The All-Inclusive Temple of God

 

Monday, March 8, 2021

Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?  God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.  Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise.  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God.  As the Scriptures say, “He traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness.”  And again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise; he knows they are worthless.”  So don’t boast about following a particular human leader.  For everything belongs to you—whether Paul or Apollos or Peter, or the world, or life and death, or the present and the future.  Everything belongs to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.  1 Corinthians 3:16-23

There’s a truckload of talk about “inclusiveness” these days.  I perceive the overall sense of that word means that every person, with all their thoughts, ideas, quirks, nuances, proclivities, and baggage, is to be treated with respect.   

That’s not a bad thing, really.  It’s something like my mother taught me about manners.  Mom was pretty smart.  She was the Sunday School Superintendent at the church of my youth, and she always used a flannel-graph board with Bible pictures for the opening assembly to teach us kids about following Jesus.  One lesson was about the Golden Rule – treat others the way you want to be treated.  On the surface that seems quite doable.  You just live, and let-live, you know, don’t mess with what’s not yours, and don’t pull Peggy Broadway’s pigtails.   

The problem with that kind of thinking is that it’s largely passive, not doing anything to harm someone else…just leave them alone.  However, consider the Golden Rule from Jesus’ perspective:  treat others – that’s anything but passive; “treat” is a verb, displaying action, or, in the case of people, interaction. 

The apostle James taught the sense of being an active vs. passive Christian:

Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing.  What good does that do?     James 2:15-16

The trouble with being an active follower of Jesus is that it requires more.  Just leaving someone else alone requires nothing but a little restraint.  Okay, sometimes a lot of restraint if they have more than their share of “crazy”.  Being an active believer means being vulnerable; you must accept responsibility for meeting needs, defending the weaker ones of the human tribe, and stepping up to the plate in what your brother can’t do for himself.

This is like the difference between Cancel Culture and coming-up with helpful, real-world solutions.  Cancel culture enacted requires nothing…you don’t say this, or do that…it’s all passive.  Coming up with genuine solutions means you must speak, you must act.  To do less is to allow evil the whole stage!

Paul told the Corinthian believers to stop living in delusion.  His real-world solution for evil was to remember that everything created was given to us by God for use, enjoyment, and for helping to take care of every need.  And this means feeding our hungry sister, clothing our naked brother, and visiting our wayward cousin in jail. 

And it’s because all the stuff belongs to us, and each of us belongs to all the others of us, and all of it belongs to God.  No matter what level you prefer in that assessment, wherever you scratch at it, you will find human need, and the hand of God.  If we’re going to be an inclusive bunch on this planet, we’ve got to keep that in mind…and act that way.

For You Today

This whole concept of belonging to, or being part-of the all-inclusive temple of God is a huge concept to digest.  Living-into that is even bigger.  The good news is that you don’t have to eat that whole elephant in one bite.  Just be a little more alert this day to the people and circumstances God puts in front of you on this day.  And leave them both better than you found them.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com    Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

The Light of Truth

 

Thursday, October 29, 2020

Declare me innocent, O God!  Defend me against these ungodly people.  Rescue me from these unjust liars.  For you are God, my only safe haven.  Why have you tossed me aside?  Why must I wander around in grief, oppressed by my enemies?  Send out your light and your truth; let them guide me.  Let them lead me to your holy mountain, to the place where you live.  There I will go to the altar of God, to God—the source of all my joy.  I will praise you with my harp, O God, my God!  Why am I discouraged?  Why is my heart so sad?  I will put my hope in God!  I will praise him again—my Savior and my God!  Psalm 43

Sometimes when you read Scripture it’s an easy mistake to read in a bubble of isolation.  That is, you see the Biblical characters as if their lives are somehow different from ours.  Technology and science aside, there is not a breathing human living on the planet at this moment who is any different from those who dwelt in caves or wrote on clay tablets (as opposed to iPads and PC’s).

King David’s life was not lived in a Wonderland-like rabbit hole; his ethereal “aura” had real rocks and streams, and the danger of enemies, both human, as well as ferocious bears and lions.  When armies went to war, real men died.  Disease took hold in pandemic waves, and the cancer of lies was just as caustic and devastating as today.  And when David (just as you and I) faced those human conditions he felt helpless and confused at times.

Hence his prayer recorded in the Psalms; it was the heartfelt cry of a needy, troubled soul, looking for the light of God’s truth to guide him into a right course of action to deal with the evil oppressors who lied their way into places of power, and were now unjustly attempting to overwhelm David’s life with their schemes.

Sometimes we imagine evil in others or are simply fooled by accusations, fabricated stories to make an evil person seem better than he is (that should be an easy call in an election year)!  But sometimes evil is so great it’s driven from below the surface, demonic, an evidence of the greater struggle between God and all that is unholy. 

