In reaction to those who think logic is the ultimate pursuit of truth, many who suppose that emotions are the entity that brings us to a broken state of acceptance are in such opposition to the philosophical camp that their arguments lead them to assume there is no need to think beyond emotional experience and to therefore reject the role that logic may play in their faith.
I, however, do not believe that human beings are capable of riding upon an exclusively emotional experience indefinitely . Although higher emotions do set humans apart as special creatures, we are also equally endowed with rational cognitive thought. Once the emotions erode, which they will inevitably do, reason begins to scrutinize the situation. If one is not prepared to think through the logical side of the faith, he or she often falls away. I believe that this precarious approach to faith is precisely the idea behind Jesus' parable of the seed that sprouted quickly but soon faded because it was not rooted in firm soil. If one roots his or her faith in emotion alone, he or she will not be able to satisfy the entire human capacity for thought. This sort of failing belief can be examined in everyday experience:
When hearing a good ghost story, many will experience chills and wonder if the story could be true. People can become so engrossed in the emotions aroused when hearing a ghost story that even the person relating the fantastical tale, someone who might have created the story himself and therefore knows that it is purely fictitious, may even begin to believe the story for a moment. However, it does not take long for human reasoning to take control and destroy any belief in the story. If there is no logical grounding for belief, many will never make it to the point at which logic has been satisfied and the leap of true faith begins. In fact, in the West, our logic has attained such a privileged priority that it does not take long before the white knuckled experience of a good sermon begins to fade, and, once again, I can speak from personal experience. It is this sort of battle of logic that left me emotionally unprepared to handle pain when I first had to confront it.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Philosophy and Faith
If philosophy is the search for truth, then it is only logical that philosophy is searching for something other than itself. Philosophy as a search by definition seems to suggest that the answers it desires lie somewhere outside of its discipline. However, many philosophers have come to conclude that philosophy is the ultimate source of truth. This is particularly true in the West, where many limit their l capacity for inquisitive thought because logic is perceived as the pinnacle. Many assume that if philosophy does not have the answer, the question is either illogical or an adequate time frame for philosophical exploration has yet to elapse before philosophy can render an answer that fully addresses the problem. This perspective seems to ignore the fact that the discipline of philosophy was created by man, and is, therefore, finite. To assume philosophy itself contains ultimate truth, or will at least evolve to encapsulate it, almost gives philosophy a life of its own, even to the point of deification.
The assumption that the answers to ultimate truth lie within philosophy is illogical since philosophy as a discipline has a beginning. Philosophy is a finite entity, and a finite discipline can not hold ultimate answers. Only that which is eternal can offer answers intrinsically. The questions of life existed before the discipline of philosophy developed. Thus, if the answers existed at the origin of the questions, philosophy could not have contained them. A true philosopher will utilize philosophy to scrutinize different ideas and to see if they can lead to answers. These ideas are not philosophy themselves but can be subjected to philosophical scrutiny. Therefore, no philosopher should exclude faith from the start, but should be open to the possibility that philosophy's natural conclusion is faith.
The assumption that the answers to ultimate truth lie within philosophy is illogical since philosophy as a discipline has a beginning. Philosophy is a finite entity, and a finite discipline can not hold ultimate answers. Only that which is eternal can offer answers intrinsically. The questions of life existed before the discipline of philosophy developed. Thus, if the answers existed at the origin of the questions, philosophy could not have contained them. A true philosopher will utilize philosophy to scrutinize different ideas and to see if they can lead to answers. These ideas are not philosophy themselves but can be subjected to philosophical scrutiny. Therefore, no philosopher should exclude faith from the start, but should be open to the possibility that philosophy's natural conclusion is faith.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Adventure
When Jesus’ sandals first stirred the dust within the same vicinity as Peter, he was just another fisherman trying to earn an honest living with the rest of his family. As of this point in Peter’s life, adventure was just an imaginary land he visited during the lulls on the fishing boat when the slow rock of the waves helped him slip into the confines of his mind. In his heart, Peter was strong, courageous, and adventurous, but, up to this point, he had not had the chance to live it out loud. Oh how he wished to live it out loud, to fight for good, to take up a sword for righteousness. The honest truth was that his calloused hands were aching to make their mark on the world, to leave just one fingerprint that people would remember.
Others could not know the man Peter really was on the inside. To the rest of society, he was just another fisherman, but Jesus knew the brave and somewhat foolish heart that beat within the sun-worn man’s chest. When Peter looked up from his nets, he saw the Nazarene smiling at him. This was no ordinary smile; it was the sort of smile that a grandfather gives to the grandchild who is trying to act so grown and strong and yet has no idea how. This man whom Peter would soon call "Lord" had the look of wisdom. How did such a young peasant seem so knowing? Peter’s core was shaken. It was strange, but Peter knew that the Man who stood before him could do something no other could: He could see into his heart and know his desires. Jesus then commanded Peter to follow Him, and Peter’s longing heart leapt with joy.
