Coconut
Member
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2005
- Messages
- 4,663
I’m slow on edicts these days, but here’s one I’m willing to venture: a church should not teach people to lie.
But we do.
There’s something about the way we preach our morals, the way we yank an action-item out of every single verse, the way we (unwittingly, I’ll assume) weigh people down with a myriad of expectations that trains people to forget (or ignore or squash) the realities simmering just under the surface.
When Jesus passed blind Bartimaeus on the road to Jericho, Bartimaeus cried out, “Jesus, have mercy.” I love this prayer. There are plenty days when it’s all the prayer I can muster.
Jesus stopped, looked Bartimaeus’ way and asked the plainest question: “What do you want?”
Jesus did not ask Bartimaeus to identify what he should want. Jesus did not ask Bartimaeus what desire the Torah would suggest. Jesus did not ask Bartimaeus to conjure an obedient word on virtue, responsibility and human sinfulness. Jesus asked what the poor fellow longed for, and then Jesus waited for the answer.
Bartimaeus’ desire was obvious; he wanted to be able to see. For most of us, however, our want lies buried under so much neglect and rubble that it’s nearly impossible to locate. Few of us know what it is we actually want, what we crave, what would make us truly giddy if it happened our way.
Whenever I ask someone Jesus’ question: what do you want?, I often receive an anticipated litany that you’d find in any respectable Sunday School curriculum. The answers are fine, but they often possess all the verve of a dead fish. I want the real stuff, what makes the heart race and the energy peak and the sorrow sit heavy as lead.
Often, it would be more truthful if we said: I really want my wife to enjoy sex with me again or I want to stop puking in the toilet or I want money so I can fly the family to Italy for the summer or I want the voices to stop. These would all be closer to the truth. If it’s true that what we really want is to land on the Times bestseller list or to be kissed like mad, why don’t we say so?
Whenever we are able to locate that first layer of our wants and desires (no matter how healthy, noble or immature they might be), we’re scratching at the truth – and then we’ve got something to work with. If we follow that longing deeper and deeper, eventually we’ll find something more potent, something more profoundly true. I’m convinced we’ll find something that is very near to God.
by Winn Collier
Tell Me the Truth | A Deeper Story
Foot Note: (Foot note will probably appear as foot-in-mouth )
I am so weary of the politically correct Christianity that people walking with Christ seem to prefer, even insist upon...give me real, raw, dirty, bloody, honest speech...not answers that tickle my ears...and deny the reality of our muddy condition.
Tell God what you want...what you really really want!
Or, if you trip and fall...dont jump up and look around hoping nobody seen you..and brush yourself off and keep moving like it never happened......(the core reason why you tripped remains like a root in your heart, and left there its gonna grow and suck the LIFE out of you) ...some get so good at pretending, they even manage to delude themselves into denying they ever tripped..... not realizing there is mud on their garments...and they need cleansing. Adam tried hiding in the bushes in the garden too...and then when he got found out... he hid behind excuses for his shame....be sure God did not let him away with either.
I dont think God can do much with those who refuse to get real...you may as well be open and honest about who you really are...or the evidence you leave behind you will surely testify against you. Maybe Adam or Eve swallowed the core of the fruit...pit or seeds and all....that would have been evidence enough of disobedience...but they could`nt hide the core of their guilty conscience...hmmm...
Psa 51:6 Indeed, you are pleased with truth in the inner person, and you will teach me wisdom in my innermost parts.
(Sincerity and truth are what you require; fill my mind with your wisdom. GNB)
Pro 20:30 The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly. KJV
(Blows that wound clean away evil; such beatings cleanse the innermost being. ISV)
Acknowledging the blue (wound) appears to be more (Spiritually) effective than pretending all is white and well (white washed - covered up) and pretending the wound is not there.
Jas_5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed...
This does`nt mean go on a public message board and spill your guts....better to find a trustworthy confidant to do that with....but it does mean drop the double talk.. and the 'christian' cliche`s and euphemisms ...(an expression used in place of one that may be found offensive or suggest something unpleasant) and get REAL. I really am not much help or good to anyone who is struggling if I pretend I got my act together all the time....that I have never failed or tripped and fell on my face in any area of my walk with God...why I`ve got so good at running this race I am ready to fly....where`s my chariot? HA!
