For example, we live in an age where belief, knowledge, and action are seen as separate and very distinct things. Yet in Christ’s time if you truly believed something you would educate yourself about it, and act upon that knowledge. Your belief was not seen as authentic otherwise. So this idea of “just believe” is not as passive as we often portray it. (James 1:22)

This brings us to my next point. Confusing validation for restoration. As I often say "God made us, and the world breaks us, but Christ can remake us." Yet in a culture so motivated by acceptance, we value the approval of the world that broke us, more than being remade in the image of our Creator. So we end up identifying with and making communities around our trauma, instead of the wholeness Christ offers. We have seen this phenomenon in popular music for decades. People feel less like outsiders when their feelings are validated through music when nobody else will. But if an action is unholy, self-destructive, or harmful to others; validation changes none of that. It only makes us feel better about our bad behavior for a time. It doesn't save us from the inevitable consequences.
   Offering empathy and understanding can open the door to exploring a fuller truth and eventually living that truth. Unfortunately too many only go deep enough to get to the door, yet never enter it where a transformed victorious life lies. It’s far easier to stay with the wounds we are familiar with than the healing we are not. Consider this. When we validate our brokenness, we're also rationalizing the actions of anyone who may have had a hand in breaking us. Is that what you want to do? Still, your healing is between you and Christ, not the offender. Why would you give them that power over you, other than to avoid facing your scars?

This leads to my next point. Our relationship with our past. We often see opposite extremes on this one. One side uses past trauma as an excuse to behave badly, not mature, and never become born again as a new creature. (2nd Cor 5:17) The other extreme just says to pull yourself up by your bootstraps, even if they are too worn and tattered to do so. Either way, both are avoiding truly facing and overcoming the past. Grace may absolve us of our past wrongs. But healing of the scars behind the sins is a completely separate entity. This is critical for overcoming our continued slavery to sin that trips us up in our walk. If more people embraced healing and overcame, rather than relied on greasy grace. More people would be inspired to choose restoration, rather than mere validation. 
   The consequence is that the church is merely offering shallow legalistic definitions. Instead of offering the in-depth advice of someone who has been there. Such people tend to be very prideful in their correction. Pride ultimately uplifts self more than glorifies God. No wonder God opposes the proud and the whitewashed validation that goes with it. (Matthew 23:27, Proverbs 3:34)

This is probably why we rely more on tradition and convention than in-depth knowledge and understanding. Which is my final point. (Matt 15:6, Mark 7:8) It's an easy answer that offers a mere illusion of complete truth.  Tradition has a habit of getting watered down over time if we don’t maintain its foundation through continued education of its intended purpose. Revolving the tradition around the truths we are most comfortable with, yet glossing over the details we don’t like as much. Plus, systematizing truth lacks sincerity in practice since it’s often followed more out of sentiment, than God’s will.

As you can see these points are interconnected. All of which feed a shallow, powerless, and insincere faith that inspires nobody. So it’s no wonder the church is struggling and in such a sad state. What are you going to do about that?


A man praising God with a raised hand, but withholding his heart


Saturday, October 12, 2024

Hope & Trust in a world without either

There is a curious parable in Luke chapter 16. It stands out among Christ’s parables since unlike most, it’s NOT a revelation about God’s Kingdom. Rather a commentary about humanity. A testament to where we should and shouldn’t place our hope and trust. (Psalm 118:8, Jeremiah 17:5-6) So it’s a parable we must read carefully, because without this understanding we may misconstrue a bad example as a good one, and take certain statements out of context. So let’s break this down carefully.

Luke 16:1-15

Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.
So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’
 
The setup of this obscure parable. An audit of a dishonest manager if you will, to use modern vernacular.

“The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’”
So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
“ ‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied.
“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’
“Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’
“ ‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied.
“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’ “ 
The manager weighs his options, only to rely on what he knows, manipulation and underhandedness, rather than doing the right thing.

The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. 
An unexpected thing to hear Jesus say, but one must consider the context. The rich man does not represent the Lord or anything divine in this particular parable. Unlike many others where God is interjected somehow.

For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 
Dishonorable people are more likely to betray people like themselves. Who are less likely to judge them or hold them accountable. In dog-eat-dog industries, there is a culture of greed and disrespect for those who don’t live by the harsh reality of it. Even if you are on the wrong end of it, as we see here. Alphas, as we often call them, know people will try to undermine them to get ahead. They anticipate and prepare for it. This is what makes them top dogs. This is not a recommendation from Christ. Rather a simple but unfortunate fact that we must keep in mind when dealing with worldly people. All the more reason to be wary of said communities.

