A Simple Illusion Ya know.. I've been alive just over 30 years now. Well.. if you count the time that I was in the womb.. nearly 31. I've learned a lot, and have much more to learn. It's amazing to me though, just how easy it is for us to see others' faults and overlook our own. I mean, in many of my essays, I have pointed out the things I see all over... from Christian to nonChristian.. how easily people end up doing this or that.. yet what really counts is not what I have to say about others, but what I do about myself. Michael Jackson said it quite well with that song on his Bad album: I'm starting with the man in the mirror I'm asking him to change his ways and no message could've been any clearer if you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, and make a change. That's the thing that I think bugs most of us the most. But the funny thing is, we don't realize how hypocritical we're being when we slam on others. We don't see just how much *we* aren't changing ourselves.. or in proper context.. are letting God work with us. The Bible says that we are clay, and that God's the potter. And the key to being in God's favor is one simple word: Malleability. David tells us in the Psalms that the sacrifices acceptible unto God are a broken heart.. a broken and contrite spirit. But let's not confuse Hebrew with English. This doesn't mean that we have to be crying all the time or feel hurt in order for God to use us. The word "broken" in today's English doesn't truly convey what God really wants of us. Broken is synonymous with the word "malleable". That is.. what God wants is someone who is willing to be shaped.. willing to be moved into whatever position God desires... willing to be formed into the instrument God wants to play. That's right... play. Like any master musician.. God wants to make each and every one of us into His own Stradivarius tools.. with which He can play beautiful music upon with His loving hands. This and other such troubles between exact word-for-word translations between Greek, Hebrew, and English (as well as other languages) lead many to get false impressions over who God is and what He really wants. Many Christians will hold tight to the notion that the Bible is truly inerrant.. perfect.. God's Word.. etc. But the reason why many people do this is because they are naive. They want to have something in their lives which is perfect.. which they know they can depend on completely.. and not have to think about or struggle with to find answers. Yet there are a relatively sizeable number of lost meanings which are often unavoidable in word-for-word translations of Scriptural text. Of course, meaning is also lost when some person or group of people tries to paraphrase the Bible. Often.. the depth of meaning within its texts is lost in paraphrasing.. simply because the people doing the paraphrasing do not realize the meaning is there.. and so they overlook and oversimplify the text that needs to be there. As a result, great importancies are left out of what many refer to as a "perfect" book. One such example is the passage in the last chapters of John.. where Peter is "restored" by Jesus' asking him 3 times if he loved him. However, upon closer examination of the texts, you can find out that more is being said. The words used for "love".. which are in the NAS, KJV, and other translations, are actually two different words. First off, Jesus asks Peter(Simon) if he loves Him(agape).. but Peter says he loves Him(phileo). These two words are quite different in meaning. Phileo refers to having a shared interest.. it's often been categorized as brotherly love.. (e.g. philadelphia -- the city of "brotherly love"). I did not know of this difference until a friend pointed it out to me a number of years back. I was always assuming that the words were the same.. as that is how I had been taught. But go into the Greek, and you can see otherwise. This is one example of how troubles can creep into even the most sacred of texts.. simply because man tried to do things his way. In the beginning, teaching in tongues was not uncommon -- that is, using the ability to speak another language without learning it was used in order to cross gaps that could not be crossed otherwise without a translator. Instead, the Holy Spirit, Himself, became the translator.. and the truth was communicated far more deeply than we could've without His help. I am rather certain that our Biblical texts of today, however well they have been translated, have received confusing interpretations simply because people have relied upon themselves and not God to do that which God and His Spirit were best suited to do. So the next time you hear someone telling you that some certain translation is perfect.. show them the passage about Peter and Jesus.. and see what they say. But where does this leave us? Well.. the reason why we end up with translational error is the same reason why people are so interested in fixin others but not theirselves -- We as a race desire not so much to be God's servant, as to rule. We react most certainly when *we* are hurt.. when *we* lack.. when each of us, *ourselves*, is needy.. but it requires a lot more effort to get into one another's hearts and not only *re*act.. but *ACT* when others are needy and lacking. We see so little of the big picture that we end up distorting it ever further.. as we are unwilling to see that which is so painful to see. Even as I write this now.. I see where I, myself, fail in this area.. how I find myself so easily determined to show the world it's faults.. and yet so averse to turning away from my own selfish and immoral mannerisms. So where are we now? Well.. I think a lot of us can see *where* we are.. We're in a land where those who are the loudest about how much they know God turn out to be the ones who know Him the least. We're in an age where many are preaching damnation unto the masses.. and not realizing they are pointing 3 fingers back at themselves. Everyone has an idea of what the truth is.. everyone wants their ideas to be right.. and many will fight to the death if