The Width Of Gray, Part Three

What is the width of gray – that area of freedom and responsibility given to the Christian that falls in between the solid lines of demarcation that say: “This is a non-negotiable wrong and this is a non-negotiable right?” It is an important question. Whole denominations and movements and sects are founded on this question.

In some denominations, women wear head-coverings because of, in my view, a misunderstanding of what Paul was communicating in I Corinthians 11. Ronald Sider relates a story in his readable and wonderful book, Genuine Christianity, in regard to the brutal conflict that sometimes arises between denominations when they brush too closely to one another. In Jerusalem, the church of the Holy Sepulcher, is a place where all Christian denominations gather to give honor to the place where Jesus was crucified, prepared for burial, and the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, where Christ was laid. It seems that there is so much infighting between the Christians about who is the rightful steward of this holy site that a Muslim man has been given the responsibility of keeping the key to the door that unlocks the church. Dr. Sider once witnessed, during an Easter Service being held by the Roman Catholics, a priest from the Greek Orthodox Church march through and snuff out all of the Catholic candles. His reason? “Because the Catholics are using the wrong calendar and candles are not be lit until the proper date – which is found on our calendar!”

Such theological oddities bemuse and confuse the non-Christian world around us. Actually, such actions bemuse and confuse those who are Christ-followers as well. The faith “once-given” seems fractured beyond repair. What it takes to meet the requirements of church membership in various denominations necessitates not only an embrace of the orthodoxy (right doctrine) of a particular church, but also those things that have become elevated to the place of doctrine – the orthopraxy (right practice). One might believe all of the right things that one church preaches to get oneself to heaven, but if you happen to be toting the wrong translation of the Bible to church, or if you take a sip of wine with dinner, or if you go to an “R” rated movie – you are out.

Why do churches do this? There are many reasons that I could name – from a spirit of legalism, to theological ignorance, to mindless tradition, etc. Each of these would be simple enough upon which to elaborate. But my suspicion, having been on the inside of such subjective criteria, is that it has more to do with spiritual laziness and control.

Control is the easier one to define so I will begin with it. If a group of people have stacked hands on a code of behavior that to them “looks Christian” it is much easier to bend the teaching towards those goals. And, moreover, it is much easier to spot a slacker. “He is not like us,” is a common theme in many churches. Most often this judgment is dealt with, not in a direct way, but by the devil’s way, i.e. gossip and backbiting.

But what about the spiritual laziness which I believe to be the real culprit? What is that? Spiritual laziness is the practice of trading God’s voice in a given situation for a prescripted code of behavior. As I have walked with Christ now for many years, I have come to believe that there are many practices that are not necessarily right or wrong in and of themselves. I have also come to believe that there are many practices that are right or wrong based solely upon the situation. The only way to know the proper course of action based upon this area of gray is to hear God’s voice in the moment. Since it is easier to teach a prescripted code of behavior than it is to teach a person how to hear the voice of God – churches opt for the lowest common denominator. It is much less of a hassle. Let’s look at a couple of examples.

Is it wrong to drink wine? Before you answer that with a positive, remember that Jesus produced, in a moment, gallons and gallons of the stuff and then imbibed: so much so that He was called a glutton and a drunkard. If you don’t agree with having a glass of wine but happen to wear one of those “What Would Jesus Do?” bracelets, then I can rightly question your discipleship... Sinner!

How about the Sabbath? I was once torched up by a deacon who accused me of blaspheming the Sabbath because I announced that the youth group was going to play some football on a Sunday afternoon. He even went King James on me: “Ye shall remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.” I guess it was okay to watch others play professional football on the Sabbath because the whole deacon board talked about that incessantly. We went ahead with our game but I never received more than an icy, judgmental stare from this brother until I graduated from college and left that church. Paul’s take on these subjects was and is reasonable and freeing when he wrote: “Do not let anyone act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath Day.” Colossians 2:16

Why do we opt for codes of behavior over learning to hear the voice of God? Spiritual laziness is one reason. It takes effort to learn the art of walking in and by the Spirit of God. But there is another thing and I believe it has something to do with fear. What if I really begin to hear the voice of God? What inhuman thing might God ask me to do or to give up if I get so cozy with Him that He is actually leading me, moment by moment? C.S Lewis picks up this idea in his little book entitled: Letters To Malcom: Chiefly on Prayer.