The years melted away, and Peter’s Master had prepared His disciples for great things, but Peter was still anxiously waiting for the day when they would change the world. On their long walks through the valleys, Peter sometimes would drift away from what Jesus was teaching and back into the confines of his mind. There, Jesus was a mighty ruler, a political ruler, and Peter was His right hand man, fighting for the good of mankind. On one such day, Peter, in his imagination, was in the middle of raising an army of strong courageous men for his Master. Jesus cleared His throat, and Peter came back from his daydream. “Peter, listen, I must prepare you for what is to come.” Jesus placed His hand on Peter’s shoulder so as to keep his attention. “I must suffer greatly, and I will die and will rise on the third day.” Peter’s heart sank as his visions of greatness dimmed, “No, my Lord, this will never happen to you. We will protect you.” Before Peter could tell Jesus his new plans to spread their cause, Jesus’ kind expression changed into a stern one, “Get behind me, Satan.” Peter’s eyes filled with tears. At first, he could not understand why his Master would say such a thing. Jesus then explained to Peter that his humanistic desires and dreams were not the things that will win the war on sin. Although Peter’s motives were innocently wrought from his somewhat childish mindset and imagination, and although he wanted the best for his Lord, he was not thinking from the mindset that Jesus had been teaching him to use because he was too busy trying to have things work out Peter’s way and by Peter’s will. However, it was not the will of Peter that would prevail, but the will of the Lord, and if Peter wished to live a life worthy of his dreams, he would have stop living an internal life of bravery and adventure; he would have to start living a public life that mirrored God’s will. Then Jesus said something contrary to any of Peter’s preconceived notions on how to live life:
“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” –Matthew 16:24
After all these years, Peter received his first glimpse into the sort of adventure Jesus was really planning for his people. It was far beyond any of his wildest dreams. He finally began to understand the magnitude of the adventure they were to embark upon. He also began to realize the bravery and courage he would need, and his inner warrior paled in comparison.
What an adventure would be ahead? The adventure of life in Christ: the life we are all invited into.
Others could not know the man Peter really was on the inside. To the rest of society, he was just another fisherman, but Jesus knew the brave and somewhat foolish heart that beat within the sun-worn man’s chest. When Peter looked up from his nets, he saw the Nazarene smiling at him. This was no ordinary smile; it was the sort of smile that a grandfather gives to the grandchild who is trying to act so grown and strong and yet has no idea how. This man whom Peter would soon call "Lord" had the look of wisdom. How did such a young peasant seem so knowing? Peter’s core was shaken. It was strange, but Peter knew that the Man who stood before him could do something no other could: He could see into his heart and know his desires. Jesus then commanded Peter to follow Him, and Peter’s longing heart leapt with joy.
The years melted away, and Peter’s Master had prepared His disciples for great things, but Peter was still anxiously waiting for the day when they would change the world. On their long walks through the valleys, Peter sometimes would drift away from what Jesus was teaching and back into the confines of his mind. There, Jesus was a mighty ruler, a political ruler, and Peter was His right hand man, fighting for the good of mankind. On one such day, Peter, in his imagination, was in the middle of raising an army of strong courageous men for his Master. Jesus cleared His throat, and Peter came back from his daydream. “Peter, listen, I must prepare you for what is to come.” Jesus placed His hand on Peter’s shoulder so as to keep his attention. “I must suffer greatly, and I will die and will rise on the third day.” Peter’s heart sank as his visions of greatness dimmed, “No, my Lord, this will never happen to you. We will protect you.” Before Peter could tell Jesus his new plans to spread their cause, Jesus’ kind expression changed into a stern one, “Get behind me, Satan.” Peter’s eyes filled with tears. At first, he could not understand why his Master would say such a thing. Jesus then explained to Peter that his humanistic desires and dreams were not the things that will win the war on sin. Although Peter’s motives were innocently wrought from his somewhat childish mindset and imagination, and although he wanted the best for his Lord, he was not thinking from the mindset that Jesus had been teaching him to use because he was too busy trying to have things work out Peter’s way and by Peter’s will. However, it was not the will of Peter that would prevail, but the will of the Lord, and if Peter wished to live a life worthy of his dreams, he would have stop living an internal life of bravery and adventure; he would have to start living a public life that mirrored God’s will. Then Jesus said something contrary to any of Peter’s preconceived notions on how to live life:
“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” –Matthew 16:24
After all these years, Peter received his first glimpse into the sort of adventure Jesus was really planning for his people. It was far beyond any of his wildest dreams. He finally began to understand the magnitude of the adventure they were to embark upon. He also began to realize the bravery and courage he would need, and his inner warrior paled in comparison.
What an adventure would be ahead? The adventure of life in Christ: the life we are all invited into.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Poverty of the Spirit
Months ago, I finally met a man with whom I had been friends for quite some time face to face. Florida resident Roy Heath contacted me one day to tell me that he enjoyed my radio program, and we have been corresponding ever since. When I finally met the man months after our first correspondence, the look in this seventy-three year old gentleman's eyes told of his relational life with the Savior, who had taught him much of grace, humbleness, and love.
Around the same time that I was becoming friends with Roy, a man who had lived almost five decades more than I, I met a man who had lived one less year than I. Twenty-tree year old Kentucky native Mick Allred revealed his heart to me the same day we first crossed paths. He was so desperate for God that the first mention of the faith brought tears to His eyes. Mick was in love with God, but Mick was uncertain that God was in love with him. The desperation to know God more was unmistakable.
