It's 11pm on an average Tuesday night in July. I hear crickets, the occasional car sputtering down the street, and my mind wanders to worrying about how early I have to be up in the morning. I question how well I will function on such little sleep. I don't focus on the fact that I have my own bed with soft, clean sheets. I don't appreciate the sound of crickets rather than gunshots. I'm not conditioned to appreciate the space I call my own room. I expect these things. I know this place. It's all so familiar and too commonplace to be appreciated. I did little to earn this spot in society. I was given a body that walked and talked and was fit enough to work. I was blessed with a mind able to comprehend my surroundings and make educated decisions. Why then do I feel so entitled to all this? How could I ever fail to appreciate eyes that see, ears that hear, a mouth that speaks, a heart that beats, a brain that senses, and a soul that seeks.
For a moment I'm struck with the fleeting nature of this life. The twisted uncertainty of this sinful, broken world sneaks up on us when we least expect it, where we are least prepared. In cars, in homes, in towers and in movie theaters. We carry on in the most unassuming ways in the least threatening locations yet somehow we never cease to be surprised by terror. I don't want to be surprised anymore. I don't want the unexpected unless it means that there is a good which will arise from the ashes that no one could ever have expected and makes all who witness such tragedy realize there is an opposing, and dare I say, far greater good than evil residing in this world. I hope this is the case. I hope with all my heart.
Some people call that being naive. Some believe no great thing can be done without first greatly compromising one's character. I know a man who would beg to differ. He keeps me going when hope seems scarce. He has Risen like no one else could hope to Rise. He is my shelter while the world promotes cheap thrills and apocalyptic flings. The world has no answer for the darkness. It has no comfort for the widows. Utter silence abounds when questions seek reasons for life and loss. Purpose muses the philosophical and stays hidden in shadows of intellect. There is no hope for a true worldview if the world is blocking our view. The world begets darkness.
"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies." Shawshank never spoke truer words. But this thought is unfinished, unrefined if you will. Where does true hope come from? Can it reside in something so dark as this place, or is it drawn from light that is simply not of this world? I cannot help but hope that there was, and is, and is to come just such a light. This light has reminded me time and time again about the bed, the room, the house, the car, the legs, the eyes, the ears, the mouth, the mind, the friends, the family, and most importantly the love that have all been laid before me...
With this in mind, reinstated by force of will, I can finally sleep peacefully.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Mental Agoraphobia
I'm starting to become wary of overly introverted people. It's fine if you don't like parties or loud music and prefer one-on-one interactions, much like I do, but there's something dangerous about taking up residence in your own head for too long. Being consumed by the solace in our own minds is scary place to be for any extent of time and if our voice becomes the dominant voice speaking into our lives than we are descending down a dark and tragic path. I have known and loved several extremely introverted people and sadly I'm beginning to be jaded by the outcomes of these relationships.
Mental shut-ins, or agoraphobics of the mind as I think of them, constantly fail to reap the benefits of human intimacy. Worse yet, they lash out at those who get close enough to tempt them out of their safe, little worlds created in the vacuum of their obsessive thought life. We all create realities for ourselves based on how we perceive every aspect of life, be it pain, love, heartbreak, or happiness. We also tend to resist people (or even deities) who threaten to change the structure of these worlds we've created through our accumulated perceptions. We will become so self absorbed by our own realities that we will even begin to accept harmful things as familiar things. We alter the true characteristic of inherently good or bad things to fit our skewed worldview. For instance, if we are angry all the time we will just shift our view of anger so it becomes a source of comfort rather than a toxic emotion that degrades our souls over time. The same goes for love. If loving relationships constantly end in heartbreak or loss, then love must be an evil thing that needs to be avoided at all costs. It kills me to watch loved ones go through this because they allow pain to run so deep and their minds to be so corrupted that any source of light and truth appears manipulative and offensive.
Maybe the theme of this post isn't so much about the dangers of locking ourselves away in mental and emotional solitude, as much as it is about the tendency to rely on experience as a basis for truth. I once read that "experience is the mother of all deception". In the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, which many theologians use to develop doctrines of faith, there is a system of using Scripture, Tradition, Experience, and Reason to formulate a belief system. It's what I try to employ in my life as much as possible. The way it is supposed to work is more like a pyramid than a quadrilateral. Scripture is supreme and ranks 1st above everything else. Tradition comes in 2nd as it is the "living faith of the dead" (not 'the dead faith of the living' as it has become in many denominations *cough*Catholicism*cough*). Experience is at the bottom, but nonetheless very important. Finally, Reason is supposed to be used throughout the other three sections of the pyramid, sort of like a common thread holding it all together. No piece of the pyramid should be implemented without a great deal of rational thought. That is why experience is so tricky because it is so so so subjective. Yet we, as individuals in our nature, tend to tip the scales in favor of our own personal, subjective experiences rather than scripture and tradition outweighing experience by several tons. The more we dwell on our experiences, shut out the traditions of believers who have thrived before us, and ignore the Word of God, the more we will be apt to slip into the abyss of our own prideful mindset that dictates just how profoundly intelligent all of our views are on everything under the sun.
I do love, with all my heart, several people in this world who have been so damaged by what this life has thrown at them that they have retreated into the ramparts of their minds. It's dark and quiet and lonely, but so very safe. They put up a veneer of strength in solace and adopt a slogan of "proud to be going it alone" or "rugged individualism" that has been celebrated by our culture for so long, but it is so utterly false. Their lives lean on shaking beams beneath a foundation they created from their own shattered hearts...
I'm sort of at the end of my rope and reaching for another as I continue to love these people and give them all I have to give. Beyond that, all I can think to do is sit and pray, and pray, and pray that God kicks down the walls these people have fought so hard to build around their hearts and try to prevent others from walking down a similar path. I hope you will pray with me and continue to hope for better things for all the lost and broken people working so hard to protect themselves rather than surrender to the abundant safety that only lies within the arms of our Savior.
