#Practical applications for being a disciple of Christ today | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

realyoungdarius · 4 years ago

Text

2.1 Assignment: Something Different is Needed

Getting Started

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Revelation 7:9–10

Have you ever wondered what heaven will be like? There are a number of descriptions given to us in the Bible. One depiction specifically stands out among the several that exist. In the above passage of Scripture, the disciple named John describes a countless multitude of people who are immensely diverse according to their nationality, tribal affiliation, uniqueness of creation, and language spoken. In fact, the list of diverse characteristics in the Bible verse is thought to not be an exhaustive list but one that is infinite in nature.

Upon successful completion of the course material, you will be able to:

Integrate the concepts of diversity with an understanding of those same or similar concepts of a Christian worldview.

Resources

Bible: Eastern Standard Version

File: The DeVoe Report Fall/Winter 2017

File: The DeVoe Report Spring/Summer 2017

Website: Bible Gateway

Reference

U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission. (n.d.). Prohibited employment policies/practices. Retrieved from https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/practices/index.cfm

Background Information

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (n.d.) states,

Under the laws enforced by EEOC, it is illegal to discriminate against someone (applicant or employee) because of that person's race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. It is also illegal to retaliate against a person because he or she complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit.

The law forbids discrimination in every aspect of employment.

The issue of discrimination has been an issue that human resources management have wrestled with in the workplace for a very long time. The article reading selected for this workshop sheds light on the fact that there are differing views for how to address workplace discriminatory practices—especially those illegal or unethical practices among management and executive leaders of the organization. Read the article and consider your own workplace or one that you are familiar with. Has the organization attempted to use any one of the suggested solutions found in the article? None of them? Or a different solution altogether? And if a solution was attempted, has it been successful?

Instructions

Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.

Make sure you have carefully reviewed the Getting Started and Background Information sections of this page.

Review the following Scriptures from the Bible Gateway website:

How do these Scriptures inform your understanding in regards to the following questions and the complex realities of today’s workplaces:

Access The DeVoe Report Spring/Summer 2017 edition.

Access The DeVoe Report Fall/Winter 2017 edition.

Write a paragraph of 50-100 words for each of the following four questions based on the Workshop Two reading:

Prior to submitting your journal entry, review for correct spelling, word choice, punctuation, and grammar.

Submit your journal entry by using the Assignment submission page the final day of the workshop.

Review the following Scriptures from the Bible Gateway website:

Revelation 4:11

Revelation 4:11 Holman Christian Standard Bible

11 Our Lord and God,[a] You are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because You have created all things, and because of Your will they exist and were created.

John 3:16

John 3:16 Holman Christian Standard Bible

16 “For God loved the world in this way:[a] He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”

Galatians 3:28

Galatians 3:28 Holman Christian Standard Bible

28 There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

1 Samuel 16:7b

1 Samuel 16:7 Holman Christian Standard Bible

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature, because I have rejected him. Man does not see what the Lord sees,[a] for man sees what is visible,[b] but the Lord sees the heart.”

Matthew 6:10

Matthew 6:10 Holman Christian Standard Bible

10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Write a paragraph of 50-100 words for each of the following four questions based on the Workshop Two reading:

If heaven is a place of inclusion and diversity, shouldn’t our workplaces similarly be such a place of diverse peoples?

I believe, similarly to many Libertarians, that it can be Constitutional, as well as ethical, for many groups to exclude people of different Constitutionally protected groups, when it involves the thoughts and feelings that they want to have remain private, except among the group they trust. I am a part of a fraternity! Should we let women in, when we are supposed to protect people who are in our fraternity and our sex? I believe that women should have a place to consider their private thoughts and feelings, with people who are their sex and a part of their group! What’s wrong with a fraternity doing the same thing? We’d let in people with different genders...

Or, is our earthly domain to be so different from our heavenly domain?

I believe that there can be heaven and hell on Earth! People can even have their own personal hell and/or heaven; even if they are considered to not be a part of other people’s hell and/or heaven. For instance, everyone can be beautiful. However, someone who is hot to many people, may not be sexy to everyone!

Read the article “Something Different is Needed: Influencing Managers to Avoid Discriminatory Practices” beginning on page 24, which provides a holistic solution to address the problem of diversity.

Review the article “Growing a Literary Executive” beginning on page 68, which provides the encouragement for you to become a literary executive.

From “Growing a Literary Executive”:

“Read voraciously; this is not a place where moderation is a virtue, rather view it as a feast of ideas and you’ll profit significantly.”

“You will sharpen the perspectives that shape your engagement with the world; you will find yourself being more intentional in revealing and creating experiences that demonstrate the reality that His Kingdom has come, and finally; you will experience greater joy as you rest in the confidence of the coming consummation of all things.”

From “Something Different is Needed: Influencing Managers to Avoid Discriminatory Practices”:

“it is that inner disposition of the heart which influences our outer behavior, actions, reactions, choices, decisions and words” (Proverbs 4:23; Matthew 12:35; 15:19; Galations 5:22-23, Luke 6:45; “Gateway Biblical Counseling,” n.d., para. 4).

What did you learn?

What I have to recognize about my own issues and/or problems with the way my mind, and especially my mind, tends to work, is that I have to fight off the bad thoughts and feelings I have.

How did you discover that?

I found this out after making mistakes I shouldn’t mention. Those issues and/or problems are mostly in my past. Now, I just have to deal with my thoughts and feelings, when they become bad and/or something that is not ethical. I usually try to either let those thoughts and/or feelings roll off my sleeve or I fight them off with thoughts and feelings I’ve learned can counteract those bad and/or unethical thoughts and feelings.

Why is that important?

If I didn’t do that, I would be acting out in ways that would lead me to ending up dead or in jail. I have to keep myself from being investigative, like I tend to like doing, sometimes. I’m also, mostly, a conceptualizer and optimizer; instead of an implementer and generator.

And, so what? (That is, what are the implications of the learning for practical living?)

Everyone is different. So, I can’t assume that everyone will do things the same way. It’s especially true that people tend to focus on their strengths, while attempting to mitigate their short-comings are. Doing those things helps people to sharpen the saw.

0 notes

vanherndon · 4 years ago

Text

Your Investment in Christ: How Invested Are You?

This is the sermon that I wrote and preached on October 4, 2020.

Your Investment in Christ: How Invested Are You?

Introduction:

Welcome to the Dover church of Christ. It is good to see you all.

If you turn on the tv or look on social media then you will find an immense buffet of issues to provoke the emotions, causes to pick up the banner of and march in support of, either metaphorically or in actuality.

We are constantly bombarded with worldly topics that compete for our attention and for our effort.

So today, I would like to raise the question, when it comes to your investment in Christ, how invested are you?

For those of you familiar with my chosen vocation outside the church, rest assured that this sermon is not alluding to that vocation nor is it an advertisement.

The idea of investment lends itself well to our topic today because there are certain similarities that an investment metaphor can easily explain or guide our understanding. Indeed, the Bible itself uses the idea of investment in exploring the practice of our faith.

There are two applications that I am attempting to make with our discussion today. If you have yet to become a Christian, then it is my goal concerning you to provide you with scriptural ideas to consider in your decision to become a Christian. Make no mistake, it is not my intent to arm you with an excuse so as you can continue in your path of being a sinner alien to the body of Christ, for the Bible says in Acts 17:30 "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,...” My goal for you today is to make sure that when you do come to the decision to obey the Gospel of Christ that you have at the very least began a proper examination of the cost that is attributed to being a disciple of Christ, and in so doing, when hard times come, your chances of stumbling or faltering in the faith are as small as possible because we have helped you set the proper expectations.

If you are here today and you are a member of the Body of Christ, then I hope that our discussion will provoke you to examine yourself and determine how you measure up to the Word of God. Even the finest sailors of times of old had to turn to the sky and measure their position in relation to the stars and if found off course, make the appropriate adjustments. The wind and the current of the sea affected the direction of their journey requiring frequent examination of their course. The same holds true for us in our faith as Christians. The winds and currents of the world are constantly working against us and we need frequent examination and possibly course correction. I have heard it said and have repeated it before in front of you that “Sin is a slippery slope.” Therefore, we should always be diligent in where we place our next step.

Count the cost:

The first example of examining our investment in Christ that we shall look at is found in Luke 14:25-34 where we read...

Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. "And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has [enough] to finish [it]-- "lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see [it] begin to mock him, "saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' "Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? "Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. "So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. "Salt [is] good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?

We find here that Jesus is traveling towards Jerusalem and he is being followed by a large group of people. This group of people had developed the notion that Jesus was here on Earth to establish an earthly kingdom, an idea still promoted by some to this day. They expected to benefit from this earthly kingdom with no change on their part, specifically no inward change of life. Jesus then offers correction to their thinking. He tells them to consider the cost of being His disciple and gives examples of what they can expect.

Let us first look at where our Lord asks the question, “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost” and also when he asks, “Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?”

Much like with investments of a financial nature, the investment in Christ requires you to sit and examine what must you give up in order to have more in the future. There is what is called an opportunity cost. What must I sacrifice in order to have this other? We will explore the opportunity costs that a Christian can expect in our next point in greater detail in our next point. For our purposes considering this point, there are things that we must give up today in our service to the Lord so that we can prosper in the future, naturally, I speak of Heaven. Farming is, in a sense, an investment. Time, money, and effort are put into growing a crop. It is a labor of love, culminating in the harvest.

It is the same for Christians in that the Word is planted within us. We grow and we help others grow. We tend our own soil as well as cultivate the word in others.

Let us now look at some of the Costs of being a disciple of Christ.

Deny yourself

Luke 14:27 in our text, that we have looked at, says, “And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” Further in Matthew 16:24-26 we read...

[Mat 16:24-26 NKJV] Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Finally, a third verse that I want to examine when we discuss what the cost of being a follower of Christ is Matthew 6:33 where we read "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

To be a true follower of Christ, we must deny ourselves as Matthew 16:24 instructs and we must take up and bear our cross as Matthew 16:24 and Luke 14:27 both say. We must also put God and his righteousness first in our lives as we are taught in Matthew 6:33.

In our original scripture in Luke 14:26, we read where the Lord says that to be a disciple of Christ, we must “hate” his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.

What is being taught here? What does it mean to hate? The Bible uses the word hate often to mean that we must love something less. So the lesson being taught here is that we are to place the Lord above our earthly father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even our own lives. This is in agreement with Matthew 6:33 where we are to seek FIRST the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

There are those that do not believe in the Bible. There are those that have been pulled astray from the Word or prevented from a true and accurate understanding of God’s Word. These people may even be people that we care for dearly and are close to. My favorite and maybe too often quoted verse says you shall love your neighbor as yourself, but not before it first tells us to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.

We are to put God first. We are to love those around us, but God always takes precedent. Situations may arise where those close to us question what God has said, but we must never falter or fail to say what God says. We must rightly divide the word as the Bible instructs and we must be ready to give a defense. Understand, we are called to obey the Gospel of Christ and to teach others the same. We are then called to win souls. We are not called to win arguments. Galatians 5:22-24 reads, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those [who are] Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

To summarize that point, Love those around us, but by all means, love God more, give him the higher position which he is entitled to, and when disagreements arise, diligent practice the qualities that God’s Word calls the Fruits of The Spirit is needed.

To be a child of God will cost time and effort to learn the Truth

Proverbs 23:23 tells us to Buy the truth, and do not sell [it], [Also] wisdom and instruction and understanding.

Romans 1:16 reads “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”

James 1:21 says ”Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

In Acts 17:11-12 we find “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily [to find out] whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men.”

Finally, in John 8:32 we are given the verse that inspired our Set Free program "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

All of these passages refer to the need to study and know the word of God.

When I am concerned about my health, I consult a doctor or other medical professional. I do not want a doctor that didn't take his or her study seriously. There is an old joke that asks “What do you call a person that graduated last in the medical school class?” The answer is “doctor.” There was a time that I chuckled at that joke but as I grow older and find myself needing the service of a Doctor more frequently, I find less and less humor in that particular joke.

When you have a legal matter, you consult a lawyer. You want a lawyer that knows the law. A lawyer that does not know the law is good for a laugh on occasion as long as he or she is not your lawyer. A lawyer who is lacking in study is certainly a bane of a judge's existence.

If we can look at these two earthly examples of professionals in whom we place our trust and desire that they are of the utmost competence. Why then do we neglect to grow ourselves as the only professional that is responsible for understanding God’s will and how to live in a manner according to that will. The only person responsible for you realizing an eternal home in Heaven with our Father is you. You expect a well-trained doctor or lawyer, but how many do not place the same expectations on themselves concerning their salvation? It costs time and effort to learn God’s word.

To be a Christian, one must repent. In Luke 13:3 we find, "I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” What does it mean to repent?

Let us again consider Matthew 16:24-26

We must give up the pleasure of sin. Sin is man’s greatest problem in that they separate us from God. The problem is further compounded in that sin can be attractive, fun, enjoyable, at least in the short-term. As we have read, we must give up our carnal desires, we must focus on that which is spiritual. We must, as the text says, take up our cross and follow Christ. What does it mean to take up our cross? The cross was the horrific execution tool in crucifixion. To take up your cross means that you must be willing to suffer and even die for the cause of Christ. We have tremendous liberties that we enjoy here in this great country. We are able to enjoy the freedom to worship openly, which is not the case for all Christians.

I want to stop here and relate a video that I saw the other day. It was of a preacher on stage talking about his experiences as a missionary in China. I am sure that you are at least somewhat familiar with how communist states like China have exhibited various levels of hostility towards the Christian faith.

The speaker begins explaining that he was in China to teach twenty-two Christian leaders from the Hunan Province. These twenty-two people rode a bus for thirteen hours to get to the hotel or apartment where classes were being held. Upon arrival, they had to enter the building and take the elevator two by two so as not to draw suspicion or interest as a large group.

When they arrive at the room, there is not enough seating for twenty-two people so most sit on the floor. Since such opportunities are limited, instruction and teaching start at eight AM and continues to five PM to make the most of the time they have and they did this for three days on this occasion.

The instructor that is relaying this story asks his students, “What happens if we are caught?” They reply that he would be deported within twenty-four hours and they would go to prison for three years. He then asked them, “how many of you here had been to prison?” Out of the twenty-two present, eighteen raised their hands.

As they began their study, the preacher hands out the Bibles that he had which was not enough for everyone and so seven people went without. He instructed them to turn to 2 Peter chapter 1 and as he watched most turn the scripture, he saw one woman hand her Bible to another student. As they continued in their study, he understood why the woman handed her Bible off because she quoted the entire chapter from memory. The preacher was very surprised and delighted and he asked her where she had memorized the Bible, she told him it was in prison and she jokingly said that you had a lot of free time in prison to do so. He then asked, “But don’t they confiscate the Bible?” She confirmed that they did. So he then asked how is it that you have something from which to study?” She told him that visitors would smuggle in scraps of paper with scripture written on it and that they would study from that. “Wouldn’t the paper be confiscated if found?” he then asked.

Absolutely, which is why you memorize it as quickly as you can, because they may be able to take the word from your hand, but they cannot take it from your heart.

At the conclusion of the three days as the preacher was finishing class, he asked them how best can I remember you in my prayers after I return home. They answered by explaining that they would appreciate it if he would pray they would be just like the Americans since they can meet freely.

He told him that he could not do that. Of course, this caused much surprise. He explained to them that they traveled on a less than ideal bus thirteen hours to come to study the word of God, whereas most Americans wouldn’t travel greater than an hour. He continued by saying that they sat through class for eight hours a day for three days straight while most Americans get antsy after forty minutes. The time they spent there was while sitting on a hard floor, while most Americans have padded pews. They sat on the floor for eight hours while having no air conditioning. Most Americans wouldn't have come back for a second or third day.

He concluded by explaining that the average American family has between two and three Bibles and they have dust on them while the Chinese were so hungry for the word of God that they studied pieces of paper and memorized the word. He explained to them that while he certainly had the opportunity to study and worship freely, that in every other manner, he would pray that Americans become like them. Take a moment to consider the cost these people face and the energy and enthusiasm with which they face it.

Consider also that prison is one of the more docile costs a Christian may face compared to other atrocities committed against Christians in other lands. As you are doing so, be thankful that the costs you face to be or become a Christian are not so drastic.

When we repent, we must also give up our ways for God’s ways

[Isa 55:7-9 NKJV] 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. 8 "For My thoughts [are] not your thoughts, Nor [are] your ways My ways," says the LORD. 9 "For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Are we more worried about our feelings than our faith?

Are we more concerned with our rights than our righteousness?

If someone was to take a look at your social media posts, would they determine your political affiliation before they ascertain that you are a Christian? Another cost in becoming a Christian is as we have previously discussed, YOU MUST PUT GOD FIRST.

That means that sometimes it will cost you in not winning an argument, it may mean that your feelings get hurt, it can mean that you feel your rights are infringed. GOD COMES FIRST.

If you're worried about your feelings, think about the feelings Christ experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane. The stress he felt to the point of sweating drops of blood. Think about his feelings when he found his disciples sleeping when he had asked them to watch with him. God created man in his own image and every man has a soul that God hopes to see make it to Heaven and you should to. That takes priority over your feelings.

If you are worried about winning arguments, then you are flailing at your duty to win souls, because every person that you can offer you a disagreement, again has a soul that you should want to see spend eternity with God in Heaven.

If you are worried about your rights, think about our Lord’s rights as they falsely accused him the night before he died, offered up false witnesses, and illegally tried him on six different occasions during the night. His rights were forfeit so that ultimately you might know a home with him in Heaven.

We must count the cost, we must deny ourselves and we must do it God’s way.

So in considering the similarities of investments to the practice of our faith, again, we must count the cost, deny ourselves today for tomorrow, and finally, we must stick to the plan.

Biblically speaking, we must remain faithful unto the point of death. We read in Revelation 2:10 "...Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

We must finish what we started. We first gather the information on what it is going to take and then we continue until completion, which for the Christian is either the day your soul leaves your body in the event of physical death or the day the Lord returns for those still living as such time. Counting the cost sets the proper expectations for denying yourself and arms you with the ability to remain faithful. In our text from Luke 14, speaks of the folly of the unfinished tower in the form of wasted time, money, and effort. Our Lord speaks of the defeat of the King that goes to war without counting the cost.