"Much of our backwardness in prayer is no doubt due to our sins…And also to the very worst kind of “fear of God.” We shrink from too naked a contact, because we are afraid of the Divine demands upon us which it might make too audible. As some old writer says, “Many a Christian prays faintly lest God really hear him – which he – poor man, never intended.”

To explore the “width of gray” means committing oneself to grow up – to no longer be content and imprisoned with codes set forth by others. I am not preaching an immoral license to go and do anything one pleases. I will clear that up in the next post. What I am saying is that God is God and He will lead you and me in unexpected ways that press into that one great purpose of which the Apostle Paul spoke so eloquently in I Corinthians 9:20-23:

To the Jews, I became a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those under the Law, as under the Law, though not myself being under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the Law of God but under the law of Christ, that I might win those who are without law. To the weak, I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some. And I do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow partaker of it.”

If you really grasp what it is Paul is saying, you mind find yourself being asked by God to either turn water into wine – or to pick up a bottle on your way to your friend’s house who doesn’t yet know Jesus. See you soon…

Rocky Mountain High (kus)

I had some not so good news today regarding the death of a friend. As I processed, mumbled and rumbled before the Lord, an odd thing occurred. The Lord seemed to say: "Write some haikus...you seem to find yourself pretty amusing." (In case you have forgotten 7th grade English - the haiku is a pithy form of Japanese poetry that consists of three lines of five, seven and five syllables respectively). I did a spiritual double-take. How odd. Was that really the Lord? I couldn't escape the thought. I remembered how my buddies and I in Junior High would write some rather ribald haikus about teachers, coaches, school lunches and other stuff. It was addictive. I decided to act upon this impression. The experience was goofy, sophomoric, mildly challenging and distracting. But most of all, it was child-like. I was thinking about how I used to do that sort of thing with my own kids when they were small and in some kind of funk or hysterics. I would simply re-direct their attention and their energies to something different. It was often a successful ploy. As I learn more about the Father heart of God, I find myself surprised time and again at the familiarity of some of His ways with me. He fathers me not unlike how I fathered my own children. In the book of Proverbs there are two verses pretty close together that say this: "A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit." (15:13); and, "All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast." (15:15) For God to distract my mind and my heart with a harmless return to a good memory was a gift. Joy and peace are the default settings of the believer’s heart no matter the circumstance.

Enjoy – and kindly forgive - the hideous poetry that follows. If you visited this post for depth of theological insight, please consider reading previous efforts. This one is just for fun. Feel free to count the syllables. Actually, you probably will not be able to help yourself in that regard. It is a bit maddening, that. For best effect, read slowly and out-loud - pausing briefly after each line. Here we go...

Moles
Moles beneath the ground
A tortured ride on mower
Bumpy on rumpy

A Suspicious Accusation
My wife says I snore
More and more and more I snore
But offers no proof

Physics & The Answer To A Mysteriously Messy Garage
Second law affirmed
Thermodynamics is true
Witness my garage

An Ode To Joe (a balding and graying friend)
The hair not turned gray
Is quietly turning loose
Follicle traitors

Election Year (2008)
Elephant trumpets
He and she donkeys braying
Oratory gas

My Money-Making Scheme
Credit card offers
Submitted at one sitting
Charge each to the max

Moe
An ugly dog he
A smelly & toothless mutt
Our much beloved Pug

A Cat Massage
Declawed cat purring
Massaging contentedly
My willing tummy

A False Accusation
Poisonous air
The man blames the dog again
The wife rolls her eyes

My Back Itches
Back that needs scratching
A begging look at wife’s nails
When will need meet nail?

Bad Breath Conversation Between Dudes
Give me some space dude
Something has died on your tongue
See my nose flaring?

An Apparition In The Mirror During My Morning Shave
New lines line my face
A long gaze in the mirror
I shave my grandpa

The Width Of Gray, Part Two

In the last post I talked about the problem with lists. There seems to be an innate tendency within believers to reach for a definition of spiritual health that distills a relationship with God to a list of things we can and cannot do. The problem with lists is that they limit God, cheapen grace, and miss completely the trajectory of freedom which the New Testament offers. The prevailing message of the New Testament is that the law, the ultimate list, failed to make men and women right before God. That was not the function of the law. All the law could do was demonstrate the righteous and just claims a holy God could expect of willing followers. The law could not erase sin, it could only define sin.

I am an amateur carpenter. One of the tools I carry around is called a plumb bob. A plumb bob, or a plummet, is a weight with a pointed tip on the bottom that is suspended by a string and is used as a vertical reference line. One use of a plumb bob is to help a person determine whether or not a wall is straight. A plumb bob does not lie.

