Friday, October 2, 2009

Holiness

I read a post today by a well-meaning brother who was bemoaning the fact that holiness is little spoken of in churches today. After noting that when he speaks on holiness, most people respond with the scripture that says we all sin, and he said, “So I guess holiness is out and sin is in huh?”

I simply could not agree this brother’s assessment of the state of the church. Rather, I believe that the church has often misrepresented the love and grace of God. And traditionally the church has especially misrepresented "holiness" as merely the absence of sin, instead of its primary meaning of "dedication and consecration". Sadly, instead of preaching the Good News of the forgiveness and love of Christ which draws people to the Lord who cleanses us from all sin, many churches focus on trying to motivate people through guilt and condemnation, preaching bad news instead of Good News.

It's the goodness of God that draws us to repentance. Jesus said that He didn't come to the world to condemn the world but to save it. Salvation and Christian Living is “grace based” - not “condemnation based”.

Because of the church's misrepresentation of "holiness", many believers feel condemnation instead of salvation and thus negatively react when people speak of "holiness"! If holiness was taught from a grace-based perspective, people would be drawn to the Lord and His salvation instead of repulsed by condemnation!

The most "holy" people I know are the ones who simply and practically love God and love others. They have tremendous grace and mercy towards other people and rarely, if ever, speak condescendingly of others. In loving people, they tend to highlight the good and cover any negatives. Doesn’t scripture say something about love covering sin!

If we're filled with the love of God, then we're drawn to Him like moths to a flame. And our love for God purges us from sin, and we die to self and are filled with resurrection life! Who loves the most? The one who's been forgiven the most! Those who are dedicated to the Lord grow in the freedom of the Lord from sin – sanctification and holiness. It’s love that fulfills the law!

Holiness is NOT about sin, but about forgiveness! I am holy, wholly consecrated to the Lord because I have been wholly forgiven!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Pride cuts one off from the Body of Christ

“Your pride has cut you off from the Body of Christ!” These words echoed truth in my soul, laying bare the hidden motives of my heart!

Several months before receiving this chastisement from the Holy Spirit, I had received Christ as my Savior (been born-again) and was baptized in the Holy Spirit. Speaking in tongues and entering a new dimension of praise and worship were the primary evidences of this. The event of my salvation and being filled with the Holy Spirit radically changed my life. I had a new dynamic boldness in declaring His Word, sharing my faith, and in proclaiming the goodness of God. I was overwhelmed with a sense of awe at this new reality. I began studying the Bible and praying with a passion that I had never experienced or even dreamed existed. One day as I was prayerfully studying the Bible, I reread the story in Luke 7:36-50 of the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears. I had read this story hundreds of times before, yet that day was different.

You might remember the story. Simon, a Pharisee, invited Jesus to his house for a meal. Jesus gladly went home with Simon; however, in the middle of the meal, a woman with a very bad reputation came in though uninvited, knelt behind Jesus, and began uncontrollably weeping. She cried so much that Jesus’ feet became wet with her tears. Then she did the unthinkable; she touched Jesus. She actually began washing his feet with her tears. Then, dare I repeat it; she let her hair down and began drying His feet with her hair. Adding further insult, she then took a very expensive box of fragrant ointment and poured it on his feet. What a waste! This woman was as bold as Jezebel was!

Simon was incensed; how could this woman dare to do something so, so, so unthinkable? In his home, furthermore! More than that, if Jesus was a true prophet, surely He would know what kind of woman this was. He would rebuke her; and as punishment for her sins, He most certainly would chastise her publicly and reject her from his presence! How could He let Himself be so spiritually and publicly defiled by allowing such a woman to touch him? A true prophet of God would never act so shamefully!

Jesus, however, judged people by their hearts and not by their outward appearance, social status, or previous life style. All people were valuable and worthy of love and respect because they are the objects of God’s affection, the beat of His heart! In response to Simon’s negative thoughts, Jesus tells the parable of two debtors. One man owed ten times as much as the other man; however, neither could repay their debt. The moneylender magnanimously forgave both debts. Jesus then asked Simon which man would love and appreciate their benefactor the most. Baffled as to why Jesus is telling this story, Simon answered that the man who had been forgiven the most would love his benefactor the most. Jesus then said,

Luke 7:43b-47 New King James Version
“You have rightly judged.” 44Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. 45“You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. 46“You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. 47“Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”

As I read this passage, verse 47 impacted me differently than ever before. “Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven–for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little (Luke 7:47)." I remember asking God something like: “Jesus I love you. You know that I love you; and yet, I’ve led a pretty moral life. I haven’t fallen into the kind of sinful lifestyle that this woman had. I don’t think that I should go and sin more so that I can love you more. So what can I do? I want to love you with all of my heart and passion. What can I do to love you more?”

