In the past year 3 people in my direct family have been diagnosed with cancer. While on the phone with my father-in-law, it occurred to me that to ask, "What exactly is cancer?" My father-in-law is not a doctor, but perhaps that's why I could understand his explanation. "Cancer" he explained, "is when cells in the body begin to destroy healthy tissues in the body. The get some wrong information that confuses them and they begin to feed on and destroy the healthy cells in the body."
That explanation has become the foundation for some reflection about the body of Christ. I believe that we've become our own worst enemies. Anything that makes us turn against one another with malice or a heart that is "biting and devouring one another" is similar to cancer. We "throw the baby out with the bathwater" and destroy healthy cells in the body of Christ.
The days we live in are full of complexity. The "church" abounds with many things paraded as Christian, backed up with a verse or two from Scripture, that are far from being an authentic expression of Jesus Christ. It's a compromise with the "spirit of the age" born out of unbelief at best, and downright ungodliness at worste. If the body of Christ refuses to discern diseases it will die of "spiritual AIDS", which is one portion of the battle we face today.
This is complexified however by the fact that in our desire to be discerning, it's entirely possible for us to go to the other extreme and become a "spiritual cancer cell" in the body and turn against the body of Christ by failing to recognize the body in truth. One passage that I've found especially helpful in this regards has been Phillipians 4, especially in light of the circumstances that this church was experiencing. The church was on the verge of self-destruction because two of the leading saints were embroiled in a dispute of some sort. People were taking sides or feeling caught in the middle. An atmosphere of suspicion and mistrust was creeping in and eroding the vitality of the corporate expression of Christ.
It's in this light, we're told to "Rejoice in the Lord always," and to focus upon on "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute... etc." and to throw off anxiety and to pray instead of worrying.
How is this a rememedy for "cancer in the body"? First, recognize that the battle is to captilize on the circumstance to get us focused on problems to take our eyes off Jesus and to erode our joy in Him. We must keep our eyes upon Jesus and express the joy we have in Him. Then, we must be in prayer, not anxiety. Anxiety is rooted in fear and unbelief, which is the exact opposite of the Spirit of Christ. The solution? Prayer in faith and thanksgiving. Lastly, instead of looking for hidden agendas, half truths, wrong motives, etc. we need to put our energies towards looking for Christ expressed in one anther.
There's plenty of bad to be found in one another, hence the accuser of the bretheren is rarely without something to suggest to our heart to enlist us in his wicked work of destroying the body of Christ. However, if we will keep our eyes on Christ, keep our hearts engaged with Him in prayer, and focus on appreciating His reality in the body, however small, we will begin to see significant healing in Christ's body. Not only this, we'll be full of the light of Christ's truth and presence instead of the darkness of "evil suspicions" and accusations or "fretting about evil doers, which leads only to evil doing". We will be in the light, which will also allow us to see more clearly diseases in the body that should be addressed vigorously, with truth, love, and power. However, we'll be able to move in cooperation with Christ, working FOR the body and not be turned AGAINST the body of Christ.
Peace to you, Andy
Showing posts with label relationships. Show all posts
Showing posts with label relationships. Show all posts
Friday, February 8, 2008
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
By the measure you use...
Jesus Christ came not mainly to give us new commands but to give us a new source of divine life within. I'd like to suggest that one reason Jesus gave the "Sermon on the Mount" was that Jesus was revealing His own inner life to us as the foundation for preparing His followers for the experience of "church life."
We should keep in mind, whenever Jesus taught, He wasn't teaching merly aspirations. Jesus Christ was revealing Himself and opening up His own heart about His true nature, His experience, His inner mentality, a wonderfully eternal and divine mentality, which He received through his fellowship with His indwelling Father. Jesus is laying a foundation for us to understand, experience and express that same fellowship in the world. "This is my Beloved Son. Listen to Him!"
Jesus says, "Love your enemies and do good... Be merciful as your Father in heaven is merciful. Do not judge or condemn and you will not be judged or condemned. Pardon and you will be pardoned. Give and it will be given to you... For by your standard of measure, you will be measured in return."