Imagine then for a moment you are holding the plumb bob next to a brick wall you have just built. As the plumb bob comes to a standstill, you notice that from the top of your wall to the bottom there is a 7 inch gap. You say to yourself, "By golly, I have built a crooked wall. I have erected a mini leaning tower of Pisa." But, not to worry – you have in your hand your trusty plumb bob. It has done a splendid job of pointing out that your wall is crooked. The question is this: Can a plumb bob now make your wall straight? The answer is: No. A plumb bob's use is one-dimensional. It tells an accurate story of crookedness. It offers nothing by way of correction.

So it is with the law. The law, held up against our lives, tells an accurate story of our crookedness. It demonstrates the violence our lives have accomplished against God's law and rightful expectations. God has told us to: place no other gods before Him; to keep the Sabbath holy, to honor our fathers and mothers, to not steal, to not bear false witness, to not want other people’s stuff or position in life, and so on. Jesus seems to put the law – this list of commands – on steroids by saying that if we fail these commands even in our hearts we have sinned against God. An honest person, even a good honest person, will have to admit that they have failed God in regard to this expanded definition.

And that is the point. God has made it impossible for us to climb our way into heaven. He has so raised the standard of righteousness that we have all, in the words of the Apostle Paul, “…sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” The list was good. It stood silently like a plumb line against our lives – sure and accurate – as we erected a crooked life of lies, gossip, backbiting, lust, greed, arrogance, coveting, hatefulness, unforgiveness and such. All of us have done these things. We are all little “Leaning Towers of Pisas” and the law offers no relief – only diagnosis.

The entire epistle to the Galatians is dedicated to this issue. I quote at length from chapter 3:1-5:

Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of His death on the cross. Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the Law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it? I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.

In closing, let’s return to our working metaphor – the color gray. I said in the last post that many want to cast the Christian life and spirituality in black and white terms. I used to believe that. I no longer do. I believe that there is an enormous amount of freedom – what would be called gray by some – in which a Christian not only has the freedom to move, but also carries a responsibility to move. I will say much more about this in a future post.

My concern at the moment is this lure to add copious "black and white lists" on top of the grace discovered through the work of Jesus on the cross. Jesus did not come to abolish the law; He came to fulfill the law. Our participation in His death, received by faith and enacted through baptism and communion means – joy of joys – that we have fulfilled the law as well. We share, according to the Word of God, His righteousness and His victory over sin, death, and the law. For those keeping score – that is a really good deal.

In my next post, I will show how the list mentality is the single greatest contributor to a failed and joyless Christian life and a powerless church.

The Width Of Gray, Part One

For John didn’t spend his time eating and drinking, and you say, “He’s possessed by a demon.” The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks and you say, “He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!” But wisdom is shown to be right by its results.
-Matthew 11:18, 19

To the pure, all things are pure… - Titus 1:15a

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery (i.e., the law). - Galatians 5:1


One of the great temptations of being a leader within the church is to create lists for people, consisting of do's and don'ts, who seek structure and direction for their lives. Lists are helpful when making a trip to the grocery store. Lists are not always helpful when trying to craft a soul into the image of Christ. Living out a list-free life places us within the trajectory to which Jesus and the epistles clearly point. He and other New Testament writers would equate list-free living with spiritual maturity. Conversely, spiritual immaturity would be evidenced by a life that is defined by a series of lists.

I would like to begin a conversation that lobbies hard for lives that are free of lists. What I will say in the next few posts will either be welcomed as good news or reviled as heresy. Either way, I suspect that whatever side you fall on you will enjoy the ride. To each camp, and those in-between, I say, “Welcome aboard.”

A list is simply another word for laws or rules. The New Testament goes to great lengths to describe for us a redemption that has set us free from the ultimate of lists – the law. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:2) Paul would say this to the church at Colossae: “You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules [lists] of this world, such as: ‘Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!’? Such rules [lists] are human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules [lists] seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.” Colossians 2:20-23.

This last verse begins to shine the light on why living by lists is problematic. Paul says that lists “seem wise.” It must be true. Go to any Christian bookstore and you find hundreds of titles that have some combination of lists that promise to: set you free from a variety of addictions; make you rich; make you healthy; make you a good leader; make you a good lover; make you Spirit-filled; etc. Each author has set forth a carefully prescribed list of must-do sequential steps that one must master to achieve the golden ring of success that is promised. I am not saying that the outcomes are not both godly and good, or that the author’s intent is malevolent. I just believe that there might be a better way to go about achieving good outcomes without mastering a plethora of lists. (We’ll talk about the “how-to” in a future post – sans list – I promise).