Have you ever noticed that God often doesn’t give you what you ask for, but always gives you what you really need? In this case, I did not even know what to ask for? I realize now, that there was nothing that “I could do” to love God more, but God could do something, and did, and is!

A few months later, having forgotten about this prayer, I was praying about other concerns. I don’t remember what I was praying about, but I remember the encounter with Jesus. As I was praying I received a vision. I saw a right hand that had been cut off from its body. It was as if I was looking through the eyes of the body that was missing the hand. There was a clear tube coming from the air on the right side of the body that I was in. This tube had blood flowing through it into the hand and back out onto the ground, keeping the hand alive. However, the hand was just lying there, twitching–a bloody, muddy mess. It was a horrific sight!

The Lord then spoke to me and said “Your pride has cut you off from the Body of Christ.” The motives of my heart were revealed and I understood that my pride predisposed me to refuse to receive the Spirit and/or Word of God through anyone other member of the Body of Christ. I had come to a place of such spiritual pride that I would not receive correction or instruction from other believers. I thought that I had a direct line to God and did not need others to speak into my life. My pride had also disabled me from being a blessing to others. In fact, my sinful attitude was causing the Body tremendous pain. Although I still felt the Spirit of God (the blood) flowing in my life, I was spiritually sick and dysfunctional and would eventually die if not reconnected to the body.

Sometimes the truth hurts! This time, it most certainly did! I was pierced to the heart, repenting in tears and asked God to forgive me. I then saw the left hand pick up the right hand and reattach it to the right wrist. As the left hand passed over the wound, it was totally healed. In fact, there was no scar or evidence that the right hand had ever been cut off. I had been restored to the Body of Christ, but my pride and self-righteousness had only begun to be dealt with!

Shortly after this experience I was again prayerfully reading the Bible. I was reading Mathew 23 where Jesus strongly reproaches the religious leaders of His day, calling them hypocrites, snakes, a den of vipers, and sons of hell. As I came to the close of this section of scripture, the Lord spoke to me very clearly saying, “That’s the way you are.” There was no anger or disgust in His voice, only the love of a father sternly and yet compassionately chastening his son.
Again, I was cut to the heart with truth. I realized that much of what I did was motivated out of my selfish ambition and desire to look good in the eyes of others. It was as if God had opened my heart and showed me how filthy it was. Oh how I cried! I cried for two weeks. Members of my family questioned if I had lost my mind. To this day I cry when I think of it. The ugliness in my own soul was/is too much for me to handle. Except for the comfort of the Spirit and the assurance of forgiveness, I would have gone stark raving mad.

My prayer was answered. I had been forgiven much, much more than mere adultery or murder. I have been forgiven of my pride and self-righteousness, the most hideous and deceptive of all sin. The only people that Jesus was ever angry at were the hypocrites, of whom I was one, and sometimes am.

To this day, Jesus continues to answer my prayer to love Him more. He does this primarily through uncovering my wickedness and enabling me to repent and receive His abundant forgiveness. “Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven--for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little (Luke 7:47)." May we all wash His feet with our tears of repentance and gratitude! You see, it’s not how much we’ve sinned, that’s important to God, but how much of His forgiveness that we’ve received, and how much repentance has come to our lives.

In the parable of the two debtors, it really doesn’t matter that one owed ten times as much as the other. The debt could have been a million times greater. What is important is that both recognized that they owed far more than they could ever repay, and that they were both 100% forgiven. Both should have been equally grateful!