you oppose them.. figuring they have some religious right to stand up for God's truth.. and vehemently remove any who oppose their authority. But that isn't Jesus' way. It never was.. and it isn't today. I often am amazed at just how few people really take up their cross daily. Oh many take up their Bibles and walk to the pulpit.. but few people back up their faith with the most important thing on earth: Agape. I know that probably everyone who reads this will agree with me. All over there are tons of people ready to tell you how to change your life.. many of which are ready to lead you to Heaven in a golden chariot.. where they hold the whip and you run in front.. pulling them ahead. But who is leading whom? Take one gander at that. The person who is doing the pulling is actually leading.. yes, the person at the reins may have a whip.. but if you don't want to follow that whip.. you can choose to take off on your own.. and leave behind your "leader". I know this didn't make 100% sense.. but maybe it will soon. Let's take a look at Jesus.. and what He did. For one.. He healed many many many people who came to Him. It says He healed all manner of diseases.. cast out demons. He wasn't so much of a ruler when He was here in the flesh.. no.. what was He? He was a servant.. someone who used His life to better others.. who stuck His neck out to show people that God wasn't just some taskmaster up in Heaven ready to clip you off from the land of the living at a moment's notice. No.. Jesus came to show us the tender side of God.. and.. just as importantly.. the New Covenant. Most Christians are well aware of the fact that we have no need to follow the Law as required in the times of Moses.. but few are grasping hold of one of the most important truths of the Gospel itself. On my login screen here at WWU.. I have a number of encouraging things that pop up when I get on to check email. Probably my favorite one is the following: If you don't love who you're preaching to, you aren't preaching the Gospel. This is what so many pastors, teachers, and supposed fellow bondservants are supposed to realize and live.. but they don't. Everyone who walks as a Christian is called do be a "little Christ".. which is what Christian truly means. And if there's one thing Christ is about.. it's love. Not the feelings we get in our heart when we look at a pretty girl or handsome guy.. No.. love is not a feeling at all -- something that a lot of us need to learn. No.. love often does that which is not easy to do.. Love does that which is best, irregardless of the cost to one's self. It's so easy to get caught up in the dating and sex market these days.. You spend hours getting ready.. you hang out with friends.. you enjoy the feelings you get from being with that special someone.. but that's not love. The lie that "you'll know when it's love" is really funny. People say, "You'll just know" or "You'll feel it in your heart". But what people don't realize is that this is causing so many young people.. and old alike.. to make a decision about their future based solely upon the chemical reactions in their bodies. They "feel" one way or "feel" another.. and if it "feels" good enough.. it must *BE* love. But real love isn't a feeling at all. The feelings we *do* get are nice.. even extremely potent.. but they are most of the time arising simply because of the weight we place in our hearts about being accepted as we are by someone who looks or dresses a certain way. We are unfortunately so starved for *REAL* love.. that we end up settling for something far less.. we end up wanting an end to the ache inside us.. and so we soothe it with sex, or at least passion. But these "chemical baths" as I'd call them leave us drained and really only emphasize the holes within us. We may find a bit of security for a day.. a week.. maybe a few months.. but in the long run.. we often find out that when we search for fulfillment in feelings that we end up only enlarging the void that's inside us.. begging to be filled. I know how that feels.. I've been "in love" as the language goes quite a number of times. But I've learned that having these feelings isn't really being "in love" at all.. It's most of the time simply a reaction between my emotional side and my desires.. the hope that this person might actually fulfill me in some way, shape, or form. Real love is something that any person can enter into.. not just with one person.. but with everyone. It is not something that is just "there".. like many people want to believe. Love is a 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week decision. When you love someone, you must choose to *keep* loving them. It is not supposed to be "well, I feel good around this person today, so I'm gonna stay around. But if I feel bad enough someday, or don't feel as high as I once did, I'm gonna give up." Real love is where we choose to do what is best for any person.. regardless of the cost to ourselves. As I said.. It's not just *there*. Love is something that any person can choose to show.. and learn continuously to show more of and grow deeper in showing. Love is active.. it does that which is right. Oh no person does what is right all the time (save Jesus, God, and His Spirit).. but Love works very hard to do right in everything it does. So where does this fit in with Christianity? Well.. being a Christian is a lot like being loving. Every person is imperfect.. so every person is going to do the act of loving imperfectly. One portion of this love is what we do for God and Jesus.. being willing to truly "die" unto that which is bad (put it completely aside and walk the other way).. and embrace *ACTIVELY* that which is good. Many people think they can get by with just throwing God a "bone" now and then. They think that Heaven is in their hands.. and that all they have to do is live a gentle, quiet, peaceful life with others and they'll be fine. But Jesus put it another way. He said, in no uncertain terms, "Whomever does not take up his cross and come after me, is not worthy of me" (nearquote). And that's the whole kit