Mental shut-ins, or agoraphobics of the mind as I think of them, constantly fail to reap the benefits of human intimacy. Worse yet, they lash out at those who get close enough to tempt them out of their safe, little worlds created in the vacuum of their obsessive thought life. We all create realities for ourselves based on how we perceive every aspect of life, be it pain, love, heartbreak, or happiness. We also tend to resist people (or even deities) who threaten to change the structure of these worlds we've created through our accumulated perceptions. We will become so self absorbed by our own realities that we will even begin to accept harmful things as familiar things. We alter the true characteristic of inherently good or bad things to fit our skewed worldview. For instance, if we are angry all the time we will just shift our view of anger so it becomes a source of comfort rather than a toxic emotion that degrades our souls over time. The same goes for love. If loving relationships constantly end in heartbreak or loss, then love must be an evil thing that needs to be avoided at all costs. It kills me to watch loved ones go through this because they allow pain to run so deep and their minds to be so corrupted that any source of light and truth appears manipulative and offensive.
Maybe the theme of this post isn't so much about the dangers of locking ourselves away in mental and emotional solitude, as much as it is about the tendency to rely on experience as a basis for truth. I once read that "experience is the mother of all deception". In the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, which many theologians use to develop doctrines of faith, there is a system of using Scripture, Tradition, Experience, and Reason to formulate a belief system. It's what I try to employ in my life as much as possible. The way it is supposed to work is more like a pyramid than a quadrilateral. Scripture is supreme and ranks 1st above everything else. Tradition comes in 2nd as it is the "living faith of the dead" (not 'the dead faith of the living' as it has become in many denominations *cough*Catholicism*cough*). Experience is at the bottom, but nonetheless very important. Finally, Reason is supposed to be used throughout the other three sections of the pyramid, sort of like a common thread holding it all together. No piece of the pyramid should be implemented without a great deal of rational thought. That is why experience is so tricky because it is so so so subjective. Yet we, as individuals in our nature, tend to tip the scales in favor of our own personal, subjective experiences rather than scripture and tradition outweighing experience by several tons. The more we dwell on our experiences, shut out the traditions of believers who have thrived before us, and ignore the Word of God, the more we will be apt to slip into the abyss of our own prideful mindset that dictates just how profoundly intelligent all of our views are on everything under the sun.
I do love, with all my heart, several people in this world who have been so damaged by what this life has thrown at them that they have retreated into the ramparts of their minds. It's dark and quiet and lonely, but so very safe. They put up a veneer of strength in solace and adopt a slogan of "proud to be going it alone" or "rugged individualism" that has been celebrated by our culture for so long, but it is so utterly false. Their lives lean on shaking beams beneath a foundation they created from their own shattered hearts...
I'm sort of at the end of my rope and reaching for another as I continue to love these people and give them all I have to give. Beyond that, all I can think to do is sit and pray, and pray, and pray that God kicks down the walls these people have fought so hard to build around their hearts and try to prevent others from walking down a similar path. I hope you will pray with me and continue to hope for better things for all the lost and broken people working so hard to protect themselves rather than surrender to the abundant safety that only lies within the arms of our Savior.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Remain Changed
A good friend of mine recently told me how unsatisfied he was with his job. I wanted to look him straight in the face and reiterate the fact that I work as a background actor. Unsatisfying is in the job description, as well as "Must be as unnoticeable as possible" and "Should feel comfortable being demeaned by all manner of coworkers, including but not limited to small children." However, I felt comparing my humble position to his prestigious employment wouldn't help raise his spirits any. He makes great money, works in exciting environments, and is constantly challenged to come up with innovative solutions to dynamic problems. It's a dream job in many ways. However, it's his first job working outside of a Christian organization. This may not sound like a big deal but it is to him, and I completely understand. It's hard going to work each day when your job carries with it no deeper meaning, no clear goal to advance the Kingdom of God. For someone who has spent their whole life working in a Churchesque setting, it is truly like being a fish out of water.
People use their faith as an excuse to avoid doing all sorts of things, such as swearing, drinking, working on weekends, going certain places or even being in relationships. To be quite honest, I don't think our faith is as restrictive as we've made it out to be (Note: when I reference "faith" I'm focusing on American, evangelical Christianity). Mark Driscoll uses the analogy of God giving us a spacious yard to play in and simply telling us to "Have fun, but be careful going into the street", but then we came along and built fence upon fence with our rules and restrictions until our religion turned God's yard into something more like a prison. We were scared of what it meant to be so close to the street and so far from the safety of the house. As a result, hardly anyone nowadays wants to come play in the restrictive yard of the Christians, and the Christians are too afraid to go play in anybody else's yard due to their exposure to the street.
I think Satan likes to twist our faith into fear as much as possible. He wants to make us so unsure of ourselves and the ways in which we are serving God that we become paralyzed by indecision. "I don't know what I want to do for a career, I just want to serve God." "It's a great opportunity, but I just don't know if it's God's will for my life." "I'm just living here until I figure out what God's calling for me is." As a recent college graduate, I hear stuff like this from my friends constantly. To be honest, I've said things just like this in the past as well. What I've learned the hard way is that there is no temporary aspect of God's will. He doesn't work in the short term. His plan transcends time, there is no beginning nor end, it is only now. We, however, do not have the luxury of His foresight. We are bound by time and all too often we obsess over it.
Okay, right now you may be thinking those are three completely unrelated paragraphs. Trust me, they have everything to do with each other. My friend is unsure of his place in life because he can't point to a mission statement in his company's profile that clearly defines their goal to advance the Kingdom of God. Due to his company's lack of religious ties, he feels as though he is outsides of God's grand mission in the World. He is used to playing in the yard clearly devoted to staying within God's will and now that he is in the much bigger, more diverse yard of the secular community he feels unsure of himself. There are so many people around him who run carelessly into the street. For the first time, he is witnessing people freely wreck their lives by choosing to run from the Lord. Like a man who is used to being in prison all his life, he doesn't know what to do on the outside. He is Brooks Hatlen...
My friend's faith is obvious. He wouldn't hesitate to tell you he's a believer. That's what makes it hard when he tells people what he does for a living. His basic job description has no reference to the Great Commission, so he has to write it in there himself. That's hard to do sometimes because we don't usually enjoy being liberal with our faith because liberal faith is often the most heavily scrutinized by other believers. 1 Corinthians 7:17-24 says,
"Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches. Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God's commands is what counts. Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them. Were you a slave when you were called? Don't let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. For the one who was a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord's freed person; similarly, the one who was free when called is Christ's slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings. Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them."