I’ve shared this very personal and revealing story so that you might understand “from whence I speak.” From experience, I understand the mindset, the worldview and philosophy of legalism. Much of Jesus’ ministry was focused on exposing and opposing such legalism. Jesus purposefully healed people on Saturday, why, because He desired to correct the errant legalistic teachings concerning the Sabbath. He also did such things to expose the hateful and damnable attitudes that are legalism’s byproducts—pride and self-righteousness.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

The Lake Burning with Fire and Brimstone

Over the last several months I’ve been researching the doctrine called the “Restoration of All Things” or “Christian Universalism”. It is, at its most basic, the belief that because of the sacrifice of Christ, all of humanity is ultimately saved and will ultimately come into relationship and life forever with Him. There are several scriptures that seem to indicate this is true. However, in order to “balance” what I had been studying on this, I decided to research scripture concerning Hell and Judgment. In my research though, I’ve come across information that is challenging my traditional Evangelical beliefs concerning the essence and purpose of punishment in the afterlife!

According to the doctrine that I have been raised to believe, the traditional Protestant/Evangelical doctrine, Hell is a place of “endless torture” for those who are not saved. However, I’ve run across information that seems to indicate that the traditional doctrine of Hell is incorrect, that the afterlife does not include a place of “endless torture”.

As mentioned in the previous post, Jesus used the word GEHENNA in speaking of punishment in the afterlife. But the Rabbis of Jesus’ day taught that GEHENNA was a place of purification of and payment for sin that only lasted as long as was needed for the healing and the reformation of the human soul. After a person was purified in GEHENNA, he was admitted to Paradise; but the English word Hell carries the connotation of “endless torture”, so it is not a good interpretation of GEHENNA. Rather, the best interpretation of the word GEHENNA, I believe, is Purgatory.

But of course, GEHENNA is only one word used in scripture which references punishment in the afterlife. In my research of Hell, Judgment, and related words and scriptures, another very interesting bit of information came to my attention. It is the word “Brimstone”, THEION in Greek. Notice how similar THEION is to THEIOS (divine). THEION, brimstone, actually means “divine incense, because burning brimstone was regarded as having power to purify and to ward off disease” (Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon).

Thayer’s Lexicon, Friberg’s Analytical Lexicon, and Liddell and Scott Greek-English Lexicon all agree that THEION is related to purification and healing. And Liddell and Scott notes that the verb THEIOO actually means “to hallow, to make divine, or to dedicate to a god.” Thus, based upon the actual Greek usage of THEION, brimstone carries the connotation of purification and healing, and even signifies being made holy, set apart, dedicated to God; it does NOT connote “endless torture”.

Brimstone - fire from heaven, lightening, volcanic bombs, and other geologic forms of fire give off the smell of burning sulfur. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire and brimstone, fire from heaven. Geologist Frederick Clapp theorized that Sodom’s divine judgmental fire was likely a petroleum-based substance called bitumen, similar to asphalt, that was forced out of the earth through a fault-line, ignited by a spark or surface fire, and then fell to earth as a burning fiery mass bringing the judgment of God.

Furthermore, as noted by Strong’s Lexicon, brimstone, sulfur was burnt as incense meant to ward off disease. Even today many medicines are sulfur-based. Thus brimstone is dynamically connected to healing.

Something else that I’ve never noticed before about the “lake burning with fire and brimstone” is that it is actually in the “presence” of God, not separated from the presence of God. Rev. 14:10 says that those who receive the mark of the beast shall “drink of the wine of the wrath of God” and “shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”

When I ran across this information about brimstone the first thing that came to mind was when Isaiah stood before the Lord and was overwhelmed by the sin that God’s presence revealed in him (Isaiah 6). In the presence of the Lord and His angels, Isaiah cried, “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips!” In response to this confession an angel took a live coal (brimstone?) from the altar, put it to Isaiah’s lips and purified him! Could it be that this is a picture of the burning purification of the Lord? I like Peterson’s translation of this passage:

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Master sitting on a throne—high, exalted!—and the train of his robes filled the Temple. Angel-seraphs hovered above him, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two their feet, and with two they flew. And they called back and forth one to the other,
Holy, Holy, Holy is God-of-the-Angel-Armies. His bright glory fills the whole earth.

The foundations trembled at the sound of the angel voices, and then the whole house filled with smoke. I said,
"Doom! It's Doomsday! I'm as good as dead!Every word I've ever spoken is tainted— blasphemous even!And the people I live with talk the same way, using words that corrupt and desecrate.And here I've looked God in the face! The King! God-of-the-Angel-Armies!"