But back to it: Paul says these lists “seem wise.” Why does list-living seem wise? I suspect it has something to do with having in my hands an empirical tool by which to keep score. If I can report to you that at the end of the day I have checked a series of boxes and have kept to the list - then I experience the pride of accomplishment. Lists measure progress. That seems wise.

But the nagging question that surfaces in the Scriptures is this: “Do your lists go far enough?” Let me speed things up for you: The answer is always no. Instead of expanding the horizon of wild possibilities of what God in His creative ability might accomplish through a Spirit-led and empowered believer – a list becomes a limiting, lowest common denominator ceiling. The reason that the New Testament takes such a dim view of lists is that: 1) They will eventually limit what God is up to; and 2) They will make us dependent on the list rather than God.

There is one other thing that lists do that is even more troubling. Lists have a nasty habit of creating a judgmental spirit. Oftentimes, those who live by lists judge “list-free” lives as worldly. Those who know and adhere to a certain list become “clubby.” Those who do not know or practice the list are offered no admittance, i.e. no relationship, with those in the club. One’s worthiness of relationship is predicated upon one’s allegiance to the list. To be ignorant of or to outright reject the list alienates a person from the list-keepers.

This subject is broad and tricky. I fear saying things in print that I will later regret. I fear offering ideas that will be misunderstood and then exploited. But before we close this post, let me offer the challenge before us with a working metaphor. I will pick the color gray.

The color gray is an absolute heresy for those who live by lists. Gray has been associated with ambivalence, mediocrity, and uncertainty. I have heard many a sermon preached along the lines that: “Everything is either black or white – there are no shades of gray.” Usually these sermons are delivered in the color of red – that being the face of the preacher. I have also heard mushy sermons which seem to suggest that almost every moral issue is gray. These sermons are skin-tone in delivery because they are usually very fleshly.

What I am interested in discovering is not so much the question of black or white, but rather this: “What is the width of gray?” To tip my hand early and say that I believe the width of gray is an oscillating thing – sometimes narrow, sometimes wide - is to run the risk of allowing your mind to run ahead of where I intend to land. Be that as it may, I urge you to wait it out and not prejudge or try to pre-guess where our journey is going to take us. When we discover together the width of gray, we may find ourselves living in a freedom and an assignment that we never before thought possible.

Be blessed...
CJ

Marketing

Many of you know that I recently attended a writer’s conference in Redding, California. Many of you also know that I have been home for about three weeks and haven’t written a thing. Part of that has to do with the fact that I decided to identify with popular culture by participating with the virus that has swept La Plata County. In addition to record snow, slick streets and the daily video-game experience of avoiding cavernous potholes – our little piece of heaven has decided to host an unruly bug that sets every joint on fire and has made 80% of La Plata County a personal phlegm factory. Did I mention that the second conference I attended in Redding had, as part of its focus, how to pray for sick people? I doubt that my name will appear on any marketing material. (Promotional Brochure: Comments from Redding attendees! CJ from Durango writes: “I have had writer’s block since I attended your writer’s conference…The healing conference made me sick.”)

I have just presented you with a marketing problem. What are you to do when there is a disconnect between a great product and a poor spokesperson? Good question. Let’s look at another marketing problem…

We have all experienced a menu that is well-packaged, sometimes with mouth-watering pictures, only to be served a pile of food that bears no resemblance to what our hungry eyes have been promised. In this case, the product that was promised looked great but the received product turned out to be hideous.

So, how many chances do you give a restaurant to provide you with good service, tasty food, and a reasonable bill? If your answer is: “More than once,” then I do not want you to pick a spot for us to eat. Mercy has no place in the choice of food establishments. Why pay for misery? In this example, you have a bad product that you are trying to cleverly market and that is known as a pig in a poke. (Note: “Pig in a poke”, an old Scottish colloquialism, is equivalent to the Latin “caveat emptor” i.e. “buyer beware”. A poke was a small bag roughly the size that would hold a small pig. To purchase the bag without seeing the pig led to another colloquialism, i.e. “letting the cat out of the bag.” I have come to believe that almost every dining experience is a potential pig in a poke – especially if it involves sushi.)