I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. 
Again, out of context, it may seem like Jesus is telling us to buy friends. In context, he is just exposing the shallowness of a world that we may envy at times. Dishonorable people want to get people indebted to them because they are always keeping score. They know nothing else, so they can’t recommend anything else. If we earn our relationships through provision, that is likely what it will take to maintain them. Such people love the provision more than the providers. This is why we shouldn’t trust them. In the original Greek ‘Eternal’ refers to a long period of time, not something divine.

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.
So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

Here is where God’s Judgment finally comes into play. Those who will do bad things for you, or with you, will also do bad things to you. As it is often said, trust what people do more than what they say. It paints a more accurate picture of their character. God watches and blesses character, even when people are too mesmerized by wealth and popularity to notice actual integrity.

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
 
A famous verse in and of itself. Often quoted outside the context of the parable. The manager served only self, and he used money to do that. He also coveted what his master had, and hated him for it. Don’t trust anyone who puts their hope in money. They will betray you for money if given the chance.

The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 
They didn’t like being held accountable to their master either. They didn’t like a spotlight being put on their superficial hearts. Since it exposed their unrighteousness.

He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. 
The Pharisees, like the shrewd manager, have earned all the respect, admiration, and relationships they had through worldly means. Yet God sees right through this thin veneer. What do you value more in this world so motivated by acceptance, approval, and validation? Where does your genuine self-worth lie?

What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.” 
But unlike the rich man and the Pharisees, God sees nothing noble, commendable, or trustworthy about any of this. As I implied earlier the parable is an example of a bad example. What not to emulate about human nature.

Jesus also said ““See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”-Matthew 10:16

When you put it together The takeaway is don’t be naive, but be cautious in navigating this wicked world. Yet don’t let caution lead to bitterness and cynicism. Most of the time we go to either extreme, instead of a wise balance.

a man with two shields, deflecting arrows from behind
“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.”
-1 Corinthians 16:13

Saturday, September 7, 2024

In the Wrong

John 16:7-11 is a curious passage about the Holy Spirit indeed. I wonder why it hasn’t jumped out at me before. Then again, it’s a long stringy statement. It’s easy to let it all run together in our minds without thinking about the specific ramifications. So I will break it down for you, detail by detail.

“But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”
    As much as we think nothing could be better than a face-to-face with Jesus. He indicates otherwise. In the Spirit is greater than in the flesh.

“When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 
    The very first thing the Holy Spirit was tasked to do was correct us in our misunderstanding about three related, but specific details. They happen to be critical points of contention within the church today. The whys he gives are likely different from what you would expect. This is a testament to how wrong we may be about these three things. Most commentators I have seen on this don’t seem to consider this.

“About sin, because people do not believe in me.” 
    Many just say this means unbelief is a sin. However, if one does not believe, then they won’t have the Spirit. So He can’t prove anything to them, that must come from elsewhere. Besides, unbelief is hardly the root of all sin. Surely the Spirit would need to correct more than just disbelief for those with the Spirit. So let’s probe deeper and consider the root of their disbelief. Those who did not believe Him to be the Messiah, it was ultimately because they didn’t like what he had to say about the truth. It did not align with their presuppositions about scripture. Jesus frequently had to correct their application of it. (Matthew 5-7) So they rejected his authority because recognizing His authority would also undermine their authority and their own will that they had obviously interjected into the scriptures. Is that not similar to what denouncers of the Spirit do today? Do we still hold onto some of these Pharisee-like ideas about sin? This is why we may be in the wrong.

“About righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer.” 
    We need more than intellect to truly understand righteousness. It is more of a sincerity of heart issue after all. Jesus seems to be implying that the disciples didn’t understand fully themselves at this point. Perhaps we oversimplify and misconstrue righteousness ourselves to this day. If we only focus on avoiding wrongs, but not on embracing the right, we surely do. A sign we have shunned the Spirit. (Galatians 5:16-18) Clearly, Jesus thought future generations of leaders would need constant guidance to be truly righteous. It makes you wonder why so many teachers simply define everything and never lift a finger to help people live it. (Matthew 23:4) This is why we may be in the wrong.

