Discussion tonight, of 1 Timothy 2. And I sincerely doubt there will be much time given to writing this evening, for so many reasons...but the nature of thoughts regarding particular facets of the matter latterly discussed in that chapter..
...have been much on my heart.
Why does it rankle so much, to submit to authority? Because, quite frankly, that's not a matter restricted to women. I've been recently grieved in interactions with a coworker, for his statements of utter defiance against all authority--grieved at what this indicates of the depth of his deception and distance from God, as gladly defiant against Him. So very lost. And glib.
Same as I had been, at various points.
But the notion of women submitting to the God-given authority of men, taken specifically in context of marriage and within the church as being an archetype of the church's submission to Christ--of all our needful submission to God's own authority?
This isn't a small matter. Not to be taken lightly.
And coming from where I've come, by God's grace at work in my life and heart, I've run the gamut of resentments against and rationalizations counter to submission as a woman--particularly as restricts against teaching and being in leadership over men. As such, I'm familiar with many (though surely not all) common "reasons" for the pushback.
For one, I had a personal stake in believing otherwise--to do so undermines the desire to exalt my mother's memory, as beyond at least particular sorts of reproach. She was an ordained lay-minister in the Methodist Church and was given pastorate of three churches. Up until the time of her suicide, in 2007, she pastored these churches. Perhaps 10 years. Begun after my father left her. Or left us, I suppose. Just me and my mom. My sisters were in cahoots with him. My youngest sibling was dragged along with them--we'd just returned home from my high school graduation ceremony. My brother was completely side-lined and so were my mom and I. But my sisters immediately began tossing my brother's clothing in a bag, while my dad outlined to my mom and me the terms of his separation having been completed and the divorce paperwork being processed for delivery at her workplace tomorrow.
After this, or maybe it was in the midst just prior, she pursued ordination.
To consider that we, as women, as called not to preside over men, called not to teach them...pains my recollection of her. I don't want to think of her as being in blatant defiance of the very Word she set out to teach and preach.
And built upon that, upon initially coming to know Christ I also fancied myself destined for being in the spotlight. And I've been tempted many times to exalt myself, quite frankly--again and again, in particular churches, there's always come a point of realizing that if I proceed along a course that is agreeable to those around me...they had begun and would continue esteeming me ever more highly in their ranks. And in particular of these such places, there seemed acceptance of women as preachers and pastors and leaders. Or at least as prophets and apostles.
For a very brief period of time, I wanted to be the next Kathryn Kuhlman, thinking that course and public esteem in the eyes of the world was what God's very will would be for those who love Him and seek Him with utmost diligence. As though, if I served and sought most ardently, then I naturally would end up in a public position of esteem, like many of the preachers I then revered most highly espoused and taught...providing themselves as examples.
But the problem with all that was and is that I did continue to seek Him. And continued to pore over His Word, as Living Water to a thirsty soul. And continued to spend time alone with Him, at length, desiring to know and understand Him. All, by grace. And the more I came to know Him, the more I came to receive light from His Word, the more I realized that all these things are diametrically in opposition to what He actually has said will be the case for those who are His disciples--for those who love Him, who know Him, and who seek to learn from Him, by grace of His Holy Spirit led along the while.
In this world we'll have troubles, He said. Period. But we're to take heart because He's overcome. Period. Not because we'll gain dominion over all the realms of the earth and attain all wealth so as to prepare the way for His return to reigh, no.
But we'll have trouble. But we can rest assured, if we know Him, because He's overcome.
And at that point, there's need to look at what that entailed.
He set aside His glory for a time, to walk amongst us as a servant. God Incarnate--He who deserves all obeisance and praise--walked as one with no place to lay His head, demanding nothing for Himself. But deferring always to the Father. Doing only what was given unto Him by the Father. Walking in complete submission, perfect obedience. Perfected...most exquisitely exemplified...in His suffering the shameful death of the cross. God's wrath poured out on Him--the only one of any of us who could never deserve wrath or punishment, took it all on Himself anyway. Willingly. So that justice could be satisfied where a debt is owed, but being willingly paid by one who did not Himself owe it in order to extend mercy to those who do not deserve it.
He submitted to all that.
Jesus Christ, our God and brother. Redeemer king.
As the point of Jesus's own submission was brought up by one of the church elders tonight, I have indeed grasped a larger picture of this in terms of what it means to be a representative member of His own body who is ordained to present that image to the world. The rightful submission to authority, quietly and graciously, gladly choosing to enter into right relationship with creation's authority structure.
Same as we are all called to submit to God, then as women are called to submit to church leaders and to husbands, we are presenting the world with a portrait image of what it is that all creation does submit to He who spoke it into being. And that the precious bride of Christ--for whom He set aside His own glory, becoming a suffering servant so to save--defers gladly and lovingly to Him, who purchased our love and deliverance with His own lifeblood.
These aren't small matters. That the world would see that there is a goodness in submission? This is a high calling, still, same as is leadership.
And then, there's the matter of what godly leadership is to entail. From what I've been told this evening, the ordained intent for men to care for the earth was one of protection. Not forcible subjugation.
On this front, the desire not to submit arises out of a multifaceted fear. Having long been the recipient of many abuses, I had long believed self-exaltation was an unavoidable necessity in order to preserve my life and make my way in the world. I have had no protector, aside of God. And I did not turn to Him for protection--instead, I spurned and resented His "interference" in my life. Until relatively recently (four and a half years). So I spent the majority of my life in positions of vulnerability and abuse, coping by the means which I considered to be the only viable ones at any given instance--basically, whatever got me through yet did not entail turning to God (except for while falling of the balcony--He stripped away all delusions of being able to help myself, in that instance, and so I did call on Him).
By and large, there seems to be a lot more abuse in the world than protection:
We tend to commoditize one another--people viewed as means to ends rather than as precious image-bearers for whom Christ died, whom He loves, and who need Him desperately.
