At a recent inter-faith service the service concluded with the famous blessing from Aaron. (Numbers 6)
“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”
Of course, this benediction is a fitting close to any service. However, underneath this blessing, written in the order of service, a brief postscript stated the following:
This prayer expresses one person’s hope that God bestow a blessing upon another and that blessings are not given, but must be earned by seeking goodness and acting righteously.
I had to do a double take. Did I really just read that? The blessing God promises in Numbers 6 is one that must be earned?? God’s face will smile on me with a benevolent gaze, only if I act righteously?? God gives His grace given only to those who deserve it. Oh my.
Please let this not be true.
Perhaps I shouldn’t read too much into it. I’m sure the author meant well and since I know from experience people almost never read the bulletin so I’m probably the only one who even noticed it was in there.
But, if this statement is true, doesn’t this mean that if I indeed enjoy God’s blessing, I don’t even really need to thank Him for the generous bestowal of His undeserved gifts. After all, He’s giving me what I deserve. I can simply nod in recognition that He has paid me my dues. He has simply given me what my behavior merited.
Alas, this is the default mode of the human heart. It is our knee-jerk reaction. I want to save myself. I can’t handle not being righteous. I can’t stand the thought. It is too much reality for me to bear. I want to deserve it. I want to try better next time. I cling to my innocence.
Robert Farrar Capon is an Episcopal priest and the author of “Between Noon and Three.” Capon says it is “the most important piece of writing I have ever done.” In short, it is a book about the “Divine insanity that brings everything out of nothing.”
I quoted Capon in a recent sermon but it wasn’t until today I was able to read the context of the quote. I’ll let Capon have the last word. He deserves to be quoted at length:
“I said grace cannot prevail until law is dead, until moralizing is out of the game. The precise phrase should be, until our fatal love affair with the law is over-- until, finally and for good, our lifelong certainty that someone is keeping score has run out of steam and collapsed. As long as we leave, in our dramatizations of grace, one single hope of a moral reckoning, one possible recourse to salvation by bookkeeping, our freedom-dreading hearts will clutch it to themselves……
“Restore to us, Preacher, the comfort of merit and demerit. Prove for us that there is at least something we can do, that we are still, at whatever dim recess of our nature, the masters of our relationships. Tell us, Prophet, that in spite of all our nights of losing, there will yet be one redeeming card of our very own to fill the inside straight we have so long and so earnestly tried to draw to. But do not preach us grace. …..We insist on being reckoned with. Give us something, anything; but spare us the indignity of this indiscriminate acceptance.”
“Lord, let your servants depart in the peace of their proper responsibility. If it is not too much to ask, send us to bed with some few shreds of self-respect to congratulate ourselves upon. But if that is too hard, leave us at least the consolation of our self-loathing. Only do not force us free. What have we ever done but try as best we could? How have we so hurt you, even by failing, that you should now turn on us and say that none of it makes any difference, not even our sacred guilt?”
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
12 Easy Steps to Increasing Your Anxiety
12 Easy Steps to Increasing Your Anxiety
As a father, husband and as a leader of an organization, one of my biggest challenges in daily life, is handling anxiety. How do I prevent being maxed out, stressed out, freaked out and bummed out? Living without worry and anxiety is hard work. Living with worry and anxiety is even harder. If you insist on letting stress run your life, here are twelve practical steps that will guarantee high levels of anxiety and worry.
1) Keep going. Don’t take time-off. Sleep as little as you can. Work on Sunday. Leave no time for quiet reflection and play. Keep the pace high and the margins narrow.
2) Try to fix tomorrow’s problems today. Even though you may already feel depleted and overwhelmed, start thinking about how you can solve tomorrow’s problems. When you are done, begin worrying about the problems of others.
3) Keep your daily focus on the worst traits of the most immature person around you. Focus on what is wrong with them. React instinctually to them. Commit to changing them. Find two other people who will criticize their faults and who will validate your complaints.
4) Focus on everything you do not have. Talk about it. Dream about it. Hone the skills of dissatisfaction and murmuring. Think about all the good experiences you are missing out on. Somewhere, someone is having a better time than you are. They have a nicer home, more money and a hotter wife. Think about it.
5) Nurse your grudges. Keep track of all the ways you’ve been wronged. Don’t reconcile, forgive or make amends. Keep your distance from the people that have wronged you. If necessary, cut them off. Plan to retaliate. Never admit wrong-doing.
6) Make sure you never let people see the real you. Keep your true self hidden from others. Through careful image management you should be able to create the illusion that you have it all together. Keep this appearance up at all costs.