and kaboodle. Paul may have told many of his pedagogy that they should live quiet lives.. but Jesus made it very clear that we are to be willing to take up our crosses daily.. to "die daily" as he put it... and live for Christ. Of course.. nobody lives perfectly.. but.. Jesus and God know quite well who is really letting God reshape their lives day by day.. and who barely even steps foot in church every Sunday. Back to loving though. Love, like being a Christian, (which is truly an aspect of loving God) is something we can all do to some extent. Truthfully, any woman could marry any man.. and they could love one another. Now, as many of us know, there would be a lot of controversy in many such any/any marriages.. simply because people do not have the same morals... or aspirations.. or even complementary mannerisms. But if we let God be who He is meant to be to us.. if we truly let *Him* rule.. then we can find out just how much we can learn to love those all around us -- including the person we are on the verge of divorcing. That's right.. divorcing. Jesus made it quite plain that divorce is wrong.. and that the only time it is truly a legitimate separation is when one divorces another because of sexual infidelity. For any other reason, Jesus makes it clear that to remarry after such a choice is to commit adultery, oneself... and to marry someone who has divorced in any such manner is also to commit adultery. So what does this say? It says that just because times are tough doesn't mean you need to divorce your spouse. In today's world of fast food everything, if we don't feel good for a short period of time, we do something to remedy the situation.. from abortion, to divorce, to murder. Many people turn to the outs presented to them, simply because they are there. And with divorce becoming so commonplace in today's world.. it's no wonder that it's becoming more and more acceptible to choose. Back just a few decades, divorce was far less prevalent. If you got married, you stayed married. If you slept with someone and got pregnant, you married the person. But in today's society.. nobody cares about the pain they're causing.. they only care about themselves.. and the pain they individually feel. Thus if Sally feels bad because Joe is lazy around the house and doesn't take care of her needs.. often Sally ends up in divorce court.. rather than taking the time to really get down and dirty about what she wants from Joe. Or say, for example, Joe is mad because Sally refuses to let him have the weekend to rest after working all week. She is insistent that he help her with this and that.. when he really needs to relax. She doesn't realize how burdened he is.. and they both end up screaming at one another because these and other issues come up in the heat of the moment.. and both end up wanting out of marriage. But look at what marriage is. I guess the problem is, nobody knows what it is anymore. Everyone is so disheartened because the marriages around them keep failing -- especially those of their own parents. They see what they expect will continue.. two people.. married in a church.. traditional wedding vows.. huge service.. and then 6 months down the road, he's in adultery with his secretary and she's raising their only 5 month old kid alone for the most part. But remember about love.. it's a choice 24/7. You gotta *KEEP* choosing to love someone. Just because someone makes a promise doesn't mean they are forced to keep it. And in the same way, just because someone is married in church doesn't mean they're gonna end up with their spouse for life. See.. this is the whole kicker to life. People want to believe that "just because a person makes some vow or claims to follow some deity means that they are guaranteed to follow through." We always have our own free will.. and that means that even if we make a promise or say we belong to someone, even one second after doing so, we have every opportunity to go back on that decision and turn the other direction. Character is something that we build through continued effort.. not continued coasting. Coasting through life means someone is making things far too easy for you. Jesus said that if we followed Him that we would be hated of all men. Unfortunately there are so many people out there who claim to know Him.. who accept the buffetting that the world sends their way as persecution.. and not as valid criticism. They act as if they are beyond scrutiny.. and that they are in the right with God.. and they'll fight with all their biggest weapons to prove otherwise. But the fact is that we all have free will.. we all have the ability to turn right *or* left at every step in life. This is why life stinks.. because many are those who do things for their own worldly benefit.. without considering the consequences for others.. or for their own lives come Judgement day. Preacher after preacher may come to your door.. telling you of the "Good news" of Jesus... but so few really know Jesus deeply. So what does it mean to really *know* Jesus? The word "know" as you may remember from the KJV era is associated with sexual union as well as other things. That is.. to "know" someone is to be intimately acquainted with them. And that is just what we are supposed to be with Jesus.. intimately acquainted with Him.. not physically so.. but heart-feltly so. So many will come by saying they know Him.. but are they really living as He wants? Jesus wants us to love everyone.. and die for the least. That's right.. die. He wants us to not treasure this life... as much as treasuring the next. He wants us to be willing to surrender this life to Him completely.. and leave behind everything that holds us back. Granted, this world has many pleasures to offer us.. but Jesus has far more and His will last forever. Jesus said it best when he told us: "What good is it to gain the whole world, but lose one's soul?" The world is calling us.. calling us to enjoy what it has to offer.. but Jesus is calling us too.. to lay down our desires in this life so that we can live with Him in bliss extraordinaire in the next.