Understand, it is best for every person to obey the Gospel because there is no other to cure the disease of sin than by accessing the redeeming blood of Christ. Counting the cost is not an excuse to not obey, but a way to help you remain faithful until death. Not counting the cost will make you more likely to become discouraged and fall away. If you fall away, you will be lost until you return home and the longer you are gone the harder the journey to return home, not because of anything God has done, but by the hardening of your heart and the temptations of the world. Not only will you be lost, but you are opening the door of opportunity for the world to speak evil of the faith. Not only have you harmed yourself, but you have damaged the influence of the church to save other souls. We read in 2 Peter 2:11-12 “Beloved, I beg [you] as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by [your] good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.”

Count the cost, Deny yourself, and be faithful unto death. How invested are you? Have you counted the cost, Have you lost sight of the cost? Has something come along that has distracted from following the plan?

There is one cost that I have saved until the end of today. To be a disciple of Christ, you must do whatever is necessary to be buried with Christ in the waters of baptism. When Christ went to John the Baptist to be baptized, he left Galilee and traveled to the Jordan River, a distance of some sixty miles. The Ethiopian Eunuch immediately stopped his journey home to be baptized in Acts chapter 8. We are buried with Christ in baptism and we arise a new creature in Christ having put off the old man of sin. If you have counted the cost but have yet to invest yourself further, I ask you today to take the next step.

If you have obeyed the Gospel of Christ culminating in your baptism, but you have become drawn from the plan as I stated above, Won’t you come home?

Whatever your need, we stand ready to assist as together we stand and sing.

0 notes

vamchqud · 5 years ago

Text

THE PRIMITIVE AND THE PROFESSIONAL

Art-historically the word primitive has been used in three different ways: to designate art (before Raphael) on the borderline between the medieval and modern Renaissance traditions; to label the trophies and “curiosities” taken from the colonies (Africa, Caribbean, South Pacific) when brought back to the imperial metropolis; and lastly to put in its place the art of men and women from the working classes — proletarian, peasant, petit-bourgeois — who did not leave their class by becoming professional artists. According to all three usages of the word, originating in the last century when the confidence of the European ruling class was at its height, the superiority of the main European tradition of secular art, serving that same “civilised” ruling class, was assured.

Most professional artists begin their training when young. Most primitive artists of the third category come to painting or sculpture in middle or even old age. Their art usually derives from considerable personal experience and, indeed, is often provoked as a result of the profundity or intensity of that experience. Yet artistically their art is seen as naïve, that is, inexperienced. It is the significance of this contradiction that we need to understand. Does it actually exist, and if so, what does it mean? To talk of the dedication of the primitive artist, his patience and his application amounting to a kind of skill, does not altogether answer the question.

The primitive is defined as the non-professional. The category of the professional artist, as distinct from the master craftsman, was not clear until the 17th century. (And in some places, especially in Eastern Europe, not until the 19th century.) The distinction between profession and craft is at first difficult to make, yet it is of great importance. The craftsman survives so long as the standards for judging his work are shared by different classes. The professional appears when it is necessary for the craftsman to leave his class and “emigrate” to the ruling class, whose standards of judgement are different.

The relationship of the professional artist to the class that ruled or aspired to rule was complicated, various and should not be simplified. His training however — and it was his training which made him a professional — taught him a set of conventional skills. That is to say, he became skilled in using a set of conventions. Conventions of composition, drawing, perspective, chiaroscuro, anatomy, poses, symbolism. And these conventions corresponded so closely to the social experience — or anyway to the social manners — of the class he was serving, that they were not even seen as conventions but were thought of as the only way of recording and preserving eternal truths. Yet to the other social classes such professional painting appeared to be so remote from their own experience, that they saw it as a mere social convention, a mere accoutrement of the class that ruled over them: which is why in moments of revolt, painting and sculpture were often destroyed.

During the 19th century certain artists, for consciously social or political reasons, tried to extend the professional tradition of painting, so that it might express the experience of other classes (for example, Millet, Courbet, Van Gogh). Their personal struggles, their failures, and the opposition they met with, were a measure of the enormity of the undertaking. Perhaps one pedestrian example will give some idea of the extent of the difficulties involved. Consider Ford Madox Brown’s well-known painting of Work in Manchester Art Gallery. It shows a team of navvies, with passers-by and bystanders, working on a sidewalk. It took the painter ten years to complete, and it is, at one level, extremely accurate. But it looks like a religious scene — the Mounting of the Cross, or the Calling of the Disciples? (One searches for the figure of Christ.) Some would argue that this is because the artist’s attitude to his subject was ambivalent. I would argue that the optic of all the visual means he was using with such care, pre-empted the possibility of depicting manual work, as the main subject of a painting, in any but a mythological or symbolic way.

The crisis provoked by those who tried to extend the area of experience to which painting might be open — and by the end of the century this also included the Impressionists — continued into the 20th century. But its terms were reversed. The tradition was indeed dismantled. Yet, except for the introduction of the Unconscious, the area of experience from which most European artists drew remained surprisingly unchanged. Consequently, most of the serious art of the period dealt either with the experience of various kinds of isolation, or with the narrow experience of painting itself. The latter produced painting about painting, abstract art.

One of the reasons why the potential freedom gained by the dismantling of the tradition was not used, may be to do with the way painters were still trained. In the academies and art schools they first learnt those very conventions which were being dismantled. This was because no other professional body of knowledge existed to be taught. And this is still, more or less, true today. No other professionalism exists.

Recently, corporate capitalism, having grounds to believe itself triumphant, has begun to adopt abstract art. And the adoption is proving easy. Diagrams of aesthetic power lend themselves to becoming emblems of economic power. In the process almost all lived experience has been eliminated from the image. Thus, the extreme of abstract art demonstrates, as an epilogue, the original problematic of professional art: an art in reality concerned with a selective, very reduced area of experience, which nevertheless claims to be universal.

Something like this overview of traditional art (and the overview is of course only partial, there are other things to be said on other occasions) may help us to answer the questions about primitive art.

The first primitive artists appeared during the second half of the 19th century. They appeared after professional art had first questioned its own conventional purposes. The notorious Salon des Refusés was held in 1863. This exhibition was not of course the reason for their appearance. What helped to make their appearance possible were universal primary education (paper, pencils, ink), the spread of popular journalism, a new geographical mobility due to the railways, the stimulus of clearer class consciousness. Perhaps also the example of the bohemian professional artist had its effect. The bohemian chose to live in a way which defied normal class divisions, and his lifestyle, if not his work, tended to suggest that art could come from any class.

Among the first were the Douanier Rousseau (1844-1910) and the Facteur Cheval (1836-1924). These men, when their art eventually became known, were nevertheless designated by their other work — the Customs-Man-Rousseau, the Postman-Cheval. This makes it clear — as does also the term Sunday painter — that their “art” is an eccentricity. They were treated as cultural “sports”, not because of their class origin, but because they refused, or were ignorant of, the fact that all artistic expression has traditionally to undergo a class transformation. In this way they were quite distinct from amateurs — most, but not all of whom, came from the cultured classes; amateurs, by definition, followed, with less rigour, the example of the professionals.

The primitive begins alone; he inherits no practice. Because of this the term primitive may appear at first to be justified. He does not use the pictorial grammar of the tradition — hence he is ungrammatical. He has not learnt the technical skills which have evolved with the conventions — hence he is clumsy. When he discovers on his own a solution to a pictorial problem, he often uses it many times — hence he is naïve. But then one has to ask: why does he refuse the tradition? And the answer is only partly that he was born far away from that tradition. The effort necessary to begin painting or sculpting, in the social context in which he finds himself, is so great that it could well include visiting the museums. But it never does, at least at the beginning. Why? Because he knows already that his own lived experience which is forcing him to make art has no place in that tradition. How does he know this without having visited the museums? He knows it because his whole experience is one of being excluded from the exercise of power in his society, and he realises from the compulsion he now feels, that art too has a kind of power. The will of primitives derives from faith in their own experience and a profound scepticism about society as they have found it. This is true even of such an amiable artist as Grandma Moses.

I hope I have now made clearer why the “clumsiness” of primitive art is the precondition of its eloquence. What it is saying could never be said with any ready-made skills. For what it is saying was never meant, according to the cultural class system, to be said.

#John Berger #Primitive art

1 note · View note

focusontheeasternlightning-blog · 6 years ago

Text

Parable of Jesus—Meaning of the Parable of New Cloth on Old Garment

One day, after a meeting, a sister asked me, “Brother, the Lord Jesus said, ‘No man puts a piece of a new garment on an old; if otherwise, then both the new makes a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agrees not with the old’ (Luke 5:36). Do you know what this parable means? What does the Lord want to tell us through it?”

Hearing the sister’s questions, I thought that I happened to have some understanding of this parable of the Lord Jesus, so I replied without thinking, “In the Old Testament, the Israelites were required to fast on the day of atonement every year. But as the salvation of the Lord Jesus had come, the old practices were no longer applicable, and people should abide by the new requirements proposed by the Lord. By telling this parable, the Lord Jesus warns us that in our faith in Him, we cannot cling only to the laws of the Old Testament like the Pharisees did, but instead should accept and follow the Lord’s words and act in accordance with His teachings.” Upon hearing my answer, the sister nodded her head, and I also felt gratified for my ability to understand the Lord’s will.

Just then, Co-worker Zhang, who had recently returned from another place, said, “Brother Wang, I used to think like you. But God’s words are the truth and contain deep meaning. A couple of days ago, I had a fellowship with a brother from another church on this verse. Through reading a book of truth, I gained some deeper understanding about the Lord’s will behind this parable. How about we fellowship together?”

Hearing that Brother Zhang had a deeper understanding and knowledge about this verse, I said happily, “That would be great!”

“Brother Zhang,” the sister anxiously cut in, “since you have a deeper understanding, please tell us about it!”

Brother Zhang smiled and said, “OK. Let me first read a passage that we read that day.” As he said this, he took a tablet out of his bag and read, “‘Because there are always new developments in God’s work, thus there is new work, and thus there is also work that is obsolete and old. This old and new work is not contradictory, but complementary; each step follows on from the last. Because there is new work, the old things must, of course, be eliminated. … The work of God is always new and never old, and it never forms doctrine and is, instead, continually changing and renewing to a greater or lesser extent. This work is the expression of the inherent disposition of God Himself. It is also the inherent principle of God’s work, and one of the means by which God accomplishes His management. If God did not work in this way, man would not change or be able to know God, and Satan would not be defeated. Thus, in His work there continually occur changes that appear erratic, but which are actually periodic. … God’s intention has always been for His work to be new and alive, not old and dead, and that which He makes man hold firm to varies with the age and period, and is not everlasting and immutable. That is because He is a God who causes man to live and be new’ (‘Only Those Who Know the Work of God Today Can Serve God’).

“From this passage we can see that God’s work does not follow rules, and that He performs new work in accordance with His plan for mankind’s salvation as well as according to the degree of mankind’s corruption by Satan. God’s work varies with the age and period, and is not everlasting and immutable, and He always does newer and higher work. When the new work begins, the previous work becomes out of date, and God embarks on another plan and carries out new work. For example, Jehovah God did the work of issuing laws and guiding the lives of people. Under the guidance of Jehovah God, the Israelites of the time learned how to conduct their lives and how to worship God, and understood what sin was. But in the later period of the Age of Law, as man was becoming more and more corrupted by Satan, no one was able to keep the laws and commandments any longer, and all were in constant danger of being sentenced to death by the law. In order to save mankind, God incarnated into the image of Jesus and, on the basis of the work of the Age of Law, did a stage of work of redeeming mankind through crucifixion. The Lord Jesus brought a new age, fulfilled the laws and commandments, gave people a new way to practice and proposed new requirements for them, such as being tolerant and patient, loving their enemies, being the light of the world and salt of the earth, and so on. From the outside, these two stages of work appear different, but they actually complement each other, through which God saves mankind from the influence of Satan step by step. From this we can see that God’s work does not remain unchanged, but rather is always moving forward, and that God’s requirements of mankind are becoming ever higher.

“The Pharisees back then, however, didn’t know God’s work. They abided by religious notions and used the laws of the Old Testament to examine the Lord Jesus’ new work and words. They said that the Lord Jesus sat at the table with tax collectors, and that He and His disciples had violated the laws by not keeping the Sabbath day and not fasting, thereby denying that the Lord Jesus was the Messiah. So when the Lord Jesus said, ‘No man puts a piece of a new garment on an old; if otherwise, then both the new makes a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agrees not with the old’ (Luke 5:36), He was telling people that God’s work is ever new and never old, that the work of redemption God ushered in was new, and that God wouldn’t do the new work and the old one simultaneously, for that would make it impossible for the new work to be carried out.”

After listening to the brother’s fellowship, my heart brightened considerably. I had read many spiritual books, but none of them explained God’s work so clearly. I said to Brother Zhang, “What you fellowshiped is truly something I have never understood. Do you have any other new understanding? Please share more with us.” After saying this, I anxiously waited for Brother Zhang to continue his fellowship.

Brother Zhang took a sip of water and continued, “We humans love to cling to the old, so when God performs new work, we are apt to be eliminated by the Holy Spirit for holding on to the old work. Therefore, we must understand that God only works on and leads those who are willing to let go of their old notions and who obey God’s new work. The book says, ‘People love to cling to the old. They cling to the notions of the past, to things from the past. This is a great obstacle to their service.’ ‘As of today, God will formally perfect those who have no religious notions, who are ready to set aside their old selves, and who obey God in a simple-hearted way, and He will perfect those who long for the word of God. These people should stand up and serve God. In God there is endless abundance and boundless wisdom. His amazing work and precious words are awaiting even greater numbers of people to enjoy them’ (‘Religious Way of Service Must Be Banned’). These passages tell us that, because we humans have no truth or knowledge of God, we love to cling to the old and to God’s past work. This is especially true for those who have followed God and served Him for many years. When they have some experience in preaching and master some biblical knowledge and theological theories, they treat these things as capital and thus believe that they have known God’s work. However, once they cling to these things, it will be hard for them to accept God’s new work. Meanwhile, those who do not have old religious notions, who are able to obey in a simple-hearted way, and who can accept God’s new work and new words will obtain God’s salvation. Just like when the Lord Jesus came to do new work, those Pharisees, who had served God in the temple for many years and clung to old religious notions, thought that the Lord Jesus was not the Messiah foretold in the Bible because He looked very ordinary and came from a humble background. Especially when they saw that the work performed by the Lord Jesus was not recorded in the Old Testament of the Bible, they condemned and blasphemed Him, and in the end even nailed Him to the cross, thus suffering the pain of national subjugation. By contrast, those fishermen, publicans, harlots and sinners, when seeing that the Lord Jesus’ words were not things that people could express and that His work contained power and authority, were able to believe in and follow Him. Take Peter, Jacob, John and Matthew for example. When the Lord Jesus called out to them, they immediately gave up everything and followed Him, during which time they heard the truth expressed by the Lord Jesus, witnessed His authority and wonderful deeds, and recognized that the Lord Jesus was Christ, the coming Messiah, and in the end attained God’s salvation.”

After listening to the words that Brother Zhang read as well as his fellowship, the sister kept nodding her head, and I also felt that these were entirely new ideas. I said, “Brother Zhang, what you fellowshiped today really gave me a deeper understanding of this parable. Through this parable, the Lord Jesus tells us that God’s work is always new and never old, and that it is carried out based on the degree of mankind’s corruption. When people at the end of the age of the Old Testament could no longer uphold the laws, God performed a new work to save mankind based on this situation. If God begins new work but we cling to our old notions and use His previous work to measure the new one, then it will be hard for us to accept God’s new work.”

Brother Zhang said, “It’s true. We are now in the last days, the prophecies of the Lord’s return have basically been fulfilled, and the Lord is about to return at any time. According to the prophecies in the Book of Revelation, God will perform the work of opening the little scroll, loosing the seven seals, separating the goats from the sheep, the wheat from the tares, and the good servants from the wicked servants, and perfecting a group of overcomers. However, this is just briefly mentioned in the Book of Revelation but is not recorded in detail, so none of us know how God will specifically fulfill and accomplish all this. In light of this, when the Lord Jesus returns to work in the last days, we should be like the wise virgins and open the door to actively welcome Him, be someone who thirsts for and seeks the truth, and investigate any message about the new work done by the returned Lord to see whether it is from God. Only in this way can we have the opportunity to welcome the Lord and gain God’s salvation of the last days.”

Hearing what the brother said, my heartfelt very bright and I said, “Yes, you’re right. The Book of Revelation only prophesies that the Lord will come to work and save mankind in the last days, but none of us can perceive how the Lord will do this work when He returns. This is because God’s work is too wise and unfathomable. But no matter what, as long as the Lord comes back to do new work, we must go out to welcome Him just like Peter, Matthew and the others walked out of the temple to investigate the Lord’s work. This is the only way we can attain the Lord’s salvation. After listening to your fellowship today, I understand a lot more about the parable told by the Lord Jesus. Thanks be to the Lord! Brother Zhang, this book is very good because it can help us know God’s work and understand His will. Could I borrow it to read?”

Brother Zhang agreed right away …

#Knowing Jesus #Jesus Christ’s Ministry #Parables of Jesus

0 notes

fear-god-shun-evil · 6 years ago

Photo

What Is the Meaning of the Parable Told by Jesus Christ in Luke 5:36?

Hearing that Brother Zhang had a deeper understanding and knowledge about this verse, I said happily, “That would be great!”

“Brother Zhang,” the sister anxiously cut in, “since you have a deeper understanding, please tell us about it!”

Hearing what the brother said, my heart felt very bright and I said, “Yes, you’re right. The Book of Revelation only prophesies that the Lord will come to work and save mankind in the last days, but none of us can perceive how the Lord will do this work when He returns. This is because God’s work is too wise and unfathomable. But no matter what, as long as the Lord comes back to do new work, we must go out to welcome Him just like Peter, Matthew and the others walked out of the temple to investigate the Lord’s work. This is the only way we can attain the Lord’s salvation. After listening to your fellowship today, I understand a lot more about the parable told by the Lord Jesus. Thanks be to the Lord! Brother Zhang, this book is very good because it can help us know God’s work and understand His will. Could I borrow it to read?”