7) Let the opinions of other people control you. Ask these two questions every day: What are they saying about me? Is there anybody who really loves me?
8) Let your imagination run wild. Every single, negative event is surely part of a never ending pattern of defeat and difficulty. Every positive experience is probably a fluke. Even though you have no definite facts, feel free to jump to conclusions.
9) Ignore small but crucial details. Expend energy in putting these essential tasks off until they are past due. Keep working on them in your mind but don’t do anything about them.
10) Betray your deepest sense of what is right and find a way to justify it. Act contrary to what you feel you should do. If necessary, blame others.
11) Stop breathing. If you ensure that your breathing is shallow, you will reduce the oxygen to your brain. This will certainly prevent you from having a calming response to the stressors in your life.
12) Do not ask for help. Not from anyone. Assume that you are to tackle all your challenges on your own. Do not depend on God, trust in God or ask God for help.
As a father, husband and as a leader of an organization, one of my biggest challenges in daily life, is handling anxiety. How do I prevent being maxed out, stressed out, freaked out and bummed out? Living without worry and anxiety is hard work. Living with worry and anxiety is even harder. If you insist on letting stress run your life, here are twelve practical steps that will guarantee high levels of anxiety and worry.
1) Keep going. Don’t take time-off. Sleep as little as you can. Work on Sunday. Leave no time for quiet reflection and play. Keep the pace high and the margins narrow.
2) Try to fix tomorrow’s problems today. Even though you may already feel depleted and overwhelmed, start thinking about how you can solve tomorrow’s problems. When you are done, begin worrying about the problems of others.
3) Keep your daily focus on the worst traits of the most immature person around you. Focus on what is wrong with them. React instinctually to them. Commit to changing them. Find two other people who will criticize their faults and who will validate your complaints.
4) Focus on everything you do not have. Talk about it. Dream about it. Hone the skills of dissatisfaction and murmuring. Think about all the good experiences you are missing out on. Somewhere, someone is having a better time than you are. They have a nicer home, more money and a hotter wife. Think about it.
5) Nurse your grudges. Keep track of all the ways you’ve been wronged. Don’t reconcile, forgive or make amends. Keep your distance from the people that have wronged you. If necessary, cut them off. Plan to retaliate. Never admit wrong-doing.
6) Make sure you never let people see the real you. Keep your true self hidden from others. Through careful image management you should be able to create the illusion that you have it all together. Keep this appearance up at all costs.
7) Let the opinions of other people control you. Ask these two questions every day: What are they saying about me? Is there anybody who really loves me?
8) Let your imagination run wild. Every single, negative event is surely part of a never ending pattern of defeat and difficulty. Every positive experience is probably a fluke. Even though you have no definite facts, feel free to jump to conclusions.
9) Ignore small but crucial details. Expend energy in putting these essential tasks off until they are past due. Keep working on them in your mind but don’t do anything about them.
10) Betray your deepest sense of what is right and find a way to justify it. Act contrary to what you feel you should do. If necessary, blame others.
11) Stop breathing. If you ensure that your breathing is shallow, you will reduce the oxygen to your brain. This will certainly prevent you from having a calming response to the stressors in your life.
12) Do not ask for help. Not from anyone. Assume that you are to tackle all your challenges on your own. Do not depend on God, trust in God or ask God for help.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
The Carrot Seed
Sometimes lightning strikes while reading Jonathan a bed-time story.
This is that night.
This is that night.
Are we going to be skimmers?
Check this picture out. A bunch of people in an open field at the edge of town. A makeshift podium. A polished shovel. Ready to break ground for the American Protestant Church of The Hague. How did they come up with the idea to take Protestant Chapel at the Brussels World Expo apart, piece by piece, and move it to The Hague? Who thought of that? Who raised their eyebrows in disbelief at this hair-brained idea? Who made it happen? I admire these folks for their fearless imagination and the legacy they have left.
Will we honor their legacy by showing courageous leadership? Or will we be skimmers? Will we live off the risks and sacrifices of the bygone generation without significantly adding anything? You tell me.
Will we honor their legacy by showing courageous leadership? Or will we be skimmers? Will we live off the risks and sacrifices of the bygone generation without significantly adding anything? You tell me.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Why we need gospel preaching and prayer.