Then one of the angel-seraphs flew to me. He held a live coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with the coal and said,
Look. This coal has touched your lips. Gone your guilt, your sins wiped out."

Thus considering that 1) brimstone implies purification and healing (not endless torture), 2) the “lake burning with fire and brimstone” is in the presence of God, and 3) God Himself is a Consuming Fire, the “lake burning with fire and brimstone could be, should be interpreted as “the Volcanic Lake of God’s Consuming-Purifying-Healing Presence”!

Could it be that the traditional Evangelical doctrine of the afterlife for the wicked being endless fiery torture, unending punishment, Hell, be wrong? Could it be that the fiery punishment of the afterlife spoken of in the Bible is for our healing and purification, even for those with the mark of the beast? Frankly, the more I study what is actually written in scripture, the more I believe the answer to be yes! “Look. This coal has touched your lips. Gone your guilt, your sins wiped out!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Hell - "Gehenna"

I've recently been doing an indepth study on Hell and am coming to believe differently than what I've been taught since childhood. One of the most interesting things I've come across is the cultural context of what Jesus said concerning Gehenna.

When Jesus spoke of sin and sinners burning in continuous fire, He spoke of Gehenna. Jesus uses the word Gehenna 10 times in the Gospels, and the Gospels only record Jesus using the word Hades 4 times. And only once is the word Hades used in regards to a person - the rich man in Luke 16. And considering Luke was a Gentile, it's understandable that He would use a Greek term to reference a fiery afterlife twice and only use Gehenna once.

Anyhow, Jesus used almost exclusively the word Gehenna to reference God's punishment upon sin and sinner; so understanding that word in its cultural context is very important. What was Gehenna and how did the first century Jew understand the concept of Gehenna? When Jesus used the word Gehenna, what did it communicate to His first century audience?

Lexicons and commentaries all note that Gehenna was Jerusalem's trash dump where the city waste was consumed by fire and maggots; trash was burnt and waste flesh, even the bodies of condemned criminals, was reduced to dust by maggots. It was a place continuously (eternally) burning with fire and continuously populated by maggots (worm dieth not).  The continuous fire was actually fueled by brimstone - sulfur. The valley of Gehenna was selected by default to be a trash dump because it was where Molech had been worshipped and children burnt in sacrifice to that idol; so when the Jews repented from such, they used the site as a trash dump. This is information readily noted in most commentaries and lexicons.

What is rarely noted is that Gehenna was used by the Rabbis of Jesus' day to reference the afterlife of sinners. Shammai and Hillel both used Gehenna to speak metaphorically of a place of purification of the soul for those who were not righteous enough to directly enter Paradise - the Garden of Eden. Shammai believed that only the extremenly righteous went to Paradise when they died; everyone else went to Gehenna.  Most would rise to Ga Eden (Paradise) after being purified, having their sins burnt up - similar to the Catholic concept of Purgatory.  Hillel taught that only the wicked went to Gehenna.  Both Shammai and Hillel taught that the longest most people would stay in Gehenna was 11 months, and only the most wicked evil person would stay longer, possibly as much as 12 months.  They debated as to what would happen to the especially wicked people, whether they too would be purified, annihilated, or endure the punishment of Gehenna indefinitely.  They agreed though that most people, after being purified and healed by fire though, rose from the pit and were admitted to Paradise, the Garden of Eden!  This was especially true for loved ones!

Thus, when Jesus spoke of Gehenna, unless He otherwise specified, the word Gehenna would have carried this meaning of a place of purification and healing of the soul!   Note Jesus' use of Gehenna in the following passage.

Mark 9:42-49 "And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell (Gehenna), where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell (Gehenna). And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell (Gehenna), where " 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.' Everyone will be salted with fire."

The NLT actually translates vs. 49 as "Everyone will be purified by fire." And according to the immediate literary context, there is no reason to not equate "fire" in vs. 49 with the "fire" of Gehenna in the previous verses. So Jesus warned everyone to be careful how we live, especially in regards to how we treat others. If we treat others badly, especially if we cause someone to loose faith, we're accountable for our actions and will suffer the chastisement of the Lord undergoing His fiery purification - terrible and yet redemptive (with a purpose)! And though the Rabbis taught that some are righteous enough to not undergo the fire of Gehenna, Jesus said that "Everyone will be purified by fire!"