But we do.
There’s something about the way we preach our morals, the way we yank an action-item out of every single verse, the way we (unwittingly, I’ll assume) weigh people down with a myriad of expectations that trains people to forget (or ignore or squash) the realities simmering just under the surface.
When Jesus passed blind Bartimaeus on the road to Jericho, Bartimaeus cried out, “Jesus, have mercy.” I love this prayer. There are plenty days when it’s all the prayer I can muster.
Jesus stopped, looked Bartimaeus’ way and asked the plainest question: “What do you want?”
Jesus did not ask Bartimaeus to identify what he should want. Jesus did not ask Bartimaeus what desire the Torah would suggest. Jesus did not ask Bartimaeus to conjure an obedient word on virtue, responsibility and human sinfulness. Jesus asked what the poor fellow longed for, and then Jesus waited for the answer.
Bartimaeus’ desire was obvious; he wanted to be able to see. For most of us, however, our want lies buried under so much neglect and rubble that it’s nearly impossible to locate. Few of us know what it is we actually want, what we crave, what would make us truly giddy if it happened our way.
Whenever I ask someone Jesus’ question: what do you want?, I often receive an anticipated litany that you’d find in any respectable Sunday School curriculum. The answers are fine, but they often possess all the verve of a dead fish. I want the real stuff, what makes the heart race and the energy peak and the sorrow sit heavy as lead.
Often, it would be more truthful if we said: I really want my wife to enjoy sex with me again or I want to stop puking in the toilet or I want money so I can fly the family to Italy for the summer or I want the voices to stop. These would all be closer to the truth. If it’s true that what we really want is to land on the Times bestseller list or to be kissed like mad, why don’t we say so?
Whenever we are able to locate that first layer of our wants and desires (no matter how healthy, noble or immature they might be), we’re scratching at the truth – and then we’ve got something to work with. If we follow that longing deeper and deeper, eventually we’ll find something more potent, something more profoundly true. I’m convinced we’ll find something that is very near to God.
by Winn Collier
Tell Me the Truth | A Deeper Story
Foot Note: (Foot note will probably appear as foot-in-mouth )
I am so weary of the politically correct Christianity that people walking with Christ seem to prefer, even insist upon...give me real, raw, dirty, bloody, honest speech...not answers that tickle my ears...and deny the reality of our muddy condition.
Tell God what you want...what you really really want!
Or, if you trip and fall...dont jump up and look around hoping nobody seen you..and brush yourself off and keep moving like it never happened......(the core reason why you tripped remains like a root in your heart, and left there its gonna grow and suck the LIFE out of you) ...some get so good at pretending, they even manage to delude themselves into denying they ever tripped..... not realizing there is mud on their garments...and they need cleansing. Adam tried hiding in the bushes in the garden too...and then when he got found out... he hid behind excuses for his shame....be sure God did not let him away with either.
I dont think God can do much with those who refuse to get real...you may as well be open and honest about who you really are...or the evidence you leave behind you will surely testify against you. Maybe Adam or Eve swallowed the core of the fruit...pit or seeds and all....that would have been evidence enough of disobedience...but they could`nt hide the core of their guilty conscience...hmmm...
Psa 51:6 Indeed, you are pleased with truth in the inner person, and you will teach me wisdom in my innermost parts.
(Sincerity and truth are what you require; fill my mind with your wisdom. GNB)
Pro 20:30 The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly. KJV
(Blows that wound clean away evil; such beatings cleanse the innermost being. ISV)
Acknowledging the blue (wound) appears to be more (Spiritually) effective than pretending all is white and well (white washed - covered up) and pretending the wound is not there.
Jas_5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed...
This does`nt mean go on a public message board and spill your guts....better to find a trustworthy confidant to do that with....but it does mean drop the double talk.. and the 'christian' cliche`s and euphemisms ...(an expression used in place of one that may be found offensive or suggest something unpleasant) and get REAL. I really am not much help or good to anyone who is struggling if I pretend I got my act together all the time....that I have never failed or tripped and fell on my face in any area of my walk with God...why I`ve got so good at running this race I am ready to fly....where`s my chariot? HA!
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