The election continues to divide
friends, family and colleagues. I know one family, three generations, who
continue to blame each other for Trump’s victory and are no longer speaking to
one another. The election has given me to have a whole new appreciation and
understanding of divisions caused by faith. Jesus said, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did
not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to
turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a
daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will
be the members of his own household’” (Matt 10:34-36 NIV).
1 comment:
Gail;
-----Divisions are made of three elements. The healthy mind can not let go of a meaningful puzzle. It is a rather fundamental characteristic of all life -the mind must make sense out of the patterns it encounters. If the mouse pays no mind to the informative patterns around him, then he becomes cat food. If the cat pays no mind, then he misses the mouse and goes to bed hungry. Survival requires the mind to pay attention to patterns and to act accordingly. The Bible is a collection of information patterns meant to captivate the mind unto eternally healthy thinking. But most minds pay little or no heed to it; they go to bed hungry.
-----Being hungry, they press even harder to see the tasty mouse where there are no mice. They get caught up and lost in extraneous background information, clutching their mental tasks as if they were all there are. There is wonderful satisfaction awaiting the mind in the Word of God, but the obfuscation of mental clutter in the least veils it, and even more, the aggregation of a world-full of minds have built a very believable image of deceit. And they make it far more available than God’s Word. So it becomes easy for even the believer to become caught up in cultural obfuscation and deceit, searching for answers where none grow.
-----The mind naturally strives to maintain the shape of its core beliefs no matter how true or false they might be. There’s always fear involved in change. The mouse must maintain the good shape of his information regarding cat behavior to make it to his next piece of cheese. If the cat is well fed, he will be reluctant to change for fear of loosing his mice. That’s why we must fear God as well as trust Him. If we fear Him more than we fear changing, then He will be able to work change in us towards the truth. But, without that fear the mind fences out differences to protect its beliefs. And not all differences are deceit.
-----Paul says division is important so that we might know who’s genuine (I Cor 11:19.) When some people get stubbornly hooked on a falsehood, division will arise where these three mental elements are present. The deceit bearing mind will stick to its deceit relentlessly. The mind full of truth will not change. Therefore -division. It’s inevitable. But knowing who’s genuine is not a product of first knowing the truth. Knowing who’s genuine is a product of observing how each side of the division treats the other side. The side which maintains respect and honor for at least the human dignity of the other side is the first clue. The side which is always willing to address the issue with rational discussion, acknowledging the truths held by the other side and exposing its rational failures with humble gentleness is almost a dead giveaway that it is the side of the division fearing God more than change. For the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, and wisdom leads to guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit exposes patterns of truth always with Scripture in mind.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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