So, within the matter of a few weeks, I had made friends with two men who were separated by fifty years and hundreds of miles. Their dispositions were quite different, but they shared a similar struggle. These men have never met. They have never talked to each other, and I am not even sure that I have ever mentioned either one to the other. However, they both revealed to me their inner struggles around the same time. Both men told me they felt inadequate and felt that they did not know enough of God and His love.
What a tremendous blessing!
Our desire to know Him more, our desperation to draw closer, is evidence that we are losing the self-centered heart, and with its fall, we are desperate to cling to Him. Our desperation is a driving force to focus steadfastly upon His love, and our poverty is our proof. We cannot separate ourselves from our selfish desires on our own; only the Spirit in us can do these things. What does it mean when we no longer want to be satisfied by our ignorance of Him? It means He is working in us. His love is infiltrating our being, and we, for the first time, realize we cannot live without it.
Both of my dear friends are still searching daily. Each man still hungers for more. However, there is no longer a fear of condemnation in their desperation, for they realize that it is a God given poverty.
Around the same time that I was becoming friends with Roy, a man who had lived almost five decades more than I, I met a man who had lived one less year than I. Twenty-tree year old Kentucky native Mick Allred revealed his heart to me the same day we first crossed paths. He was so desperate for God that the first mention of the faith brought tears to His eyes. Mick was in love with God, but Mick was uncertain that God was in love with him. The desperation to know God more was unmistakable.
So, within the matter of a few weeks, I had made friends with two men who were separated by fifty years and hundreds of miles. Their dispositions were quite different, but they shared a similar struggle. These men have never met. They have never talked to each other, and I am not even sure that I have ever mentioned either one to the other. However, they both revealed to me their inner struggles around the same time. Both men told me they felt inadequate and felt that they did not know enough of God and His love.
What a tremendous blessing!
Our desire to know Him more, our desperation to draw closer, is evidence that we are losing the self-centered heart, and with its fall, we are desperate to cling to Him. Our desperation is a driving force to focus steadfastly upon His love, and our poverty is our proof. We cannot separate ourselves from our selfish desires on our own; only the Spirit in us can do these things. What does it mean when we no longer want to be satisfied by our ignorance of Him? It means He is working in us. His love is infiltrating our being, and we, for the first time, realize we cannot live without it.
Both of my dear friends are still searching daily. Each man still hungers for more. However, there is no longer a fear of condemnation in their desperation, for they realize that it is a God given poverty.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Perseverance
This is an essay I wrote a while back for my ministry, but it has resurfaced on the waves of my mind, and I want to share it with all of you:
Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:12-14
As I enter into this discussion, I first have to appeal to my reader. While reading this essay, please be patient with my words, and remember that they are my words, not the final word. I will indulge in a little speculation in some areas that I, admittedly, do not fully understand. I am embarking on a journey that God has initiated, but I will not fully comprehend its meaning until I finish the course. My hope is that even if you disagree with my conclusions, you will use these thoughts as a springboard to launch yourself into deep contemplation. I have prayed over these thoughts and humbly submit them to you as one who appreciates the responsibility God has placed upon me as a teacher of His word.
When a person contemplates his or her inevitability, he or she will often find happiness in the outcome of our faith, the eternal life that is spent with the Godhead. However, many, if not all, even though they might embrace faith, find in their deep contemplations a sense of dread when the idea of death enters their minds. Even worse, for the atheist, there is no sense of joy for the afterlife, only a sense of dread that death is final. All people, thinking from the human perspective, dread the inevitable death that each of us must face unless we are taken up beforehand. I must conclude, as many before me have, that humanity is opposed to death because it is against our nature. This is evident from the account in Genesis. We are afraid of death because it is a punishment. If we did not dread the consequence of death, how would it be a punishment? Christ has conquered death’s power over us, but we still must endure death to receive the final reward of Christ’s atonement.
This unknown barrier keeps our joy about the afterlife forever in the heart but limits the mind’s capacity to grasp such a concept. The human brain responds to experience; hence, the mysterious nature of death breeds fear. Death cannot be experientially known until our lives end, and our minds have no guarantee of what will become of us afterwards since they cannot retrieve assurance from a prior experience. This is the human condition. I still consider myself a Timothy of the faith: I am young but willing to grow. Therefore, I know that more experienced Christians, those more mature in the faith, have a deeper understanding of what I am going to say. Many, I imagine, have passed through this phase of allowing uncertainty to have a degree of control over their mental grasp of eternal existence, even as they allow their hearts to experience the peace beyond understanding. However, I have a hunch that the uncertainty that is a condition of the human mind will remain with us to at least some degree until the end of this life. Otherwise, we become more than human. This is why Christians need a peace that is beyond understanding. Our minds cannot grasp fully the power from which the peace comes, for it comes from the heart through faith and pacifies the mind only after being realized through the faith of the heart: “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
Uncertainty is a product of the human condition, and there is no need to deny this. As philosophers and theologians have said for thousands of years, we are incapable of fully knowing most, if not all things for certain. The “knowing” I speak of is the “knowing” of the brain, a limited organ that receives data and processes ideas according to the experiences a person has had. We are constantly in the state of learning. Faith, then, is exactly that, unless we think in a hyper-Calvinistic sense. Faith is a “knowledge” of another sort, a knowledge of the heart. Therefore, faith is not a species of head knowledge that will supplant uncertainty, although it can guide us in a manner that enables us to deal with our uncertainty. Faith from the heart can inform our minds and allow us to comprehend that there is a greater understanding that supersedes the faculties of human intellect. Spiritual knowledge is a knowledge that we cannot learn but must receive from God.