God calls people to live and work in almost every imaginable occupation. The book of Esther is all about a woman of God who is randomly selected to be part of King Xerxes harem and eventually becomes the Queen of Persia and saves the entire Jewish race. Can you think of anyplace a young Jewish girl would feel more out of place and far from God than in King Xerxes bedroom? Somehow we've gotten so caught up in the false clarity we get from the black and white, religious rules and restrictions that we become scared of what life looks like in color. What if we sought to be Christians such as Esther, Christians who live and work in places that seem so contrary to our nature? What if we were Christians who stayed put, who stood firm right where God took such great care to place us? Paul wrote that he "became all things to all men" so that he may save as many people as possible (1Cor9:22). He also urged us to imitate him (1Cor4:16), making it clear that it is our duty to be in as many diverse places ministering to as many diverse people as possible. We may have to fortify our conscience to do so, but it's a necessary step towards being the most effective modern day disciples we can be.
I watched a documentary the other day called Holly Rollers, which is about a group of card-counting, Christian Blackjack players who profit from gambling in order to support their ministries (they don't believe it's gambling but rather a science). They would take weekend trips to Vegas, Atlantic City, Reno, Tahoe, etc. and make hundreds of thousands of dollars in a team composed of investors, managers, and players. It was fascinating, to say the least. What intrigued me the most was that one of the men became so disgusted by all that the Casino lifestyle represented that he eventually had to quit the team and return to full time ministry in the Church. While I empathize with his decision, part of me felt like Christians do this way too often. We get overwhelmed by watching the secular community live such meaningless lives that we revert back to the familiar ways of our Christian bubbles. I think we should instead be trying to overwhelm the meaningless lives of the secular community with beauty and the purpose with which we live our lives. There's something special about being in the minority. There's something wonderful about sneaking the mission of God into a place that has nothing to do with the mission of God. We are frequently driven out of those places not because of unbelievers, but because of our own fear, doubt, and insecurity.
We are where we are for a very specific reason. God never brings us anywhere without a divine purpose. Just like comedy, with God's will timing is everything. While this life may seem like a cruel joke sometimes or that there is no possible way God could intended for us to be where we are, it's probably only because we aren't paying attention. Let's stay put for a second. God changed us and is continually changing us so that we can be a catalyst right where we are and everywhere we go.
People use their faith as an excuse to avoid doing all sorts of things, such as swearing, drinking, working on weekends, going certain places or even being in relationships. To be quite honest, I don't think our faith is as restrictive as we've made it out to be (Note: when I reference "faith" I'm focusing on American, evangelical Christianity). Mark Driscoll uses the analogy of God giving us a spacious yard to play in and simply telling us to "Have fun, but be careful going into the street", but then we came along and built fence upon fence with our rules and restrictions until our religion turned God's yard into something more like a prison. We were scared of what it meant to be so close to the street and so far from the safety of the house. As a result, hardly anyone nowadays wants to come play in the restrictive yard of the Christians, and the Christians are too afraid to go play in anybody else's yard due to their exposure to the street.
I think Satan likes to twist our faith into fear as much as possible. He wants to make us so unsure of ourselves and the ways in which we are serving God that we become paralyzed by indecision. "I don't know what I want to do for a career, I just want to serve God." "It's a great opportunity, but I just don't know if it's God's will for my life." "I'm just living here until I figure out what God's calling for me is." As a recent college graduate, I hear stuff like this from my friends constantly. To be honest, I've said things just like this in the past as well. What I've learned the hard way is that there is no temporary aspect of God's will. He doesn't work in the short term. His plan transcends time, there is no beginning nor end, it is only now. We, however, do not have the luxury of His foresight. We are bound by time and all too often we obsess over it.
Okay, right now you may be thinking those are three completely unrelated paragraphs. Trust me, they have everything to do with each other. My friend is unsure of his place in life because he can't point to a mission statement in his company's profile that clearly defines their goal to advance the Kingdom of God. Due to his company's lack of religious ties, he feels as though he is outsides of God's grand mission in the World. He is used to playing in the yard clearly devoted to staying within God's will and now that he is in the much bigger, more diverse yard of the secular community he feels unsure of himself. There are so many people around him who run carelessly into the street. For the first time, he is witnessing people freely wreck their lives by choosing to run from the Lord. Like a man who is used to being in prison all his life, he doesn't know what to do on the outside. He is Brooks Hatlen...
My friend's faith is obvious. He wouldn't hesitate to tell you he's a believer. That's what makes it hard when he tells people what he does for a living. His basic job description has no reference to the Great Commission, so he has to write it in there himself. That's hard to do sometimes because we don't usually enjoy being liberal with our faith because liberal faith is often the most heavily scrutinized by other believers. 1 Corinthians 7:17-24 says,
"Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches. Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God's commands is what counts. Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them. Were you a slave when you were called? Don't let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. For the one who was a slave when called to faith in the Lord is the Lord's freed person; similarly, the one who was free when called is Christ's slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings. Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them."
God calls people to live and work in almost every imaginable occupation. The book of Esther is all about a woman of God who is randomly selected to be part of King Xerxes harem and eventually becomes the Queen of Persia and saves the entire Jewish race. Can you think of anyplace a young Jewish girl would feel more out of place and far from God than in King Xerxes bedroom? Somehow we've gotten so caught up in the false clarity we get from the black and white, religious rules and restrictions that we become scared of what life looks like in color. What if we sought to be Christians such as Esther, Christians who live and work in places that seem so contrary to our nature? What if we were Christians who stayed put, who stood firm right where God took such great care to place us? Paul wrote that he "became all things to all men" so that he may save as many people as possible (1Cor9:22). He also urged us to imitate him (1Cor4:16), making it clear that it is our duty to be in as many diverse places ministering to as many diverse people as possible. We may have to fortify our conscience to do so, but it's a necessary step towards being the most effective modern day disciples we can be.