Let’s restate these two examples in a different way. The first could go something like this: Great Product + Poor Delivery = Confused Customer. The second: Bad Product + Overstated Delivery = Angry Customer.

And we come to this: Jesus has a marketing problem. The problem He has is a sort of toxic alloy of each of the marketing problems just mentioned. Our equation would now look like this: Great Product (Jesus) + Poor Delivery (Christians) + Bad Product (Christians not acting like Jesus) + Overstated Delivery (Current forms of confrontive & judgmental evangelism) = Confused & Angry Customers. Got all that?

I was recently asked to review a movie entitled: “Lord, Save Us From Your Followers.” It was written and produced on a shoestring budget through the efforts of a thoughtful Christian by the name of Dan Merchant. Dan is not a Pastor. He comes from the world of marketing. His underlying question in making this movie was this: “Why is the gospel of love dividing America?” I liked the movie very much. I liked it so much that our “wee” Celtic ministry decided to host a public viewing of it at the Abbey Theatre here in Durango.

The Abbey Theatre is a quaint turn-of-the-last-century theatre that is given to providing a movie-going experience for those who enjoy artistic and off-beat movies. As you enter the theatre lobby, the first thing that grabs your attention is the snack bar. I am reasonably certain that you haven’t seen one quite like this at the local Multi-Plex. This snack-bar carries the standard window display with all of the ginormous cartons of Milk-Duds, licorice, pop-corn and such. What catches you off-guard is the fidelity to both words: snack and bar. Yes, a full-on bar with a real live bartender stands ready to quench adult thirst with adult beverage.

Upon entering the theatre you sense that the proportions are somehow off. The theatre is small, which makes the projection screen seem enormous – a mere twenty paces from the back of the theatre to the front. The chairs are all scattered about. A semi-circular balcony surrounds the bottom floor. It reminds me very much of the famous Ford Theatre in Washington D.C. where my wife, Jan, and I saw “The Fantasticks.” You can just imagine John Wilkes Booth shooting his revolver, shouting: “Sic simper tyrannis” and jumping from this balcony. Jan and I have a favorite spot where we sit – down in front and to the left side - where we can put our feet up on a concrete pillar and get a really good slouch going in our chairs. It is simple, unadorned and we love it. Such is the Abbey Theatre.

The movie is a difficult one for Christians to watch because of the issue of marketing. It seems that when we stop talking for a moment, listen, and allow the world to process for us the message that is actually being heard – we find equation #1 very much in play: Great Product + Poor Delivery = Confused Customer. Those who are outside of the church, outside of Christianity, are baffled by the difference between us and Jesus. When asked to share a word that came to mind when they heard the name “Jesus”, the responses were: Forgiving, compassionate, loving, magic, kind and the like. But when asked the same type of question with the word “Christian” being the trigger, words like: Hypocritical, angry, crusades, unforgiving, judgmental and such won out.

It gets uglier. There are actually two products involved in the faith exchange. We are called Christians, i.e. Christ-likes. We are a sub-product of the main product. In other words, the Christian message teaches that we as believers are to resemble the very Christ that people on the street still find attractive. Think of it this way: When was the last time you saw an info-mercial for an exercise product being hawked by a fat man, or the praise of a hair-growth product being sung by a bald man? If the product hasn’t transformed the spokesperson it raises serious questions.

The strength of Christian witness is the evidence of a transformed life that matches in good part the quality of word, tone and acts of Jesus. When that is missing, we have: Bad Product (Christians not acting like Jesus) + Overstated Delivery (current forms of confrontive & judgmental evangelism) = Angry Customers. Putting it all together, we have angered and confused the world around us because of the disparity between popular Christianity and the One who described Himself as meek and humble of heart. His life was marked by healing the sick and giving dignity to women, children, the poor, unfair politicians, immigrants, the disabled, soldiers and the scandalized, and by laying down His life for mankind’s rebellion toward God. His simple command to His future followers was to just keep it going.

The exposure of this marketing problem was very wounding as I tried to unravel what was genuinely Christian in me and what was cultural and political conditioning. I’m still sorting it out.

But the movie was also very healing. As it progressed, it revealed the spirit of Christ in such disparate people as: Rick Warren – a world renowned author and pastor who serves his 30,000 member congregation for free and who donates 90% of his book royalties to fighting AIDS in Africa; Bono – a world-famous rock star and Christ-follower who leverages his fame to help ease the plight of the world’s poor; and, Marshall Snider – a not so famous pastor who sold his church building and meets under a bridge in Portland with the homeless. Each of these brought me great hope and great joy. And, perhaps more importantly, each of these representatives of Christ was met with great enthusiasm and regard by those outside of the Christian faith.