Brother Zhang agreed right away …

#Bible Study #Bible Study Guides

0 notes

pope-francis-quotes · 6 years ago

Text

24th February >> (@ZenitEnglish) #PopeFrancis #Pope Francis Saying It Is Time to Eradicate Abuse and Cover Up, Pope Reminds Lord’s Words Saying Those Who Harm Little Ones Would Be Better Off Being Drowned in the Depths of the Sea.

‘In people’s justified anger, the Church sees the reflection of the wrath of God, betrayed and insulted by these deceitful consecrated persons’

FEBRUARY 24, 2019 12:03DEBORAH CASTELLANO LUBOVSEXUAL ABUSE AND PROTECTION OF MINORS

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”

Pope Francis told some 190 bishops to never forget these words from the Master, decrying scandal and saying we must “keep ever before us the innocent faces of the little ones.” The harsh reminder was given by Francis in his concluding addressing follow today’s closing Mass which took place at 9:30 this morning, in the Sala Regia of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, on the final day of the Summit on the Protection of Minors in the Church, Feb. 21-24, 2019.

The Pope acknowledged we are facing a universal problem, tragically present almost everywhere and affecting everyone. According to statistics, he said, the first truth that emerges from the data at hand is that those who perpetrate abuse, that is acts of physical, sexual or emotional violence, are primarily parents, relatives, husbands of child brides, coaches and teachers.

All the More Grave & Scandalous, for Utterly Incompatible

“Yet we need to be clear, that while gravely affecting our societies as a whole, this evil is in no way less monstrous when it takes place within the Church.

“The brutality of this worldwide phenomenon becomes all the more grave and scandalous in the Church, for it is utterly incompatible with her moral authority and ethical credibility. Consecrated persons, chosen by God to guide souls to salvation, let themselves be dominated by their human frailty or sickness and thus become tools of Satan.

In abuse, he said, we see the hand of the evil that does not spare even the innocence of children.

No explanations suffice

“No explanations suffice for these abuses involving children,” he said, adding: “We need to recognize with humility and courage that we stand face to face with the mystery of evil, which strikes most violently against the most vulnerable, for they are an image of Jesus.”

For this reason, he stressed, “the Church has now become increasingly aware of the need not only to curb the gravest cases of abuse by disciplinary measures and civil and canonical processes, but also to decisively confront the phenomenon both inside and outside the Church.”

“She feels called to combat this evil that strikes at the very heart of her mission, which is to preach the Gospel to the little ones and to protect them from ravenous wolves.”

If even one case should emerge, utmost seriousness

“Here again, I would state clearly,” the Pope underscored: “if in the Church there should emerge even a single case of abuse – which already in itself represents an atrocity – that case will be faced with the utmost seriousness.”

“Indeed, in people’s justified anger, the Church sees the reflection of the wrath of God, betrayed and insulted by these deceitful consecrated persons.” The echo of the silent cry of the little ones who, instead of finding in them fathers and spiritual guides encountered tormentors, will shake hearts dulled by hypocrisy and by power. It is our duty to pay close heed to this silent, choked cry.”

The Church’s aim will thus be to hear, watch over, protect and care for abused, exploited and forgotten children, wherever they are. To achieve that goal, the Church must rise above the ideological disputes and journalistic practices that often exploit, for various interests, the very tragedy experienced by the little ones.

Time has come to eradicate

“The time has come, then, to work together to eradicate this evil from the body of our humanity by adopting every necessary measure already in force on the international level and ecclesial levels.” The time, Francis continued, has also come “to find a correct equilibrium of all values in play and to provide uniform directives for the Church, avoiding the two extremes of a “justicialism” provoked by guilt for past errors and media pressure, and a defensiveness that fails to confront the causes and effects of these grave crimes.”

In this context, the Pope applauded the “best practices” formulated under the guidance of the World Health Organization, by a group of ten international bodies that developed and approved a packet of measures called INSPIRE: Seven Strategies for Ending Violence against Children.

“With the help of these guidelines, the work carried out in recent years by the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and the contributions made by this Meeting, the Church, in developing her legislation, will concentrate on the following aspects:”

The first aspect, he said, is the protection of children. “The primary goal of every measure must be to protect the little ones and prevent them from falling victim to any form of psychological and physical. Consequently, a change of mentality is needed to combat a defensive and reactive approach to protecting the institution and to pursue, wholeheartedly and decisively, the good of the community by giving priority to the victims of abuse in every sense.

“We must keep ever before us the innocent faces of the little ones, remembering the words of the Master: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of scandals! For it is necessary that scandals come, but woe to the man by whom the scandal comes! (Mt 18:6-7).”

The second aspect, he noted, is impeccable seriousness. Here I would reaffirm that “the Church will spare no effort to do all that is necessary to bring to justice whosoever has committed such crimes. The Church will never seek to hush up or not take seriously any case” (Address to the Roman Curia, 21 December 2018). She is convinced that “the sins and crimes of consecrated persons are further tainted by infidelity and shame; they disfigure the countenance of the Church and undermine her credibility. The Church herself, with her faithful children, is also a victim of these acts of infidelity and these real sins of “peculation” (ibid.).

The third aspect, Francis highlighted, is genuine purification. “Notwithstanding the measures already taken and the progress made in the area of preventing abuse, there is need for a constantly renewed commitment to the holiness of pastors, whose conformity to Christ the Good Shepherd is a right of the People of God.

“Self-accusation is the beginning of wisdom and bound to the holy fear of God: learning how to accuse ourselves, as individuals, as institutions, as a society.”

The fourth aspect, the Pope said, is formation. “In other words,” he said, “requiring criteria for the selection and training of candidates to the priesthood that are not simply negative, concerned above all with excluding problematic personalities, but also positive, providing a balanced process of formation for suitable candidates, fostering holiness and the virtue of chastity.”

“Saint Paul VI, in his encyclical Sacerdotalis Caelibatus, wrote that “the life of the celibate priest, which engages the whole man so totally and so sensitively, excludes those of insufficient physical, psychic and moral qualifications…”

The fifth aspect, the Pontiff stated, is strengthening and reviewing guidelines by Episcopal Conferences. In other words, reaffirming the need for bishops to be united in the application of parameters that serve as rules and not simply indications.

No Abuse Should Ever Be Covered Up

“No abuse should ever be covered up (as was often the case in the past) or not taken sufficiently seriously, since the covering up of abuses favours the spread of evil and adds a further level of scandal,” he said Also and in particular, developing new and effective approaches for prevention in all institutions and in every sphere of ecclesial life

The sixth aspect, the Holy Father reminded, is accompaniment of those who have been abused. The evil that they have experienced leaves them with indelible wounds that also manifest themselves in resentment and a tendency to self- destruction. The Church thus has the duty to provide them with all the support they need, by availing herself of experts in this field. Listening, let me even put it this way: “wasting time” in listening. Listening heals the hurting person, and likewise heals us of our egoism, aloofness and lack of concern, of the attitude shown by the priest and the Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan.

The seventh aspect, he said, is the digital world. The protection of minors must take into account the new forms of sexual abuse and abuse of all kinds that threaten minors in the settings in which they live and through the new devices that they use.” There is a need, Francis stated, to encourage countries and authorities to apply every measure needed to contain those websites that threaten human dignity, the dignity of women and particularly that of children.

“Crime,” he said, “does not enjoy the right to freedom.”

The eighth aspect, he noted, is sexual tourism. The conduct, the way of looking at others, the very heart of Jesus’ disciples and servants must always acknowledge the image of God in each human creature, beginning with the most innocent. “It is only by drawing from this radical respect for the dignity of others that we will be able to defend them from the pervasive power of violence, exploitation, abuse and corruption, and serve them in a credible way in their integral human and spiritual growth, in the encounter with others and with God.”

“Combatting sexual tourism,” he said, “demands that it be outlawed, but also that the victims of this criminal phenomenon be given support and helped to be reinserted in society.”

The Pope also expressed his “thanks to all those priests and consecrated persons who serve the Lord faithfully and totally, and who feel themselves dishonored and discredited by the shameful conduct of some of their confreres.”

“All of us – the Church, consecrated persons, the People of God, and even God himself – bear the effects of their infidelity,” he said, adding: “In the name of the whole Church, I thank the vast majority of priests who are not only faithful to their celibacy, but spend themselves in a ministry today made even more difficult by the scandals of few (but always too many) of their confreres.”

The Pope also thanked the faithful who are well aware of the goodness of their pastors and who continue to pray for them and to support them. Pope Francis concluding, stressing the need to turn this evil into an opportunity for purification.

Here is the Vatican-provided text of the Pope’s address:

***

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

As I thank the Lord who has accompanied us during these days, I would like to thank all of you for the ecclesial spirit and concrete commitment that you have so generously demonstrated.

Our work has made us realize once again that the gravity of the scourge of the sexual abuse of minors is, and historically has been, a widespread phenomenon in all cultures and societies. Only in relatively recent times has it become the subject of systematic research, thanks to changes in public opinion regarding a problem that was previously considered taboo; everyone knew of its presence yet no one spoke of it. I am reminded too of the cruel religious practice, once widespread in certain cultures, of sacrificing human beings – frequently children – in pagan rites. Yet even today, the statistics available on the sexual abuse of minors drawn up by various national and international organizations and agencies (the WHO, UNICEF, INTERPOL, EUROPOL and others) do not represent the real extent of the phenomenon, which is often underestimated, mainly because many cases of the sexual abuse of minors go unreported,[1] particularly the great number committed within families.

Rarely, in fact, do victims speak out and seek help.[2] Behind this reluctance there can be shame, confusion, fear of reprisal, various forms of guilt, distrust of institutions, forms of cultural and social conditioning, but also lack of information about services and facilities that can help. Anguish tragically leads to bitterness, even suicide, or at times to seek revenge by doing the same thing. The one thing certain is that millions of children in the world are victims of exploitation and of sexual abuse.

It would be important to cite the overall data – in my opinion still partial – on the global level,[3] then from Europe, Asia, the Americas, Africa and Oceania, in order to give an idea of the gravity and the extent of this plague in our societies.[4] To avoid needless quibbling, I would point out from the start that the mention of specific countries is purely for the sake of citing the statistical data provided by the aforementioned reports.

The first truth that emerges from the data at hand is that those who perpetrate abuse, that is acts of physical, sexual or emotional violence, are primarily parents, relatives, husbands of child brides, coaches and teachers. Furthermore, according to the UNICEF data of 2017 regarding 28 countries throughout the world, 9 out of every 10 girls who have had forced sexual relations reveal that they were victims of someone they knew or who was close to their family.

According to official data of the American government, in the United States over 700,000 children each year are victims of acts of violence and mistreatment. According to the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), 1 out of every 10 children experiences sexual abuse. In Europe, 18 million children are victims of sexual abuse.[5]

If we take Italy as an example, the 2016 Telefono Azzurro Report states that 68.9% of abuses take place within the home of the minor.[6]

Acts of violence take place not only in the home, but also in neighbourhoods, schools, athletic facilities [7] and, sadly, also in church settings.

Research conducted in recent years on the phenomenon of the sexual abuse of minors also shows that the development of the web and of the communications media have contributed to a significant increase in cases of abuse and acts of violence perpetrated online. Pornography is rapidly spreading worldwide through the net. The scourge of pornography has expanded to an alarming degree, causing psychological harm and damaging relations between men and women, and between adults and children. A phenomenon in constant growth. Tragically, a considerable part of pornographic production has to do with minors, who are thus gravely violated in their dignity. The studies in this field document that it is happening in ever more horrible and violent ways, even to the point of acts of abuse against minors being commissioned and viewed live over the net.[8]

Here I would mention the World Congress held in Rome on the theme of child dignity in the digital era, as well as the first Forum of the Interfaith Alliance for Safer Communities held on the same theme in Abu Dhabi last November.

Another scourge is sexual tourism. According to 2017 data provided by the World Tourism Organization, each year 3 million people throughout the world travel in order to have sexual relations with a minor.[9] Significantly, the perpetrators of these crimes in most cases do not even realize that they are committing a criminal offence.

We are thus facing a universal problem, tragically present almost everywhere and affecting everyone. Yet we need to be clear, that while gravely affecting our societies as a whole,[10] this evil is in no way less monstrous when it takes place within the Church.

The brutality of this worldwide phenomenon becomes all the more grave and scandalous in the Church, for it is utterly incompatible with her moral authority and ethical credibility. Consecrated persons, chosen by God to guide souls to salvation, let themselves be dominated by their human frailty or sickness and thus become tools of Satan. In abuse, we see the hand of the evil that does not spare even the innocence of children. No explanations suffice for these abuses involving children. We need to recognize with humility and courage that we stand face to face with the mystery of evil, which strikes most violently against the most vulnerable, for they are an image of Jesus. For this reason, the Church has now become increasingly aware of the need not only to curb the gravest cases of abuse by disciplinary measures and civil and canonical processes, but also to decisively confront the phenomenon both inside and outside the Church. She feels called to combat this evil that strikes at the very heart of her mission, which is to preach the Gospel to the little ones and to protect them from ravenous wolves.

Here again I would state clearly: if in the Church there should emerge even a single case of abuse – which already in itself represents an atrocity – that case will be faced with the utmost seriousness. Indeed, in people’s justified anger, the Church sees the reflection of the wrath of God, betrayed and insulted by these deceitful consecrated persons. The echo of the silent cry of the little ones who, instead of finding in them fathers and spiritual guides encountered tormentors, will shake hearts dulled by hypocrisy and by power. It is our duty to pay close heed to this silent, choked cry.

It is difficult to grasp the phenomenon of the sexual abuse of minors without considering power, since it is always the result of an abuse of power, an exploitation of the inferiority and vulnerability of the abused, which makes possible the manipulation of their conscience and of their psychological and physical weakness. The abuse of power is likewise present in the other forms of abuse affecting almost 85,000,000 children, forgotten by everyone: child soldiers, child prostitutes, starving children, children kidnapped and often victimized by the horrid commerce of human organs or enslaved, child victims of war, refugee children, aborted children and so many others.

Before all this cruelty, all this idolatrous sacrifice of children to the god of power, money, pride and arrogance, empirical explanations alone are not sufficient. They fail to make us grasp the breadth and depth of this tragedy. Here once again we see the limitations of a purely positivistic approach. It can provide us with a true explanation helpful for taking necessary measures, but it is incapable of giving us a meaning. Today we need both explanation and meaning. Explanation will help us greatly in the operative sphere, but will take us only halfway.

So what would be the existential “meaning” of this criminal phenomenon? In the light of its human breadth and depth, it is none other than the present-day manifestation of the spirit of evil. If we fail to take account of this dimension, we will remain far from the truth and lack real solutions.

Brothers and sisters, today we find ourselves before a manifestation of brazen, aggressive and destructive evil. Behind and within, there is the spirit of evil, which in its pride and in its arrogance considers itself the Lord of the world [11] and thinks that it has triumphed. I would like to say this to you with the authority of a brother and a father, certainly a small one, but who is the pastor of the Church that presides in charity: in these painful cases, I see the hand of evil that does not spare even the innocence of the little ones. And this leads me to think of the example of Herod who, driven by fear of losing his power, ordered the slaughter of all the children of Bethlehem.[12]

Just as we must take every practical measure that common sense, the sciences and society offer us, neither must we lose sight of this reality; we need to take up the spiritual means that the Lord himself teaches us: humiliation, self-accusation, prayer and penance. This is the only way to overcome the spirit of evil. It is how Jesus himself overcame it.[13]

The time has come, then, to work together to eradicate this evil from the body of our humanity by adopting every necessary measure already in force on the international level and ecclesial levels. The time has come to find a correct equilibrium of all values in play and to provide uniform directives for the Church, avoiding the two extremes of a “justicialism” provoked by guilt for past errors and media pressure, and a defensiveness that fails to confront the causes and effects of these grave crimes.

In this context, I would mention the “best practices” formulated under the guidance of the World Health Organization[14] by a group of ten international bodies that developed and approved a packet of measures called INSPIRE: Seven Strategies for Ending Violence against Children.[15]

With the help of these guidelines, the work carried out in recent years by the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and the contributions made by this Meeting, the Church, in developing her legislation, will concentrate on the following aspects:

The protection of children. The primary goal of every measure must be to protect the little ones and prevent them from falling victim to any form of psychological and physical. Consequently, a change of mentality is needed to combat a defensive and reactive approach to protecting the institution and to pursue, wholeheartedly and decisively, the good of the community by giving priority to the victims of abuse in every sense. We must keep ever before us the innocent faces of the little ones, remembering the words of the Master: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of scandals! For it is necessary that scandals come, but woe to the man by whom the scandal comes! (Mt 18:6-7).

Impeccable seriousness. Here I would reaffirm that “the Church will spare no effort to do all that is necessary to bring to justice whosoever has committed such crimes. The Church will never seek to hush up or not take seriously any case” (Address to the Roman Curia, 21 December 2018). She is convinced that “the sins and crimes of consecrated persons are further tainted by infidelity and shame; they disfigure the countenance of the Church and undermine her credibility. The Church herself, with her faithful children, is also a victim of these acts of infidelity and these real sins of “peculation” (ibid.).

Genuine purification. Notwithstanding the measures already taken and the progress made in the area of preventing abuse, there is need for a constantly renewed commitment to the holiness of pastors, whose conformity to Christ the Good Shepherd is a right of the People of God. The Church thus restates “her firm resolve to pursue unstintingly a path of purification, questioning how best to protect children, to avoid these tragedies, to bring healing and restoration to the victims, and to improve the training imparted in seminaries… An effort will be made to make past mistakes opportunities for eliminating this scourge, not only from the body of the Church but also from that of society” (ibid.). The holy fear of God leads us to accuse ourselves – as individuals and as an institution – and to make up for our failures. Self-accusation is the beginning of wisdom and bound to the holy fear of God: learning how to accuse ourselves, as individuals, as institutions, as a society. For we must not fall into the trap of blaming others, which is a step towards the “alibi” that separates us from

Formation. In other words, requiring criteria for the selection and training of candidates to the priesthood that are not simply negative, concerned above all with excluding problematic personalities, but also positive, providing a balanced process of formation for suitable candidates, fostering holiness and the virtue of chastity. Saint Paul VI, in his encyclical Sacerdotalis Caelibatus, wrote that “the life of the celibate priest, which engages the whole man so totally and so sensitively, excludes those of insufficient physical, psychic and moral qualifications. Nor should anyone pretend that grace supplies for the defects of nature in such a man” (No. 64).