I watched a documentary the other day called Holly Rollers, which is about a group of card-counting, Christian Blackjack players who profit from gambling in order to support their ministries (they don't believe it's gambling but rather a science). They would take weekend trips to Vegas, Atlantic City, Reno, Tahoe, etc. and make hundreds of thousands of dollars in a team composed of investors, managers, and players. It was fascinating, to say the least. What intrigued me the most was that one of the men became so disgusted by all that the Casino lifestyle represented that he eventually had to quit the team and return to full time ministry in the Church. While I empathize with his decision, part of me felt like Christians do this way too often. We get overwhelmed by watching the secular community live such meaningless lives that we revert back to the familiar ways of our Christian bubbles. I think we should instead be trying to overwhelm the meaningless lives of the secular community with beauty and the purpose with which we live our lives. There's something special about being in the minority. There's something wonderful about sneaking the mission of God into a place that has nothing to do with the mission of God. We are frequently driven out of those places not because of unbelievers, but because of our own fear, doubt, and insecurity.
We are where we are for a very specific reason. God never brings us anywhere without a divine purpose. Just like comedy, with God's will timing is everything. While this life may seem like a cruel joke sometimes or that there is no possible way God could intended for us to be where we are, it's probably only because we aren't paying attention. Let's stay put for a second. God changed us and is continually changing us so that we can be a catalyst right where we are and everywhere we go.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Taketh Away
"Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you so much for all that you have laid before me over the years. For the trials, the pain, the failure, the success, the friends, the family, and the love that has surrounded me. You are good, and I ask that you forgive me for the many times that I have forgotten this simple fact. For as good as you are, I am equally scared, weak, and prone to wander from the assured safety that is your warm and loving embrace. Thank you for being all that I am not and for placing the potential in me to be all that you are. May you bless me with a perspective confined by the hours of this present day and consumed with these current moments filled with limitless opportunities to be a vessel of your love and grace for those who need it most. You are good, all the time, forever and ever, no matter what, Amen."
I took walk down to the Americana tonight. It's a walk I often take at night because I love the glow of the city lights that line the entire path towards the retail mecca of Glendale. I also enjoy the collection of Sinatra and other 50's jazz artists that play along with a synchronized dancing water fountain and light show, much like you'd find at the Bellagio. Most people go to the Americana to dine at one of the swanky, overpriced restaurants or wander through the aisles of trendy boutiques offering the latest and greatest styles of this season. I never go for any of those things. While I enjoy the music, the fountain, and even the aroma of the fancy foods I'll probably never eat, what actually keeps me coming back night after night is the view. Not of the frills, but of the people. I appreciate what the fountain, the music and all the pretty lights do, for they keep everyone focused on external stimuli. They get out of their own heads, lower their guard if only for a moment, and become...beautiful. They become who they were meant to be, and it is in this form that I realize how much I value people. I love this creation that God has made in His own image. They are so very lovely when they aren't fighting over health care reforms, calling it quits on their marriages, stressing over the stack of bills in the mail, or crashing into each other on overcrowded streets.
I think most people miss out on the view that I cherish so much. The view of friends having a laugh over a meal, families playing on the grass, an elderly couple holding hands or a brave young soul stealing his first kiss by a fountain so cliché in its romantic appeal that it can't help but be endearing. I'm going to sound very pitiful by saying this, but I honestly find myself getting a little misty-eyed by all that goes on in this wonderfully enigmatic place. Maybe it's because I'm alone most of the time that I'm there. Who knows. I do envy what so many of the people attending the Americana have, and that's not money, nice clothing, or good food. It's other people. They have other people to do life with. I want that. I'll never have enough people in my life. I want closer and closer friendships, a larger family, and an intimate romance with someone who can walk with me every step of the way in this journey of faith that is my life.
I started this post with a prayer because I feel as though genuine prayer gets our heads back on straight and focused up, right where they belong. Often times we get so caught up in thinking about what we want that we forget all that we've been given. The last year has been...well, it's been the last year and there's no appropriate way of describing it. I guess the best way I could describe it is with a sigh, a shrug, and a very coy smile. God is good. Even when the car that I love, my most valuable possession since I was 16, the means by which I earn a living, is taken away in such an unjust manner that most would feel justified to look up and curse the heavens for dealing out such rotten luck, God is still good. Even when living circumstances and job security fluctuate daily, God is still good. Even when the lonliness creeps in from every angle, God is still good. Speaking of being good, I'm pretty good at acknowledging how good God is when it's obvious that God is being good to me, like if I get a great job, or am given a new car, or a friend lets me live with them for free. I'm still learning to remember how good God is when all that stuff gets taken away. I'm a veteran believer when it's 75 degrees out and sunny, but when the storm hits I can't help but think I'm still a rookie when it comes to this Christianity thing.
God can take a lot of things away from us. In this life, it's pretty much a guarantee that He will take a lot from us, but that means much will be given as well. However, what He will never take away from us, because it's His essence, is our love for one another. That's why I believe it's the only thing truly valuable in this life. Everything else is just stuff. There's a line in a Mumford & Sons song that goes "Where you invest your love, you invest your life." It's not a new idea and it's certainly biblical, but there's something about singing it in that intense, folky manner that they do so well that makes it stick in my mind. I want to invest in Christ, that's obvious. But I also want to throw my life savings into people. Yes, God can take people away through death and other various accidents, but He doesn't take away their love. The love of another human being stays with you forever. We take turns tattooing our names on each other's hearts, and while some do it more aggressively than others, true love always leaves its mark.
So all that to say, I'm learning to accept that God will continue to take away my stuff only to remind me again and again of that which is of true value in this life: To leave a mark of love on someone's heart. That, I believe, can never be taken away.
Thank you so much for all that you have laid before me over the years. For the trials, the pain, the failure, the success, the friends, the family, and the love that has surrounded me. You are good, and I ask that you forgive me for the many times that I have forgotten this simple fact. For as good as you are, I am equally scared, weak, and prone to wander from the assured safety that is your warm and loving embrace. Thank you for being all that I am not and for placing the potential in me to be all that you are. May you bless me with a perspective confined by the hours of this present day and consumed with these current moments filled with limitless opportunities to be a vessel of your love and grace for those who need it most. You are good, all the time, forever and ever, no matter what, Amen."