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Rise Up!

Last Easter, my family and I having just moved to Tennessee visited a local church. During worship I began hearing a message from the Lord. It was a powerfully encouraging message but being we had never visited the church before, I didn’t know if they were accustomed to people delivering prophetic messages. I didn’t even know for sure that they believed in the gift of prophecy still operating in the church today; so I decided to wait and see if the pastor would speak on the message. Often times the Lord will give a message through two or more methods, not always but often. So I decided to wait and see if the message that I was hearing would come out in the sermon, but it didn’t.

The pastor didn’t even speak on anything close to the message that I was hearing and yet I continued to be very strongly pressed to share the message. While the pastor was wrapping up his sermon, I noticed the man who had done the announcements was standing in the back of the sanctuary. I walked over to him and simply said, “I believe I have a word from the Lord for the church, how do you handle such things?” To which he promptly said, “Well, hand on just a minute,” and walked forward to speak with the pastor who had just turned the service back over to the worship leader for a closing song.

The pastor motioned me forward and said, “You said you have a word from the Lord, but Who are you?” To which I replied, “Well, nobody really, we just moved here to Tennessee from Virginia and this is the first time we’ve visited the church.” He thought about that for a second and replied, “Well, would you be willing to share the word with me so that I can share it with the congregation? I mean, you must understand that I don’t know anything about you.” I replied, “Of course that’s fine; I understand” and proceeded to share with him the message and walked to the back of the sanctuary.

He went back up to the pulpit saying, “A young man said that he believed he had a word from the Lord and gave it to me to share it with you.” He then proceeded to share the jist of what I shared with him. But of course, prophetic words are meant to be given under a prophetic unction, and him not having that prophetic unction (inspiration), the word came across a little flat, not being as encouraging as when I had shared it with him. He noted the difference though and seeing that I was just happy to deliver the message and not have to be in the “spot-light”, I suppose that he decided he could trust me to deliver it directly to the people. So he said, “Young man was there anything else?” I then had liberty to share the message as I was hearing it from the Lord. I said…

I believe the Lord is saying that He’s happy that we are celebrating His Resurrection, but He looks forward to the day when He will celebrate ours! He wants to celebrate us rising from our sickness, us rising from our poverty, us rising from our depression. That’s what He wants to see – us rising to be all that He’s called us to be!

And may the Lord bless you today, so that you might Rise Up!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Universality of Judgment

Unfortunately, Protestant and Evangelical churches teach very little on the Judgment. (Having limited exposure to Catholic, Orthodox, or Messianic churches, I don't know how much they teach on Judgment). I believe that a primary reason for Protestant and Evangelical churches teaching little on the Judgment is because of our emphasis on Salvation being by grace through faith and not of works; and yet scriptures that refer to the Judgment are universalistic in scope indicating that all humanity (including us Christians) will face the Judgment! And scriptures concerning Judgment are consistantly based on works, how we live our lives, and not on our faith in God.

In fact, judgment begins with the church. Why would judgment begin with us? Likely there are several reasons, one of which being that we, the church, are most responsible before God for our actions because we've received the revelation of God's love for us and have given our lives to God. Like the men in the parable of the talents, we've received awesome blessings from God!

We've had our eyes opened through faith and we see the Lord. We've been regenerated. We’ve had the Law written upon our hearts and are empowered by the Holy Spirit to live righteous holy lives. We are the most responsible to live right, to act right, and to have right attitudes! Thus judgment begins with us!

Not only are we the most responsible because we've received Christ, but just as we’ve embraced the eternal reality of heaven and are seated with Christ in heavenly places, we can also kneel before the Lord in judgment allowing Him to purify our hearts and lives today; we need not wait until we die to access the eternal reality of God's Judgment!

Unbelievers however have not embraced the love of God, have not been regenerated, and are often under the influence and blindness of demonic spirits. Even so, they too are accountable for their actions for the basics of right and wrong are written on the conscience of every person, to a greater or lesser degree. Even those who have hardened their hearts, their conscience against God for they have resisted the Spirit of God impressing upon them what is right and good.