Strengthening and reviewing guidelines by Episcopal Conferences. In other words, reaffirming the need for bishops to be united in the application of parameters that serve as rules and not simply indications. No abuse should ever be covered up (as was often the case in the past) or not taken sufficiently seriously, since the covering up of abuses favours the spread of evil and adds a further level of scandal. Also and in particular, developing new and effective approaches for prevention in all institutions and in every sphere of ecclesial

Accompaniment of those who have been abused. The evil that they have experienced leaves them with indelible wounds that also manifest themselves in resentment and a tendency to self- destruction. The Church thus has the duty to provide them with all the support they need, by availing herself of experts in this field. Listening, let me even put it this way: “wasting time” in listening. Listening heals the hurting person, and likewise heals us of our egoism, aloofness and lack of concern, of the attitude shown by the priest and the Levite in the parable of the Good Samaritan.

The digital world. The protection of minors must take into account the new forms of sexual abuse and abuse of all kinds that threaten minors in the settings in which they live and through the new devices that they use. Seminarians, priests, men and women religious, pastoral agents, indeed everyone, must be aware that the digital world and the use of its devices often has a deeper effect than we may think. Here there is a need to encourage countries and authorities to apply every measure needed to contain those websites that threaten human dignity, the dignity of women and particularly that of children: crime does not enjoy the right to freedom. There is an absolute need to combat these abominations with utter determination, to be vigilant and to make every effort to keep the development of young people from being troubled or disrupted by an uncontrolled access to pornography, which will leave deep scars on their minds and hearts. We must ensure that young men and women, particularly seminarians and clergy, are not enslaved to addictions based on the exploitation and criminal abuse of the innocent and their pictures, and contempt for the dignity of women and of the human person. Here mention should be made of the new norms on graviora delicta approved by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010, which included as a new species of crime “the acquisition, possession or distribution by a cleric of pornographic images of minors… by whatever means or using whatever technology”. The text speaks of minors “under the age of fourteen”. We now consider that this age limit should be raised in order to expand the protection of minors and to bring out the gravity of these

Sexual tourism. The conduct, the way of looking at others, the very heart of Jesus’ disciples and servants must always acknowledge the image of God in each human creature, beginning with the most innocent. It is only by drawing from this radical respect for the dignity of others that we will be able to defend them from the pervasive power of violence, exploitation, abuse and corruption, and serve them in a credible way in their integral human and spiritual growth, in the encounter with others and with God. Combatting sexual tourism demands that it be outlawed, but also that the victims of this criminal phenomenon be given support and helped to be reinserted in society. The ecclesial communities are called to strengthen their pastoral care of persons exploited by sexual tourism. Among these, those who are most vulnerable and in need of particular help are certainly women, minors and children; these last however need special forms of protection and attention. Government authorities should make this a priority and act with urgency to combat the trafficking and economic exploitation of children. To this end it is important to coordinate the efforts being made at every level of society and to cooperate closely with international organizations so as to achieve a juridical framework capable of protecting children from sexual exploitation in tourism and of ensuring the legal prosecution of [16]

Allow me to offer a heartfelt word of thanks to all those priests and consecrated persons who serve the Lord faithfully and totally, and who feel themselves dishonoured and discredited by the shameful conduct of some of their confreres. All of us – the Church, consecrated persons, the People of God, and even God himself – bear the effects of their infidelity. In the name of the whole Church, I thank the vast majority of priests who are not only faithful to their celibacy, but spend themselves in a ministry today made even more difficult by the scandals of few (but always too many) of their confreres. I also thank the faithful who are well aware of the goodness of their pastors and who continue to pray for them and to support them.

Finally, I would like to stress the important need to turn this evil into an opportunity for purification. Let us look to the example of Edith Stein – Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross – with the certainty that “in the darkest night, the greatest prophets and saints rise up. Still, the life-giving stream of the mystical life remains invisible. Surely, the decisive events of history of the world have been essentially influenced by souls about whom the history books remain silent. And those souls that we must thank for the decisive events in our personal lives is something that we will know only on that day when all that which is hidden will be brought to light”. The holy, faithful People of God, in its daily silence, in many forms and ways continues to demonstrate and attest with “stubborn” hope that the Lord never abandons but sustains the constant and, in so many cases,

painful devotion of his children. The holy and patient, faithful People of God, borne up and enlivened by the Holy Spirit, is the best face of the prophetic Church which puts her Lord at the centre in daily giving of herself. It will be precisely this holy People of God to liberate us from the plague of clericalism, which is the fertile ground for all these disgraces.

The best results and the most effective resolution that we can offer to the victims, to the People of Holy Mother Church and to the entire world, are the commitment to personal and collective conversion, the humility of learning, listening, assisting and protecting the most vulnerable.

I make a heartfelt appeal for an all-out battle against the abuse of minors both sexually and in other areas, on the part of all authorities and individuals, for we are dealing with abominable crimes that must be erased from the face of the earth: this is demanded by all the many victims hidden in families and in the various settings of our societies.

[1] Cf. MARIA ISABEL MARTÍNEZ PÉREZ, Abusos sexuales en niños y adolescentes, ed. Criminología y Justicia, 2012, according to which only 2% of cases are reported, especially when the abuse has taken place in the home. She sets the number of victims of paedophilia in our society at between 15% and 20%. Only 50% of children reveal the abuses they have suffered, and of these cases only 15% are actually reported. Only 5% end up going to trial.

[2] One out of three mentions the fact to no one (2017 data compiled by the non-profit organization THORN).

[3] On the global level: in 2017 the World Health Organization estimated that up to 1 billion minors between 2 and 17 years of age have experienced acts of violence or physical, emotional or sexual neglect. Sexual abuse (ranging from groping to rape), according to some 2014 UNICEF estimates, would affect 120 million girls, who are the greatest number of victims. In 2017, UNICEF reported that in 38 of the world’s low to middle income countries, almost 17 million adult women admitted having had a forced sexual relation in childhood.

Europe: in 2013, the World Health Organization estimated that over 18 million of children were found to be victims of abuse. According to UNICEF, in 28 European countries, about 2.5 million young women reported having experienced sexual abuse with or without physical contact prior to 15 years of age (data released in 2017). In addition, 44 million (equivalent to 22.9%) were victims of physical violence, while 55 million (29.6%) were victims of psychological violence. Not only this: in 2017, the INTERPOL Report on the sexual exploitation of minors led to the identification of 14,289 victims in 54 European countries. With regard to Italy, in 2017 CESVI estimated that 6 million children experienced mistreatment. Furthermore, according to data provided by Telefono Azzurro, in the calendar year 2017, 98 cases of sexual abuse and pedophilia were handled by the Servizio 114 Emergenza Infanzia, equivalent to about 7.5% of the total cases handled by that service. 65% of the minors seeking help were female victims and over 40% were under 11 years of age.

Asia: in India, in the decade 2001-2011, the Asian Centre for Human Rights reported a total of 48,338 cases of the rape of minors, with an increase equivalent to 336% over that period: the 2,113 cases in 2001 rose to 7,112 cases in 2011.

The Americas: in the United States, official government data state that more than 700,000 children each year are victims of violence and mistreatment. According to the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), 1 out of every 10 children experiences sexual abuse.

Africa: in South Africa, the results of a study conducted by the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention of the University of Cape Town showed in 2016 that 1 out of 3 South African young people, male or female, risks being sexually abused before the age of 17. According to the study, the first of its kind on a national scale in South Africa, 784,967 young people between 15 and 17 years of age have already experienced sexual abuse. The victims in this case are for the most part male youths. Not even a third of them reported the violence to the authorities. In other African countries, cases of sexual abuse of minors are part of the wider context of acts of violence linked to the conflicts affecting the continent and are thus difficult to quantify. The phenomenon is also closely linked to the widespread practice of underage marriages in various African nations, as elsewhere.

Oceania: in Australia, according to data issued by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) in February 2018 and covering the years 2015-2017, one out of six women (16%, i.e., 1.5 million) reported experiencing physical and/or sexual abuse prior to 15 years of age, and one out of nine men (11%, i.e., 992,000) reported having experienced this abuse when they were children. Also, in 2015-2016, around 450,000 children were the object of child protection measures, and 55,600 minors were removed from their homes in order to remedy abuses they had suffered and to prevent others. Finally, one must not forget the risks to which native minors are exposed: again, according to AIHW, in 2015-2016 indigenous children had a seven times greater probability of being abused or abandoned as compared with their non-indigenous contemporaries (cf. http://www.pbc2019.org/protection-of-minors/child-abuse-on-the-global- level).

[4] The data provided refer to sample counties selected on the basis of the reliability of available sources. The studies released by UNICEF on 30 countries confirm this fact: a small percentage of victims stated that they had asked for help.

[5]Cf.https://www.repubblica.it/salute/prevenzione/2016/05/12/news/maltrattamenti_sui_minori_tutti_gli_abusi- 139630223.

[6] Specifically, those allegedly responsible for the difficulties experienced by a minor are, in 73.7% of the cases a parent (the mother in 44.2% and the father in 29.5%), a relative (3.3%), a friend (3.2%), an acquaintance (3%), a teacher (2.5%). The data show that only in a small percentage of cases (2.2%) is the person responsible an adult stranger. Cf. ibid.

[7] A 2011 English study carried out by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) found that 29% of those interviewed reported that they had experienced sexual molestation (physical and verbal) in sports centres.

[8] According to the 2017 data of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), every 7 minutes a web page sends pictures of sexually abused children. In 2017, 78,589 URLs were found to contain images of sexual abuse concentrated particularly in the Low Countries, followed by the United States, Canada, France and Russia. 55% of the victims were under 10 years of age, 86% were girls, 7% boys and 5% both.

[9] The most frequented destinations are Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, as well as Thailand and Cambodia. These have recently been joined by some countries of Africa and Eastern Europe. On the other hand, the six countries from which the perpetrators of abuse mostly come are France, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, Japan and Italy. Not to be overlooked is the growing number of women who travel to developing countries in search of paid sex with minors: in total, they represent 10% of sexual tourists worldwide. Furthermore, according to a study by ECPAT (End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism) International, between 2015 and 2016, 35% of paedophile sexual tourists were regular clients, while 65% were occasional clients (cf. https://www.osservatoriodiritti.it/2018/03/27/turismo-sessuale- minorile-nel-mondo-italia-ecpat).

[10] “For if this grave tragedy has involved some consecrated ministers, we may ask how deeply rooted it may be in our societies and in our families” (Address to the Roman Curia, 21 December 2018).

[11] Cf. R.H. BENSON, The Lord of the World, Dodd, Mead and Company, London, 1907.

[12] “Quare times, Herodes, quia audis Regem natum? Non venit ille ut te excludat, sed ut diabolum vincat. Sed tu haec non intelligens turbaris et saevis; et ut perdas unum quem quaeris, per tot infantium mortes efficeris crudelis… Necas parvulos corpore quia te necat timor in corde (SAINT QUODVULTDEUS, Sermo 2 de Symbolo: PL 40, 655).

[13] “Quemadmodum enim ille, effuso in scientiae lignum veneno suo, naturam gusto corruperat, sic et ipse dominicam carnem vorandam praesumens, deitatis in ea virtute corruptus interituque sublatus est” (SAINT MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR, Centuria 1, 8-3: PG 90, 1182-1186).

[14] (CDC: United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; CRC: Convention on the Rights of

the Child; End Violence Against Children: The Global Partnership; PAHO: Pan American Health Organization; PEPFAR: President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief; TfG: Together for Girls; UNICEF: United Nations Children’s Fund; UNODC: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime; USAID:

United States Agency for International Development; WHO: World Health Organization).

[15] Each letter of the word INSPIRE represents one of the strategies, and for the most part has shown to be preventively effectual against various types of violence, in addition to having benefits in areas such as mental health, education and the reduction of crime. The seven strategies are the following: Implementation and Enforcement of Laws (for example, avoiding violent discipline and limiting access to alcohol and firearms); Norms and Values that need changing (for example, those that condone sexual abuse against girls or aggressive behaviour among boys); Safe Environments (for example, identifying neighbourhood violence “hotspots” and dealing with local causes through policies that resolve problems and through other interventions); Parent and Caregiver Support (for example, by providing formation to parents for their children, and to new parents); Income and Economic Strengthening (such as microcredit and formation concerning equity in general); Response and Support Services (for example, ensuring that children exposed to violence can have access to effective emergency care and can receive adequate psychosocial support); Education and Life Skills (for example, ensuring that children attend school and equipping them with social skills).

[16] Cf. Final Document of the VI World Congress on the Pastoral Care of Tourism, 27 July 2004.

[Vatican-provided text] [Original text: Italian]

24th FEBRUARY 2019 12:03SEXUAL ABUSE AND PROTECTION OF MINORS

0 notes

dmmowers · 8 years ago

Text

The God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead

Two years ago, just prior to Trinity Sunday, Entertainment Weekly ran an article with author George R.R. Martin. Martin's book series A Song of Fire and Ice Saga have been used as the basis for the HBO smash-hit TV series Game of Thrones. In the fantasy world of Game of Thrones, an evil religion, the Faith Militant, "violently punishes any perceived sin and is led by a mysterious and manipulative man called the "High Sparrow." Martin told EW that The Sparrows were based on the medieval Roman Catholic church. The Sparrows worship a God called "The Seven", which Martin says is "one God with seven aspects." He went on to say: "In Catholicism, you have three aspects [to one God]: the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. I remember as a kid, I was always confused by that. 'So there are three gods?' No, one god, but with three aspects. I was still confused: 'So he's his own father and his own son?'"

George Martin is confused about what the Catholic Church, and all Christian churches, teach about the Trinity. He's not alone. It's a little mind-blowing, actually, that there is so much confusion about the Trinity in the church, seeing that Trinity is the name we give to the God we worship. You would think that if people were clear on anything it would be the nature of the God we worship Sunday by Sunday. But in my experience with mainline Protestants, especially in our beloved Episcopal Church, this is far from the case. This is ironic because so many people are used to thinking of the Episcopal Church as the thinking person's church, the church where you don't have to check your brain at the door as you come in. And yet, my experience is that many people in our church have little patience for complex theological topics like the Trinity, especially if it's not apparent that those topics, like the Trinity, have any immediate practical application. What that means is that we don't teach or think about the Trinity enough, and it also means that we do not worship the Trinity enough.

There is a persistent myth about the doctrine of the Trinity that I've heard in every place I've served. The myth is this: "Christians can't ever understand the doctrine of the Trinity. That is a myth: the doctrine of the Trinity -- what the church says about God -- is actually pretty simple. We can understand the doctrine just fine with a little patience and some good teaching. But we can't ever understand the God the doctrine points to in any kind of full sense. We know that the God of the Bible is the creator of the world, is best revealed to humanity in the person of Jesus Christ, and is made present to believers today in the work of the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us of the character and mission of this God. That's quite a lot, but it doesn't come close to even scratching the surface of what God is like, because God is so unlike us. We do know some about God, because the Triune God is a God who wants to be known by people, and so God reveals his nature to us in Jesus. We can know him truly, but we can never know him fully. But it's the beauty of God, the beauty of the divine reality, that is beyond understanding, not the doctrine of the Trinity. So what do Christians mean when we say that we are Trinitarian? Do we mean, like George Martin thought, that our God is one God with three aspects? When Jesus tells his disciples in today's reading to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you, does he mean that we are worshiping one God with three aspects.

To George Martin, the answer is a simple no. We don't worship one God with three aspects. That's an ancient mistake called modalism that the Church has called heresy since the third century. But then, what's the whole point about the Trinity? Why are we Trinitarian?

The first thing that Christians mean when they worship the Trinity is that the God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead is the same God who had previously led the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt (R. Jenson). The God who raised Jesus from the dead is the same God who chose the people of Israel. When Jesus goes to the mountain in Galilee to give his disciples their final instructions, he mirrors the God who gave Israel the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. Just as the God of Israel gave the law to Moses, now Jesus goes up onto a mountain in Galilee to give his followers their final instructions. It's not Mount Sinai, it's a mountain in Galilee; but the image is clearly there. The disciples are to do what they are being commanded to do, just as Israel was to have followed the Law that Moses had given on Sinai.

But before Jesus gave them instructions, his disciples saw him on the mountain. They saw him and they worshiped him, and this gives us the second thing that Christians mean when we say that we are Trinitarian: Jesus Christ is worthy of worship in the same way that the God of Israel is worthy of worship. For the Jews of the New Testament, there was a name for giving worship to a created human being, and that name was idolatry. Another name was blasphemy. To ascribe honor and loyalty and allegiance to another person in the same way that Israel ascribed honor and loyalty and allegiance to God was worthy of death. And yet, here in Matthew's gospel, written just one generation after the death of Jesus, we see the story of Jesus' Jewish disciples worshiping Jesus on a mountainside. They clearly don't think that they are committing idolatry or demeaning the name of God. No, instead, they have come to believe that Jesus is God in the same way that the God of Israel is God. In other words, when Jesus begins his instructions to them in our gospel today by saying, "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me," no one laughs. None of the disciples thinks that Jesus is giving them alternative facts. They have come to believe that even though Jesus is a human being, he is not a created human being like they are. The opening of the Gospel of John puts this most clearly, where it calls Jesus the "Word" and says, "In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not even one thing came into being." In the beginning was Jesus. Jesus was with God and Jesus was God. All things were created through Jesus, and without Jesus not even one thing came into being. So when the disciples worshiped him, they weren't committing idolatry, because Jesus was God in the same way that the God of Israel was God.

Once Jesus had finished giving them his instructions, he promised the disciples that he would be with them always, to the very end of the age. This leads us to the third thing that Christians mean when we say that we worship the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is God in the same way that the God of Israel and Jesus Christ are God. As we've heard over the last few Sundays, just after Jesus gave his disciples these instructions, he ascended into heaven. In other words, he went away. And yet here he is promising that he will be with his disciples that he will be with them always, to the end of the age. This seems like fake news. Jesus is clearly gone; he's not with his disciples always. But on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes to the disciples to give them power to be Jesus' witnesses. The Holy Spirit is what Jesus is promising his disciples, and the presence of the Holy Spirit means that Jesus is with us always, and the Holy Spirit is worthy of worship in the same way that the God of Israel and Jesus Christ are worthy of worship.