Self-indulgence, as such, prevents compassion to the extent present--we can't simultaneously be self-consumed and sincerely moved by the plight of another. These are experiences in opposition to one another.
And that point could be belabored for a while, but enough.
The problem is the response to abuse, wherever turning to God for aid and strength and whatever else He, in His wisdom, would grant--at least His peace...wherever that doesn't happen, the turning which occurs as response is thus away from God. In my own experience, the extent of the initial travesty was unto a likewise extent of turning to depravity to compensate...since I didn't turn to God, I turned all the more violently away from Him.
We're designed to act and interact and respond to what we experience, is the thing. Wherever there's an action, there's a reaction--a principle not restricted to physics. So sin unto me affected me and as I didn't turn to the only one who could deal with it, I turned away from Him instead, under force of doing something to deal. I chose the path which required less confrontation with reality, as another way of putting it. Problem is, that made problems so much worse.
Along these same lines, I'm considering that as someone who wasn't and hasn't been protected, long after the initial grief and pain are numbed, I eventually succumbed to the worldly proposition of self-preservation by whatever means necessary. I'm grateful I was preserved, yes, but am grieved to reflect on many of the things I chose instead of God's grace. Each made the pain worse, ultimately, each drove me further from ability to cope with reality on the whole. Each left me just slightly more callous and cold to the actual plight of others. And along the course of the way, self-preservation morphed into self-exaltation more blatantly--seeking esteem, loving the praise of others, wanting to be noticed, and so on.
Coming to Christ, though, one of the hard matters to come to terms with has been the idea that I don't defend myself. Doesn't mean I willfully place myself in dangerous and abusive situations, in order to "die for a cause"--emotionally, mentally, spiritually, or physically... No, doesn't mean that. But it does mean that where Jesus leads me, I follow and defer foremost to Him. And where there's been abuse, I defer to Him in love and grief, praying and trusting He will line things out in His own time.
I don't have to defend myself, and am called not to do so. And I don't have to preserve myself either, then.
The prevalent notion that if we don't assert our own rights, we'll be trampled on?...which drives us all to strive to assert ourselves more boldly in instances where "we have the right?" That's not of God.
And I err on that so frequently still--particularly driving, where there's law involved and also laws governing right-of-way and where refraining from endeavoring right-of-way when it's appropriate...reinforces illegal and dangerous behavior? It's difficult not to be excessively assertive. As an extreme alternate example, though, is the compulsion to stop in the middle of the road when traffic is flowing in order to let someone else immediately onto the road rather than allowing them to wait (even if impatiently). This latter is dangerous, too. And illegal, to some degree--obstructing the flow of traffic isn't supposed to be arbitrarily done, as accidents happen. So, all the more unreasonable when the whole situation is a matter of assisting someone indulging impatience or anxiety.
Just to say that there is authority over all these matters, and it's only by deferring to Christ that we can actively and continually do what's right and most loving in each instance. And sometimes that may entail abuse. But that's a completely different matter from actively, willfully seeking it out in ways which can harm self and others. Because that latter example of the traffic...while it may seem kind to the extreme, it effectively endangers many people potentially thereafter as well--including the person permitted to abruptly defy order, as there might become a sense of entitlement to do so which thereafter results in harm.
Any way. The whole idea of this latter contemplation of protection being men's calling and submission women's is that it's a scary thing to be so vulnerable to someone else. Especially when the potential for harm is known. And all the more when abuse is blatant, continual.
But I don't believe that lets us off the hook, as far as remaining submissive to the ordained authority paradigm--this, coming from someone who has been in many abusive situations and relationships. However...that doesn't mean silence, either. Doesn't mean refraining from getting out of the line of fire, as the Lord gives peace to do so. Life is precious, after all. And a gift to be cherished.
But in the right context, with the right leadership, submitting to authority can be a portrait to the world of the worthiness of God, the joy of Christ's love, and the blessedness of being cherished and safeguarded as one who is precious. I know this, from knowing Christ.
And from being kept by Him.
Just...where there's an abuse of leadership, sin turns to self-exaltation. Because otherwise, we have to submit to God and trust Him to deal with the things.
There's so much brokenness. So many things are not as they ought to be, due to sin's workings. Abuse should not happen. But neither should defiance of authority. And of the sins, that is what came first.
The deceitfulness of sin, enticing us to exalt ourselves and our own understanding--enticing us to defy God. Then isn't the way to evade temptation to submit to God? How much more a grace to be called continually to submit, to be that much nearer to deliverance all the day.
Friday, November 9, 2018
Saturday, November 3, 2018
Vision Casting as Acceptable Christian Witchcraft?: Considering Fruits & Roots of Carnal Ecumenicalism
I am going to continue to pray about this, for sake of further clarity regarding God's word on the matter. But coming from 20 years of being steeped in occult, esoteric knowledge and practice--20 years of honing witchcraft, ignorantly "pursuing God according to my own understanding" (thus rejecting Him out-of-hand by refusing to meet on His explicitly revealed terms)?...hearing about people casting and catching visions is a walk back through that particular flavor of deviance.
Because that concept constitutes the underpinning premise of much of witchcraft: You pick something to focus on, build up increasingly clear and concerted definition of that desire, and increasingly hone your will for it to manifest--whether as an individual or a group. Putting this sort of effort into practice alongside a few Bible verses and prayers doesn't alter the fact that the whole process defies even a pretense of submission to God and submission to His intimate, Scripture concording guidance.
The entire idea of "casting visions" ultimately refers to reliance on human reasoning, no matter how "theologically informed" that reasoning might conceive itself to be: The fundamental premise is one wherein one's own understanding of matters and of needs is considered sufficient to aptly conceive of and manifest whatever's determined appropriately desirable.
I've yet to hear anyone cite "casting a vision" wherein people grasp deeper knowledge of the truth of their sinfulness and the exceeding enormity of God's grace in Christ, as unto a more wholehearted and utter despair of self and submission to Him in repentance. No, there's usually something about "casting vision" which seems--on the surface and according to societal norms--"good" and "personally or societally beneficial." Freedom, maybe. Or...dominion. Or...even saying repentance, but meaning something different than coming to Christ and submitting to Him and His Word, deferentially.