I took walk down to the Americana tonight. It's a walk I often take at night because I love the glow of the city lights that line the entire path towards the retail mecca of Glendale. I also enjoy the collection of Sinatra and other 50's jazz artists that play along with a synchronized dancing water fountain and light show, much like you'd find at the Bellagio. Most people go to the Americana to dine at one of the swanky, overpriced restaurants or wander through the aisles of trendy boutiques offering the latest and greatest styles of this season. I never go for any of those things. While I enjoy the music, the fountain, and even the aroma of the fancy foods I'll probably never eat, what actually keeps me coming back night after night is the view. Not of the frills, but of the people. I appreciate what the fountain, the music and all the pretty lights do, for they keep everyone focused on external stimuli. They get out of their own heads, lower their guard if only for a moment, and become...beautiful. They become who they were meant to be, and it is in this form that I realize how much I value people. I love this creation that God has made in His own image. They are so very lovely when they aren't fighting over health care reforms, calling it quits on their marriages, stressing over the stack of bills in the mail, or crashing into each other on overcrowded streets.
I think most people miss out on the view that I cherish so much. The view of friends having a laugh over a meal, families playing on the grass, an elderly couple holding hands or a brave young soul stealing his first kiss by a fountain so cliché in its romantic appeal that it can't help but be endearing. I'm going to sound very pitiful by saying this, but I honestly find myself getting a little misty-eyed by all that goes on in this wonderfully enigmatic place. Maybe it's because I'm alone most of the time that I'm there. Who knows. I do envy what so many of the people attending the Americana have, and that's not money, nice clothing, or good food. It's other people. They have other people to do life with. I want that. I'll never have enough people in my life. I want closer and closer friendships, a larger family, and an intimate romance with someone who can walk with me every step of the way in this journey of faith that is my life.
I started this post with a prayer because I feel as though genuine prayer gets our heads back on straight and focused up, right where they belong. Often times we get so caught up in thinking about what we want that we forget all that we've been given. The last year has been...well, it's been the last year and there's no appropriate way of describing it. I guess the best way I could describe it is with a sigh, a shrug, and a very coy smile. God is good. Even when the car that I love, my most valuable possession since I was 16, the means by which I earn a living, is taken away in such an unjust manner that most would feel justified to look up and curse the heavens for dealing out such rotten luck, God is still good. Even when living circumstances and job security fluctuate daily, God is still good. Even when the lonliness creeps in from every angle, God is still good. Speaking of being good, I'm pretty good at acknowledging how good God is when it's obvious that God is being good to me, like if I get a great job, or am given a new car, or a friend lets me live with them for free. I'm still learning to remember how good God is when all that stuff gets taken away. I'm a veteran believer when it's 75 degrees out and sunny, but when the storm hits I can't help but think I'm still a rookie when it comes to this Christianity thing.
God can take a lot of things away from us. In this life, it's pretty much a guarantee that He will take a lot from us, but that means much will be given as well. However, what He will never take away from us, because it's His essence, is our love for one another. That's why I believe it's the only thing truly valuable in this life. Everything else is just stuff. There's a line in a Mumford & Sons song that goes "Where you invest your love, you invest your life." It's not a new idea and it's certainly biblical, but there's something about singing it in that intense, folky manner that they do so well that makes it stick in my mind. I want to invest in Christ, that's obvious. But I also want to throw my life savings into people. Yes, God can take people away through death and other various accidents, but He doesn't take away their love. The love of another human being stays with you forever. We take turns tattooing our names on each other's hearts, and while some do it more aggressively than others, true love always leaves its mark.
So all that to say, I'm learning to accept that God will continue to take away my stuff only to remind me again and again of that which is of true value in this life: To leave a mark of love on someone's heart. That, I believe, can never be taken away.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Who said you were naked?
Shame is a profoundly dominant force in this world. Think how many times you compromised your character because you were ashamed of what you actually felt or wanted to do or say. Shame drives us to cover up who we really are for fear that if our true self was discovered we would be deemed inadequate. Shame, in it's essence, is the very passageway through which this fear enters our lives.
Some guys just love being naked. They find it freeing, comical, or just an excuse to exercise their masculinity. I'm not sure if women truly revel in these moments of nudity as men do, but I can only hope (kidding). I've found that these recreational nudists are the minority of men, or at least American men. Being naked is a necessary requirement for only certain activities in life and it is never sought after otherwise. However, it seems like there was the intention at the origin of our creation to truly enjoy our nakedness, rather we weren't even supposed to know we were naked. In Genesis we find that man created the first article of clothing, not God. It was out of shame (Gen 3:7) that we hid our bodies from one another.
I see a lot of people get teased or constantly made fun of for being "sheltered". Like I've said many times before in previous blogs, I'm no advocate for ignorance. However, I just can't help but think sometimes that knowledge is not always power. In Genesis we read that Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The phrase that scripture uses to describe what happens after they eat of the tree's fruit is "their eyes were opened" (Gen 3:5, 7). It would seem as though God, in a manner of speaking, purposefully hid things from their sight knowing full well that, due to our human nature, our psyche would be crushed by certain knowledge about ourselves and this world. You could say that God purposefully sheltered us.
We live in a society that offers unlimited knowledge. You can google information to your heart's content on any subject and become an expert on a limitless amount of topics from human sexuality to rocket science. We've downloaded so much information that we've started to ignore God because our answers sound so much better than His answers. We've started to promote lifestyles and values that completely contradict what God intended for us. In doing so, it seems as though we've found a way to surpass shame. This is a paradox which I hope I can aptly explain.
Think of an abusive father who dominates a child's life with cruel words, harsh restrictions, and possibly even physical violence. When that child grows up and finally escapes that abuse, he (pardon my gender specific use of "he", know that I imply he/she) will most certainly seek to live a life contrary to that of his abusive father. He will treasure his freedom and unlimited potential to be something different than his father. However, he will undoubtedly be filled with anger and bitterness towards his father for the rest of his life (should he not seek forgiveness). While it may feel as though he is free from the abusive parental control he experienced throughout his childhood, he will indeed still be under the control of his father as long as anger and bitterness towards him are alive in his soul. The very deep seeded anguish which motivates him to move further and further away from his father is, in reality, a continual force dragging him back into that home of iniquity. Although his father is not physically present he is indeed spiritually present, and thus his father still dictates his every action. Now, imagine this scenario projected onto shame in our society.