Uncertainty, sometimes called doubt, has acquired a negative connotation in the mind of the Christian. We are taught that if we are uncertain about particular topics, we are somehow living wrongly. I must respectfully disagree. It is how we treat doubt that shows whether or not we are living properly. If we avoid questions by pretending we do not have them, we are not living honestly before our God and before others. When we hide behind a pretense of objective knowledge, we make others feel inadequate because they know in their hearts they have not found an objective truth that the mind can grasp. There is a God who loves us, but to know this is to understand it not with our brains but with our souls. The truth for any person of contemplation is that we can never fully comprehend the metaphysical by our own merit. We can never wrap up the existence of God in our minds. This is not to say that our mind is completely incapable of recognizing evidences of God, quite the contrary. However, our brain, limited to the space between our ears, limited by the five senses, limited by the finite time in which it has to learn, limited by its physical weaknesses, can never fully grasp the extent of our limitless God and His limitless love for us. Therefore, there is no shame in uncertainty of the mind.
As a parallel, let us think about another humanistic condition that we have made others believe to be evil. Many Christians treat temptation as if it were a sin within itself. However, was Christ not tempted in the desert by Satan himself? Otherwise, why would we call this biblical teaching “The temptation of Christ”? Christ demonstrates that temptation is not sin, but the manner in which we deal with the temptation that proves our heart.
Uncertainty, if treated incorrectly, can lead down a path of faithlessness, but if handled properly, can be a driving force for us to seek God out in everything. Doubt is not to be glorified, but it is to be acknowledged. Is it not uncertainty that lends power to faith? Is not faith, by definition, the act of overcoming the real uncertainty that lives within us? Would faith be faith if we had no doubt? Would it not be called objective knowledge? This is not to say, “Yes, doubt exists and you will just have to live with it.” This is to say that if we acknowledge before God and one another that doubt is a part of our lives, we can then accept God’s guidance to a path of understanding that usurps doubt’s preeminence. Faith is our trump card.
To live properly by faith, we must confront doubt without blinking. We must allow our faith to inform uncertainty, not the other way around. This is truly the power of Christianity. We must reverse our manner of thinking from head to heart, and make it a path of heart to head.
To make myself perfectly clear, I must mention something. Development of the mind is of upmost importance. If our purpose is to follow God, the One who gave us intelligence and reason, it would be odd for us to deny our mental capacity when thinking of God. It would be strange to turn the faith into something that is exclusively about emotion and has nothing to do with reason. Reason, however, is limited, and faith goes beyond what the mind can know. Therefore, although people often see doubt (or, should I say, uncertainty) as a flaw in someone’s faith, this is not entirely the case. Doubt is a product of the flawed mind, while faith is a divinely appointed ability. The origins of the two are from different sources. Therefore, faith and doubt exist on two separate levels. Doubt, therefore, is not a hole in the heart’s faith, but a product of the mind. Thus, if we think properly, we can allow faith to conquer doubt. However, if we see the problem of doubt as a lack in faith, we will forever attempt to pump up our faith instead of using it to defeat doubt. Think about it: If faith is a gift from God as Paul tells us (Ephesians 2:8), then how can we assume that it is faith that is weak. It is not the faith that is weak; it is our confidence in faith that is weak.
The best examples of how to live as Christians should come from our Lord. His faith is never clearer, other than the manner in which He lived every day of his life, than in his preparation for experiencing death. What is faith other than a submission of the human will unto God’s will? By submitting ourselves to God no matter the consequences and the uncertainty is to typify fully faith in Him. As Jesus prepared for death, He poured himself out before the Father. The manner in which God in Christ and God in the Father interact in the garden is beyond our comprehension. However, part of our Trinitarian belief tells us that the Godhead is in communion with Himself. The three parts of God interact in complete harmony, but, nonetheless, interact. We also confess that Christ was fully human yet fully divine. Here again, we lack full understanding, but we take this tenet by faith. As Christ struggles in the garden, we see His humanity so that we might relate. Christ calls out to God the Father and lets it be known that He is afraid of what is to come and does not wish to face this horrible death. Often, when another human has a similar experience, many Christians deem this a flaw. They ask, in effect, why anyone would tell God that he or she does not wish to follow the path He has set. However, we are told that Christ, in full honesty before the Father, admitted reservations. Although His humanity resists the unknown consequences of death, He submits Himself to the Father’s will, for, by faith of the spirit, He knows He will be victorious (Mark 14:36). The narrative of Christ’s death continues, and as He hangs upon the cross, He cries out to God: “At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?," which is translated, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?" (Mark 15:34).
