Today, we featured a guest post by my husband
and Infinitely More partner,
Gerald Flemming.
Is it possible that with every single choice we make
we either gather closer to Jesus or shove him farther away?
Is the world we live in that absolute?
I’m staring at my hands right now. I’m thinking about what I’ve done recently and what it tells me about my life. I’m judging the worthiness of all the input I’ve left myself vulnerable to this week…of every single sight and sound I’ve willingly left myself open to. I’m ‘microscoping’ every word I’ve spoken and every action I’ve taken.
Wow, what a frightening way to live. Being so obsessively self aware of our moral compass that we’re constantly staring at the needle as if it was the second hand on a Doomsday clock. Staring so hard at the minutiae of our lives that the colors of the world become muted and grey. We find ourselves stressed and tired and uninspired, so quick to judge others around us as being wrong or even worse - damned. I know this sounds a little overwrought and over the top, but it happens every single day. It happens on the internet and in our own lives.
There is a Pastor, someone I’ve known for eight or nine years. He posted recently that he found he was tired and anxious and edgy all the time. And then he was quick to post 'of course' he was, and that was fine because he wasn’t made for this world - he was made for the next world. If you look at his other posts, tracing back, you see a picture of someone who is caught up in the politics of fear and paranoia and looking for Biblical justifications for all of it. He hates 'this' politician and 'this' is why. He puts links to all of these outlier blogs that speak in very hyperbolic terms about the conditions in the world today. Don’t get me wrong - he can out-quote most Old testament scholars I know, but his swift judgmental attacks on anybody who challenges his assumptions seems to show somebody who is becoming unstable and detached from the love and the grace of Christ. We are called to view the Old Testament through the lens of the New Testament. I’ve never heard him quote the New Testament. Not a single time.
Living the sanctified crucified life is a hard choice. There is no question about that. Allison and I were privileged to be at a lecture series where a wonderful speaker talked about living the Crucified Life. He talked about waking up every single morning and laying our shames and guilt at the feet of the cross. Every single morning. He talked about the difference between being private and being secretive. Being private is being respectful and modest. Being secretive, having secrets, is shame based and calls into question the behaviour that is indulged in the shadows. That was an interesting distinction to me and it felt like that was a healthy level of responsibility to have towards my life and my daily practices.
I think there is absolutely a healthy level of scrutiny we are called to as Christians.
I also think that scrutiny can become as addictive as alcohol or drugs. I think that individuals can end up craving both self-judgment and the judgment of others and using the Pulpit, their prayer group or their Facebook page as places to indulge this addiction.
At times when we feel that overwhelming need to judge either ourselves or others, maybe it’s as simple as reacquainting ourselves to the peace and beauty that is all around us.
The creation, that is here for us to witness.
The beauty that can render us in awe-filled silence.
A quiet so deep that we can hear the Voice.
Can it be that simple?
Can we trust that it’s really that easy?
‘Be Still and Know that He is God.’
Peace, Gerald
Worship Wednesdays is a weekly series to encourage and equip worship leaders and songwriters. Bookmark this page visit us every Wednesday!
No comments:
Post a Comment