“About judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”
     "Prince of this world" is a euphemism for the devil. He was the one who led mankind astray in the Garden of Eden, which brought judgment to us. Yet Jesus, the second Adam, overcame Satan in the wilderness. Condemning the judgment Satan brought on humanity. (Matthew 4:1-11) Even though Jesus talked about God’s Judgment often, dedicating many parables to it. People still project an Old Testament mindset into it, as if are still condemned. They forget that there is absolutely only one judge, and it isn’t us. (James 4:11-12) God wants us to be a part of so many aspects of the body of Christ, but not as a judge. So it seems we still covet what we do not have. We were called to seek and save the lost, so they may escape judgment through hope in the gospel, by the power of the Spirit. Not seek and judge the lost, instilling hopelessness through the law that we are unable to keep in the power of our own flesh. (Galatians 3) This is why we may be in the wrong.

I recall a time someone telling me that they initially hated Jesus because a woman from his church told him the reason his mother was sick, was because his mom was a sinner and was being punished for it. Not only did she utter a heresy (John 9:1-3) she was guilty of potentially leading a child astray. (Luke 17:1-2) She did not have a good grasp on the reality of sin, judgment, or how to lead people to righteousness. I wish I could say this was an isolated incident, but many still ascribe to this primitive idea. Many are also more motivated by pride, and only use the gospel to establish their own sense of superiority. (Romans 12:16) However, if they had the Spirit as a guide they wouldn’t have committed a sin, in a misguided attempt to combat sin.

An individual or even a church without the Spirit is inevitably going to be in the wrong somehow. Since by the power of the flesh, we are effectively trying to walk through the eye of a needle. By our own logic and understanding alone, we are so beneath God. Incapable of truly comprehending the depths of the truth to the fullest. Only able to ascribe to the juvenile letter of the law approach that leaves no room for the blood of Christ and the Spirit of grace that comes with it.


Jesus dripping his blood on a scroll to the horror of an observer

“Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him. “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.” -John 5:22-27

Saturday, August 31, 2024

Unconditional VS Boundaries

I keep seeing posts about unconditional love. They ultimately end up qualifying it somehow. Effectively putting conditions on unconditional love ironically enough. Yet these same people often talk about boundaries, which are technically conditions we place on love too. My fear is that people are playing these notions off each other in a way that they become the recipients of all the benefits, but don’t have to reciprocate. True love should be symbiotic, not parasitic. 

This got me thinking about where this idea even comes from. It often gets painted as Biblical, but is it? I could only find one instance of the word unconditional in the Bible, but it had nothing to do with Love. (Numbers 3:9) It was also specific to the NASB translation. (I limited my search to more scholarly translations in this case) Of course, many of these scriptural concepts are presented abstractly, not systematically. So that in itself is not necessarily evidence of anything.

Grace is often seen as an example of unconditional love. Yet it is somewhat dependent upon repentance though. With that being said, repentance is not a three-strikes and your-out concept. The Israelites blew way past that just in their 40 years in the wilderness. Jesus set a very different bar with his 70x7 statement. (Matt. 18:22) So perhaps the confusion lies in application. The church in its humanness often seems to offer grace inconsistently. Freely offering it to some. Yet stingy with it for others. Not that the world is any better by their so-called standard.

Perhaps the truly operative word here is love itself. The world today often equates it with tolerance and acceptance. So much so we cannot separate who we are from what we do. Meaning if you love someone, you can’t correct or question them, because that would make it conditional. This is a notoriously short-sighted view that will lead to terrible consequences when people set boundaries around their self-destructive and abusive behaviors. Which they do. God would never allow himself to be that foolish with love, even if we do. That is why his love is associated more with discipline, than tolerance. (Hebrews 12:4-13) Yet acceptance applied to unconditional love is a prime example of the double standard that I alluded to. We often expect people to tolerate things from us, that we would never accept from anyone. Even Biblically speaking, no one is expected to tolerate infidelity after all. (Matthew 5:31,32) So in that since love should be conditional.

Which brings up another aspect. Want versus need. For example, many want to win the lottery. Yet statistics show most lottery winners are flat broke within 5 years of the last payment being received. This is a testament to how giving somebody something that they are not mature enough to handle can be a bad thing. Since what they wanted was not what they really needed. A truly loving person understands this and puts need before want, even if some call that conditional in their immaturity. Yet in our limited mortal nature, we often fail to discern this accurately. Often interjecting our comfort into the needs of others. There is also more to need than just basic physical ones. The tail end of 1st Corinthians 12 actually lifts up this notion of varying spiritual needs. Instead of a one-size-fits-all application as people tend to favor. Especially if they are the standard. 