Here we come to a passage that the Church, at times, has struggled with, yet when considered carefully, it lends great comfort to many who suffer a sense of abandonment from God. As I study numerous commentaries, I find numerous explanations. I even find that some within the church prefer to ignore this verse. When I study this passage in Mark, I find that Mark does not offer much explanation. Thus, the reader must contemplate the passage, in which Christ quotes Psalm 22:1. Although this may seem a strange way of doing so, Christ is speaking to His father and acknowledging a final victory, even while he feels abandonment. However, it is a victory that He takes by faith because experientially, Christ does not feel God’s presence. At this moment, Christ feels completely abandoned by God. I imagine that the correct theology is that which maintains that Christ felt abandoned because He was assuming the full force of humanity’s sin; hence, God the Father had, for a time, to break His communion with God the Son. However, the important point to realize is that Christ, suffering greatly for us, did feel a separation from God in some manner, a sense of abandonment He had never experienced before. I cannot begin to imagine what sort of emotion and fear He had to endure at this moment.
(If you have not already done so, this would be a good time to read Psalm 22.)
Now, let me explain why I see this cry from the cross as a cry of victory. Although Christ, for the first time in His entire life, felt abandoned by God, the scripture He chooses to recite is one of ultimate victory. Many scholars would suggest that we should not be so quick in allowing the entirety of Psalm 22 to inform our understanding of why Christ said what He did because it diminishes the suffering of the Messiah. I respectfully say that this takes nothing away from His suffering. Christ’s intention has to be seen here. A famous commentator once said that if Jesus’ intention was to admit a full sense of despair without hope, He could have quoted a number of passages that demonstrate abandonment but do not end in final victory, yet this passage is the one He uttered in His final moments. Jesus did not, at this point, quote the portion of the Psalm that explicitly demonstrates final victory. Instead, He voiced the part that demonstrated exactly what He was feeling at that moment. Thus, we do understand that He is indeed suffering greatly, both physically and emotionally, and this is why I see these words as a cry of victory to which we, as humans, can relate. Christ seems to be saying that He does, in fact, feel abandoned for the moment, but He also, by faith, is suggesting that what is to come is the final victory of the Lord. It may seem peculiar to say that Christ felt abandoned by God; however, this is what the Bible says. Despite feeling completely torn from the Father, Christ believes God is still going to have victory. In fact, many of Christ’s sayings from the cross that appear in other gospels demonstrate more clearly His sense of victory. And as we read the rest of the gospel, we see that Christ’s faith was indeed valid, for He rose from the grave. We, too, should feel permitted to cry out to God and admit our fear and sense of abandonment. Then, our hearts will testify that He is in complete control and will have final victory in our lives. In the face of the unknown, faith can be damaged by our lack of understanding in its power. In truth, it is not doubt that should destroy faith. Faith is our strength to overcome the barrier of uncertainty and doubt.
This is the path that I am on, and a path that many have taken before me. The path of faith is better understood by a reversal in our thinking. We must allow our hearts to inform our minds. We must learn to give the heart’s faith knowledge the chance to overcome the head’s limited experiential knowledge. Pray that God would strengthen your faith and allow it to take the lead of your life.
Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:12-14
As I enter into this discussion, I first have to appeal to my reader. While reading this essay, please be patient with my words, and remember that they are my words, not the final word. I will indulge in a little speculation in some areas that I, admittedly, do not fully understand. I am embarking on a journey that God has initiated, but I will not fully comprehend its meaning until I finish the course. My hope is that even if you disagree with my conclusions, you will use these thoughts as a springboard to launch yourself into deep contemplation. I have prayed over these thoughts and humbly submit them to you as one who appreciates the responsibility God has placed upon me as a teacher of His word.
When a person contemplates his or her inevitability, he or she will often find happiness in the outcome of our faith, the eternal life that is spent with the Godhead. However, many, if not all, even though they might embrace faith, find in their deep contemplations a sense of dread when the idea of death enters their minds. Even worse, for the atheist, there is no sense of joy for the afterlife, only a sense of dread that death is final. All people, thinking from the human perspective, dread the inevitable death that each of us must face unless we are taken up beforehand. I must conclude, as many before me have, that humanity is opposed to death because it is against our nature. This is evident from the account in Genesis. We are afraid of death because it is a punishment. If we did not dread the consequence of death, how would it be a punishment? Christ has conquered death’s power over us, but we still must endure death to receive the final reward of Christ’s atonement.
