Divided Mind

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord.  Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts.  They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths.  You have charged us to keep your commandments carefully.  Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees!  Then I will not be ashamed when I compare my life with your commands.  As I learn your righteous regulations, I will thank you by living as I should!  I will obey your decrees.  Please don’t give up on me!  Psalm 119:1-8[1]

“Walking” (or living our life) by God’s law is viewed by some as a constricting set of rules that won’t let you have fun or think for yourself.  But, a little deeper investigation of the word “law” helps us understand it’s just the opposite.  The Psalmist starts off the longest chapter in the Bible, which is all about God’s Word/Law, by telling us that those who walk in it are happy or blessed.  It’s is like cooperating with the principles of our natural environment.  When you’re in an airplane at 15,000 feet, it is wise to not test gravity without a parachute. 

We all have that internal device that measures how well we’re doing with life.  It is called heart or soul; some call it conscience.  If that internal measuring stick is only accountable to self, the outcome is called sociopathic, only doing what pleases oneself.  For the garden variety sociopath[2] there is only one person’s opinion that counts – his own.  The opinions of other people must agree with the sociopath, or those people become the enemy.

There is a sense in which we have all played the sociopath, placing our own sense of the proper order of things above even God’s design.  That is a dilemma as old as the creation of God’s angels.  Lucifer was/is a psychopath of the most violent order.  He was that from the beginning; it was what got him kicked out of heaven along with one-third of the angels who followed him.  The prophet Isaiah quotes Satan’s fatal, psychopathic attitude:

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.    Isaiah 14:14

Echoing Isaiah, the New Testament writer James tells us about the danger of failing to keep your mind, heart, and soul focused on God’s will:

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you.  He will not rebuke you for asking.  But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone.  Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.  Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.  James 1:5-8

As the Psalmist and James wrote, having a divided mind creates instability.  And, when it comes to having a relationship with our Creator, the instability that having a divided mind creates also means we develop a deep sense of shame.  And our shame isn’t because God hates us; it’s because we know our loving God has given us everything, life, joy, other people to love, and be loved by…and we are responding half-heartedly.  We know that God knows what is best for our lives, and we trample underfoot his loving offer of joy and peace. 

The shame we feel sometimes is also a gift from God; it’s that internal gauge we were created with telling us we’ve slipped from the pathway and need to turn around.  It’s our safeguard against the unstable life…the sociopathy of narcissistic self-love.  It’s a reminder that loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and body is Job #1.

For You Today

If you feel a little uneasy in your relationship with God, and prayer is labored, sporadic, and joyless, self-examination day has arrived.

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

Go to VIDEO

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

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[1] For another post on Psalm 119:1 see Finding a Straight Path

[2] “Sociopath” is currently used by the Mental Health community to describe a perhaps less violent form of “Psychopath”.  Although the terms are somewhat interchangeable the main difference is psychopaths are generally classified as biologically created, while the less-violent sociopath is conditioned.  See article at Psychology Today

Fingers With a Brain

[i]

Monday, October 31, 2016

“What good is an idol carved by man, or a cast image that deceives you?  How foolish to trust in your own creation—a god that can’t even talk!  What sorrow awaits you who say to wooden idols, ‘Wake up and save us!’  To speechless stone images you say, ‘Rise up and teach us!’  Can an idol tell you what to do?  They may be overlaid with gold and silver, but they are lifeless inside.  But the Lord is in his holy Temple.  Let all the earth be silent before him.”  Habakkuk 2:18-20^(NLT)

My bride, Elizabeth, introduced me to a concept of which I’d never heard before.  Quite some time ago when I was pastor in McIntosh, Florida, she travelled the 18 miles daily to the University of Florida where she was studying piano performance.  She and a friend, also a music student, were talking about dreading the drone of practice times; the friend told her to bring a magazine or book.  Elizabeth assumed she was referring to taking a break to read, but she was serious; read a magazine while you’re practicing Brahms!   My wife gave it a try and, she said it was amazing, as if her fingers had their own brain!  She practiced piano while reading a magazine, and her finger muscles learned, and she enjoyed the latest edition of home decorating styles.

This is a particularly weird idea to someone like me who must focus like a laser if I’m to accomplish anything.  I’m not much of a multi-tasker.  When I’m studying for writing a sermon there has to be complete quiet, or I will retain nothing of what I read; I might as well be pouring over Sanskrit or Egyptian hieroglyphics.   I once blamed a bummer of a sermon on the ant that walked across the room; his stomping broke my concentration.

For any beneficial (albeit “offbeat”) practice, there is a cousin which is not so beneficial.  In worship, for instance, multi-tasking distraction is like worshipping a carved stone idol; not much is going to happen between the worshipper and that god!  God rather flatly stated he would not entertain anything before Him.  Frankly, your grocery list, or where you’re going to eat lunch after worship, and how you’re going to slip out quickly to beat the Baptists to that restaurant…is uninteresting to God, and rather contrary to the purpose for which church exists in the first place.  It ought to be approached single-mindedly!

When King David was passing the torch of leadership to his son, Solomon, he had these words of caution about worshipping and serving JHWH:

“And Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately.  Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind.  For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought.  If you seek him, you will find him.  But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.  So take this seriously.  The Lord has chosen you to build a Temple as his sanctuary.  Be strong, and do the work.”  1 Chronicles 28:9-10^(NLT)

Take it seriously with your whole heart – there’s no such thing as multi-tasking this relationship with your God; you are either in or out.