I rediscovered John Owen's treatise on the noetic effects of sin (that is the effects of sin on the mind, distorting both what counts as true and what can be recognized as true for the unbeliever) in James K.A. Smith's "Who's afraid of Post-Modernism?" In Book III.3 Owen says "What the sun is unto the world as unto things natural, that is the word and the preaching of it unto men as to things spiritual." Spiritual darkness is in and upon everyone until God, by an almighty and effectual work of the Spirit shines into our hearts.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Snare
In Judges 8 we read about the last moments of Gideon’s life. Most of the attention goes to Gideon’s death and the unfortunate reign of Gideon’s son, Abimelech. If you don’t pay attention to what happens just before, it is very easy to miss.
In Judges 8 the men of Israel say to Gideon “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also.” They want a leader, a king just like the other nations. Gideon responds with orthodoxy: “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you.” His subsequent behavior doesn't really jive with this however. He asks every Israelite to donate gold objects. From the spoils of war, the Israelites give earrings and bracelets, pendants and gold shekels. The massive amount of gold is then made into an ephod.
The ephod is an exquisite garment normally associated with priestly leadership. In Exodus 28:2 Aaron has such a garment for glory and for beauty. It reminded them of the glory of the Lord who is present in the midst of his people. Artisans would craft the colorful torso, the skillfully woven waistband, embedding it with precious stones and exquisite gold pieces. A jeweler would engrave signets and stones with the names of the sons of Israel. The ephod represented consecrated priestly leadership.
After the ephod has been manufactured, “all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family.” (Judges 8:27 ESV)
The ephod, that beautiful garment, wonderfully crafted, universally admired, became a snare. A trap. A noose around Gideon’s neck.
This phrase is telling for us:
• Prey doesn’t usually see the snare coming. A snare is concealed, strategically placed, using the elements of surprise and deceit. Gideon may have made the move towards official leadership in good faith, but it was essentially a kneejerk response to popularity.
• A snare is usually baited. It goes along with something enticing that arouses inordinate affections within you. For an animal a snare or a trap can be baited with eye-catching food. For a human being a snare can be baited with eye-catching image, popularity, money or success.
• In order to extricate yourself from the miserable complexities of your snare, you probably need outside intervention.
• An item that is morally neutral but has very strong appeal can become a snare. The Ephod was morally neutral. There wasn’t anything originally wrong with having an ephod and carrying out consecrated priestly leadership. The item and the idolatrous motivation behind it, carried it with it unintended but tragic consequences. It is a Trojan horse.
• A snare is an object that has very high symbolic value. The gold gathered from the people represented their victory, their powerful independence and success. Beyond the current market value of the gold, it had even higher symbolic value. The ephod was a symbol of the manly leadership the people desperately craved. Beyond being a beautiful garment it also had powerful symbolic value for Gideon and his identity as the people’s leader.
• Unless a snare is discovered and exposed for what it is, it will become a recurring source of trouble.
• A snare is a stratagem aimed at your spiritual and moral downfall.
What in your life, or mine could be a snare? What hidden object, technology or image leads to self-deception? What arouses inordinate affections? What snare makes your life complicated with obsessions, addictions and unhealthy attachments?
I suppose we each could have a variety of snares. For one person it might be the pressures of popularity and fame. For another it could be a new job or a project undertaken for all the wrong reasons. It could be a ministry strategy that carries unintended but tragic consequences. For another person it could be a technological device, like a television or a computer. It might also be a relationship or an addiction that does not lead to your flourishing, but instead contributes to your misery.
Do you know what, if anything, your snare is? Sometimes it is hard for you to discern what your particular snare is? Maybe you know, but perhaps you don’t want to know, or perhaps you can’t know because it is so perfectly disguised as something good and wonderful.
Maybe you need help getting extricated out of the complicated mess. A close friend or a spouse or a listening pastor might be able to help. Whatever it takes, get out now, so that you are not outwitted by the Enemy; for we are not ignorant of his designs.
In Judges 8 the men of Israel say to Gideon “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also.” They want a leader, a king just like the other nations. Gideon responds with orthodoxy: “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you.” His subsequent behavior doesn't really jive with this however. He asks every Israelite to donate gold objects. From the spoils of war, the Israelites give earrings and bracelets, pendants and gold shekels. The massive amount of gold is then made into an ephod.
The ephod is an exquisite garment normally associated with priestly leadership. In Exodus 28:2 Aaron has such a garment for glory and for beauty. It reminded them of the glory of the Lord who is present in the midst of his people. Artisans would craft the colorful torso, the skillfully woven waistband, embedding it with precious stones and exquisite gold pieces. A jeweler would engrave signets and stones with the names of the sons of Israel. The ephod represented consecrated priestly leadership.