This brings us to the fourth thing we mean when we say that we worship the Trinity. It's impossible to make an analogy to explain the doctrine of the Trinity. This is not for lack of trying. There are analogies about eggs, about steam, water and ice, St. Patrick's analogy about three-leaf clovers. You sometimes even see illustrations of the Trinity - interlocking triangles [see if there are any in the sanctuary]. But here's the thing: the best thing we could do with any of these analogies is to forget them. All of them assume that the trouble with the Trinity is that it's a mathematical problem: how can God be one and three at the same time? But the Trinity is not a math problem: the difficulty with the Trinity is not how God can be one and three at the same time. The difficulty with the Trinity is that the God to which it points is utterly mysterious, is utterly incomprehensible.

Finally, the fifth thing that the church means when it says that it is Trinitarian is that we know God only because God has come to meet with us. We worship the Trinity because the Church has found it to be the only way to worship God based on the way God has shown himself to us. God is utterly mysterious, utterly incomprehensible, and yet in his mercy God shows himself to his disciples in Jesus, and gives himself to all who worship him to this very day in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Even though God is beyond our comprehension, what we do know about God is because God gives himself to us to be known. He is a God who wants us to truly know him, even if we cannot fully know him. This is a God who wants us to know him.

So when we say that we worship a Trinitarian God, we don't mean that we don't know the difference between one and three. We don't mean that there is one God with different parts. We mean that the God who lead the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt is the God who raised Jesus from the dead, is the God we meet in Jesus Christ, is the God we experience in the presence of the Holy Spirit, and that God is all of those at the same time. We mean that each of those persons is worthy of our worship. We mean that the Trinity is present with us, active in this world, to bring Jesus to us. We mean that God is still at work to show himself to us and to our world.

And when we say that the Triune God is still at work to show himself to people in our world, we don't mean only the nice, kind, Godly people that have their lives together with their beautiful house and their beautiful wife and their 2.5 children and their white picket fence. This God is a God who comes to show himself to the disreputable. Disreputable like those first disciples. Jesus originally chose 12 disciples because there had been 12 tribes in the people of Israel in the Old Testament, and like Moses on Mount Sinai, Jesus was making a statement that his chosen people would be a new Israel, a new chosen people of God. It was a perfect image, a reference back to the Old Testament. But by the time Jesus gives his disciples these instructions, there are only 11 disciples. Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus and killed himself, and so when Jesus calls these 11 to go and make disciples of all nations, to baptize people in the Triune name, he's not calling the perfect, pristine number of disciples. These 11 are incomplete; they are fragile. Suicide and betrayal have taken their toll. This is how Jesus always calls his disciples. He doesn't call the perfect. He doesn't call just church leaders, or just pastors like me, or people who have everything together. He calls fragile people. He calls people who remember loved ones who have killed themselves and whose lives are marked ever after by the absence of that person. He calls people who have been betrayed, who have had relationships broken that they thought would last forever. He calls people who are the betrayers, the people who let down everyone they loved. He even calls the doubters, even the doubters who saw that he had risen from the dead. Those 11 worshiped him on the mountain, our passage said, but some doubted. These are the kinds of people that Jesus commissions to make disciples: fragile, incomplete people, preoccupied with our own worries, carrying our own wounds, who live someplace between worship and doubt. People who deeply want to believe that the Trinity really is at work in our world to make it new, but who see terrorists running people over on London Bridge and can't help but doubt.

For those people, and for all of us who worship here on Trinity Sunday, the Triune God calls us, not to do more outreach or undertake more causes or even to care better for each other, but simply to worship. To give this God who comes to meet with us the honor and loyalty and allegiance that he is due in this Mass, and to be sent forth into the world to make all of lives a worshipful act for the name of this Triune God. As we do so, may these words of Jesus always echo in our ear:

All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Amen.

1 note · View note

romancatholicreflections · 8 years ago

Text

1st June >> Daily Reflection on Today's First Reading (Acts of the Apostles 22:30; 23:6-11) for Roman Catholics on Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter

Commentary on Acts of the Apostles 22:30; 23:6-11 We are now coming to the end of the Third Missionary Journey. Events are moving very fast as we have to finish the Acts in the next three days! And a great deal is happening, much of which will have to be passed over. It might be a very good idea to take up a New Testament and read the full text of the last eight chapters of the book. As we begin today’s reading let us be filled in a little on what has happened between yesterday’s reading and today’s. After bidding a tearful farewell to his fellow-Christians in Ephesus, Paul began his journey back to Palestine, making a number of brief stops on the way – Cos, Rhodes, Patara. They by-passed Cyprus and landed at Tyre in Phoenicia. They stayed there for a week, during which time the brethren begged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. They knew there would be trouble. But there was no turning back for Paul and again there was an emotional parting on the beach. As Paul moved south, there were stops at Ptolemais where they greeted the community. Then it was on to Caesarea where Paul stayed in the house of Philip, the deacon, now called an ‘evangelist’. (Earlier we saw him do great evangelising work in Samaria and he was the one who converted the Ethiopian eunuch.) Here too there was an experience in which Paul was warned by a prophet in the community of coming suffering. Again they all begged him not to go on but he replied: “I am prepared not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” They then accepted God’s will and let him go. When they arrived in Jerusalem they received a warm welcome from the community there and went to pay a formal visit to James, the leader in the Jerusalem church. They were very happy to hear of all that Paul had done but they were also concerned (and their concern would seem to indicate that there were some in the city who had not fully accepted the non-application of Jewish law for Gentiles). The local Jews (including, it seems, the Christians) would have heard how Paul, also a Jew, had been telling Jews in Gentile territory to “abandon Moses”, that is, not requiring them to circumcise their children or observe other Jewish practices. Some suggested a tactic for Paul to assuage the feelings of these people. On behalf of four members of the Jerusalem community, he was to make the customary payment for the sacrifices offered at the termination of the Nazirite vow (cf. Numbers 6:1-24) in order to impress favourably the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem with his high regard for the Mosaic Law. Since Paul himself had once made such a vow (when he was leaving Corinth, Acts 18:18), his respect for the law would be publicly known. Paul agreed with this suggestion and did as he was asked. However, as the seven days stipulated were coming to an end, Paul was spotted by some Jews who had known him in Ephesus. A mob rushed into the temple and seized him, and might have harmed him, if the Roman commander had not seen the riot. He rescued Paul, then arrested him and put him in chains and thus out of the reach of those wanting to harm him. It was only after the arrest that the commander realised the Greek-speaking Paul was not an Egyptian rebel. Paul then asked to be allowed to address the crowd and, in a longish speech, told the assembled Jews the story of his conversion on the road to Damascus (the second time the story is told in Acts; it will be told again in chap. 26). At the end of the speech, the crowd bayed for his blood and Paul was about to be flogged in order to find out why the Jews wanted him executed. At this point, Paul revealed to the centurion that he was a Roman citizen and that, unlike the garrison commander who had bought his citizenship, he had been born one. This created great alarm among his captors and he was released. The Roman commander then ordered a meeting of the Sanhedrin to be convened so that Paul could address them. While those of the high priestly line were mainly Sadducees, the Sanhedrin also now included quite a number of Pharisees. This council was the ruling body of the Jews. Its court and decisions were respected by the Roman authorities. Their approval was needed, however, in cases of capital punishment (as happened in the case of Jesus). Paul being brought before the Sanhedrin was already foretold by Jesus to his disciples, Matt 10:17-18. Paul, in time, will appear before ‘councils’, ‘governors’ and ‘kings’. He began by telling them that everything he had done was with a perfectly clear conscience. On hearing this, the high priest Ananias ordered that Paul be struck in the mouth. It was not unlike his Master being struck on the face during his trial. Paul hit back – verbally. “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall.” He said this because, although Ananias was supposedly sitting in judgement according to the Law, he was breaking the law by striking the accused. Josephus the Jewish historian tells us that Ananias was actually assassinated in AD 66 at the beginning of the First Jewish Revolt. When Paul is accused of reviling the high priest, he said he did not realise Ananias was the high priest and apologised. It is at this point in today’s reading that one of the most dramatic scenes in the Acts, begins. Paul knew his audience and he decided at the very beginning to make a pre-emptive strike. He professed loudly and with pride that he was a Pharisee, knowing that his audience consisted of both Pharisees and Sadducees. Addressing his words specially to the Pharisees, he said that he was on trial because “our hope is in the resurrection of the dead”. That was not quite the whole story, of course, as he made no mention of Christ but it immediately put him on the side of his fellow-Pharisees. As Paul had told the Corinthians in one of his letters, if Christ was not risen from the dead, neither could we rise and there would be no basis for our faith. The hope of a future life was at the very heart of his Christian preaching. That, of course, is not what the Pharisees heard. They immediately latched on to the fact that Paul, as a fellow-Pharisee held a belief that was denied by the Sadducees. The Sadducees only accepted as divine revelation the first five books of the Bible, what we call the Pentateuch. The resurrection of the body (in 2 Maccabees) and the doctrine of angels (in the book of Tobit) did not become part of Jewish teaching until a comparatively late date. On both these issues, however, Paul (a Pharisee himself) and the Pharisees were full agreement In the first five books of the Old Testament, there is no mention of a future resurrection, nor spirits, nor angels. It was on the basis of this belief that the Sadducees had challenged Jesus about the fate of a woman who had married seven brothers. If there is a resurrection, which of the seven would be her husband? For those who did not believe in life after death, the question was a nonsense. Paul’s words on resurrection immediately diverted attention from him to this contentious dividing point between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. All of a sudden the Pharisees make an about-turn: “We do not find this man guilty of any crime.” And, in a deliberate provocation to the Sadducees who did not believe in angels: “If a spirit or an angel has spoken to him…” This could be a reference to Paul’s account to them earlier of his experience on the road to Damascus. All objectivity was forgotten and the Pharisees, despite their earlier protestations, sided with Paul, “their man”, and a brawl ensued. It got so serious – and, remember, these were all “religious” men! – that the tribune, fearing Paul would be torn to pieces, came to his rescue and put him back in the fortress. That night Paul received a vision in which he was assured that he would be protected in Jerusalem because it was the Lord’s wish that he give witness to the Gospel in Rome. Perhaps Paul’s behaviour in this situation is a good example of Jesus” advice to his disciples to be simple as doves and as wise as serpents! Paul was more than ready to suffer for his Lord but he was no pushover. While we, too, are to be prepared to give witness to our faith even with the sacrifice of our lives, and never to indulge in any form of violence against those who attack us, we are not asked to go out of our way to invite persecution or physical attacks. That is not the meaning of the injunction to carry our cross. Jesus himself often took steps to avoid trouble. Joan of Arc defended herself as did Thomas More and, indeed as Jesus himself did during his trial: “If I have said something wrong, why do you strike me?” But, like them, we will try never to evade death or any other form of hostility by compromising the central teaching of our faith.

1 note · View note

g-hanbax · 7 years ago

Text

Christian Narcissism: A Modern Evangelical Corruption

Tby G-Han Bax

2/24/18

Modern evangelicalism has been trying to focus and maximize in reaching out and discipling people in Christ just as the great commission says, but through this wonderful intent there seems to have been developed superficial contemporary strategies that damages significant christian principles. This one version, or even just a facet, of modern evangelicalism tries to culturally adjust to the contemporary man who values and emphasizes words, romanticizes life, and begs for self affirmation, who only wants compliments and seeks for self worth.

Approaches can change one’s view of doctrine, to the point that it creates its own doctrine. So I think the Modern Evangelical, in terms of the subject I’m dealing with, has deviated in practice and in doctrinal approach for the past years or even decades. It seems like many churches, preachers, and authors nowadays focus so much on targeting the emotional aspect of an individual, as they try to assess their need. The primary aspect must be the spiritual, reaching it can be from different aspects from even emotion to reason, but my issue is not where the approach is but on how the approach is done -methodology.

Targeting the emotion is fine, using emotional statements that aren’t supported by christian doctrine and core principles isn’t. The spirit is the goal, everything else will follow once the foundations are built.Touching the spiritual aspect means honestly directing the spiritual course and need of a person in evangelism, not by emotionally playing with the person by feeding their hungry hearts to hear words of encouragement as they continually seek for self-affirmation. This is not exclusive to the evangelical church only but also to other denominations as well. What I mean by this “Modern Evangelical”, most likely, is the contemporary believer who reaches out but at the same time also adjusts to human culture - this is alright, but some go to the extent of pampering the human need by appealing to the emotions because the culture of today is centered on feelings, sensitivity, emotions, and the self. One specific thing that annoys me in this Modern Evangelical mindset is the ideology that hyper-emphasizes God’s love on a person, in which I call—Christian Narcissism.

Disclaimer: I’m not saying I’m against the evangelical church’s theology, I even attend a conservative evangelical church. My point is that I’m concerned on how some evangelicals use these methodologies, and again this isn’t exclusive to evangelicals only since it’s also used by some Christians from other denominations, but from experience, most are evangelicals and I think it’s a bad fruit from modern evangelicalism.

Love?

Just as short review, what is Love according to scripture?

Though not defined explicitly, we understand it contextually.

God is love and before the foundations of the world the three persons in the Trinity already expressed love to one another, each giving and receiving. One can’t ontologically be Love if there’s no one to share love to, unless of course there are multiple persons; this justifies the consistency of God’s triune nature to His eternal and s loving nature. The Triune nature of God danced in their nature as Love - to love. (Perichoresis)

I believe “love is a choice and a commitment to seek one’s highest good which often requires sacrifice.” It’s not object specific, it’s a decision and a devotion. It’s not an emotion, but it affects the emotional human aspect.

Describing love can be seen in 1 Corinthians 13. Experiencing love can manifest in 4 types or modes according to the Greeks: Storge, Philia, Eros, and Agape.

The love we experience roots back to the love between the persons of the Godhead. We’re now just experiencing different forms of it, but we all have the same source of it; just as how the trunk of a tree spreads into branches while keeping the same wood.

Now, how does one recover from one’s christian narcissistic lenses and senses? I offer a two part solution with a practical application below. We must refresh ourselves by these Christian teachings and principles.

I. GOD’S LOVE FOR THE PERSON

God’s loves us so much, yes, incomprehensibly, but what I mean in here is that people rather distort the love of God as an emotional catalyst for the advantage of faith, comfort, and ministry which I think is being perverted and misleading from the true nature of faith and reason. One aspect of Christian Narcissism is the over valuing of the feelings. The fact makes the feeling, not ‘the feeling makes the fact.’ God’s love is a fact, our feeling from this fact must follow, but other people redefine love first, and then redefine God’s love, and so they make their own facts from their preconditioned feelings.

Christian Narcissism is a modern age Christian mindset that only focuses on God’s love on the self or the human person, and on how God loves an individual so much, neglecting the fact that God is a wrathful God and hates sin; the emphasis of God’s loving nature over His holy, just, and wrathful nature. It is basically the mindset of hyper-emphasizing the love we receive instead of the Lover; the Lover makes the love, let’s look towards Him instead of looking at ourselves as we experience this love. It is also an evangelical approach in trying to bring people to Christ by emotionally trying to overwhelm them by telling them that they are loved and that they must follow Christ because there is love in Christ (comfort). We generally follow Christ because we have come to realize how much we need God, because we have come to love Him for He loved us first, because service is an expression of gratitude for His loving sacrifice, because the Christian faith and following Christ is reasonable, because Jesus Himself truly deserves to be followed and to be served, and because of the truth and the impact of God’s love in us --from Truth comes love and this love from God in us naturally motivates us to follow Christ (changed heart). Some people in Christianity might only be in the Church because of the sense of comfort they receive and not really from genuine faith --that desires and believes in God-- together with the assurance from the abundance of truth Christianity holds (which includes that God is love and caring). There is actually no problem in making man realize that God loves him, but the extreme side of this is dangerous, it can make man think that he no longer needs to repent, no longer needs to change, and no longer needs forgiveness, just because God “loves him for who he is.” Again, I have no issue with God loving us for who we are, essentially, but this realization will take us to change for the better. As the saying goes, “God loves you for who you are, but He doesn’t want you to stay as you are.” For man to face this in introspect, He will no longer be the same again. There are Christians out there who treat Christianity as "only” a religion of love; yes, Christianity promotes love and is centered by love, but to say that Christianity is “only” love is to redefine the whole events of scripture and the whole doctrines of christian theology. Silly it is, to reduce Christianity to “only” love. Yes it is love, but it is also repentance, brokenness, grace, and etc, these things are essential to Christians and to Christianity.

After realizing that God loves you, you will responsibly change for the better and improve for His glory, which is the true effect of God’s love, because it’s “the Truth that triggers transformation.” Theological statements like the “God loves you”, “I am so loved”, and “I have worth” have become minefields in Christian doctrine, not because they are problems themselves but they can become problems when used in the wrong way, most of the time it’s not these causes but their effects to people that makes these isolated statements problematic. They are true, but to use these incomplete truths as a way to lure people into faith by playing with their emotions is cheating. It is always advised to have proper theology, as well as having formal and proper semantic, when trying to share the word of God. It is not a requirement, but it is an expected effect from human responsibility to act, for coherence and correspondence, and for effectiveness’ sake. When we say “God loves me,” is it about what God is or about what our position is --that we are loved? If it’s about God then great, but if it’s about us, then this is where it fails and is categorized as christian narcissism, which is the purpose of this discourse. This is the importance of asking our intents, even when we say the simplest and commonest of words.

Yes, God does love man, He even sent His Son to die so that man may live in eternity with Him and FOR HIM. As you noticed, I emphasized “for Him”, it’s because the love of God to man will always reflect back to where it came from --God. God’s love for man is God glorifying, it shows us Who He is: He is loving. Not that it is Godly narcissism, but it is ontological and essential to God. Every glory in reality goes - must and should go - to God, that’s His essence. That’s why when we try to glorify ourselves, we end up becoming sinful because of the root causes of our intent to glorify ourselves comes from the sinful self - it's hungry for pride, and thus, we sin. What teachings in Christianity could help the modern church reform its mindset in terms of Christian Narcissism: God’s love to a person?