This unknown barrier keeps our joy about the afterlife forever in the heart but limits the mind’s capacity to grasp such a concept. The human brain responds to experience; hence, the mysterious nature of death breeds fear. Death cannot be experientially known until our lives end, and our minds have no guarantee of what will become of us afterwards since they cannot retrieve assurance from a prior experience. This is the human condition. I still consider myself a Timothy of the faith: I am young but willing to grow. Therefore, I know that more experienced Christians, those more mature in the faith, have a deeper understanding of what I am going to say. Many, I imagine, have passed through this phase of allowing uncertainty to have a degree of control over their mental grasp of eternal existence, even as they allow their hearts to experience the peace beyond understanding. However, I have a hunch that the uncertainty that is a condition of the human mind will remain with us to at least some degree until the end of this life. Otherwise, we become more than human. This is why Christians need a peace that is beyond understanding. Our minds cannot grasp fully the power from which the peace comes, for it comes from the heart through faith and pacifies the mind only after being realized through the faith of the heart: “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
Uncertainty is a product of the human condition, and there is no need to deny this. As philosophers and theologians have said for thousands of years, we are incapable of fully knowing most, if not all things for certain. The “knowing” I speak of is the “knowing” of the brain, a limited organ that receives data and processes ideas according to the experiences a person has had. We are constantly in the state of learning. Faith, then, is exactly that, unless we think in a hyper-Calvinistic sense. Faith is a “knowledge” of another sort, a knowledge of the heart. Therefore, faith is not a species of head knowledge that will supplant uncertainty, although it can guide us in a manner that enables us to deal with our uncertainty. Faith from the heart can inform our minds and allow us to comprehend that there is a greater understanding that supersedes the faculties of human intellect. Spiritual knowledge is a knowledge that we cannot learn but must receive from God.
Uncertainty, sometimes called doubt, has acquired a negative connotation in the mind of the Christian. We are taught that if we are uncertain about particular topics, we are somehow living wrongly. I must respectfully disagree. It is how we treat doubt that shows whether or not we are living properly. If we avoid questions by pretending we do not have them, we are not living honestly before our God and before others. When we hide behind a pretense of objective knowledge, we make others feel inadequate because they know in their hearts they have not found an objective truth that the mind can grasp. There is a God who loves us, but to know this is to understand it not with our brains but with our souls. The truth for any person of contemplation is that we can never fully comprehend the metaphysical by our own merit. We can never wrap up the existence of God in our minds. This is not to say that our mind is completely incapable of recognizing evidences of God, quite the contrary. However, our brain, limited to the space between our ears, limited by the five senses, limited by the finite time in which it has to learn, limited by its physical weaknesses, can never fully grasp the extent of our limitless God and His limitless love for us. Therefore, there is no shame in uncertainty of the mind.
As a parallel, let us think about another humanistic condition that we have made others believe to be evil. Many Christians treat temptation as if it were a sin within itself. However, was Christ not tempted in the desert by Satan himself? Otherwise, why would we call this biblical teaching “The temptation of Christ”? Christ demonstrates that temptation is not sin, but the manner in which we deal with the temptation that proves our heart.
Uncertainty, if treated incorrectly, can lead down a path of faithlessness, but if handled properly, can be a driving force for us to seek God out in everything. Doubt is not to be glorified, but it is to be acknowledged. Is it not uncertainty that lends power to faith? Is not faith, by definition, the act of overcoming the real uncertainty that lives within us? Would faith be faith if we had no doubt? Would it not be called objective knowledge? This is not to say, “Yes, doubt exists and you will just have to live with it.” This is to say that if we acknowledge before God and one another that doubt is a part of our lives, we can then accept God’s guidance to a path of understanding that usurps doubt’s preeminence. Faith is our trump card.
To live properly by faith, we must confront doubt without blinking. We must allow our faith to inform uncertainty, not the other way around. This is truly the power of Christianity. We must reverse our manner of thinking from head to heart, and make it a path of heart to head.
To make myself perfectly clear, I must mention something. Development of the mind is of upmost importance. If our purpose is to follow God, the One who gave us intelligence and reason, it would be odd for us to deny our mental capacity when thinking of God. It would be strange to turn the faith into something that is exclusively about emotion and has nothing to do with reason. Reason, however, is limited, and faith goes beyond what the mind can know. Therefore, although people often see doubt (or, should I say, uncertainty) as a flaw in someone’s faith, this is not entirely the case. Doubt is a product of the flawed mind, while faith is a divinely appointed ability. The origins of the two are from different sources. Therefore, faith and doubt exist on two separate levels. Doubt, therefore, is not a hole in the heart’s faith, but a product of the mind. Thus, if we think properly, we can allow faith to conquer doubt. However, if we see the problem of doubt as a lack in faith, we will forever attempt to pump up our faith instead of using it to defeat doubt. Think about it: If faith is a gift from God as Paul tells us (Ephesians 2:8), then how can we assume that it is faith that is weak. It is not the faith that is weak; it is our confidence in faith that is weak.
The best examples of how to live as Christians should come from our Lord. His faith is never clearer, other than the manner in which He lived every day of his life, than in his preparation for experiencing death. What is faith other than a submission of the human will unto God’s will? By submitting ourselves to God no matter the consequences and the uncertainty is to typify fully faith in Him. As Jesus prepared for death, He poured himself out before the Father. The manner in which God in Christ and God in the Father interact in the garden is beyond our comprehension. However, part of our Trinitarian belief tells us that the Godhead is in communion with Himself. The three parts of God interact in complete harmony, but, nonetheless, interact. We also confess that Christ was fully human yet fully divine. Here again, we lack full understanding, but we take this tenet by faith. As Christ struggles in the garden, we see His humanity so that we might relate. Christ calls out to God the Father and lets it be known that He is afraid of what is to come and does not wish to face this horrible death. Often, when another human has a similar experience, many Christians deem this a flaw. They ask, in effect, why anyone would tell God that he or she does not wish to follow the path He has set. However, we are told that Christ, in full honesty before the Father, admitted reservations. Although His humanity resists the unknown consequences of death, He submits Himself to the Father’s will, for, by faith of the spirit, He knows He will be victorious (Mark 14:36). The narrative of Christ’s death continues, and as He hangs upon the cross, He cries out to God: “At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?," which is translated, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?" (Mark 15:34).
