March 07, 2011
Their Glory is in Their Shame
There was a letter-to-the-editor about a woman going to the community symphony event, sitting in the front row and playing and hand held computer game (with sound effects) throughout the sold out performance. I cringed at the letter, not because of the woman’s rudeness, but because I think I know her to be a lifelong believer. Whether in the church or the community, her Christianity always shares center stage with her need to be in the limelight by being bizarre. I can’t help but consider Paul’s statement, “For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.” (Phil 3:18 NIV)
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Gail;
-----Yesterday, I became quite flustered at the church I attend. In Sunday school, our pastor offered the concept that the Bible is not just a list of rules, but a story. Then in his sermon he drew on Simon Peter’s exuberant exhibition at Jesus’ transfiguration to suggest we must think less and listen more. Now, I don’t deny the Bible is a story. And I certainly do not balk at a need to listen. But the general effect of his overall message seemed to downplay both the need to obey the Word of God as written and to think carefully before claiming an understanding of what it means. Maybe I entirely misunderstood his intended idea, but I would less doubt this had he not begun the Sunday school class by offering divine evolution as an equally valid interpretation of the Creation account as its literal counterpart. “Whatever’s your bag, Man!” His general drift just seemed to smack too much of “believe what you want, but just say His name so we can all get along.”
-----The Bible is certainly the greatest of all stories. Yet, what part of “fear the Lord” are we being asked to ignore? (Read Prov 2:1-12.) Is it the part that asks us to search completely and think carefully? If fully engaging reason is not a part of understanding God’s Word, then are we not saying that God’s intended meaning in His writings are less important than our desired interpretations of them? How fearful can that be? But maybe the pastor’s encouragement was to receive God’s intentions through listening more than thinking. Maybe I am completely off base here, for I’ve never heard anything when I’ve put my Bible against my ear. I always thought writing on paper was for reading and that reading was highly involved with the thought process. Maybe I am wrong about this, but I think it is the bustle of the world and people around us that generates sounds for our listening. Yes, we hear wisdom. But that is an anthropomorphism for -uh- reasoning. A lot of folks claim to “hear God in their spirit”. But seeing what they have done in obedience to this “hearing” has often made me shudder. I can understand the element of fear in “listening to God“, however, I read it was His Scripture that He gave for our correction, instruction, and training in righteousness (II Tim 3:16). It seems to me it involve some rules for us to read.
-----Many are simply stated. “Outdo one another in showing honor.” (Rom 12:10b). Paul did not prescribe a lashing or anything for failure to do so. Neither did he say, “I suggest...” The Holy Spirit just meant what He wrote by Paul’s hand. Now we can see a place for listening. Had our dear sister-in-the-Lord been listening, she would have heard nobody else in the hall playing noisy computer games. They were showing one another honor. The effects of this simple rule are tremendous. Have you ever wondered where the etiquette of the pre-1960’s went and what it served? Etiquette is an expression of honor, which it served. It vanished with the disappearance of respect for obedience. Every time I see a young-adult girl half-mooning society through a G-string, I feel a twinge of regret about the exchanging of our etiquette for “your own bag, man.” It seems the contents in our own bags grow shorter of the fear of the Lord the more we cower from fully thinking through the rules of the Word and helping others to do the same.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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