1. God Hates Sinners (Hosea 9:15, Psalm 11:5, Psalm 5:5-6, etc.)

To say God loves man is only seeing one side of the coin. The fact of the matter is that God also hates (the sinful) man, for man have sinned and have fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). How is this possible? If God is love, how can He hate? I subscribe to the idea that hate is not the absence of love, it may be a phenomenological opposite of love based on inward character, manifestation, and expression, but it is not the absence of love. Apathy, rather, is the absence of love, one can’t say they love someone yet not show that someone care and affection, or even the presence of interaction, at least. But one can still say they hate someone but still show care and affection, and still interact with them.

Love and Hate have different essences, natures, and manifestations, they seem to be opposite of each other, but once again, hatred isn’t the ontological absence of love, since it’s apathy. Imagine it like this, in our coordinate system, we have integers: negative numbers, a zero, and positive numbers. Let’s treat positive numbers as love, zero as apathy, and negative as hate just to understand the relation. Now, positive numbers have significance and application in the real world, while both negative and positive numbers although having opposite signs are considered to have “value”, while zero is the “absence of value” in the real world. God could give you all positive numbers (be all loving) and still give you negative ones (show hate), because having the nature of infinite positive value doesn’t imply one can’t display “negativity”, or another quality, as long as we understand the nature of this negativity. Being all loving doesn’t exclude the possibility or presence of hate, it rather excludes being not loving or being apathetic. And so, our goal then is we must trace the root of such hate if it’s consistent with the nature of the lover.

So God, who is love, can still hate, but He can never be apathetic, even to the ones in hell since His punishment is a manifestation of how He reacts and interacts to justice and punishment. God hates because God loves, He hates those who are against and are not of His nature--Holy, because God loves justice and righteousness (Psalm 35:5). So it is justifiable for God to hate for this is “Righteous Hatred” in case we chronologically trace back His “Righteous Anger”. God, as a holy and just God, has every right to hate and punish those who are against Him and His nature.

Love and hate are not contradictory for one to possess, they are rather once again paradoxical. God hates sinners, but the good news is, God also loves sinners. God hates us for being transgressors, but He loves us, why? Because He chooses to. God chose to love us despite our sin, and profoundly, that is basically the essence of love, for love is expressed outwardly through a choice, the freedom of the will to decide to love, and to still love despite being hurt or uncomfortable. God loves sinners for who He is--He is love (1 John 4:8); and He hates sinners for who we are--because of our sin (Romans 3:23).

Even human language can prove this experience, we tell people whom we love, whenever they do stupid things, that “I hate you for doing that!” We hate them for doing what is bad, because we want them to do what is good. And so this is the contrast, God’s hatred for man for being sinners, ironically, is a result of His holy and loving nature -- Righteous hatred, Gracious Love. So God has the right to hate us and that we don't really have the right to be loved, yet God loves us and it is by grace, a privilege from the Almighty.

Let those who LOVE the LORD HATE evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked (Psalm 97:10).

And with this concept, we get to see the bigger picture, that hatred and love work together when applied correctly, as to having the right perspective. He has a desire to help us and transform us from the inside-out, by teaching and helping us more to love Him and making us hate more of evil and sin. He wants His people to become more like Christ, Himself, by receiving more of His love and by expressing more of His love, all for His glory.

A. Human Application: Hate the sin, Love the sinner.

After knowing that God could hate because hate isn’t necessarily mutually exclusive to love, then how should we understand 1 John 2:9-17, where we are encouraged not to *hate* people?

Let’s first understand that “hating the sin and not the sinner” is quite a hard concept to realistically extract. It’s like hating malaria and not hating mosquitoes, hating murder and not hating murderers, etc. I personally think acts are essential to and inseparable from their actors, meaning you can’t remove the action from the agent, making them responsible for their deeds. So from that, God couldn’t just independently hate the deed apart from the doer, the deed came to be because of the doer, and so the responsibility is on the agent - the evil came to be because of the evil doer. I understand the purpose of saying the statement above, it’s to encourage care and consider humanity, but it doesn’t seem to stand. The intent is surely to criticize the act while respecting the person-hood of the doer, arranging the semantics to remove the hateful implication that is commonly thought to lead to a hurtful follow up (necessarily does not), a stereotype formed by our cultural landscape. But if that’s the intent, I’d rather stay consistent and accurate to what scripture says, so rather, I promote “hate the sin, love the sinner.” Though, we understand that hating the sin implies a natural hate towards the sinner since act and actor are inseparable, we don’t encourage anyone to *act* on the hate, but rather to love the sinner. Let’s choose to love just as Christ loved us while yet we’re still sinners.

There is an emotional hate or a “feeling of hate” which is most likely a response to a person, action, event, or situation and on the other hand, there’s also an “act of hate”, this is a choice made to actualize one’s hatred and it manifests through various forms of violence. Our natural or emotional hate is passive by nature, we most likely don’t do things because we hate doing them, but to act on hate is active by nature, once you want to act on it, you do something about it. God doesn’t encourage us to act on our hate especially towards people, but He understands that we have emotional-natural - hateful tendencies, that’s why we are told to hate evil; and make it our nature since it follows after loving the Lord. We can show we hate evil by loving God, but we can’t love God and hate people. So we focus on loving God, hating evil, and loving people -these are things we need to be active about, implied things would then just be passive such as hating the sinner.

We need to once again understand that hate comes from our natural response and perception of such a thing, against the sense of our being, nature, or character. There is a hate that is natural just as how preys naturally hate their predators. If we take hate as “not liking” or “loathing”, then there must be reasons for applying the emotion or action to a body. For God to a sinner, it is a hatred from conflicting natures, God naturally hates sin because He is holy. In our part, when we hate, since we are not like God, it’s most likely a hatred from personal human reasons; it could be from envy, pride, selfishness, etc., that’s why we aren’t encouraged to hate because it results to the falling from the temptation within ending up actualizing our sin. Jesus even emphasized that to be angry to a brother or a sister is sin, essentially because of our perverse root of such hate is self-based that leads to anger, it is so distorted in the human state that it becomes mental murder, that’s why the extreme ends of hate is indeed murder. But the catch is, for hatred to proceed to anger, one has a choice via self-control.

Going back to the passage, we read John encouraging believers not to STAY in hate and instead be loving, because that makes sense for one to be a follower of Christ. Hate is used here as a verb; you can act hate towards another through different manifestations and that is not good especially for “loving” people like Christians. Interesting how John says we should love but then later on encourages us not to love the world (the system of the world), goes to show that the precaution to not hate is not because of hate itself but because of our response-handling that affects our character and actions when we hate. God doesn’t want us to bear bad fruit, it doesn’t help us to the point that it affects us and destroys us, our intents to hate aren’t holy. God loved His enemies and encourages us too, enemies are those whom we supposedly “hate by nature”, but our response must be to love them. Christianity has taught me many things in practice: how to do things, view things, and respond to things. If I have a natural tendency and inclination to hate something or someone, who probably hurt me in the past, I must learn to love them just as God did to those who disobeyed His will. We are told to hate evil (its system), but we weren’t commanded to hate people rather to love them. Love is not wrong nor hate, any person can possess love and hate at the same time, these things must be used the right way by properly managing the objects of their vessels.

God’s hatred is natural while His love is intentional or a choice towards the undeserving from His loving nature; we are commanded not to be hateful (act on our hatred) and that we must be loving, since we have a new nature; hating then a neighbor would be intentional or a choice. “To not make a choice is a choice”, to keep on hating and not show love is a choice.

Basically, the passage tells us that if we stay on hating, then we aren’t yet loving. For even if one has the nature to hate another, the new person in Christ must be able to control natural emotion and responses and be able to show love and care towards them. If anyone hates anything, there must be something that he loves that’s why he hates it. If we stay hating despite we are expected to be full of love as new creatures with new hearts from a loving God who gave us the ability to love, then maybe we aren’t yet new creatures, we still don’t have new hearts, we don’t have a loving God, and we are still dead in our sins. Yes, one can hate and love at the same time, but one must consider the fact that you aren’t identified by the things you hate but by the things you love. It’s amazing that although God nature-ally hates sinners due conflicting natures, He doesn’t encourage us to hate sinners but to love each other. So, to those who are in Christ: to those whom you hate, you must love.

2. God’s Love Humbles (Colossians 3:12)

The whole Gospel story doesn’t start with us, or God loving us, but the fundamental idea that God is holy. And because God is holy, then He is just and righteous. But sadly, man is sinful, and God being holy and just can’t tolerate sin. Therefore, man is doomed to eternal wrath. But the turn of events comes here, that God loves us, that He cares, that He died for our sins instead of us, and that He chose to give us grace instead of death. With this in mind, the plot twist is knowing that God loves us, it is indeed a surprising information to take hold of in an experiential journey; it is ontological that God is holy, and it is also human experience and observation that we know that we’re sinners. With these in mind, the original human path should’ve only been damnation, but God revealed to us in His word that it’s not yet the end, there is still a chance, all because He loves us. Point is, after knowing all the privileges we’ve got despite our sinfulness and our worthlessness in the grand scale of the universe, and putting it beside what God has done for us, there is an obvious expected effect to the human soul—humility.

God’s love won’t make you boast about being saved, but will humble you after understanding your part in this world. It won’t make you say “I am loved because of who I am” but rather “I am loved because of who God is.” It won’t make you say “I have worth that’s why God made and saved me, but rather, “God made and saved me that’s why I have worth.” Our being is dependent to God, we can’t detach and declare independence and then boast about it, claiming that we have done it, that we have given ourselves value apart from God. God’s love keeps a person humble yet at the same time bold enough to share about the love that changed him. God’s love won’t puff a person up and make one arrogant, that God loves him, but it will remind him daily of God’s character and nature, and His grace on how he was saved despite being disobedient. Not that a saved man can’t say that God loves him, but this knowledge is more responded in action than words, words are only expressions of what is truly happening. One must live out the knowledge that God loves him.

In application to evangelism, I know how important words are, especially, in telling someone that God loves him and He sent His Son to save him, but this is at best to be known after the proclamation and realization of God’s holiness and one’s sinfulness. I personally don’t start the gospel by stating that God loves man, God does love man but I try to be careful on what effects it will inflict to the person I’m sharing the gospel to. I believe the gospel starts with God being God but then man chose to act like “man”, but despite conflicting natures, God still chose to love man, so now man responds by striving to live His life for God and to act like God (Christlikeness). I just think directly proclaiming that God loves a person diminishes the weight of the love given after condemnation, not that God wasn’t loving beforehand, just that the presentation must be properly arranged to keep the message in its context - “God’s love redeems!”. I sincerely think certain arrangements of the truths in the gospel can give rise to misrepresentations of christian principles. When we hear “God loves you and wants to have a relationship with you”, it sounds pleasing to the hungry heart, who wouldn’t want to hear that? We are loved by God? If the intent is to make them value God instead of themselves by being loved by such God, then why not just properly construct the message to not make them take the message in the wrong context that would make them christian narcissists? And let’s make sure that these words aren’t to let them just want to be Christians because a God is courting them to a comfortable relationship, God does love us and wants us to have a relationship with Him but in His context; He doesn’t only want to feed our hungry hearts with His act of love but wholly wants to revive our dead hearts with His gift of life. God is holy and just but we are sinners, yet God chose to love us still. I understand that it’s catchy, hearing that we are loved firsthand, the person listening must be pleased to hear it as an introduction of this good news, but isn’t it just trying to appeal to the emotions by saying that a person is loved and that someone wants them? I hope not. I understand too that some people need to hear this, but in trying to stay consistent with the gospel’s message, we are ought to proclaim the truth and the reality of God and man’s condition instead of just appealing to man’s need and emotion. Cause if we take the statement above isolated or emphasized among other points in the gospel story, which is inevitable from listeners, then it will be what christian narcissism is about. The person doing this approach with the wrong intent is just trying to overwhelm the person he’s talking to that they are loved, instead of centrally proclaiming the whole gospel on why he's still loved despite being unlovable. Emphasizing to a person that he is loved will make him look at himself, explaining to him that he’s unlovable yet is still loved will make him look at the Lover.

Let’s keep in mind that God loving you doesn’t mean that He needs you, but rather it’s you who need Him, and because God loves you, He wants you to love Him because He knows that you need Him. Let’s love God, and I hope we love God, and we can love God because He first loved us. And for me, the best way to express that God loves me is to show love to others and to do everything for God’s glory. In our social life, it is truly life changing to know that someone loves us. In fact, we get excited, we even want others to know about it that we grow arrogant and confident for the privilege and for what we did that made someone like us. But it’s different in God’s case, it truly keeps man low, for we see our sin in His love that we become ashamed of ourselves yet once again His love redeems us as He wipes our guilt and shame, making Him and His love sovereign. After that, we then get the desire to tell others about His great love but this time, there’s no space for our pride and arrogance to arise, for we did nothing that made us gain His love and favor.

~~~

II. THE PERSON’S LOVE FOR THE SELF

Christian Narcissism also extends to the idea of “Self-Love”, which is what narcissism basically is. It proposes that the love for the self is the “greatest love of all” which is actually and biblically wrong. The love for the self is an essential human nature and characteristic, the natural reaction to pain, the desire for food to eat for the satisfaction of the body, the desire to bathe after feeling dirty and then cleaning the self, etc, are forms of loving the self. Therefore, the love for the self is indeed natural. Take note that there is no scriptural command to love the self, since scripture presupposes such idea.

On the other hand, self-love is advertised in the secular market because there seemingly are people who think that they have lost their self-worth, hate themselves, and do actually hurt themselves. But these acts are not evidence for the absence of self-love, only the presence of self-hate, which is actually not contradictory (see 2. above for the Love-Hate Paradox). Let’s put it this way, obedience is an expression of love, and so if one man wants to hurt himself because of hate, the moment he ‘acts’ upon hurting himself proves that he obeys his desires, which is an evidence of self-love.

However, the modern teaching of self-love has gone to another path, which is the over-value and exaltation of the person, which will lead people to selfishness and self-centeredness. True love is not self-centered, but is expressive towards others. And loving others is best done and expressed when the self is taken care of or loved.

When Jesus said the words “'Love your neighbor as yourself,” I believe He meant it in a way that because human love for the self is natural, our love for others also must be natural, which is grounded on the first thing He said, which is to love God with all our being. If we love ourselves primarily and intuitively, because God loves us and God loves others as well, we must also love others primarily and intuitively (and consciously) as well. Therefore, then, if we love God with our being, then we must love others naturally. Because of the first, the second becomes an inextricable imperative.

The world has twisted the meaning of self-love, it has become the toxic narcissism that everyone hates. The world focuses on “how much can I receive for myself as I love myself?” But the true understanding of love is about “how much can I give to others as I love myself?” The world’s poster for self-love looks so beautiful, feels so good, it is an individual’s paradise, but it’s everybody else’s hell. Since this self-love can lead to selfishness and self-centeredness, it will end up, extremely, to egocentricity (it’s all about me) or self prioritization (me first). No wonder the word “selfish” has a bad connotation. Self is the essence of sin, though not everything about the self is sin.

Applications to self love goes beyond the thought of the self, it’s loving others as well. The world’s self-love speaks as someone who says “I desire what I want, therefore I must get it to satisfy myself, despite if it’s bad for me.” While the true meaning of self-love says “If it’s bad for me then I won’t get it, since I love my being, I don’t want to harm myself. I don’t care if I want it or not, I care more on what I need, and I need to live (for God and for others).”

Self-love may be self-directed but it’s others-impacted. Just like how our parents love us and provide for our needs, not necessarily wants, self-love will remind you of your real and personal needs even to the extent that it gives you perseverance to acquire these things for your life’s sake. Loving God implies loving the life and the body he gave you.

~~~

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, Christian Narcissism is dangerous to the church, since the church is a community, one must not act only for the self but for others and mainly, for God. The idea that God is only love is dangerous in one’s theological perspective, it can blind an individual in seeing the whole picture and concept of God, and may affect one’s daily living. Since God’s loving nature is only one of His ‘whole’ or ‘full’ natures (I’m not denying Divine Simplicity, I’m not saying that God’s loving nature is a part of God but only one of God’s full qualities; nor am I presenting that I’m a Classical Theist, in the other end). We must recognize the totality of God’s nature and characters, since the revealed and apparent ones are helpful for our growth and being especially in our journey to Christ-likeness. One magnificent way to do this is through reading scripture, by studying biblical history on how God acted, interacted, and reacted on particular actions and situations of people from the past, through His words and promises, as well as from other people’s testimonies and experiences. From different angles and stories, you could compile them all and see the same glorious picture.

Christian narcissism takes God’s love to a person and makes the person love himself more. It emotionally empowers hungry hearts by borrowing love concepts from Christ and sticking only to this one angle of Christianity, it’s not biblical. It’s wrong to just emphasize one aspect by just emotionally appealing to human needs and then go on by neglecting the need of repentance. God’s love redeems man, not puff it up to pride. The fact that we got what we don’t deserve isn’t about how great and good we are but on how great and gracious the one who gives. God has every right to hate us but He still chose to love us, and this love isn’t something we proudly parade but something we humbly proclaim. God’s love to man would make man love Him back and other men, genuinely and naturally. We need God, not mainly because we need love but essentially because our being, person-hood, and life is dependent upon Him. So instead of appealing to the emotions that a person needs love, why not just simply appeal to condition, that the person needs Christ Himself?

Love is a wonderful and powerful thing; people want to receive more of it from another because of the natural hunger of the human soul. To be loved is the best of all experiences. But why do men hunger for love in the first place? Maybe because it misses the love given to him by the One who made him, it’s not just about love - it’s all about Him who is love. Because of sin, love became blurry, not that it’s no longer there but we’ve lost the sense of it, because we rather choose to love our sins than to follow our design, which is to love God. But because of Christ, He revealed and made God’s love apparent to humankind once more, and taught us that the love that created us is also the same love that redeems us. The eternally deep hole in the human heart, which thirsts for love, can only be satisfied through the filling of an eternal love from an eternal God. Oh it’s true, God’s love is the greatest love of all.