I have seen the “out” when people are counting the ceiling tiles in a worship service.  Granted, there are times when any minister will fail to make the service interesting or creative.  But we must always remember we’re not there to worship the minister’s creativity or style of presentation; we are there to connect with holy God.

We live in a culture that bows down at the altar of multi-tasking productivity and honors new and exciting.  Perhaps it’s time to slow it down with the kind of Sabbath that allows your soul to breathe.

For You Today

When you next enter the sanctuary of worship, try keeping silent before the LORD; He really is in that place, you know! 

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

Go to VIDEO

NOTES

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[i] Title Images: By Raych Hatashe (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

The Jesus Church - Part 5: Wholehearted

Watch the sermon VIDEO here

[1]

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord.  “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.  In those days when you pray, I will listen.  If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.    Jeremiah 29:11-13 ^(NLT)

These are very familiar verses; well, at least the part about God’s plans for our future being good and hope-filled with His promises, and the fact that when we pray JHWH is going to be listening with both ears!  You can buy plaques at the bookstore with these words; we write it on graduation Bible covers.  Good words – God’s plan for us is good…protected…prosperous!

We certainly do like the sound of those words!  Preach it, Lord!

But then, as in many other parts of Scripture, God muddies the waters and puts a spin on what we wanted to hear, which was:  let the good times roll…let the blessings fall down like rain!).  But, if we’re honest, what we are forced to hear (or ignore) is the last part of it:

For God also says:  You know all that about MY good plans for you…hope, prosperity and a good future?  They’re just that – MY PLANS; and if you really want in on ALL MY Promises, you must also hear (and live) the part about coming to ME whole-heartedly!

Ok!  So…what does “Whole-hearted” mean?

1.      Whole-hearted Means Committed

“Commitment” is the all-time favorite word to use if you want to see people scatter!

We use a whole lot of words around the church – Bible words – that tell us what Jeremiah meant about being whole-hearted, or committed to God. 

Words like:

·        Surrender

·        Loving God with all your mind, soul, strength and spirit

·        Give your life to God

But, the hard fact is many people want all the benefits of being close to God, but more than not we have trouble committing to actually doing it – staying close to God. 

We want to have Just a Closer Walk with Thee when God’s blessings start flowing, but when God finishes the sentence with the commitment He requires of us to stay close – it’s more like we run like a scalded rabbit in the opposite direction!

Fact:  

You cannot have both; you cannot have blessings AND 

be independent of the One who is the Blesser!

Another factor that enters this equation is the difference between being a metaphysical Christian and being genuinely close enough to God to get your hands dirty.

A metaphysical Christian is someone who loves the idea of loving Jesus, loving God, and walking with the Holy Spirit, but somehow his or her Christianity never gets out from between his own ears.  It’s all hymns, cum-bay-ya around the campfire, first in line at dinner-on-the-grounds, and all the feel-good stuff, but the idea of committing to be a servant in the Kingdom requires an appearance of the Virgin Mary in his cornflakes.

Now, don’t misunderstand me – the head/heart/metaphysical stuff isn’t bad…we do need a vertical relationship with God and a prayer life.  But God called us to more than that – he called his church to get together, stay together and work together.  Churches that do that will find they become healthy, strong and connect with many ways in the Kingdom of God to do the work of God.  Churches that refuse to go to work become bloated, sick and in danger of needing a funeral director, rather than a pastor.

Taking the cornflakes out of our doctrinal stance here, let me review with you just what it means to be committed to God in a practical sense (as opposed to just the ethereal and metaphysical “head/heart” relationship).

To be committed is to be part of the Bride of Christ, the church here on earth.  Many people take the high-sounding stance that so-called “organized religion” isn’t for them, because of all the hypocrites and holier-than-thou types.  So….what’s the choice, un-organized religion, where I keep to myself so all those hypocrites won’t contaminate my pure and holy walk with Jesus?

Friend – Jesus never talked about a church like that in the Gospels.  But example after example in the New Testament shows us that God wants us to commit to the earthly expression of His body – the church. 

He wants us to be whole-hearted seekers of him together – which leads to the other understanding of what commitment is all about for a practical follower of Jesus Christ…whole-hearted not only means commitment…

2.Whole-hearted means Community

The community-expression of God’s church on earth is just what you’re looking at – look around at the warm bodies in the pews; we’re it!

And each one of us, when we joined this community of faith, made vows.  Take a look in our hymnal ^{page 38} and be reminded of what it is like to commit to being part of Christ’s church:

As members of Christ’s universal church, will you be loyal to The United Methodist Church, and do all in your power to strengthen its ministries?

As members of this congregation, will you faithfully participate in its ministries by your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service, and your witness?[2]

And so, is that your testimony?  That you are committed to being in worship and discipleship regularly?  That your gifts (tithes and offerings) are brought regularly?  That you offer yourself in service?  That your life away from this building is a witness for Christ?

Or were those vows simply a ritual; you said the words, but nobody really expects you to do all that stuff…do they?

Short answer:  only if you really want to see God and His blessings.  He is only visible to those who seek Him whole-heartedly!

I want to suggest that you think about that whole-hearted thing this week.  Read this sermon online, or take a copy home with you and re-read it. 

Because next Sunday we will have a time to re-focus on those vows of commitment and whole-heartedness as we gather at the baptismal waters to renew those vows.

We will say “yes” to the blessings; it also means we say “yes” to our commitment to community!

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!

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[1] Title Image: Rembrandt [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

[2] “Witness” added several years ago by General Conference