"Good" intentions which don't lead us lovingly and straight to the foot of the cross, speaking truth with compassion and like-minded contrition of awareness of each our need for mercies untold, though...?
Those are not quite good, at the very heart of the matter. And that's what makes the difference, where the same terms are increasingly used for differing matters.
God, alone, is good. What He wills, alone, is good. Deferring to Him is the only way, then.
We are defiant and fickle, apart from deference to Him. Our very best guess at what is good for one another--unless it be solely informed by a right, Holy Spirit interpreted assessment of Scripture--is just going to miss the mark, in some fashion or other. Which is only unto further consequence. Because sin always yields consequence...breaking things has a way of breaking things.
Likewise, the idea that there will never be a point necessitating separation from intimate fellowship with others if only others profess "Christianity" is entirely unscriptural. "Setting aside differences, for the sake of just agreeing on Jesus"...if that were all it truly were, would be something else entirely. But, it's not what it seems. It's a gradual decline to eventually "embracing all faith traditions as equally valid." That's where it goes. Because we can agree to disagree, yes, but that does not mean someone isn't wrong. And pretending otherwise isn't loving, given the consequences due to each and every one of us who contemns Christ by refusing to defer to Him and plead for His offered forgiveness and mercy.
Jesus outlined a matter of difference in relations between reconciled and unreconciled, recorded as Matthew 18:15-17, specifically in context of directing us to lovingly plead with one another against sin. And Paul called specific people out as being given over to Satan, even, in context of having abandoned a right deference and submission to the truth--abandoning, making shipwreck of faith in God. And Paul's statements weren't malicious, but only a statement of fact which serves as a warning to us all. And we can know Paul's words weren't coming from a place of contempt and malice, given what has also been recorded of the fruits of the Holy Spirit at work in Paul as unto inspired writings preserved by God for His purposes. And given that we've been instructed to put away such things.
We have many warnings, is all. Many. Many dire admonitions, also, specifically not to be deceived. Direly warned that even the very elect would be deceived, if possible (Matthew 24:24). This isn't a small thing. And I'm reminded now of what was said nearing the end of CCEF conference a couple weeks ago: when we read warnings in the Bible, we are in danger if we think or attempt to convince ourselves they aren't for us.
As a means of stressing that point, the fellow speaking told of a time when he was working a locked floor in a hospital where fire alarms were routinely, falsely tripped by residents. One day he heard an alarm and just decided it must be another false one. He decided against being inconvenienced by the warning, decided it didn't mean anything for him personally, and just continued doing paperwork. Until firemen in full gear came and quickly ushered him out of harm's way, during which time he encountered smoke and knew the fear of realizing how utterly foolish he had been.
In a similar fashion, we all tend to become accustomed to rationalizing away the dangers of this world--the pitfalls of our own shortcomings and tendency to falter to temptation (conceived of our own lusts, even). And this, in regard to our faith. Not in terms of threats to body--vast as those are, yes. Rather, real threat to our faith is daily encountered, unless we actively battle against unbelief and strive to know Him more intimately in spirit and truth. For the deceitfulness of sin is vast. It blinds slowly, very gradually encumbering clarity of heart and mind. Cajoling with a false promise that "just a little won't hurt," or "it's not that big a deal," or "these things aren't problems for me." So many siren songs, yet the result is only the same. Shipwreck.
Such snares are nebulous at outset, in a society where we're vaguely in a state of somnambulance (Eph. 5:14-15) alongside the many who relativize all things unto being equally acceptable, thus equally valid, thus none definitive, so that nothing may be deemed divisive as absolute truth cannot help but to be. Dividing asunder even as between bone and marrow. (Hebrews 4:10-12)
Put another way, in the Western world we inhabit society which professes a need for unity at all costs--deeming all things which seek common or individual "good" to be equally justifiable and equally valid. For the sake of peace. For the sake of bettering the world. For the sake of bettering our societies. For the sake of bettering our communities. For the sake of bettering our families. For the sake of bettering the lives of those who are suffering. For the sake of being better people, ourselves.
Despite that there are inherent contradictions rife on all levels of this stance--being sustained by only a glance toward "entitlements" to fair treatment such as nonetheless simultaneously redefines "fairness" at every turn. All under guise of believing that "if we have equality, then we will have peace and good will come to us in the land." Again purporting that if we are all "treated fairly," then we will all "succeed." But these terms are never fundamentally, thus meaningfully defined. They each change in every given context, depending upon the temperament and priorities and values of the audience. Yet this is never questioned (or, at least, I've yet to hear it done). And this does not work: Pursuing nebulous concepts which have no substantive anchor in reality inherently precludes attainment of meaningful or lasting "good," as none such has actually been agreed upon, effectively. Thus, none such is actually being pursued.
Put another way, slightly--apart from reference and submission to God, all aims are falsely skewed toward further defiance against Him. Which, really, this constitutes the basis of the united front being fostered internationally. Which is inherently skewed unto further falsity, as arising from error at the most fundamental of all levels: a foundational departure from reality cannot but yield to further dissonance throughout a dependent system. Fundamental denial of utmost reality cannot sustain solidarity of purpose, as the foundation upon which any such striving rests is itself truly insubstantial.
If we aren't gathering unto truth, we're scattering from it.
The heart of the matter is that there's resentment of God's sovereignty: much of the age-old desire to be "as" the Creator, to act "as" Him in our own lives and so dictate our own fates. But there's simply no human equality with God. We cannot uncreate and recreate ourselves. We can't be unborn as to designate our own birth. And no matter how deeply we may come to understand His creation and the intricacy of wisdom displayed, resonantly throughout...we cannot become reality's creator.