Here we come to a passage that the Church, at times, has struggled with, yet when considered carefully, it lends great comfort to many who suffer a sense of abandonment from God. As I study numerous commentaries, I find numerous explanations. I even find that some within the church prefer to ignore this verse. When I study this passage in Mark, I find that Mark does not offer much explanation. Thus, the reader must contemplate the passage, in which Christ quotes Psalm 22:1. Although this may seem a strange way of doing so, Christ is speaking to His father and acknowledging a final victory, even while he feels abandonment. However, it is a victory that He takes by faith because experientially, Christ does not feel God’s presence. At this moment, Christ feels completely abandoned by God. I imagine that the correct theology is that which maintains that Christ felt abandoned because He was assuming the full force of humanity’s sin; hence, God the Father had, for a time, to break His communion with God the Son. However, the important point to realize is that Christ, suffering greatly for us, did feel a separation from God in some manner, a sense of abandonment He had never experienced before. I cannot begin to imagine what sort of emotion and fear He had to endure at this moment.
(If you have not already done so, this would be a good time to read Psalm 22.)
Now, let me explain why I see this cry from the cross as a cry of victory. Although Christ, for the first time in His entire life, felt abandoned by God, the scripture He chooses to recite is one of ultimate victory. Many scholars would suggest that we should not be so quick in allowing the entirety of Psalm 22 to inform our understanding of why Christ said what He did because it diminishes the suffering of the Messiah. I respectfully say that this takes nothing away from His suffering. Christ’s intention has to be seen here. A famous commentator once said that if Jesus’ intention was to admit a full sense of despair without hope, He could have quoted a number of passages that demonstrate abandonment but do not end in final victory, yet this passage is the one He uttered in His final moments. Jesus did not, at this point, quote the portion of the Psalm that explicitly demonstrates final victory. Instead, He voiced the part that demonstrated exactly what He was feeling at that moment. Thus, we do understand that He is indeed suffering greatly, both physically and emotionally, and this is why I see these words as a cry of victory to which we, as humans, can relate. Christ seems to be saying that He does, in fact, feel abandoned for the moment, but He also, by faith, is suggesting that what is to come is the final victory of the Lord. It may seem peculiar to say that Christ felt abandoned by God; however, this is what the Bible says. Despite feeling completely torn from the Father, Christ believes God is still going to have victory. In fact, many of Christ’s sayings from the cross that appear in other gospels demonstrate more clearly His sense of victory. And as we read the rest of the gospel, we see that Christ’s faith was indeed valid, for He rose from the grave. We, too, should feel permitted to cry out to God and admit our fear and sense of abandonment. Then, our hearts will testify that He is in complete control and will have final victory in our lives. In the face of the unknown, faith can be damaged by our lack of understanding in its power. In truth, it is not doubt that should destroy faith. Faith is our strength to overcome the barrier of uncertainty and doubt.
This is the path that I am on, and a path that many have taken before me. The path of faith is better understood by a reversal in our thinking. We must allow our hearts to inform our minds. We must learn to give the heart’s faith knowledge the chance to overcome the head’s limited experiential knowledge. Pray that God would strengthen your faith and allow it to take the lead of your life.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Theology: A House
There once was a father who had twin boys, James and Paul. The father wanted to leave his boys something to remember him by, but all the father knew was construction. So, instead of leaving a political legacy or a vast sum of money, the father left his boys a house that he built with his own two hands. It was the greatest work he had ever built in his life. Soon after completing construction on his new home, the father passed away leaving the house to his young boys. Not a day went by that the young men did not see something new about the house that the father had hand crafted. The boys lived in awe each and every day of their lives.
There was one peculiar thing about the boys. Each left the house through an opposite door. The first time James had ever left the house, he exited through the front, and what he saw kept him from ever leaving any other way. He marveled at the four huge columns that supported the roof above the beautiful porch. He admired the handcrafted molding that surrounded the huge windows. It was a work of art. This is how he viewed his house and no one would ever change his mind.
The first time Paul had ever left the house, he exited through the back, and what he saw kept him from ever leaving any other way. He marveled at the outdoor chimney that was stacked from savannah brick. He admired the hand laid tile that formed the patio. It was a work of art. This is how he viewed the house and no one would ever change his mind.
One day the twins’ fifth grade teacher asked her students to describe something in their lives that they thought was a piece of art. Once it became apparent to the teacher that the twins both wanted to discuss their father’s house, she allowed the boys to do a joint project. The night before their presentation, the boys could not sleep. They were so excited to share with their peers and teacher the wonder that was their father’s house.