That may seem surreal to the modern mind, but it’s merely evidence of something that existed long before you and me, or David, or even Adam and Eve.  Before the creation of earth and the universe there were seeds of doubt and pride, a canker ready to usurp the very throne of God.  These seeds became the fruit of rebellion, which is recorded in Isaiah’s prophecy as Lucifer, God’s beloved angel, thought to replace God Almighty, but was rejected, defeated, and consigned to eternity in Hell for his unfaithfulness:

“How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning!  You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world.  Isaiah 14:12

The seed of sin spread to Adam and Eve and multiplied in less than a full generation as one jealous son, Cain, killed his brother, Abel.  And it has been so ever since.

To listen to the news media, politicians, and fear mongers, it’s all about racism.  The problem with that is an attempt to point fingers at a single outcropping of an endemic, epic cause, while side-stepping the long-entrenched human condition, sin.  We look at what’s happening in today’s culture as if it is something new…or at least an outbreak of a problem about to be dealt a crusade-ish death blow.  Racism did not start in the 1620’s.  It is merely an evidence of a deeper human condition that surfaces in many different ways.  You cannot cure racism or any other social evil with an edict from Washington, or by building more churches, bigger churches, and more entertaining, culturally-fashionable churches and worship styles.  No politician has a legislative agenda to stem human evil.  And no movement claiming their space matters, or their 15 minutes of fame will make all the difference, is going to stem the tide of the pandemic of sin.

For that, there is only one cure, the blood of Jesus Christ!  When received, this blood works in the human heart as no other force in the universe:

But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.  1 John 1:9

This is the light of God’s truth.  It is only the cleansing of the human heart by the forgiveness of God that leads to what David prayed, that God’s light and truth would set him on a true course, one that leads to joy.

For You Today

Course correction:  kneel at the cross…get up with truth and light as your guide.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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Title image:  Pixabay.com   W   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

For other posts on Truth and Light see:  Walk With Integrity and Truth, Whole Truth, Nothing BUT the Truth

Essential Rivals

 

Thursday, September 3, 2020

The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body.  1 Corinthians 12:12a
The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.”  The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”  1 Corinthians 12:21
If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.  1 Corinthians 12:26

It is all so very connected; politics, religion, love, sex, money, breathing, or anything else you care to name.  The muse for this post is from a Facebook post of a friend, the pictured Native American’s wisdom about wings of the bird as part of the same body.  Of course, the older source would be Paul’s letter to the Corinthian church.  We are, indeed, the body, albeit connected in some very strange ways.  Yup...that same crazy bird in the middle is us…humanity.  We are an incredibly complex dodo bird!  And we need every part!

What plucks this analogy string so annoyingly resonant, today, is this time of year in a quadrennial political season.  Pandemic notwithstanding, the political push has been quieter, but lurking, nonetheless.  It seems to have ramped up lately, as the push toward November elections draws near. 

With limited space, and a huge subject (especially for a 5-minute devotional), let me get right to the point:

If we are so connected, how can we think anyone is useless?

Yet, you hear it every day: 

·       Republicans think Democrats belong in recycling. 

·       Democrats demonize Republicans. 

·       With every mention of, or sighting of Black Lives Matter, the Blue, White, Red, Asian, Gender-specific, Straight, or Whatever Lives cry for equal time. 

Preferential treatment, by definition, places one person’s value over another’s. 

And here’s the rub, in any arena, with any part of the analogy you care to push: 

Wings on the same bird were designed by our Creator to balance each other, to support each other, and keep us moving along, soaring, going higher.

But, when the wings on that bird are so busy swatting each other, that bird is going down!

From a Christian perspective, with all the backing of Holy Scripture to strengthen that previous statement, and empower the church to live it, even with the power to shame us into living it, we still can’t get it right.  Traditional-thinking Christians demonize Progressive-leaning Christians…and the blessing is returned.  And we get better at swatting each other as time passes. 

What a pitiful example of Christ’s love!

For You Today

If you’re of age, and inclination, this November you’ll cast a vote.  The election will be over, there will be a President.  Four years later (if the eagle hasn’t crashed and burned) we’ll do it again.

Keep the perspective that governments, movements, news cycles and your 401K are all temporary; the soul of another person is permanent.  Act with care accordingly!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!

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Title image Facebook post from a friend, Fran Grabowski 9/1/20  The title for this post borrows on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s work, Team of Rivals, how Abraham Lincoln turned his political opposition into a team that helped save America as a union.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For other posts on 1 Corinthians 12 see: We Are the Body of Christ and Holy Mixtures - Part 5