That's just not a thing. He's the Creator and Owner of us all. Period. He speaks things which are not into being. We simply just can't. Whatever we have, we've received--whether talents, strength, intelligence, loving families, abusive families, disabilities, education, employment, unemployment, and all else. We didn't create ourselves. We didn't create the world we were born into. And we can't dictate our genetic make-up, nor our societal endowments. We aren't the gods of our own fate, nor the determiners of our own future, ultimately. We don't even control our own lives, though we may deceive ourselves very deeply otherwise. He allows us to make decisions. He has endowed us with the ability. Even that...is given, where it does persist. So we also only have limited choices, according to His ordained design and order. And due to the fabric and nature of creation and our Creator, where we do decide we also reap the fruits of our decisions. Whether curses or blessings. Serving God or self. One or the other.
But we'll never be God. We're either slaves to Christ or to sin, then. He is our Creator and our Master, ultimately. And either we submit to Him and continually present ourselves as a living sacrifice or we remain under the wrath we've earned, eternal.
And I know how much the idea of deferring to Christ's rightful Lordship over us rankles the chains of those who still refuse to acknowledge His rightful dominance--that utterly caused me irritation and (more deeply than I even permitted myself to realize, generally) resentment, until He brought me to the point of realizing it was true whether I wanted to accept it or not, and the only difference was which consequences would be borne (here and now as satisfied by Christ, or hereafter and unto eternal hell).
The fleshly spirit which isn't in submission to Him wants to assert its own rights and dominance and capacity for doing right and accomplishing good, all by its own interpretation and means, is all. Sometimes though that is presented under false pretense of striving to please Him. Problem is, without faith we can't please Him. Period.
No matter what we might try. Scripture attests that as being impossible.
And if we don't even know or acknowledge who and how He is, we really are in a position of being unable to honor Him--faith entails rightly knowing and acting in accordance with submission to the knowledge that He's God and we're not. Faith sees the truth of His rightful sovereignty and thus repents in dust and ashes, for also seeing the travesty and tragedy of sin. Faith entails rightly assessing reality and truth. A valid faith perforce thus acts upon truth. So, if we aren't honoring Christ as God and Master in our hearts' desires and intentions and our actions----we don't possess faith. Instead, we pursue idols.
And this is all not nearly as precisely relayed as I would deeply desire, but the thread of reasoning is here, nonetheless. I'm just despairing in the Lord's direction over these matters, for love of the church and for love of God. I am sincerely hoping and praying for His mercy for us all--myself much included, as I have no idea how to proceed or what to do except pray and wait and trust He'll guide.
These types of idols are utterly beguiling, is all: To "please Him" by "walking in the authority and power He has given?" To "please Him" by "believing who we are, and acting like it?" To "please Him" by "doing what He called us to do?" All of it presents a vague, overarching sound of seeming legitimacy. Who among us who seeks Christ and wants His forgiveness would not want to please God? And who among us who actually loves Christ doesn't want to please Him?
But...there's a sort of shifty guilt as an implicit motivating factor--guilt, in that the inherent implication is that if we otherwise do less than or otherwise than these things we are "letting God down, since we're not doing what He wants us to do by using the gifts He's given and also walking in the authority He wants us to have." But God isn't a manipulator. Jesus is our righteousness. Period. What the Father has ordered is that we believe on/in/unto the One He sent. And love God with everything we are, also loving others as ourselves. If Christ Himself did only as the Father presented to Him, why would we do other than just...be led by His Spirit, deferentially and as continually seeking Him in Scripture?
He doesn't have to make empty promises and wheedle people into doing what He would have them do, is all. He's not a petulant overseer who's disappointed but resigned to just bear with us sadly, when we don't "live up to our potential." He prepared good works for us beforehand, that we would walk in them. As we complete the sufferings of Christ. For our God is one who has bled and died for us on a cross--becoming a curse for us, so that we might be forgiven for the very sins which are due the very wrath He drank to the dregs for us. Our God walked amongst us as a servant--a suffering and despised servant whom we crucified. Our God wept when He encountered the death of others, and wept when He was faced with enduring our due wrath and suffering and rejection and shame and pain and torture and death, though being the very God of life. Our God--the author and sustainer of life--died. So that He also would overcome death. So that by His self-sacrificial death we would be redeemed, and through His resurrection we stand justified.
Sometimes only by looking full on the truth of what Christ has done and who He is does the strangeness of other doctrines become apparent when there's "seeming goodness" inherent those doctrines.
All the more to remember that the God of all Creation--Christ Jesus, our Savior and King--assured us we must take up our own cross in this world, if we are going to follow Him. He also assured us that we would not be greater than Him--we will not be exempt from His sufferings, if we are His (one of two options--His or not--He delineated and defined these categories)--for the servant isn't greater than the Master, as the student is not greater than the Teacher.
He assured us we will have trouble in the world, if we are His. But He also assured us that we need not be concerned, because He has overcome the world. And He reigns, now. Though things haven't all been wholly brought into subjection, as of yet. Though the kingdom is coming, even now, in those who are His.
Just as He said, for we can do nothing apart from Him. Like as He didn't do anything apart from the Father, yes? So, either we must abide in the True Vine or be cut off from Him. These are the only options.
So I'm not sure where the good news is, in this: thinking we have to save the world and/or take possession of it, ourselves, because we have power? As I've read, we've been told to expect rejection and persecution, instead of victorious dominion on this earth (until He returns, at least)--such that the best-case scenario is to walk in such a way that there's not knowing offense come through us, and as that we do such good that people who despise us and God will nonetheless give glory to God due to our lives. We walk as strangers, sojourners, and the despised of the world if we are Christ's. And of this lattermost though, I see good news: Being Christ's, being forgiven sin and imputed His righteousness. So that even enduring rejection and pain and suffering in this life will work a greater glory, in eternity. Such that the joy of His fellowship now persists in the midst of sufferings, and His guidance is steadfast and ongoing. His Spirit leads, as the flesh is put to death. Walk by the Spirit and you will not fulfill the deeds of the flesh, perhaps? Even as those who are led by the Spirit of God are adopted. Sons of God. By His stripes, we're healed--righteousness which isn't our own is given to us, so that we are made accepted and acceptable in the Beloved. This pleased God. And the glory of His grace will be praised.