This highlights another subtle Biblical point that most have overlooked. Yet may be the answer we truly need. 1st Corinthians 12 through 14 are all part of the same broader passage. To lump the 13th “love” chapter in with spiritual gifts implies something. To truly love in a Godly way, we must do so in the spirit, not the flesh. When you get down to it, all these unrealistic notions about unconditional love, boundaries, and the double standards associated with them likely all occur because we try to love with the sinful nature of the flesh instead. Only the Spirit can navigate us through this complex notion without becoming self-serving in application. So if the church universal is seen as unloving. It is either devoid of spirit or being looked at merely through the lens of the flesh. It has become quite apparent that the world around us is doing just that, rather unapologetically too. All the more reason to not love as they do.

Let’s face it, we live in a world that wants to take love, rather than give love. This one detail ultimately turns something beautiful, into something ugly. With that being said, I would like to propose eliminating the phrase “unconditional love” from our vernacular. It’s just too misleading and unrealistic. It is not the ultimate standard that the world would have you believe.  I propose we embrace “agape love” instead. With the understanding that it is dependent upon the Holy Spirit to truly fulfill.


the Holy spirit manifesting as a heart over someone.


Saturday, August 24, 2024

Community of Factions

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. -Galatians 5:19-21

Ever read or possibly watched the movie based on the book Divergent. It’s a dystopian tale about a society broken into factions. These factions revolved around what each group believed was the ultimate answer to the world’s ills. Which happened to be where their individual natural talents lie. Other factions are often seen as a problem getting in the way of their one-size-fits-all brand of progress. Is this not a reflection of the church universal right now? Broken up into doctrinal factions. This is yet another example of the church following human nature instead of the Holy Spirit. Where we only want to emphasize what we are comfortable with, so we never have to challenge ourselves.

Worship/Love. Churches that center on worship tend to be about provoking feelings. They just want to help the people get happy. As if a whitewash of happiness truly transforms the heart, or honors God. A close cousin to that is love. However, love-centered churches tend to reduce the concept to mere superficial feelings as the world does. So both, if not the same church, effectively turn emotions into an idol. Yet they fail to recognize that the word emotion never appears in the Bible, not once. All because their actual understanding of the Bible is so very shallow.

Outreach. Churches that get overly fixated on evangelism and missions tend to be about recruiting recruiters for the sake of numbers. Yet once they get people in the door, what do they have to offer them but an expectation to recruit. Such churches always run into the same wall. A tepid response to the call of outreach. Some people just don’t have those particular sets of gifts, so they get treated as second-class. Even those who do are sometimes too broken to jump head-first into the mission right away. Since they’ve never been taught wholeness, or anything else not outreach-related. So these churches often just end up fueling people's feelings of inadequacy, instead of walking them through the healing they need to embrace their purpose. Which may, in fact, be outreach, or possibly preparing and equipping people for their purpose. Equipping is a stepping step some such churches like to jump over, only to fall on their face. (Eph. 4:11-13)

Obedience. Much like the Pharisees, such churches are mostly about defining righteousness and expecting people to live it, without actually getting involved. Yet they never address the ultimate cause of the bitter fruit of sin. Which always takes root in the heart. Those who don’t get driven away by shame, just end up faking it. Since they have never been taught wholeness of heart either. Does not Romans 2:4 say it’s God’s kindness that leads us to repentance? So why does this faction only want the emulate his wrath?

While this is far from an exhaustive list, it covers the most common ones I have observed. The irony of it all is that they are constantly pointing fingers at one another saying their gospel is incomplete. Yet they are all correct in saying so. If only they understood that the Holy Spirit would show how all these seemingly incompatible elements actually are dependent on one another.

Factions are listed as acts of the sinful nature of the flesh for a reason. Yet nobody wants to talk about it the same way as all the others. A subtle admission of guilt perhaps. A truly righteous church that follows the Spirit won’t be adding to this particular problem in the body of Christ. Yet those who do are clearly not following the will of God, only their own. Granted, people are frequently in different stages of their spiritual journey. So we are never going to all agree, all the time. However, if we’re continuing to follow the spirit, learn, and mature throughout our lives; shouldn’t the denominations be balancing out?