Thankfully, the Lord is the Righteous Judge whose judgment is tempered by grace and mercy. His judgments are completely for our good, though it is a flame of fire. The beauty of His holiness draws us all to Him like moths drawn to a flame; and yet He is a consuming fire that will burn away all that is unrighteous in us. Even Isaiah suffered the awesome holy burning fearful presence of the Lord. “Then I said, ‘My destruction is sealed, for I am a sinful man and a member of a sinful race. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord Almighty!’ Then one of the seraphim flew over to the altar, and he picked up a burning coal with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, ‘See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.’”

What an awesome revelation of the holiness of God! May we all today embrace the Judgment of God, allowing His very presence to purify our hearts, His Word to purify our minds, and His will to purify our “doings”!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Internationally Respected vs. Rednecks Gone Good

Last night I watched a recorded Nightline Debate “Does Satan Exist?” New Age guru Deepak Chopra and Bishop Carlton Pearson, a former Fundamentalist Pentecostal preacher who came from four generations of “demon-caster-outers,” represented the “Devil Does Not Exist” side. Mark Driscoll, a “hip yet hard-line preacher”, and Annie Lobert, a former prostitute and founder of “Hookers for Jesus” a ministry in Las Vegas, represented the “Devil Exists” side. Harris of Nightline moderated the debate.

It was an interesting program though only choice segments were aired. However, what stuck out to me above everything else was the apparent disparity in the respectability of the participants.

Both Chopra and Pearson have post-graduate degrees, but Driscoll and Lobert did not present any accademic credentials. Chopra and Pearson wore sharp expensive contemporary suits, and Pearson wore his clerical collar, whereas Driscoll and Lobert dressed casual. Driscoll wore tennis shoes, slacks, and a polo-type shirt with some design on the front. And Lobert wore jeans, a blouse, and knee-high black boots with a purple heart on them. Chopra and Pearson are both international in their scope and respected by untold thousands of people; whereas Driscoll and Lobert are both relatively little known, in fact I had never heard of either of them.

Another subtle and yet important aspect of disparity between the two groups was their collective ages and thus perceived amount of wisdom. Chopra and Pearson are both likely in their late 50’s, early 60’s, whereas Driscoll and Lobert are likely both in their late 30’s, early 40’s. Age = wisdom is an underlying assumption of most cultures including the American culture even though we value youth.

Thus in wisdom/age, education, appearance, and reputation, the No-Devil side was clearly favored. The deck was stacked against the “Devil Exists” side. ABC would have been much more “fair” if they had chosen two of the many Christian ministers that are elder statesmen, educated, dress appropriately, and are internationally known and respected. The ABC Dateline Debate, “Does Satan Exist” could have been subtitled, “Internationally Educated and Respected vs. American Rednecks Gone Good!

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Bereans - Open Mind and Open Heart

Over the years, I've found that having an "open mind" is challenging, even very difficult. We all approach a subject with foundational subconscious assumptions and values that we rarely question. We accept certain things as "facts" and can even get angry at anyone who questions these "facts".

In Acts 17:11, Paul says that the Bereans were more "noble" than the Thessolonians, why? People who are familiar with this scripture will quickly recall that the Bereans were more noble because they diligently studied scripture. However, diligently studying scripture is only half the reason for them being called noble! And in fact, I dare to note that without the other half, the other condition, diligently studying scripture does very little good. What was this other element that is so important? --- Being "open minded".

Notice that scripture says that the Bereans were more noble than the Thessolonians because they both 1) eagerly recieved Paul's radical message and 2) were diligent to study scripture to verify it was true. Sadly, it seems like we Christians are among the most "closed minded" people in the world. And many times our faith is in what we believe, in how we interpret the Bible, instead of being in the person Jesus Christ. Thus if someone questions what we believe or how we interpret the Bible it calls into question our "faith". However, if our faith is in Christ, then we are free to question everything that we believe, every doctrine, every assumption because we trust Him to lead us into all truth.

A foundational element of being open minded is humility, not thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought. If I recognize that, hey, I could be wrong, then I'm willing to listen to evidence that counters what I've always believed; and I'm willing to change my beliefs is I'm shown to be in error.

May the Lord help us all be more open minded towards new-to-us concepts and open hearted towards one another!