Shame is present because we sinned, and we've been trying to escape it ever since. At first we just created clothes out of fig leaves. Now we have parades and political organizations. We became so dominated by our inability to escape the soul-shredding guilt caused by our shame that we in turn started to use reverse psychology on ourselves by celebrating the actions that once caused us to feel ashamed. I have no doubt that deep down these actions still cause us to feel ashamed, now it's just there's no shortage of people to rally around us and support us in our shameful ways. Shame is the abusive father we grew up with and now hopelessly pretend to be free from.
I know this all may seem somewhat contradictory as shame initially made us insecure about something we should have never been insecure about, i.e. being naked. A Christ follower understands that shame can be both a tool for correction when it comes from God and a tool for destruction when it comes from Satan. God wants us to feel ashamed when we are not who He has made us to be, while Satan wants us to be ashamed when we are who God has made us to be. What makes Christians different is that we've chosen not to let that shame control our lives and instead let the abounding love and grace of God wash it away. Everyone else is just fighting to repress their shame not knowing that it's like quicksand; they can keep struggling to escape, but without accepting the helping hand of Christ to pull them out, there is no hope.
Some guys just love being naked. They find it freeing, comical, or just an excuse to exercise their masculinity. I'm not sure if women truly revel in these moments of nudity as men do, but I can only hope (kidding). I've found that these recreational nudists are the minority of men, or at least American men. Being naked is a necessary requirement for only certain activities in life and it is never sought after otherwise. However, it seems like there was the intention at the origin of our creation to truly enjoy our nakedness, rather we weren't even supposed to know we were naked. In Genesis we find that man created the first article of clothing, not God. It was out of shame (Gen 3:7) that we hid our bodies from one another.
I see a lot of people get teased or constantly made fun of for being "sheltered". Like I've said many times before in previous blogs, I'm no advocate for ignorance. However, I just can't help but think sometimes that knowledge is not always power. In Genesis we read that Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The phrase that scripture uses to describe what happens after they eat of the tree's fruit is "their eyes were opened" (Gen 3:5, 7). It would seem as though God, in a manner of speaking, purposefully hid things from their sight knowing full well that, due to our human nature, our psyche would be crushed by certain knowledge about ourselves and this world. You could say that God purposefully sheltered us.
We live in a society that offers unlimited knowledge. You can google information to your heart's content on any subject and become an expert on a limitless amount of topics from human sexuality to rocket science. We've downloaded so much information that we've started to ignore God because our answers sound so much better than His answers. We've started to promote lifestyles and values that completely contradict what God intended for us. In doing so, it seems as though we've found a way to surpass shame. This is a paradox which I hope I can aptly explain.
Think of an abusive father who dominates a child's life with cruel words, harsh restrictions, and possibly even physical violence. When that child grows up and finally escapes that abuse, he (pardon my gender specific use of "he", know that I imply he/she) will most certainly seek to live a life contrary to that of his abusive father. He will treasure his freedom and unlimited potential to be something different than his father. However, he will undoubtedly be filled with anger and bitterness towards his father for the rest of his life (should he not seek forgiveness). While it may feel as though he is free from the abusive parental control he experienced throughout his childhood, he will indeed still be under the control of his father as long as anger and bitterness towards him are alive in his soul. The very deep seeded anguish which motivates him to move further and further away from his father is, in reality, a continual force dragging him back into that home of iniquity. Although his father is not physically present he is indeed spiritually present, and thus his father still dictates his every action. Now, imagine this scenario projected onto shame in our society.
Shame is present because we sinned, and we've been trying to escape it ever since. At first we just created clothes out of fig leaves. Now we have parades and political organizations. We became so dominated by our inability to escape the soul-shredding guilt caused by our shame that we in turn started to use reverse psychology on ourselves by celebrating the actions that once caused us to feel ashamed. I have no doubt that deep down these actions still cause us to feel ashamed, now it's just there's no shortage of people to rally around us and support us in our shameful ways. Shame is the abusive father we grew up with and now hopelessly pretend to be free from.
I know this all may seem somewhat contradictory as shame initially made us insecure about something we should have never been insecure about, i.e. being naked. A Christ follower understands that shame can be both a tool for correction when it comes from God and a tool for destruction when it comes from Satan. God wants us to feel ashamed when we are not who He has made us to be, while Satan wants us to be ashamed when we are who God has made us to be. What makes Christians different is that we've chosen not to let that shame control our lives and instead let the abounding love and grace of God wash it away. Everyone else is just fighting to repress their shame not knowing that it's like quicksand; they can keep struggling to escape, but without accepting the helping hand of Christ to pull them out, there is no hope.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Job Description
Conflict brings out how we really feel about ourselves, how we feel about others, and what we feel is our role in this world. Do we seek justice? Do we crave revenge? Do we offer grace? What do we do in those moments where something clearly must be done in regards to a conflict or dispute with a friend, coworker, family member or peer?
I have a problem. I'm fairly good at arguing and I have an inherited knack for noticing faults, flaws, and shortcomings in most people within a reasonably short period of time. Those observations make it incredibly difficult for me to be patient with certain people. The larger problem they create is that they can stir within me a deep feeling of superiority over other people whom I deem immoral, hypocritical, shallow, disrespectful, insecure, or just lacking in authenticity. That feeling of superiority is hands-down the greatest barrier in dispensing love to people who need it the most. Deep down I do want to love them but only after they change this, stop doing that, and ask for forgiveness for all the ways they've wronged me or others around them. In reality and much to the contrast of my human nature, the love which Christ calls us to has no prerequisites.
I think we can all agree that Billy Graham has lived pretty close to the standards God calls us to, or at least as close as we can hope to live up to them. Surprisingly, I found that he has encountered quite a great deal of criticism by fellow evangelical Christians over the years. I guess, in retrospect, that isn't surprising based on the common tendency of religious, moralistic beliefs to create the sense of superiority I described in myself. We have a profound ability to ignore that log in our own eye yet spot that speck in our brother or sister's eye from a mile away. I digress. Apparently in 1998 after the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal broke, Billy Graham attended a fundraiser for President Clinton and caught a ton of crap for it. In the end, all Graham said about it was "It's the Holy Spirit's job to convict, God's job to judge, and my job to love." Well put.