So, then--by what means and on what grounds ought we contrive to figure out ways to unite society and overcome adversity and squelch poverty and suffering? Jesus grieved these things, yes. And if we love Him and love one another so shall we... But if we know Him, we know that He is the one--the only one--who can or will right these travesties of brokenness. And, further, if we know Him well enough even as to know ourselves to some extent truthfully, we'll know we don't even fathom the depths of the darkness in our own hearts. So, too, we'll be increasingly humbled to realize that similarly as we aren't capable of even knowing ourselves except for by His light, how much less are we capable to know--independent of deference to Him--the means by which to "heal" others and the world?
Put another way, we cannot heal ourselves, how then are we undertaking by our own understanding to heal the church, society, the world?
All to say--as best I know from Scripture and from knowing Christ and walking with Him step by step (I should be dead so many times over--He has been very merciful again and again, and increasingly to my awareness is this so)--no matter how good our intentions, we haven't any righteousness which is truly beneficial, apart from submitting to God's leading.
Which...isn't to say that we do absolutely nothing and stop caring and serving and interaction. He doesn't lead that way. Antichrists, however, do. But not Christ, Himself: He leads to selfless devotion to whatever is placed before us, for the sake of love and the love of truth: For the love of God and man. Counting others far more worthy than ourselves, we will press in to Christ so to serve more selflessly and more wholeheartedly, knowing we cannot do so otherwise.
All of which runs counter to fleshly reason, is the reason--the carnal mind is enmity against God. Such as requires death to one's own sense of independent capacity, significance, understanding, righteousness, and justification--incrementally accomplished by God's merciful interventions in our hearts as we draw nearer to Him. For when we deeply believe we comprehensively know things, we are seeing all so much more only the smallest part of reality. (1 Cor 8:2). ...or otherwise, we would yet realize something about how little we actually know, because of understanding some honest degree of the exceeding further greatness and incomprehensibility of God's own wisdom.
Thus we are better suited to defer to the One who knows all. Let Him lead. Seek that He will do so. Plead that He will. Rather than dredging up ideas which seem righteous and profitable, and mindlessly attempting to spread them. (Just to consider: Prov. 16:25, Prov. 19:21, Prov. 21:2, Prov. 24:12) Because the problem isn't a desire to "do good"--the problem is that our very ability to actually "do good" necessarily is solely predicated upon an actual deference to that which is Good. To Him who is good. Our best intentions are otherwise unavoidably deviant, as it goes.
He does lead us to serve others, though--just to note again, this isn't exempted. There will be widows comforted, homeless clothed, orphans adopted, and the starving will be fed. We will desire justice and mercy. And will lament lack. Just...not on the sole basis of our own understanding of what's right and good, rather as a deferent, manifest worship of Christ and love of Him overflowing unto love of others.
All of which is not to say that He doesn't ever work via self-serving, self-gratifying acts endeavoring mercy. He's so gracious that the sun shines on the righteous and the evil and rain falls on the wicked and the just. He is very merciful.
Something that I'm driving at is just of the nature that there's a type of purported kindness and love and peace which is common today which forsakes and abnegates truth for the sake of "brotherhood," and "kindness," yet there's something of what's at the heart of these which is also at the heart of this other: Idolatry, of each, yes. There's something specific regarding perhaps an unspoken agreement amongst many to worship one another?--as: "so long as we each remain accommodating to the unstated agreement to worship one another at least by refraining from questioning one another's beliefs, then no dissent against one another from outsiders will be granted credence." It's a solidarity, of sorts, but with a faulty foundation. There's false peace, then. A false love. Allotting false hope. And preserving hollow joy. Part of this all arises from and remains concentric about the sheer refusal to define terms of interaction and intent--so long as there's an element of the nebulous, then truth can be "accommodated" and deviance "denied."
Casting visions and seeking to establish and maintain a unity which forsakes truth...all arise from departure from an actual submission to God which yields unto striving to intimately know Him and serve Him foremost as life's intent and core desire. But we need His help, even for this. Period. Just as we need to know Him, we need His help as to do so--His Word grafted on our hearts by the Holy Spirit, yet we need His Spirit to reveal Him per His Word. That has to be the foremost cry of our hearts, always--to walk in step with Him and know Him ever more deeply. By His Word. For otherwise, we're actively stepping further into distraction, unto delusions.
Jesus pleaded with the Pharisees, regarding thinking they had life in the Scriptures without ever actually coming to Him: He's a person. A living God. Active. Period. So we can come to Him, or continue to do things our own way. Not an option to do both--mutually exclusive. (John 5:39-40)
All of which to say that if we're not actively directing ourselves and one another unto Christ, we're directing away from Him. Which latter...is neither loving nor good.
Such is the flesh and the spirit of man that if we aren't actively bringing all things into subjection to the truth of God's sovereignty and presentient mind...we are actively forgetting His wisdom exceeds our own, beyond measure. So, yeah. Let's not cast visions, please? He's merciful, but we're better not to test Him.
Lets turn our eyes to Jesus, instead. And not to a "vision" of Him, even, but to an increasing consideration of all He's revealed in Scripture, so as to know Him more accurately in spirit and truth. May we desire Him above all things, else. (1 Tim. 1:5) Let us turn to Christ.
Because that concept constitutes the underpinning premise of much of witchcraft: You pick something to focus on, build up increasingly clear and concerted definition of that desire, and increasingly hone your will for it to manifest--whether as an individual or a group. Putting this sort of effort into practice alongside a few Bible verses and prayers doesn't alter the fact that the whole process defies even a pretense of submission to God and submission to His intimate, Scripture concording guidance.