God bless!

~~~

One can skip this part, but as an extension, I just would love to express my thoughts on this matter since it still relates to a man’s love and his expression of it.

The Impact of Human Love in Evangelism

Does our love to others count? Can our love to people convince or convert them to faith?

My stand on this is that I first question, “is this love from us or from God?” Because the love and care we share to people in witnessing our faith is but an expression of our faith, but it is not really that which will bring them to faith? It may only point them to faith but it is God who will guide them and lead them to faith. Our love and care to them is only a reflection of God’s love to us, and so we become transparent and genuine, and then they see the love of God in our lives. It is not and never our own love and care that will bring them to faith, it is God’s. I point this out to tell the readers the value of ‘arguments’; what I mean by arguments are truth points, conversation starters, academic pursuit of reasoning the faith, case presentation and its logicality, to the extent of 'constructive' and ‘formal' debates. Why? Some Christians would neglect the value of philosophical discussions to the lost, being afraid it will turn into a debate, of course there are limits to that, but do you love them so much that you are willing to discuss and reason, peacefully, with them? Paul did it, Apollos did it, even Jesus had heated arguments back then, but they did it out of love with love; the heat is unavoidable at some points.

Point is, arguments presented with care can show God’s love to people also, not only the show or act of love can make them understand God’s love (a posteriori) but it is also effective to show them through concept the love of God (a priori). Best, to present it in both ways, in word and in action.

Is there a basis for me to say this?

Yes, of course, First is scripture, the book of Acts to be more specific. And then second is my personal experience:

I was convinced on the truth of Christianity that I came to faith through virtually watching an apologist argue/debate (formally) on my PC screen.

Always remember, it’s truth with love, not love with truth, so you present what you believe, primarily, with love, because showing love alone is not enough. Always expect to hear someone say, “why would I believe what you’re believing in just because you show me love? Muslims show me love, Buddhists show me love, even atheists show me love. What makes your faith true?” In this question, love alone won’t be the answer, but the fact that Christianity is a reasonable, logical, and rational worldview that has sufficient evidence is the answer that will set it apart from others. And the christian who lives his faith out with love, has a remarkable proof and advantage in presenting what he’s believing in, considering that this truth is not only logical but it is also practical, it works and it transforms lives.

“Truth without love is brutality, and love without truth is hypocrisy.'’

But this point is not a free pass for one to always argue and debate, there are people who are not willing to discuss peacefully and debate formally, there are those who are incredulous despite the facts presented and pushing it so will only make a frustrated evangelist who will at some point look bad and forceful towards others. Always keep the relationship you have with people because you may win an argument but lose the person, always have the goal to win the soul. At desperate instances, win the friendship, lose the fight. In long term friendships, you can continually witness and love, and present the case of truth that Christianity holds. God saves, not you, what you’re only doing is that “you’re giving their minds the permission to believe that the Christian faith is reasonable enough to be believed in faith”. Yes, it is God’s will if one will be saved, but as a responsible agent, do what you should --because God wants you to.

~~~

God bless, once more!

#thoughts #articles #arguments #christian #love #article #argument

0 notes

the-erzy-way-blog · 8 years ago

Text

The Gracious Hand of God

Happy 2017 all! I pray that everyone had a wonderful and safe New Year!! Have you every known anyone who was just wise beyond their years? Someone who has an enormous amount of knowledge and was just an all around great person? Have you every known anyone who was all of this and sold out completely to God? Someone you can call a great role model? No, well...you are about to meet him! Today, tomorrow and Wednesday, we will take a look at the life of Ezra and the spiritual nuggets we can apply to our lives: enhancing our lives and spiritual walk with God

In chapter 7 of the book of Ezra, we meet Ezra, the author. He is a priest, scribe and someone prominent in the court/council of the new king. He is a Jew and remained in Babylon during the rebuilding of the Temple. About 80 year have passed since the first exiles returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. It is now almost 58 year since the completion of the Temple in Judah. There is a new king; Artaxerxes, son of Xerxes. Artaxerxes decreed that Ezra go back to Jerusalem and see how things were going in Judah at the Temple. He told Ezra to take any of the people of Israel that want to go and teach them the law of the Lord. He sent them off with the decree for money from the treasury, wheat/oil, voluntary offerings from priests and others to be used for buying sacrifices and anything else Ezra thinks they may need for the temple. In essence, he was going to go worship and establish christian education to those needing and wanting it. A group of 2000 + men and their families would need the decree in order to travel in mass like that. King Artaxerxes doesn’t worship the God of Ezra, but wants to supply an abundant offering and help continue the growth of the church through education of God’s people. It took the group 4 months of travel to get to Judah from Babylon. When they arrived and got set up, Ezra appointed judges and governors over the people west of the Euphrates (these were the descendants of the enemies of Judah in previous chapters). Ezra did all that the decree of the king asked of him.

Spiritual Nuggets:

Verses 6, 9 and 28 show us that the gracious hand of God was on Ezra. Why? How? How can we have the gracious hand of God upon our lives? Here are a few key things God revealed to me:

- Commit to living for God. Ezra was “determined”. (vs.10) He would not give up. He set his mind to the task/goal of living his life wholly as a servant of God. We must do the same Anything we do take commitment. We commit ourselves to ball games, eating out, movies, concerts....temporary things. Committing to God and living the life He allows and desires for us, well.....that’s eternal and has eternal rewards. Be open to what God desires of us and for us.

-Study God’s word. Ezra was “determined to study and obey the Law of the Lord”.(vs.10) Ezra gained wisdom, knowledge and understanding from his studies of the Law of the Lord. We too can gain the same. Studying the Bible is paramount to understanding God’s purpose for our lives as well as the redeeming and restoring love of a gracious God. (2 Timothy 2:15)

-Obey God’s word. Ezra was “determined to study and obey the Law of the Lord”. (vs.10) Ok, now we have the knowledge and understanding, what now? Put it into practice in our lives. What we learn isn’t just to retain, it is also for practical application. If we learn that we have to get along with others, then we are always given a chance, by God, to practice what we’ve learned. He will undoubtedly allow an opportunity for us to practice being kind to others, grocery shopping during the holidays afforded me many chances to practice kindness to my neighbors...obedience even when it’s not optimal.

-Share with and teach others God’s Word. Ezra “determined to study and obey the Law of the Lord and to teach those decrees and regulations to the people of Israel.” (vs.10) We are not created to retain the knowledge of the Word. We are created to share the Good News! What we learn and go through, in the Word and in life, is for the purposed of sharing our testimonies with others and helping them become saved and disciples of Christ.

Father God,

Thank You for allowing us to see the beginning of a new year. This year Lord, we approach Your throne asking for forgiveness. Clean us up Lord. Help us desire to Commit our lives to You, study Your word, obey Your Word and teach others by sharing Your love and Word with them. May we be examples worthy of the Ezra role model status. In Jesus name, Amen

3 notes · View notes

cpdevos · 5 years ago

Text

3/31/20 Devo: Not a Shelved-God

Hey Everyone!

Hope you are safe and aren't going insane being stuck at home.

Sorry for this late posting, I usually try to post my devos on Monday but these past few weeks have been sort of hectic and covid-19 is flipping everything around as I try to figure out where and what's happening so please bear with me.

Take some time now to pray and give God your distractions and deep desires of your heart. Whatever's on your mind, just set it aside for now and let God change you from within.

Psalm 1:2-3 English Standard Version (ESV)

2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

This title may have intrigued you before you decided to read this devo: "Not a Shelved-God". I'll get to why I named this in a little bit but here's the breakdown of this passage:

What does it say and what does it mean?

In verse 1, which I didn't include, it says, "Blessed is the man that doesn't walk in the counsel of the wicked...etc." and then verse 2 starts with BUT. If you dissect this passage as a whole, we can see that God is saying "blessed is the man that doesn't do x,y, and z, BUT blessed is that man who

delights

in the law of the Lord. This blessed man meditates on it day and night."

QUICK SUMMARY:God blesses the man that 1) delights in the law and 2) medidates on it day and night (with consistency, daily and constantly, without ceasing)

This blessed man also avoids wicked counsel and foolish sinners and does not associate with the scoffers. I will include that for now, but in this devo I will focus on what we need to be DOING and not what we should be AVOIDING, so maybe I'll save verse 1 and that topic for a different devo.

Verse 3 says this "he" (who is the blessed man) is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruits in its season. So, who is who and what is what?

1.) the "he" is compared to this "tree". "He" is the subject found in verse 1 2.) the streams of water is God himself, who is the supply of the trees growth 3.) The fruit and leaves refer to the growth of the believer and follower of God

Now what is verse 3 saying? When we (the subject, in this case referred to as "he" who is compared to the tree) are acting like a tree that is planted near a stream of water, we bear fruit in its season and bear leaves that don't wither. Then it ends saying that in all that "he" does, "he" prospers.

What does this mean for me?

This "he" that I keep putting in quotation marks is what we as disciples of Christ COULD be like. We don't become prosperous in our works, we don't grow in the Lord, and we don't bear fruit personally and in ministry by lying around, being lazy and expectant that God shows up.

In fact, I'm giong to take it further: you don't even grow necessarily by going to church, going to Bible study, or even reading the Bible. Anyone can go to these events or study the Bible on their own. What are we going to do about it? And what's the source of our growth?

Notice verse 2. It says DELIGHT. And that man that delights in His law bears fruit. Here's the breakdown of the application in a numbered list. We can see the genuine transformation of a Jesus-loving and God-fearing Christ follower here: 1.) He LOVES the Lord's law and His word. How do we love the law? Here's the answer found in Psalms: Think about a passionate desire, all-consuming love for, ever fervent, urgent filled, full and complete obssession of what God says and obedience to it. It's three fold: 1. We must LOVE the law (trust what it says, trust it's the word of God, trust its authority) which then propels us to the next... 2. We must study, meditate, dissect, pray over, learn, and crave the law of God and His word DAILY, constantly, with disciplined repetition (hence day and night). We love the law therefore we meditate on it always. But that's not enough. Because we love God, then we love His word. And when we love His word, it then propels us finally to... 3. Live out His word. We read what His word says, study it in context, study it effectively, take notes from Bible text commentaries given by preachers and teachers of sound doctrine, and ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate what God wants to say to us in how to live. Then, we simply live it. When we savor Christ and savor God's word, we are so excited to put it into practice.

2.) Now that we have this three-fold plan, God promises this to us: we are blessed by Him when we act on it. How? Let's look at the simile the Psalmist uses in verse 3. We are like this tree planted by streams of water. PLANTED. We are grounded in the source. What tree grows by planting itself next to an oil rig or frigid ice and snow? It will wither. It will die. It does not prosper or grow or bear any fruit in any season. Only God, who is the streams of living water and living life, bears fruit in us. Thus, there are no means of growth other than God Himself who is the streams of water next to us. We know we love God and we know that we genuinely KNOW God if we obey Him (1 John 5:3). When we obey Him and heed His call for a blameless and righteous life, He will abide in us (1 John 2:6). So, obey the Lord and abide in Him and He will abide in us. Therefore, if we live according to His love and walk the way Jesus walked, He will bear in us fruit and leaves that don't wither as verse 3 says. So, to sum up, how do we practically live out verse 3? Abide in God. This could be through humbled prayers, intense studying of His word, asking God for His Spirit throughout the day, praying with fellow believers, etc. Always be filled and think about things that are true, things that are noble, just, pure, lovely, commendable, anything worthy of praise, and He will bear the fruit He wants to bear in us.

Finally, what do I mean by a shelved-God? Often times we store our books in shelves. We pull it out, read it for enjoyment, then put it back in once we're done. This is not how we ought to treat the precious Word of God. Psalms 1 clearly gives it to us straight: blessed is that man or woman that delights in God's word, studies it days and night, and abides in God. So I want to encourage two types of people here: 1. Those who don't read God's word or 2. those who read it, enjoy it for a little, and store it back into their shelf.

For those who haven't spent enough time in the Bible, I'd encourage you to reread Psalms 1:2-3 and everything I just mentioned. Take time to review these simple steps and actually put it into practice. Tomorrow morning, wake up, shut your phone off, and go to the Word and spend 30 min, an hour, 3 hours, however long you want, studying it. After you shower and are ready to go to bed, turn off your phone. Close Youtube, close Hulu or Netflix, turn off the gaming systems. Take 30 mins, an hour, 3 hours, etc. and meditate on His word. God promises, not I, that He will bear fruit in you if you humbly and excitedly delight in His law and His word. Then, pray that you will live it out once you read it! Don't let God stay inside your shelf.

For those who do spend time in His word but don't seem to live it out or feel it's dry, you may be storing God in your shelf as well. God can't be contained. He isn't limited. He isn't confined to time and physical space. He's omnipresent. He knows every bone in all 7.8 billion people on this earth. He knows every structure and every back bone of every building that exists. He deeply knows and understands the deepest complex of every tree, every piece of grass, every wave, every particle of air, every grain of sand, every animal, every ray of light, every cloud, every paved road, every computer system, every phone, every camera, every hair on your body, the list goes on and on. He made you. He made everything on this earth. He is fully, completely, wholly and totally sovereign over every moment and every place and every being. This is the God your'e reading about in the Bible. I'm often this person that reads His word and can "shelf" God again. How dare we try to confine Him, how foolish and silly we are to limit God to 30 min. a day and forget Him when we leave the room. He was, is and is to come. If He is that God, and He really encaptures all I just mentioned (AND MORE!) then let's reevaluate our practice. If this is you and you feel "dry" moments in God, be reminded of these truths. The next time you have your quiet time, pray this:

"God, you're perfectly holy, full of justice, filled with righteousness, and abound in love and in grace and in gentleness and in kindness. With my quiet times recently, I have been reading your Word and keeping you only in these quiet times but go back into my normal life. I don't "bring" you and your teaching with me or keep it in my thoughts when in fact Lord, I need to connect with you every moment of my life, even after my devotions. You are not confined to my bedroom or whereever I read your word. You are in the deepest darkest valleys, you hold the brightest days in your hand, and you are intimately working in all parts of this earth. God I want to love your Word and I want to live it out fully. Would you so graciously fill me with your Holy Spirit now and throughout today, so that with every action and every thought and with every word and deed, I would be reminded to glorify you in these things. Be with me now Lord, but also continue to remind me that you are still with me throughout the rest of my days. May I never stop seeking you or cease worshipping you in every moment of my life. Amen."

This is a long devo, so I'll just end here. Don't let the Bible just sit in your shelf. Don't just be reminded of God when you're in your room reading His word. He is with you now and until the end of the ages and forever. Dip into Him and His word. Don't box Him in. Ask to bear the fruit as a tree that sits next to those glorious streams of water.

Reflect on this, and pray to close,

Moses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLBvCTV23qw

#momo #moses

0 notes

brucesimpkinsblog · 5 years ago

Text

The Coach

Galatians 1:17b-21

. . . I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was [an apostle], but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus. 18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas [the Apostle Peter] and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. 20 I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie. 21 Then I went to Syria and Cilicia.

Galatians 2:1-2

Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. 2 I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running, and had not been running, my race in vain.

Galatians 2:9

James, Cephas and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised.

This process of coming and going and coming an going reminds me of a football team going into a huddle before and after each play. There’s a play, then there’s a huddle. Then there’s another play and then there’s another huddle.

Fortunately, we can observe the plays and huddles of the early Christian church in retrospect, and learn from the way they “played the game”. The plays happen out on the field, but the huddles are when we gather together and decide what our next play should look like. For Paul, the huddle always happened in Jerusalem . . . and the final agreement in the huddle was:

Peter, James, and John will take the left flank and Paul, Barnabas, and Titus the right flank . . .

So, I have a question for you. Who is most important person on a football team . . . the one who throws the ball, the one who catches the ball, or the ones who runs the ball, or the one who blocks people trying to prevent the ball from being thrown or run?

The answer is: None of the above. If any one person fails to do his job, the entire team is affected. This couldn’t have been clearer than when that poor BSU kicker missed the crucial field goal and lost the big game August 23, 2014. At that moment, the most important person on the team was the kicker. But I really appreciated the coaches response, “We all lost the game. No one play wins or loses a game”.

If there is a most important person, it would be The Coach.

The coach comes up with the game plan before they ever take the field.

He calls the players he wants on the field and the ones he wants in reserve on the bench.

He puts the players through a rigorous training camp before the first game.

He makes sure there is medical help available if a player is injured.

During the games, he signals plays to the huddle from the sideline.

He disciplines the players so they will continually improve from game to game.

He gives pep talks during half time.

Our Spiritual coach is called the “paraclete” in Greek. He is a helper, an advocate, and an advisor. He is the Holy Spirit sent to us by Jesus when He returned to Heaven.

There’s a saying in churches I have heard many times over the years. It goes something like, “When people go to a football game, they have no problem shouting and cheering and getting kind of crazy for their team. So, why are people so reserved when they come together at church? Isn’t God worth cheering for more than a football team?”

From one perspective, this sound right . . . but the problem with this idea is that it presumes we are the cheerleaders for God. We are NOT cheerleaders watching the game from the bleachers. WE are the players and HE is the one on the sidelines. He created the game plan, and called us to be players, and gave us our positions to play, and puts us through rigorous training, and protects us from Spiritual injuries, and sends us the play signals. He also disciplines us (not punishment), and gives us pep talks when there is a timeout on the field.

We are not just fans watching God from a distance. There is a book that has become popular in the last few years. It’s called, “Not A Fan” by Kyle Idleman. He writes:

The dictionary defines a fan as “an enthusiastic admirer”. “Fans” want to be close enough to Jesus to get all the benefits, but not so close that it requires sacrifice. Fans may be fine with repeating a prayer, attending church, and putting a Jesus sticker on their bumper, but is that really the extent of the relationship that Jesus wants?

When these “titans of the faith” in the highlighted verses above got together, they were not just a fan of Jesus . . . they were on the field crashing spiritual armor against spiritual enemies who were trying to disrupt their unity and undermine the gospel message. And that battle is still going on today. It isn’t just a game. It’s a spiritual battle with eternal consequences for everyone. If you’re not experiencing the sound of the enemies arrows pinging off your shield of faith now and then, you may not be on the field where you have been called. Now is NOT the time to be sitting on the bench. The Christian church needs to have an “all hands on deck” mentality at this time in history.

In our passage today, there are 5 other people mentioned besides Paul who was writing this letter. Peter, James, and John (pillars of the faith in Jerusalem), and Barnabas, and Titus. This is an unlikely team. Each one had a completely different personality and approach to the gospel of Christ. The first 3 were all one of the original 12 Disciples of Christ. And the other 3 were a strange combination of people and personalities.