What's the most important commandment? It's pretty clear in Matthew 22 and Mark 12 to name a few places where we can find the obvious answer. How come we still can't grasp what this looks like fulfilled in our own lives? Generation after generation has failed at this. I think it may be because we get confused by all that the Bible tells us to do and we forget how simple our job description really is as disciples. Love God, love one another, the end.
P.S. Andy Stanley has a great 8 week sermon series on the difference between a Christian and a Disciple based on this principle. Check it out! http://northpoint.tv/messages/christian7
I have a problem. I'm fairly good at arguing and I have an inherited knack for noticing faults, flaws, and shortcomings in most people within a reasonably short period of time. Those observations make it incredibly difficult for me to be patient with certain people. The larger problem they create is that they can stir within me a deep feeling of superiority over other people whom I deem immoral, hypocritical, shallow, disrespectful, insecure, or just lacking in authenticity. That feeling of superiority is hands-down the greatest barrier in dispensing love to people who need it the most. Deep down I do want to love them but only after they change this, stop doing that, and ask for forgiveness for all the ways they've wronged me or others around them. In reality and much to the contrast of my human nature, the love which Christ calls us to has no prerequisites.
I think we can all agree that Billy Graham has lived pretty close to the standards God calls us to, or at least as close as we can hope to live up to them. Surprisingly, I found that he has encountered quite a great deal of criticism by fellow evangelical Christians over the years. I guess, in retrospect, that isn't surprising based on the common tendency of religious, moralistic beliefs to create the sense of superiority I described in myself. We have a profound ability to ignore that log in our own eye yet spot that speck in our brother or sister's eye from a mile away. I digress. Apparently in 1998 after the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal broke, Billy Graham attended a fundraiser for President Clinton and caught a ton of crap for it. In the end, all Graham said about it was "It's the Holy Spirit's job to convict, God's job to judge, and my job to love." Well put.
What's the most important commandment? It's pretty clear in Matthew 22 and Mark 12 to name a few places where we can find the obvious answer. How come we still can't grasp what this looks like fulfilled in our own lives? Generation after generation has failed at this. I think it may be because we get confused by all that the Bible tells us to do and we forget how simple our job description really is as disciples. Love God, love one another, the end.
P.S. Andy Stanley has a great 8 week sermon series on the difference between a Christian and a Disciple based on this principle. Check it out! http://northpoint.tv/messages/christian7
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Our Own Good
I'm starting to see the true value of intellect these days. That may sound like I've realized it's worth more than I'd thought but it's actually quite the opposite. Intellect is a good thing, but it should never be viewed as the greatest thing. I see now that intellect is quite dangerous when it's coveted above all else, especially humility. Before I get into this, I have to admit that I'll be discussing these two characteristics in extremes in order to distinguish their unique potential in our lives.
To say that intellect and humility are completely at odds with one another would be unfair. However, they do not naturally play well together. Intellect brings with it a sense of self-reliance while humility brings utter selflessness. Through our intellect we can begin to understand our universe, our surroundings, and ourselves. On the other hand, humility tells us that there is so much we will never know about the mysteries of this life and that it's OK to not know. The not knowing gnaws at our intellect day and night until we break or give into humility. Humility breeds joyful curiosity about our world while intellect develops prideful mistrust of the unknown.
Recently, I've seen intellect crush the spiritual life of a brother of mine. He studied psychology, philosophy, theology, and every other -ology you could possibly study. Over the past 4 years I watched him shape the spiritual life of many an up-and-coming christian youth. He drastically helped shape my faith as well. He knows his Bible inside and out, studied the life and teachings of Jesus thoroughly as well as the history and doctrine of the Christian, Jewish and Muslim religions. I thought if anyone's faith was rock solid it would be his, but I was wrong. I thought all his knowledge created an impenetrable wall around his spirit that Satan could never crack. All his knowledge may have fortified the mental side of his faith but it left his heart and soul wide open for attacks that crippled him over decades of spiritual warfare and neglect. I see now that knowledge only goes so far in our spiritual lives and once it goes too far it becomes even more difficult to adjust to the life Christ calls us to, a life saturated in humility.
In an age of information and tech-savvy youth, we learn at a very young age that we can learn to do just about anything by googling it on any electronic device attached to the internet. The problem is that we bring that mentality into our relationship with God and we begin to try and figure Him out instead of allowing God to reveal Himself to us. Having gone to a Christian University I've seen first hand kids who go from christian high schools, to christian colleges, to seminary, to working at a Church and all they know is how to prove the beliefs they learned in school. Oswald Chambers said it best, "When we become simply a promoter or a defender of a particular belief, something within us dies. That is not believing God—it is only believing our belief about Him. If our certainty is only in our beliefs, we develop a sense of self-righteousness, become overly critical, and are limited by the view that our beliefs are complete and settled. But when we have the right relationship with God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy."
I've been in some low places before where I demanded that God show up--either audibly, visually, or physically. I wanted Him there because I believed He should be there because that was the best way to handle my situation. I was sad, depressed, lonely and I believed I knew what God's correct response should be. I presumed to know better than the deity who created me because I had grown up reasoning my way through every spiritual dilemma, religious debate, and complex decision I'd ever encountered. Through these lows I learned that you can know everything about God and still not know God. I heard a pastor say once that if you just know everything about a person without knowing them, you're just a stalker. I'm sad to say that I've talked to far too many people who feel God is absent from their life when God is probably looking down at them saying "You're the one who is absent in mine!"
God is constantly seeking us out and we get fooled into thinking we are seeking Him merely because we constantly look to find out information about Him. I believe He's speaking to us constantly but we find it so difficult, so very unnatural to our character to put everything on hold and throw our lives up to God and say "Do with me what you will." We want to know God but we don't want to let Him dictate our lives so it feels like He's not interacting with us, or He's not there at all. Well He's there alright, we're just tuning Him out with the sound of our own prideful intellect telling us how to make every decision in our lives. I think it's far more beneficial for our personal lives, and our ministries as well, to actually know God than to know a ton about Him. I believe that happens through humility. A humility that genuinely desires to allow Christ to live through us and not vice-verse. In the Bible, the people God spoke to and interacted with the most were those who were truly humble. Just look at David for instance.