The entire idea of "casting visions" ultimately refers to reliance on human reasoning, no matter how "theologically informed" that reasoning might conceive itself to be: The fundamental premise is one wherein one's own understanding of matters and of needs is considered sufficient to aptly conceive of and manifest whatever's determined appropriately desirable.
I've yet to hear anyone cite "casting a vision" wherein people grasp deeper knowledge of the truth of their sinfulness and the exceeding enormity of God's grace in Christ, as unto a more wholehearted and utter despair of self and submission to Him in repentance. No, there's usually something about "casting vision" which seems--on the surface and according to societal norms--"good" and "personally or societally beneficial." Freedom, maybe. Or...dominion. Or...even saying repentance, but meaning something different than coming to Christ and submitting to Him and His Word, deferentially.
"Good" intentions which don't lead us lovingly and straight to the foot of the cross, speaking truth with compassion and like-minded contrition of awareness of each our need for mercies untold, though...?
Those are not quite good, at the very heart of the matter. And that's what makes the difference, where the same terms are increasingly used for differing matters.
God, alone, is good. What He wills, alone, is good. Deferring to Him is the only way, then.
We are defiant and fickle, apart from deference to Him. Our very best guess at what is good for one another--unless it be solely informed by a right, Holy Spirit interpreted assessment of Scripture--is just going to miss the mark, in some fashion or other. Which is only unto further consequence. Because sin always yields consequence...breaking things has a way of breaking things.
Likewise, the idea that there will never be a point necessitating separation from intimate fellowship with others if only others profess "Christianity" is entirely unscriptural. "Setting aside differences, for the sake of just agreeing on Jesus"...if that were all it truly were, would be something else entirely. But, it's not what it seems. It's a gradual decline to eventually "embracing all faith traditions as equally valid." That's where it goes. Because we can agree to disagree, yes, but that does not mean someone isn't wrong. And pretending otherwise isn't loving, given the consequences due to each and every one of us who contemns Christ by refusing to defer to Him and plead for His offered forgiveness and mercy.
Jesus outlined a matter of difference in relations between reconciled and unreconciled, recorded as Matthew 18:15-17, specifically in context of directing us to lovingly plead with one another against sin. And Paul called specific people out as being given over to Satan, even, in context of having abandoned a right deference and submission to the truth--abandoning, making shipwreck of faith in God. And Paul's statements weren't malicious, but only a statement of fact which serves as a warning to us all. And we can know Paul's words weren't coming from a place of contempt and malice, given what has also been recorded of the fruits of the Holy Spirit at work in Paul as unto inspired writings preserved by God for His purposes. And given that we've been instructed to put away such things.
We have many warnings, is all. Many. Many dire admonitions, also, specifically not to be deceived. Direly warned that even the very elect would be deceived, if possible (Matthew 24:24). This isn't a small thing. And I'm reminded now of what was said nearing the end of CCEF conference a couple weeks ago: when we read warnings in the Bible, we are in danger if we think or attempt to convince ourselves they aren't for us.
As a means of stressing that point, the fellow speaking told of a time when he was working a locked floor in a hospital where fire alarms were routinely, falsely tripped by residents. One day he heard an alarm and just decided it must be another false one. He decided against being inconvenienced by the warning, decided it didn't mean anything for him personally, and just continued doing paperwork. Until firemen in full gear came and quickly ushered him out of harm's way, during which time he encountered smoke and knew the fear of realizing how utterly foolish he had been.
In a similar fashion, we all tend to become accustomed to rationalizing away the dangers of this world--the pitfalls of our own shortcomings and tendency to falter to temptation (conceived of our own lusts, even). And this, in regard to our faith. Not in terms of threats to body--vast as those are, yes. Rather, real threat to our faith is daily encountered, unless we actively battle against unbelief and strive to know Him more intimately in spirit and truth. For the deceitfulness of sin is vast. It blinds slowly, very gradually encumbering clarity of heart and mind. Cajoling with a false promise that "just a little won't hurt," or "it's not that big a deal," or "these things aren't problems for me." So many siren songs, yet the result is only the same. Shipwreck.
Such snares are nebulous at outset, in a society where we're vaguely in a state of somnambulance (Eph. 5:14-15) alongside the many who relativize all things unto being equally acceptable, thus equally valid, thus none definitive, so that nothing may be deemed divisive as absolute truth cannot help but to be. Dividing asunder even as between bone and marrow. (Hebrews 4:10-12)
Put another way, in the Western world we inhabit society which professes a need for unity at all costs--deeming all things which seek common or individual "good" to be equally justifiable and equally valid. For the sake of peace. For the sake of bettering the world. For the sake of bettering our societies. For the sake of bettering our communities. For the sake of bettering our families. For the sake of bettering the lives of those who are suffering. For the sake of being better people, ourselves.
Despite that there are inherent contradictions rife on all levels of this stance--being sustained by only a glance toward "entitlements" to fair treatment such as nonetheless simultaneously redefines "fairness" at every turn. All under guise of believing that "if we have equality, then we will have peace and good will come to us in the land." Again purporting that if we are all "treated fairly," then we will all "succeed." But these terms are never fundamentally, thus meaningfully defined. They each change in every given context, depending upon the temperament and priorities and values of the audience. Yet this is never questioned (or, at least, I've yet to hear it done). And this does not work: Pursuing nebulous concepts which have no substantive anchor in reality inherently precludes attainment of meaningful or lasting "good," as none such has actually been agreed upon, effectively. Thus, none such is actually being pursued.
Put another way, slightly--apart from reference and submission to God, all aims are falsely skewed toward further defiance against Him. Which, really, this constitutes the basis of the united front being fostered internationally. Which is inherently skewed unto further falsity, as arising from error at the most fundamental of all levels: a foundational departure from reality cannot but yield to further dissonance throughout a dependent system. Fundamental denial of utmost reality cannot sustain solidarity of purpose, as the foundation upon which any such striving rests is itself truly insubstantial.
If we aren't gathering unto truth, we're scattering from it.