Most people are pretty familiar with the impulsive and passionate Peter, who would climb out of a perfectly good boat in the middle of a storm to walk on the water toward Jesus. He is the one who stated in Matthew 16:16 You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God . . . And Jesus responded: Verse 18 . . . On this rock I will build my church.

James was the half brother of Jesus. James was a very common name and two of Jesus 12 disciples were named James, but His brother was neither of them. Jesus’ brother James was a skeptic throughout Jesus ministry and did not believe Jesus was God in the flesh until AFTER He was resurrected and ascended into heaven. Then he did become a believer and led one of the thriving Christian churches in Jerusalem and wrote the book of James. But James was a hard man to convince. He needed concrete evidence before he would believe.

Then there is John. He’s the one who calls himself “the one Jesus loved”. He wrote the gospel of John, 3 letters in the New Testament, and the book of Revelation. His unrelenting theme was the Love, and Holiness, and Deity of Jesus.

The next 3 people were a strange combination:

· Barnabas was a Jewish Christian and was well accepted as part of the inside circle of the Jerusalem Council.

· Paul was of course a Jew who persecuted the Christians but later came to Christ by a vision. Paul was NOT readily accepted for fear he might be setting a trap for them.

· Titus was a Greek who had no ties to Judaism what-so-ever but had become a believer and was living for Christ. Later Paul finds it important enough to point out that Titus had never been circumcised and never would be. Some were saying that a person had to become a Jew first BEFORE they could become a Christian, therefore had to be circumcised.

I put them in this order because actually Paul would never have been allowed into the Jerusalem Council if he had not invited by Barnabas. And Titus would NEVER have been admitted because he was a Greek, but he came with Paul. So Barnabas brought Paul and Paul brought Titus. It was kind of an “odd duck” parade coming in to meet with the Jerusalem Council.

But each had a purpose unique to them . . . just as every believer here has some purpose unique them. But you don’t need to go searching for your purpose . . . go where God is leading you, and the purpose will reveal itself. Sometimes you may not even discover it until after you already have it! I doubt that any of these men went out looking for their purpose and then started to work at it. I think they were all just being, and doing, what God wanted them to do and let Him take care of the rest.

Paul’s purpose was to establish a written, Christian, theology and doctrine which was desperately needed for these brand new churches. However, it is still the source of all our Christian theology today.

James purpose was to point out the practical application of Paul’s theology.

He was a concrete thinker and he tells it like it is. For example: James 1:2 Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of all kinds . . .

It is not a question of IF you will face trials, but WHEN you face trials . . . here is how you should practically think about them. Very straight forward and concrete. Consider it pure joy . . . don’t question God’s hand because you are facing trials . . . Consider it joy.

Johns purpose was to bring out the love and mystery and awesome character of God of Paul’s theology.

And finally Peter’s purpose from the beginning was always about the heart and passion of Paul’s Theology. For example:

1 Peter 1:2 . . . Grace and peace be yours in ABUNDANCE.

1 Peter 1:13 Therefore, prepare your minds for ACTION . . .

The next question is, are you in the process of discovering the purpose God has for you?

Are you a fan on the sideline or a player on the field?

Are you huddling up with other players for assignments, support, and encouragement?

Our perfect coach, “the Paraclete Holy Spirit” has the perfect plan. Let’s get out there work out the plan with whatever gifts He has built into us.

0 notes

faithfulnews · 5 years ago

Text

10 Common Mistakes Biblical Counselors Sometimes Make, Part 10

A Word from Bob: You’re reading Part 10 of a 10-part blog series on 10 Common Mistakes Biblical Counselors Sometimes Make.

Mistake #1: We Elevate Data Collection Above Soul Connection.

Mistake #2: We Share God’s Eternal Story Before We Listen Well and Wisely to Our Friend’s Earthly Story.

Mistake #3: We Talk at Counselees Rather Than Exploring Scriptures with Counselees.

Mistake #4: We Practice Half-Biblical Counseling If We Address Sin but Neglect Suffering.

Mistake #5: We Fail to Follow the Trinity’s Model of Comforting Care.

Mistake #6: We Tend to View People One-Dimensionally.

Mistake #7: We Devalue Emotions Rather Than Seeing Emotions as God’s Idea.

Mistake #8: We Minimize the Complexity of the Soul-Body Interconnection.

Mistake #9: We Maximize Sin While We Minimize Grace.

Mistake #10: We Confuse the Sufficiency of Scripture with the Competency of the Counselor

Today’s title—with words like “sufficiency” and “competency”—may seem like the most “technical” of these ten mistakes. However, this final topic may be one of the most practical.

I was recently contacted by a lay biblical counselor (let’s call him Jim) who was just beginning his MA degree in Biblical Counseling. Jim was approached by a man who was hearing voices, among several other concerns. Jim explained:

“Bob, I feel out of my league. I’m a rookie counselor at best. But I keep hearing that since the Scriptures are sufficient for all soul issues, therefore every Christian is a competent biblical counselor. The implication I feel like I’m hearing is that since the Scriptures are sufficient, then I should have the faith to take on any counseling issue the Lord sends my way. I feel guilty for doubting whether I’m equipped to take on this case…”

If you’ve counseled at all, then you’ve likely felt like Jim—confident in God’s sufficient Word, concerned about your competency, and wondering whether your concern is wisdom-based or fear-based. This is why as biblical counselors we need to clarify the relationship between scriptural sufficiency and counselor competency.

A Brief Introduction to the “Sufficiency of Scripture”

To address this practical issue, it’s important that we understand what the biblical counseling movement means by scriptural sufficiency. In Part 6, we introduced the Biblical Counseling Coalition’s Confessional Statement. The first of the twelve statements highlights scriptural sufficiency under the header of Biblical Counseling Must Be Anchored in Scripture. Here is the succinct (379 words) summary of what sufficiency is and what it is not.

We believe that God’s Word is authoritative, sufficient, and relevant (Isaiah 55:11; Matthew 4:4; Hebrews 4:12-13). The inspired and inerrant Scriptures, rightly interpreted and carefully applied, offer us God’s comprehensive wisdom. We learn to understand who God is, who we are, the problems we face, how people change, and God’s provision for that change in the Gospel (John 8:31-32; 10:10; 17:17). No other source of knowledge thoroughly equips us to counsel in ways that transform the human heart (Psalm 19:7-14; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:3). Other systems of counseling aim for other goals and assume a different dynamic of change. The wisdom given by God in His Word is distinctive and robust. He comprehensively addresses the sin and suffering of all people in all situations.

Wise counseling is an insightful application of God’s all-embracing truth to our complex lives (Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:6; Philippians 1:9-11). It does not merely collect proof-texts from the Bible. Wise counseling requires ongoing practical theological labor in order to understand Scripture, people, and situations (2 Timothy 2:15). We must continually develop our personal character, case-wise understanding of people, and pastoral skills (Romans 15:14; Colossians 1:28-29).

When we say that Scripture is comprehensive in wisdom, we mean that the Bible makes sense of all things, not that it contains all the information people could ever know about all topics. God’s common grace brings many good things to human life. However, common grace cannot save us from our struggles with sin or from the troubles that beset us. Common grace cannot sanctify or cure the soul of all that ails the human condition. We affirm that numerous sources (such as scientific research, organized observations about human behavior, those we counsel, reflection on our own life experience, literature, film, and history) can contribute to our knowledge of people, and many sources can contribute some relief for the troubles of life. However, none can constitute a comprehensive system of counseling principles and practices. When systems of thought and practice claim to prescribe a cure for the human condition, they compete with Christ (Colossians 2:1-15). Scripture alone teaches a perspective and way of looking at life by which we can think biblically about and critically evaluate information and actions from any source (Colossians 2:2-10; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Thus, by “sufficiency of Scripture” we mean that God’s Word provides comprehensive wisdom for life in our broken world. While other resources can contribute to our understanding of life, only the Scriptures provide the overarching perspective by which we can critically evaluate all other potential sources of truth.

A Brief Introduction to Growing as a Competent Biblical Counselor

In Romans 15:14, Paul states that he’s convinced that Christians have the capacity to become competent to comfort, encourage, confront, and disciple one another. When Paul used the word “convinced,” he chose a word that means an internal conviction based upon external evidence. Here’s the “4C” evidence or résumé from Romans 15:14 of a Christian who is becoming competent to counsel:

Christlike Character: We are growing in goodness—“full of goodness.”

Biblical Content (Applied to Life): We are growing in biblical wisdom—“complete in knowledge.”

Counseling Competence: We are growing in our ability to relate truth to life—“competent to instruct.”

Christian Community: We are growing in Christian one-another relational ministry—“brothers,” “one another.”

This foundational verse highlighted by the modern biblical counseling movement has embedded within it “markers” that we can use to assess our growing competency. This is why a central hallmark of the modern biblical counseling movement has always been ongoing equipping:

Ongoing self-counsel and one-another mutual ministry to grow in Christlike character.

Ongoing reading, training, and education to grow in biblical content.

Ongoing supervised experience to grow in counseling competence.

Ongoing connection to the larger body of Christ to grow within the context of Christian community.

Thus, no Christian is automatically competent to counsel every issue that any person might ever have. Initial and ongoing growth is biblically required. As we read earlier from the Confessional Statement:

Wise counseling requires ongoing practical theological labor in order to understand Scripture, people, and situations (2 Timothy 2:15). We must continually develop our personal character, case-wise understanding of people, and pastoral skills (Romans 15:14; Colossians 1:28-29).

Further, no Christian is self-sufficiently competent to counsel. Our competency is dependent on Christ. Speaking of his ministry—after years of education and ministry experience—Paul states:

“Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:5-6).

We are incompetent to counsel in our own strength and knowledge.

Additionally, no Christian is independently competent to counsel. We are one body made up of many parts (1 Corinthians 12:12-31). No part of the body can say to another part, “I don’t need you!” (2 Corinthians 12:21). The Scriptures are sufficient; we are not sufficient.

Christians can become increasingly competent to counsel through being equipped by the body of Christ, through humble dependence upon Christ, and through mutual ministry within the body of Christ.

2 Preliminary Ways to Assess Our Competency

Let’s return to Jim. By his own admission, he’s a “rookie counselor.” If he read this post, he’d be quick to say:

“I agree. I’m not automatically, self-sufficiently, or independently competent to counsel this man who is hearing voices! Yet, I’m a rookie counselor who believes and trusts God’s sufficient Word. So, what should I do, Bob?”

Competency Assessment #1: “What’s my level of overall growth and maturity in the ‘4Cs’ (Character, Content, Competence, Community) of Romans 15:14?”

Before we counsel others, we should be doing some self-counsel and we should be receiving feedback from others.

“To what degree am I growing in Christlike character, biblical content, counseling competency, and Christian community?”

“What equipping and discipleship am I receiving to help me to grow in Christlike character, biblical content, counseling competency, and Christian community?”

“What feedback am I receiving from others about my own progressive sanctification journey in Christlike character, biblical content, counseling competency, and Christian community?”

“Am I at a stage in my Christian life where I’d be better off receiving formal counseling rather than giving informal one-another ministry or formal biblical counseling?”

Competency Assessment #2: “What’s my level of ‘4C’ equipping related to this particular issue I’m being asked to address?”

Character Assessment: “I’m being asked to help someone with anger issues. To what degree do I evidence growing Christlike maturity and progressive sanctification with this issue?”

Content Assessment: “I’m being asked to help someone with self-harm and cutting issues. What’s my level of biblical knowledge, formal training, and personal research about this issue?”

Competency Assessment: “I’m being asked to counsel someone dealing with past sexual abuse. What’s my level of supervised experience with this sensitive issue?”

Community Assessment: “I’m being asked to counsel someone hearing voices. Am I the best person in our church and in the surrounding Christian community to address this issue? Or, are there others who are more qualified, and should I play more of a support role?” “If I am qualified to counsel, what additional help do I need to ensure that I minister well?”

5 Guidelines to Assure That Competent Help Is Provided

Notice the precise wording in this header: to assure that competent help is provided. The united body of Christ through the power of Christ and the sufficiency of Scripture is competent to provide help for soul issues. However, no one individual is competent to provide all help for all issues.

We’ve been talking about Jim “the rookie counselor.” Let’s talk now about Bob “the experienced counselor.” After almost four decades of counseling and almost three decades of equipping counselors, I do not see myself as automatically competent to counsel every person with every issue. For example, I’ve not had a great deal of education, nor do I have a great deal of experience counseling people regarding cutting and self-harm. So, if someone came to me requesting my help with that issue, what might I do? What should you do? If we self-assess and determine that we don’t have enough “4C” qualification, what might we do?

Guideline #1: Always Insist Upon a Comprehensive Body of Christ Team Approach

Regardless of whether I have sufficient training and experience with a given counseling issue, I always insist on a team approach. If a Christian is coming to a biblical counselor, they should be attending church, spending time in the Word and prayer, be involved in a small group, men’s group, or women’s group, have had a recent complete physical, etc. Depending on the issue and the resources in the church and community, they should also be involved in an issue-specific “recovery” group. They should be reading good Christian resources related to their issue. Ideally, they also have a family member or friend attending counseling with them as an advocate.

Counseling is one subset of the wider encouragement and discipleship ministry of the church. Counseling is not some “magic therapy hour” that negates the other 167 hours of the week. We always want to communicate:

We are not the answer; Christ is the answer; growth in grace is a church community journey.

Guideline #2: Prayerfully Ponder Whether the Wider Resources of the Universal Body of Christ May Be Needed

The context of Romans 15:14 indicates that no one church is necessarily autonomously proficient to address every counseling issue. Paul writes Romans to the churches of the city of Rome. In Romans 16, he addresses some of the many house churches in Rome. In a similar context, Paul leaves Timothy in Crete to appoint elders in every town (Titus 1:5).

The New Testament assumes the interdependency of likeminded churches within a geographical area. Thus it is totally appropriate for a church to utilize the expertise of other churches (and para-church ministries) in the universal body of Christ.

Guideline #3: Prayerfully Ponder Whether Resources Outside the Church May Be Needed

The complexity and interrelated nature of many issues require resources in addition to the church. We saw in Mistakes #6 and #8 the need for adjunctive resources—as the Confessional Statement of the Biblical Counseling Coalition wisely reminds us:

We recognize the complexity of the relationship between the body and soul (Genesis 2:7). Because of this, we seek to remain sensitive to physical factors and organic issues that affect people’s lives. In our desire to help people comprehensively, we seek to apply God’s Word to people’s lives amid bodily strengths and weaknesses. We encourage a thorough assessment and sound treatment for any suspected physical problems.

We recognize the complexity of the connection between people and their social environment. Thus we seek to remain sensitive to the impact of suffering and of the great variety of significant social-cultural factors (1 Peter 3:8-22). In our desire to help people comprehensively, we seek to apply God’s Word to people’s lives amid both positive and negative social experiences. We encourage people to seek appropriate practical aid when their problems have a component that involves education, work life, finances, legal matters, criminality (either as a victim or a perpetrator), and other social matters.

Guideline #4: Have a Candid Conversation, Mutually Determine Your Next Steps, Potentially Refer to Others in the Body of Christ, But Remain Part of a Team Approach

If we sense that a counselee’s need might be outside our “4C” competence, then we could share:

“The issue you’re wrestling with is very important and I want to be sure you have the best help possible. Though I’ve counseled for years, I’m not all that experienced in counseling people who struggle with cutting. I know a biblical counselor within driving distance who has done so much work in this area that they’ve literally ‘written the book on it.’ Let’s talk about whether I’m the best person to provide primary care for you, or whether this other counselor might be a better fit. If so, I could come along side and provide support…”

Ideally, you could still participate in the counseling as an advocate, or counselor-in-training, or eventually as a co-counselor. If not, the counselee could sign a release of information so you are kept informed by the other biblical counselor. And you can meet informally for one-another ministry, encouragement, and discipleship as adjunctive help.

Guidelines #5: Potentially Decide to Be the Primary Care-Giver, but Become Further Equipped and Be Supervised

There are other times when you and your counselee might have a candid conversation about your competency to counsel them, and you mutually decide that you will be their primary counselor. As always, there is a team approach, and now you add even more avenues for support for them and avenues of equipping and supervision for you. For instance:

You counsel them under supervision from a more experienced biblical counselor—who reads your case notes, listens to your recorded counseling sessions, and provides ongoing mentoring.

You do extensive research and study—exploring the Bible’s teaching on the issue, reading biblical counseling books on the subject, and reading descriptive research on the subject.

You attend specialized seminars, courses, and conferences to obtain further training.

You learn from and together with your counselee. Early in my counseling ministry, a man asked for help dealing with past sexual abuse. I had my master’s degree. I had specialized course work in sexual abuse counseling. But I had not counseled anyone who had been sexually abused. He still wanted me to counsel him. I asked him to teach me, to help me to understand his heart, his suffering, his hurts, his walk with God.

It’s All About Humility…

At the end of the day, it’s all about humility. The Word is sufficient. We are incompetent in ourselves. Any competency comes from Christ. Specific counseling competency requires ongoing “4C” growth. And even the most competent biblical counselor must depend upon the comprehensive resources of the body of Christ.

Assessing Our Biblical Counseling

As biblical counselors, do we understand that while the Scriptures are sufficient for every soul issue, no individual counselor is competent for every soul issue?

As biblical counselors, are we committed to ongoing “4C” growth in Christlike character, biblical content, counseling competency, and Christian community?

As biblical counselors do we insist upon a comprehensive body of Christ team approach where we humbly acknowledge our need for Christ and the body of Christ?

As biblical counselors are we humbly willing to refer to other more experienced biblical counselors? Are we humbly willing to receive additional biblical supervision and equipping?

The Rest of the Story

Our 10-part series has a bonus 11th post! I invite you to join us for the final post in this series. We’ll collate all ten of the previous self-assessment questions into a 40-Question Biblical Counselor Self-Assessment.

The post 10 Common Mistakes Biblical Counselors Sometimes Make, Part 10 appeared first on RPM Ministries.

Go to the article

#biblical-counseling #biblical-counseling-mistakes #counselor-competency #sufficiency-of-scripture

0 notes