I know a guy who says “We practice Christianity, not church-inanity. This means our institutional bias’ has a way of shifting our focus away from what the institution was meant to stand for, in favor of the man-made institution itself. So we never question their particular outlook on any detail.

When King David was within the will of God, he was unstoppable. But when he wasn’t, his kingdom started to fall apart. It is no different for us, we could be a force to be reckoned with. Yet until we consider that we may not understand as well as we think and own the faults within the institution, that won’t come to pass.


a body in 5 pieces

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the 
head, that is, Christ. -Ephesians 4:15



Wednesday, August 21, 2024

Spiritual Community

I was looking up passages about community, because let’s face it, it’s considered a vital part of what the church is. Yet it seems to be a place where the current church often struggles these days. Hence the desire to seek wisdom in correcting perceived problems. Certainly, there must be more to it than just throwing a bunch of people together and expecting it to emerge organically as we typically do. While that may be adequate for some personalities. Not so much for other more aloof temperaments. As of now, I have not found any passages on how to cultivate community via some forgotten systematic formula. However, there are a few models given to show us what a church community should look like. (Eph. 4, 1st Cor. 12) Within these examples, there is a shared detail that grants us some practical direction on how to actually fulfill said examples. That being the Holy Spirit. To make these models work, we must follow the Holy Spirit to escape the trappings of pride and self that plague communities. Since the current-day church does not actually resemble either of these models at all, one can only conclude we are following human nature more than the Spirit. So it’s no wonder church communities are often dysfunctional. 

Consider this, according to psychologists, the desire for community is so strong with humanity, that we will try to build a community around just about anything. Including toxic things that only encourage self-destructive behavior. For example, street gangs. Technically a community, but that in itself does not make them beneficial. This should stress why we need more than human will to guide our church communities. Therein lies our first obstacle. Most current churches only give the Holy Spirit lip service at best. Others outright denounce the Holy Spirit, saying the only relevant authority of God's will today is the Bible. There are a few problems with this questionable argument though. 

    1. The statement itself violates the very scripture they profess. (1st Thes. 5:19)
    2. While the Bible can give commands and define righteousness we often need help in application. In the time of Christ, Jesus was constantly correcting the religious authorities in the application of scripture, and questioning their sincerity and motives. Naturally, we still need something more for the specific details of living it out correctly. Christ called the Spirit the Helper (or Advocate depending on the translation) for a reason. (John 14:16 & 15:26)
    3. The Bible can tell us that we are Set Apart for a purpose. But we need the Spirit to lead us to what our specific purpose is. It’s no wonder everyone tells me “I don’t know what my purpose is.”They are asking ministers and teachers, not the Spirit.
    4. The Bible can define sin. Only the spirit can reveal what the specific root of it in you is. Or what you specifically need to address to overcome it. The oversimplified whitewash-like advice of “stop it” has only led to frustration and repeated backsliding. The spirit can also give us the strength to face our wounds and resist, so we can actually live by said definitions. (Eph. 3:16)
    5. While some argue the Holy Spirit was only relevant in the apostolic age, let me refer you back to John 14:16 where Jesus says the the spirit would be with us FOREVER. Legalists even try to put a time limit on “blasphemy of the Spirit.” Even though there is no reference to time at all in the applicable passages. (Matt. 12:31-32, Mark 3:28-30, Luke 12:8-10) Some may use this made-up excuse to rationalize their blatant blasphemy. For others, it may be more about arrogance. They assume that if miraculous things still happened today they would be the first to experience it. They would rather change the script than admit they are not nearly as Holy as they assume.

“. . . The Helper can never be packaged or programmed to fit any man-devised plan. . . “ -Catherine Marshall, The Helper

Here in lies many people's issues with the Holy Spirit, our human nature likes our systematic and predictable formulas. As well as our ability to control the narrative and outcome. If we deny the Spirit, we think He can’t get in the way of our less-than-divine plans.

Granted we will always need the Bible as a litmus test, to remind us of our ultimate goals in the Christian walk. So as not to confuse our own emotions with the Spirit. Or possibly an unclean spirit that would deceive us. In short, the Bible tells us where we need to go, but the Spirit tells us how to get there. But even the Bible will do you no good if you rely on blasphemers of the Spirit with ulterior motives to explain it to you.

The Holy Spirit flying out of the Bible and heading the opposite way the reader is facing.

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” -John 3:8