The heart of the matter is that there's resentment of God's sovereignty: much of the age-old desire to be "as" the Creator, to act "as" Him in our own lives and so dictate our own fates. But there's simply no human equality with God. We cannot uncreate and recreate ourselves. We can't be unborn as to designate our own birth. And no matter how deeply we may come to understand His creation and the intricacy of wisdom displayed, resonantly throughout...we cannot become reality's creator.
That's just not a thing. He's the Creator and Owner of us all. Period. He speaks things which are not into being. We simply just can't. Whatever we have, we've received--whether talents, strength, intelligence, loving families, abusive families, disabilities, education, employment, unemployment, and all else. We didn't create ourselves. We didn't create the world we were born into. And we can't dictate our genetic make-up, nor our societal endowments. We aren't the gods of our own fate, nor the determiners of our own future, ultimately. We don't even control our own lives, though we may deceive ourselves very deeply otherwise. He allows us to make decisions. He has endowed us with the ability. Even that...is given, where it does persist. So we also only have limited choices, according to His ordained design and order. And due to the fabric and nature of creation and our Creator, where we do decide we also reap the fruits of our decisions. Whether curses or blessings. Serving God or self. One or the other.
But we'll never be God. We're either slaves to Christ or to sin, then. He is our Creator and our Master, ultimately. And either we submit to Him and continually present ourselves as a living sacrifice or we remain under the wrath we've earned, eternal.
And I know how much the idea of deferring to Christ's rightful Lordship over us rankles the chains of those who still refuse to acknowledge His rightful dominance--that utterly caused me irritation and (more deeply than I even permitted myself to realize, generally) resentment, until He brought me to the point of realizing it was true whether I wanted to accept it or not, and the only difference was which consequences would be borne (here and now as satisfied by Christ, or hereafter and unto eternal hell).
The fleshly spirit which isn't in submission to Him wants to assert its own rights and dominance and capacity for doing right and accomplishing good, all by its own interpretation and means, is all. Sometimes though that is presented under false pretense of striving to please Him. Problem is, without faith we can't please Him. Period.
No matter what we might try. Scripture attests that as being impossible.
And if we don't even know or acknowledge who and how He is, we really are in a position of being unable to honor Him--faith entails rightly knowing and acting in accordance with submission to the knowledge that He's God and we're not. Faith sees the truth of His rightful sovereignty and thus repents in dust and ashes, for also seeing the travesty and tragedy of sin. Faith entails rightly assessing reality and truth. A valid faith perforce thus acts upon truth. So, if we aren't honoring Christ as God and Master in our hearts' desires and intentions and our actions----we don't possess faith. Instead, we pursue idols.
And this is all not nearly as precisely relayed as I would deeply desire, but the thread of reasoning is here, nonetheless. I'm just despairing in the Lord's direction over these matters, for love of the church and for love of God. I am sincerely hoping and praying for His mercy for us all--myself much included, as I have no idea how to proceed or what to do except pray and wait and trust He'll guide.
These types of idols are utterly beguiling, is all: To "please Him" by "walking in the authority and power He has given?" To "please Him" by "believing who we are, and acting like it?" To "please Him" by "doing what He called us to do?" All of it presents a vague, overarching sound of seeming legitimacy. Who among us who seeks Christ and wants His forgiveness would not want to please God? And who among us who actually loves Christ doesn't want to please Him?
But...there's a sort of shifty guilt as an implicit motivating factor--guilt, in that the inherent implication is that if we otherwise do less than or otherwise than these things we are "letting God down, since we're not doing what He wants us to do by using the gifts He's given and also walking in the authority He wants us to have." But God isn't a manipulator. Jesus is our righteousness. Period. What the Father has ordered is that we believe on/in/unto the One He sent. And love God with everything we are, also loving others as ourselves. If Christ Himself did only as the Father presented to Him, why would we do other than just...be led by His Spirit, deferentially and as continually seeking Him in Scripture?
He doesn't have to make empty promises and wheedle people into doing what He would have them do, is all. He's not a petulant overseer who's disappointed but resigned to just bear with us sadly, when we don't "live up to our potential." He prepared good works for us beforehand, that we would walk in them. As we complete the sufferings of Christ. For our God is one who has bled and died for us on a cross--becoming a curse for us, so that we might be forgiven for the very sins which are due the very wrath He drank to the dregs for us. Our God walked amongst us as a servant--a suffering and despised servant whom we crucified. Our God wept when He encountered the death of others, and wept when He was faced with enduring our due wrath and suffering and rejection and shame and pain and torture and death, though being the very God of life. Our God--the author and sustainer of life--died. So that He also would overcome death. So that by His self-sacrificial death we would be redeemed, and through His resurrection we stand justified.
Sometimes only by looking full on the truth of what Christ has done and who He is does the strangeness of other doctrines become apparent when there's "seeming goodness" inherent those doctrines.
All the more to remember that the God of all Creation--Christ Jesus, our Savior and King--assured us we must take up our own cross in this world, if we are going to follow Him. He also assured us that we would not be greater than Him--we will not be exempt from His sufferings, if we are His (one of two options--His or not--He delineated and defined these categories)--for the servant isn't greater than the Master, as the student is not greater than the Teacher.
He assured us we will have trouble in the world, if we are His. But He also assured us that we need not be concerned, because He has overcome the world. And He reigns, now. Though things haven't all been wholly brought into subjection, as of yet. Though the kingdom is coming, even now, in those who are His.
Just as He said, for we can do nothing apart from Him. Like as He didn't do anything apart from the Father, yes? So, either we must abide in the True Vine or be cut off from Him. These are the only options.