After the ephod has been manufactured, “all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family.” (Judges 8:27 ESV)
The ephod, that beautiful garment, wonderfully crafted, universally admired, became a snare. A trap. A noose around Gideon’s neck.
This phrase is telling for us:
• Prey doesn’t usually see the snare coming. A snare is concealed, strategically placed, using the elements of surprise and deceit. Gideon may have made the move towards official leadership in good faith, but it was essentially a kneejerk response to popularity.
• A snare is usually baited. It goes along with something enticing that arouses inordinate affections within you. For an animal a snare or a trap can be baited with eye-catching food. For a human being a snare can be baited with eye-catching image, popularity, money or success.
• In order to extricate yourself from the miserable complexities of your snare, you probably need outside intervention.
• An item that is morally neutral but has very strong appeal can become a snare. The Ephod was morally neutral. There wasn’t anything originally wrong with having an ephod and carrying out consecrated priestly leadership. The item and the idolatrous motivation behind it, carried it with it unintended but tragic consequences. It is a Trojan horse.
• A snare is an object that has very high symbolic value. The gold gathered from the people represented their victory, their powerful independence and success. Beyond the current market value of the gold, it had even higher symbolic value. The ephod was a symbol of the manly leadership the people desperately craved. Beyond being a beautiful garment it also had powerful symbolic value for Gideon and his identity as the people’s leader.
• Unless a snare is discovered and exposed for what it is, it will become a recurring source of trouble.
• A snare is a stratagem aimed at your spiritual and moral downfall.
What in your life, or mine could be a snare? What hidden object, technology or image leads to self-deception? What arouses inordinate affections? What snare makes your life complicated with obsessions, addictions and unhealthy attachments?
I suppose we each could have a variety of snares. For one person it might be the pressures of popularity and fame. For another it could be a new job or a project undertaken for all the wrong reasons. It could be a ministry strategy that carries unintended but tragic consequences. For another person it could be a technological device, like a television or a computer. It might also be a relationship or an addiction that does not lead to your flourishing, but instead contributes to your misery.
Do you know what, if anything, your snare is? Sometimes it is hard for you to discern what your particular snare is? Maybe you know, but perhaps you don’t want to know, or perhaps you can’t know because it is so perfectly disguised as something good and wonderful.
Maybe you need help getting extricated out of the complicated mess. A close friend or a spouse or a listening pastor might be able to help. Whatever it takes, get out now, so that you are not outwitted by the Enemy; for we are not ignorant of his designs.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Cuddly Jesus?
I recently saw a CNN interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Ali is a former Dutch member of Parliament and an outspoken critic of Islam. Ali grew up in Kenya, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia and now considers herself a humanist. She said in the interview “Muslims would become better off if they leave Islam, and comes under a better moral system with Jesus as God. His message is all about love”. There's lots that could be said about this statement but I thought her rationale was most interesting. "They need to become Christians and follow Jesus. Everybody loves Jesus. Jesus is a sweet, cuddly, loving, kind of deity who can do no wrong." Ok, not word for word, but close and you get the idea.
I couldn't help but notice that this is quite a bit different than the Jesus I read about in the gospel of Matthew. In chapter 21 Matthew quotes the Psalmist and says "Jesus is the stone that the builders rejected...and the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him." I'm not recommending that we project our own macho culture and re-make Jesus into our own cultural image. Turning him into a super-hero of "Expendables" caliber will help no one. But Jesus as a woolly lamb meek and mild, is one of the strangest caricatures I've heard in the secular media for a while. Sunday School, maybe, but not on the news!!
Nevertheless, it made me wonder: What has happened to Christianity to make her say this? What makes her think that Christianity is "only" a moral system? What has happened to the message of Jesus that was once considered revolutionary, dangerous and heretical and is now domesticated, safe and sweet?
I couldn't help but notice that this is quite a bit different than the Jesus I read about in the gospel of Matthew. In chapter 21 Matthew quotes the Psalmist and says "Jesus is the stone that the builders rejected...and the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him." I'm not recommending that we project our own macho culture and re-make Jesus into our own cultural image. Turning him into a super-hero of "Expendables" caliber will help no one. But Jesus as a woolly lamb meek and mild, is one of the strangest caricatures I've heard in the secular media for a while. Sunday School, maybe, but not on the news!!
Nevertheless, it made me wonder: What has happened to Christianity to make her say this? What makes her think that Christianity is "only" a moral system? What has happened to the message of Jesus that was once considered revolutionary, dangerous and heretical and is now domesticated, safe and sweet?
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