Almost in harmony, the boys told of the hard wood floors, the marble counter tops, the stained molding, the spiral staircase, the vaulted ceilings, and every other detail that was on the inside of the house. They were so excited they were running out of breath. The teacher stopped the boys to ask them about the outside of the house. The harmony ceased. James began to describe the columns and the large windows while Paul began to describe the outdoor chimney, and tile patio. James looked at Paul like he was crazy, and Paul was returning the look to James. Both children seemed so knowledgeable about the house. That is why the teacher was so confused. She could not see how two people so knowledgeable on a specific topic could have so much disagreement, especially when the two “experts” both lived in the topic at hand. It never occurred to the teacher that neither boy had ever seen the whole house.
Never stop searching.
There was one peculiar thing about the boys. Each left the house through an opposite door. The first time James had ever left the house, he exited through the front, and what he saw kept him from ever leaving any other way. He marveled at the four huge columns that supported the roof above the beautiful porch. He admired the handcrafted molding that surrounded the huge windows. It was a work of art. This is how he viewed his house and no one would ever change his mind.
The first time Paul had ever left the house, he exited through the back, and what he saw kept him from ever leaving any other way. He marveled at the outdoor chimney that was stacked from savannah brick. He admired the hand laid tile that formed the patio. It was a work of art. This is how he viewed the house and no one would ever change his mind.
One day the twins’ fifth grade teacher asked her students to describe something in their lives that they thought was a piece of art. Once it became apparent to the teacher that the twins both wanted to discuss their father’s house, she allowed the boys to do a joint project. The night before their presentation, the boys could not sleep. They were so excited to share with their peers and teacher the wonder that was their father’s house.
Almost in harmony, the boys told of the hard wood floors, the marble counter tops, the stained molding, the spiral staircase, the vaulted ceilings, and every other detail that was on the inside of the house. They were so excited they were running out of breath. The teacher stopped the boys to ask them about the outside of the house. The harmony ceased. James began to describe the columns and the large windows while Paul began to describe the outdoor chimney, and tile patio. James looked at Paul like he was crazy, and Paul was returning the look to James. Both children seemed so knowledgeable about the house. That is why the teacher was so confused. She could not see how two people so knowledgeable on a specific topic could have so much disagreement, especially when the two “experts” both lived in the topic at hand. It never occurred to the teacher that neither boy had ever seen the whole house.
Never stop searching.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
The Need to Move Forward
In light of yesterday's post, how can we ever take God's love for granted? Why do so many Christians settle for salvation without relation?
There was once a man who wanted to travel to a distant land where not many had ever been before. He had read that the land was treacherous and uncharted, and there was no way to explore this new land alone. He did not heed the warning and instead, went alone unprepared. He was a strong young man and had defeated every obstacle he had ever faced, but this trip would prove to be too much. He was flown to his desired drop-off-point and left alone to face the monstrous land. Five minutes into his exploration, the man found himself in quicksand. He tried with all his might to crawl out, but the more he struggled the more he sank. His eyes filled with tears. All he could think of was why he did not listen to the warnings. He thought he was invincible, but he was a mere man, and his end was near. Oh, how he wished for just one more chance. He screamed out for help, and, just as he did, a man stronger than he appeared in the distance. The man was standing on solid ground, beautiful ground. The desperate young traveler begged for the man to come help him, and the man threw the “would be explorer” a rope and pulled him out of the pit. The exhausted young man was out of the pit but was not on the beautiful grassy area that his rescuer was standing on. Instead, he remained face down in the stagnate, muddy area around the quicksand. The rescuer called out to the man, “Come with me. Stand by me on this solid ground, and I can show you beauty beyond your wildest imagination. There are many others that are in pits just like you were, and we can save them too. I want you to come with me. We can show them the beauty of this wonderful land together.” The young man picked his head up out of the mud to answer, “No, I am fine right here, and I do not plan on moving.”
Not only is this sort of life sad, it is insulting to the Savior. We do not have to wait for the life to come; we can walk with Him now!
There was once a man who wanted to travel to a distant land where not many had ever been before. He had read that the land was treacherous and uncharted, and there was no way to explore this new land alone. He did not heed the warning and instead, went alone unprepared. He was a strong young man and had defeated every obstacle he had ever faced, but this trip would prove to be too much. He was flown to his desired drop-off-point and left alone to face the monstrous land. Five minutes into his exploration, the man found himself in quicksand. He tried with all his might to crawl out, but the more he struggled the more he sank. His eyes filled with tears. All he could think of was why he did not listen to the warnings. He thought he was invincible, but he was a mere man, and his end was near. Oh, how he wished for just one more chance. He screamed out for help, and, just as he did, a man stronger than he appeared in the distance. The man was standing on solid ground, beautiful ground. The desperate young traveler begged for the man to come help him, and the man threw the “would be explorer” a rope and pulled him out of the pit. The exhausted young man was out of the pit but was not on the beautiful grassy area that his rescuer was standing on. Instead, he remained face down in the stagnate, muddy area around the quicksand. The rescuer called out to the man, “Come with me. Stand by me on this solid ground, and I can show you beauty beyond your wildest imagination. There are many others that are in pits just like you were, and we can save them too. I want you to come with me. We can show them the beauty of this wonderful land together.” The young man picked his head up out of the mud to answer, “No, I am fine right here, and I do not plan on moving.”
Not only is this sort of life sad, it is insulting to the Savior. We do not have to wait for the life to come; we can walk with Him now!
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