2 Samuel 6:16-22 depicts a scene where David is so giddy to have the Ark back in Jerusalem that he starts getting all footloose in the streets, so much so that he embarrasses his wife who scorns him for doing so. David's response is "Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, even to be humiliated in my own eyes!." That's a statement that intellect would never comprehend. Are we willing to be humiliated in order to honor God? Are we so humble before God that we don't even care for social status and personal image? Maybe those are the things God is calling us to sacrifice in order to be with Him, but we're so entangled by intellectual pride that we can't accept a voice that tells us to do anything like that. All I know is that the more we lean on our own understanding, the more likely we are to miss out on the wonderfully divine plan God has for us.
Lastly, let me just say that I'm not advocating ignorance or that it's beneficial to be unintelligent. We should all study our faith like crazy so we know what we believe, but at the end of the day we can't hope to rely on our intellect to get us through the trails of this life. Somehow we have to merge all of the confidence we have in our mental capacities with a completely humble spirit before the Lord. Humility must be the essence of our lives, for how else will we ever attain the standard of love that God calls us to? The foundation of what Christ did for us was lowering Himself from a Godly form to a humanly form and then serving us in the most profound example of humility ever witnessed. It's crucial to remember that people don't worship Jesus for his intelligence, so they wont worship Him because of our intelligence either. They worship Him for His love--a love which is bound by humble service to mankind. So let's do the same.
To say that intellect and humility are completely at odds with one another would be unfair. However, they do not naturally play well together. Intellect brings with it a sense of self-reliance while humility brings utter selflessness. Through our intellect we can begin to understand our universe, our surroundings, and ourselves. On the other hand, humility tells us that there is so much we will never know about the mysteries of this life and that it's OK to not know. The not knowing gnaws at our intellect day and night until we break or give into humility. Humility breeds joyful curiosity about our world while intellect develops prideful mistrust of the unknown.
Recently, I've seen intellect crush the spiritual life of a brother of mine. He studied psychology, philosophy, theology, and every other -ology you could possibly study. Over the past 4 years I watched him shape the spiritual life of many an up-and-coming christian youth. He drastically helped shape my faith as well. He knows his Bible inside and out, studied the life and teachings of Jesus thoroughly as well as the history and doctrine of the Christian, Jewish and Muslim religions. I thought if anyone's faith was rock solid it would be his, but I was wrong. I thought all his knowledge created an impenetrable wall around his spirit that Satan could never crack. All his knowledge may have fortified the mental side of his faith but it left his heart and soul wide open for attacks that crippled him over decades of spiritual warfare and neglect. I see now that knowledge only goes so far in our spiritual lives and once it goes too far it becomes even more difficult to adjust to the life Christ calls us to, a life saturated in humility.
In an age of information and tech-savvy youth, we learn at a very young age that we can learn to do just about anything by googling it on any electronic device attached to the internet. The problem is that we bring that mentality into our relationship with God and we begin to try and figure Him out instead of allowing God to reveal Himself to us. Having gone to a Christian University I've seen first hand kids who go from christian high schools, to christian colleges, to seminary, to working at a Church and all they know is how to prove the beliefs they learned in school. Oswald Chambers said it best, "When we become simply a promoter or a defender of a particular belief, something within us dies. That is not believing God—it is only believing our belief about Him. If our certainty is only in our beliefs, we develop a sense of self-righteousness, become overly critical, and are limited by the view that our beliefs are complete and settled. But when we have the right relationship with God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy."
I've been in some low places before where I demanded that God show up--either audibly, visually, or physically. I wanted Him there because I believed He should be there because that was the best way to handle my situation. I was sad, depressed, lonely and I believed I knew what God's correct response should be. I presumed to know better than the deity who created me because I had grown up reasoning my way through every spiritual dilemma, religious debate, and complex decision I'd ever encountered. Through these lows I learned that you can know everything about God and still not know God. I heard a pastor say once that if you just know everything about a person without knowing them, you're just a stalker. I'm sad to say that I've talked to far too many people who feel God is absent from their life when God is probably looking down at them saying "You're the one who is absent in mine!"
God is constantly seeking us out and we get fooled into thinking we are seeking Him merely because we constantly look to find out information about Him. I believe He's speaking to us constantly but we find it so difficult, so very unnatural to our character to put everything on hold and throw our lives up to God and say "Do with me what you will." We want to know God but we don't want to let Him dictate our lives so it feels like He's not interacting with us, or He's not there at all. Well He's there alright, we're just tuning Him out with the sound of our own prideful intellect telling us how to make every decision in our lives. I think it's far more beneficial for our personal lives, and our ministries as well, to actually know God than to know a ton about Him. I believe that happens through humility. A humility that genuinely desires to allow Christ to live through us and not vice-verse. In the Bible, the people God spoke to and interacted with the most were those who were truly humble. Just look at David for instance.
2 Samuel 6:16-22 depicts a scene where David is so giddy to have the Ark back in Jerusalem that he starts getting all footloose in the streets, so much so that he embarrasses his wife who scorns him for doing so. David's response is "Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, even to be humiliated in my own eyes!." That's a statement that intellect would never comprehend. Are we willing to be humiliated in order to honor God? Are we so humble before God that we don't even care for social status and personal image? Maybe those are the things God is calling us to sacrifice in order to be with Him, but we're so entangled by intellectual pride that we can't accept a voice that tells us to do anything like that. All I know is that the more we lean on our own understanding, the more likely we are to miss out on the wonderfully divine plan God has for us.
Lastly, let me just say that I'm not advocating ignorance or that it's beneficial to be unintelligent. We should all study our faith like crazy so we know what we believe, but at the end of the day we can't hope to rely on our intellect to get us through the trails of this life. Somehow we have to merge all of the confidence we have in our mental capacities with a completely humble spirit before the Lord. Humility must be the essence of our lives, for how else will we ever attain the standard of love that God calls us to? The foundation of what Christ did for us was lowering Himself from a Godly form to a humanly form and then serving us in the most profound example of humility ever witnessed. It's crucial to remember that people don't worship Jesus for his intelligence, so they wont worship Him because of our intelligence either. They worship Him for His love--a love which is bound by humble service to mankind. So let's do the same.
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