Relational church life faces one of it's most significant challanges right here, at the point of how we measure others and ourselves. Highly committed believers end up unable to live very long with one another because we become weighed down with critical judgements, unreliquished offenses, etc. Ironically, we (myself included... as a "special needs" member) have a hard time "being merciful as our Father in heaven is merciful" not because we're not committed Christians, but seemingly because we are. We care! ... so we criticize and take offense at those who don't care as much as we do... or so our twisted logic goes.
We can't bless our enemies or one another when we're judging, criticizing or holding on to an offense inwardly. God's Spirit is hindered by these attitudes. God's Spirit is not the source of these attitudes. These attitudes hinder our experience and expression of God together.
A few things that have been light and life to me recently:
1) If the divine reality is lacking in the church life, it may be that we're using the wrong measure, and simply receiving back what we're dishing out. If a group is drying up or fizzling out rather than experiencing the grace of the Kingdom "poured out in good measure and running over", it's at least possible that this is part of the issue. As believers get serious about living out their faith, we tend to raise the bar of expecation up a few notches higher for ourselves. Unfortunately we can end up using that same raised bar on others, and sometimes end up clubbing them with it. Jesus saw this tendancy and addresses it head on.
2) We can't use "no measure" toward ourselves or others. We simply must allow God to adjust our measure. We must allow God's Word to seperate between that which finds its origin in our own souls verses that which is truly Spirit.
3) Jesus raises the bar so high, we'll never be able to use it to club someone else. Several times, Jesus examines a false measure and says, "even sinners do that." (Hint-if people can do it without God's Spirit, it's not a good source of "measure" in God's kingdom.)
4) Jesus's measure? His Father's own display of mercy towards His enemies (which at one time included us). The Father's divine life is enemy loving, offense pardoning, mercy showing. His ways are higher than ours. This is the measure we should use. We must have a revelation of our desperate need of God's mercy. Then we need to realize that God not only wants us to receive His mercy, but to experience His mercy as a divine reality flowing out of our own hearts through union with Him. We can't fake it. It's just not human. Turning to the Father to open ourselves to Him to make room for His Spirit in our hearts by calling on His Name for mercy, not merely for ourselves, but through us, if we would do this, we would soon find an increase of divine reality in our fellowship together.
5) We must use this measure mainly on ourselves or we'll miss the reality. Our natural tendency when we blow it is to want other believers to be gracious towards us, but what if they're a bit harsh, distant, or critical towards us? Use the measure... on yourself. Before we start picking specks out of our brother's eye, we must first deal with our own reactions and let Mercy deal with us. Turn to the Father for the flow of His mercy in your heart. Release the offense. Pardon them. Be merciful as your Father is merciful.
"Well what about the harsh way they treated me?" Pardon, and you'll be pardoned. "But I didn't do anything wrong! They hurt me. I didn't do anything to them." O yah? They hurt you? Where? Perhaps your pride? Did you ever think that you need to be pardoned also? Pardon them before God, and you'll be pardoned also. The Light of life shines as we're willing to see our own need for God's mercy. Once you've gotten this plank out of your eye, you'll see clearly and know what God wants you to do (if anything).
The commands of Christ are not something we can do apart from Him. Jesus teaches His standards to serve as an "escort" into the Divine life He supplies within. "The willing is present with us, but not the doing." The only "doer" of the Christian life is Jesus Christ Himself. If we merely redouble our intention to "do the commands of God", we will fail. Jesus has come to give us a new kind of spiritual life. We must turn our wills to the Lord Himself and call on Him for the flow and supply of His life giving Spirit, who alone is finds it quite natural to love, pardon, and show mercy.
We should keep in mind, whenever Jesus taught, He wasn't teaching merly aspirations. Jesus Christ was revealing Himself and opening up His own heart about His true nature, His experience, His inner mentality, a wonderfully eternal and divine mentality, which He received through his fellowship with His indwelling Father. Jesus is laying a foundation for us to understand, experience and express that same fellowship in the world. "This is my Beloved Son. Listen to Him!"