So I'm not sure where the good news is, in this: thinking we have to save the world and/or take possession of it, ourselves, because we have power? As I've read, we've been told to expect rejection and persecution, instead of victorious dominion on this earth (until He returns, at least)--such that the best-case scenario is to walk in such a way that there's not knowing offense come through us, and as that we do such good that people who despise us and God will nonetheless give glory to God due to our lives. We walk as strangers, sojourners, and the despised of the world if we are Christ's. And of this lattermost though, I see good news: Being Christ's, being forgiven sin and imputed His righteousness. So that even enduring rejection and pain and suffering in this life will work a greater glory, in eternity. Such that the joy of His fellowship now persists in the midst of sufferings, and His guidance is steadfast and ongoing. His Spirit leads, as the flesh is put to death. Walk by the Spirit and you will not fulfill the deeds of the flesh, perhaps? Even as those who are led by the Spirit of God are adopted. Sons of God. By His stripes, we're healed--righteousness which isn't our own is given to us, so that we are made accepted and acceptable in the Beloved. This pleased God. And the glory of His grace will be praised.
So, then--by what means and on what grounds ought we contrive to figure out ways to unite society and overcome adversity and squelch poverty and suffering? Jesus grieved these things, yes. And if we love Him and love one another so shall we... But if we know Him, we know that He is the one--the only one--who can or will right these travesties of brokenness. And, further, if we know Him well enough even as to know ourselves to some extent truthfully, we'll know we don't even fathom the depths of the darkness in our own hearts. So, too, we'll be increasingly humbled to realize that similarly as we aren't capable of even knowing ourselves except for by His light, how much less are we capable to know--independent of deference to Him--the means by which to "heal" others and the world?
Put another way, we cannot heal ourselves, how then are we undertaking by our own understanding to heal the church, society, the world?
All to say--as best I know from Scripture and from knowing Christ and walking with Him step by step (I should be dead so many times over--He has been very merciful again and again, and increasingly to my awareness is this so)--no matter how good our intentions, we haven't any righteousness which is truly beneficial, apart from submitting to God's leading.
Which...isn't to say that we do absolutely nothing and stop caring and serving and interaction. He doesn't lead that way. Antichrists, however, do. But not Christ, Himself: He leads to selfless devotion to whatever is placed before us, for the sake of love and the love of truth: For the love of God and man. Counting others far more worthy than ourselves, we will press in to Christ so to serve more selflessly and more wholeheartedly, knowing we cannot do so otherwise.
All of which runs counter to fleshly reason, is the reason--the carnal mind is enmity against God. Such as requires death to one's own sense of independent capacity, significance, understanding, righteousness, and justification--incrementally accomplished by God's merciful interventions in our hearts as we draw nearer to Him. For when we deeply believe we comprehensively know things, we are seeing all so much more only the smallest part of reality. (1 Cor 8:2). ...or otherwise, we would yet realize something about how little we actually know, because of understanding some honest degree of the exceeding further greatness and incomprehensibility of God's own wisdom.
Thus we are better suited to defer to the One who knows all. Let Him lead. Seek that He will do so. Plead that He will. Rather than dredging up ideas which seem righteous and profitable, and mindlessly attempting to spread them. (Just to consider: Prov. 16:25, Prov. 19:21, Prov. 21:2, Prov. 24:12) Because the problem isn't a desire to "do good"--the problem is that our very ability to actually "do good" necessarily is solely predicated upon an actual deference to that which is Good. To Him who is good. Our best intentions are otherwise unavoidably deviant, as it goes.
He does lead us to serve others, though--just to note again, this isn't exempted. There will be widows comforted, homeless clothed, orphans adopted, and the starving will be fed. We will desire justice and mercy. And will lament lack. Just...not on the sole basis of our own understanding of what's right and good, rather as a deferent, manifest worship of Christ and love of Him overflowing unto love of others.
All of which is not to say that He doesn't ever work via self-serving, self-gratifying acts endeavoring mercy. He's so gracious that the sun shines on the righteous and the evil and rain falls on the wicked and the just. He is very merciful.
Something that I'm driving at is just of the nature that there's a type of purported kindness and love and peace which is common today which forsakes and abnegates truth for the sake of "brotherhood," and "kindness," yet there's something of what's at the heart of these which is also at the heart of this other: Idolatry, of each, yes. There's something specific regarding perhaps an unspoken agreement amongst many to worship one another?--as: "so long as we each remain accommodating to the unstated agreement to worship one another at least by refraining from questioning one another's beliefs, then no dissent against one another from outsiders will be granted credence." It's a solidarity, of sorts, but with a faulty foundation. There's false peace, then. A false love. Allotting false hope. And preserving hollow joy. Part of this all arises from and remains concentric about the sheer refusal to define terms of interaction and intent--so long as there's an element of the nebulous, then truth can be "accommodated" and deviance "denied."
Casting visions and seeking to establish and maintain a unity which forsakes truth...all arise from departure from an actual submission to God which yields unto striving to intimately know Him and serve Him foremost as life's intent and core desire. But we need His help, even for this. Period. Just as we need to know Him, we need His help as to do so--His Word grafted on our hearts by the Holy Spirit, yet we need His Spirit to reveal Him per His Word. That has to be the foremost cry of our hearts, always--to walk in step with Him and know Him ever more deeply. By His Word. For otherwise, we're actively stepping further into distraction, unto delusions.
Jesus pleaded with the Pharisees, regarding thinking they had life in the Scriptures without ever actually coming to Him: He's a person. A living God. Active. Period. So we can come to Him, or continue to do things our own way. Not an option to do both--mutually exclusive. (John 5:39-40)
All of which to say that if we're not actively directing ourselves and one another unto Christ, we're directing away from Him. Which latter...is neither loving nor good.
Such is the flesh and the spirit of man that if we aren't actively bringing all things into subjection to the truth of God's sovereignty and presentient mind...we are actively forgetting His wisdom exceeds our own, beyond measure. So, yeah. Let's not cast visions, please? He's merciful, but we're better not to test Him.
Lets turn our eyes to Jesus, instead. And not to a "vision" of Him, even, but to an increasing consideration of all He's revealed in Scripture, so as to know Him more accurately in spirit and truth. May we desire Him above all things, else. (1 Tim. 1:5) Let us turn to Christ.
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