Jesus says, "Love your enemies and do good... Be merciful as your Father in heaven is merciful. Do not judge or condemn and you will not be judged or condemned. Pardon and you will be pardoned. Give and it will be given to you... For by your standard of measure, you will be measured in return."
Relational church life faces one of it's most significant challanges right here, at the point of how we measure others and ourselves. Highly committed believers end up unable to live very long with one another because we become weighed down with critical judgements, unreliquished offenses, etc. Ironically, we (myself included... as a "special needs" member) have a hard time "being merciful as our Father in heaven is merciful" not because we're not committed Christians, but seemingly because we are. We care! ... so we criticize and take offense at those who don't care as much as we do... or so our twisted logic goes.
We can't bless our enemies or one another when we're judging, criticizing or holding on to an offense inwardly. God's Spirit is hindered by these attitudes. God's Spirit is not the source of these attitudes. These attitudes hinder our experience and expression of God together.
A few things that have been light and life to me recently:
1) If the divine reality is lacking in the church life, it may be that we're using the wrong measure, and simply receiving back what we're dishing out. If a group is drying up or fizzling out rather than experiencing the grace of the Kingdom "poured out in good measure and running over", it's at least possible that this is part of the issue. As believers get serious about living out their faith, we tend to raise the bar of expecation up a few notches higher for ourselves. Unfortunately we can end up using that same raised bar on others, and sometimes end up clubbing them with it. Jesus saw this tendancy and addresses it head on.
2) We can't use "no measure" toward ourselves or others. We simply must allow God to adjust our measure. We must allow God's Word to seperate between that which finds its origin in our own souls verses that which is truly Spirit.
3) Jesus raises the bar so high, we'll never be able to use it to club someone else. Several times, Jesus examines a false measure and says, "even sinners do that." (Hint-if people can do it without God's Spirit, it's not a good source of "measure" in God's kingdom.)
4) Jesus's measure? His Father's own display of mercy towards His enemies (which at one time included us). The Father's divine life is enemy loving, offense pardoning, mercy showing. His ways are higher than ours. This is the measure we should use. We must have a revelation of our desperate need of God's mercy. Then we need to realize that God not only wants us to receive His mercy, but to experience His mercy as a divine reality flowing out of our own hearts through union with Him. We can't fake it. It's just not human. Turning to the Father to open ourselves to Him to make room for His Spirit in our hearts by calling on His Name for mercy, not merely for ourselves, but through us, if we would do this, we would soon find an increase of divine reality in our fellowship together.
5) We must use this measure mainly on ourselves or we'll miss the reality. Our natural tendency when we blow it is to want other believers to be gracious towards us, but what if they're a bit harsh, distant, or critical towards us? Use the measure... on yourself. Before we start picking specks out of our brother's eye, we must first deal with our own reactions and let Mercy deal with us. Turn to the Father for the flow of His mercy in your heart. Release the offense. Pardon them. Be merciful as your Father is merciful.
"Well what about the harsh way they treated me?" Pardon, and you'll be pardoned. "But I didn't do anything wrong! They hurt me. I didn't do anything to them." O yah? They hurt you? Where? Perhaps your pride? Did you ever think that you need to be pardoned also? Pardon them before God, and you'll be pardoned also. The Light of life shines as we're willing to see our own need for God's mercy. Once you've gotten this plank out of your eye, you'll see clearly and know what God wants you to do (if anything).
The commands of Christ are not something we can do apart from Him. Jesus teaches His standards to serve as an "escort" into the Divine life He supplies within. "The willing is present with us, but not the doing." The only "doer" of the Christian life is Jesus Christ Himself. If we merely redouble our intention to "do the commands of God", we will fail. Jesus has come to give us a new kind of spiritual life. We must turn our wills to the Lord Himself and call on Him for the flow and supply of His life giving Spirit, who alone is finds it quite natural to love, pardon, and show mercy.
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