God is up to something. He still believes in the product. When it is handled with the honor with which it was given – amazing things can still happen.

Be Blessed,

C.J. Alderton,

Patrick Crossing

Desire & How To Begin The New Year

“We sin, not because our desires are too strong, but because they are too weak.”

-CS Lewis

I have found myself, as I often do during the holidays, revisiting some old books that have brought me great joy over the years. As some folks can take pleasure in watching a movie or a sit-com more than once – I find that I am that way with good books. Over the past few days I have re-read the Space Trilogy of C.S. Lewis for the eighth or ninth time and have once more been carried away by the depth and texture of good words and ideas finely crafted.

The unifying theme of much of Lewis’ writings can be summed up as: “rightful desires, rightly understood, & rightly sought.” In speaking and writing so much of desire, Lewis places himself within the tradition of Augustine and his famous line about our souls being forever without rest until they find their rest in God. In other words – the restlessness, that sense of incompleteness that we experience as human-beings – is a sign that directs us to desire. If there is a hole within our inner being, then that means there must be a remedy for that inner lostness. The desire itself suggests a remedy.

Lewis fought hard against the trendy and popular use of the term “desire” being placed in the hands of Freudian psychologists and other sciences. Mere sexuality – one expression of desire – does not fulfill. In fact, wrongly practiced, it only increases the void and the sense of alienation within our inner world. One only need note the difference between the raunchy, predatory sex of Hollywood compared with the presentation of desire crafted for us in the Song of Solomon. One debases sex to a bodily function – cut-off from any pre or post-history between the participants – a sexual sneeze. The Song of Solomon describes a mountain ascending path of soul-mates.

What is my point? It is very simple. The word “desire” in the hands of modern man is somehow associated with “naughty” or forbidden. This tendency annoyed and angered Lewis to no end because he firmly believed that “desire” was a tool of heaven to win us over. He referred to desire as “patches of Godlight.” Lewis said that we sin - not because our desires are too strong - but because our desires are too weak.

Think of it this way – when was the last time you were “pierced by beauty?” Was it recently when you found yourself gazing out of your house and witnessing a world of freshly fallen snow and pausing just a moment to take it in? (That is, before your adult mind set in and thought of the cold, the frosted car and the slick roads). Or, was it when you held a newborn baby and the baby smiled, cooed and wiggled in your arms? (That is, before your adult mind set in and worried if the baby was going to “urp” up on your sweater, or some other “knowledgeable” adult mentioned in passing, that babies only smile because they have gas). Perhaps you were fortunate enough, as I once was, to witness a bald eagle diving with great acceleration into a mountain lake, lifting an explosion of water, and ascending just a moment later with a fine trout in his talons. The brilliant flash of awe I felt at that moment – while difficult to describe and impossible to recapture – whispered of a place where such beauties exist continuously in worlds without end.

The moment of each of these events usually is just a flash, a longing, a piercing of the heart, an overload of our emotions – and a desire that things would stay like this - if not forever, then at least for a few moments. These are all significant events. Notice the first four letters in the word “significant”, i.e., “sign.” A significant event is a sign event. Signs are not meant to stop us – they are meant to direct us to a destination. When you think about it, a “Stop” sign is really a controlled “Go” sign. If one took the sign literally, one would never move.

And so, I would like us to think about the New Year ahead of us from the standpoint of desire. To proceed, we must understand the word itself. When we break down the word “desire” in the English language, we find that it comes from the Latin root: “de” – meaning “from” and “sediris” meaning “star.” To put it roughly, a desire is something placed within us from above. That is “sign”ificant.

Many of us have ignored the good desires sent from above for a couple of reasons. One, which I have already mentioned, is the corruption associated with the word itself by modern depth psychology. Freud’s influence, associating every motive and action with some deep, latent sexual desire – has caused us to shy away from this good and noble word. The other reason, equally as common, is the sense that thinking too much about desire is somehow, not very responsible. It is okay for young people, without bills to pay, and so forth to dream a bit – but at some point we need to get on with the real business of living: mowing lawns, changing the oil in the car, showing up for jobs we hate, getting the dishes done, digesting the news of the day...

Yet...if these desires are really from above – from God Himself – is it not a little obvious that they might be worthy of pursuit? Can you not, for at least a moment, imagine that the desire – which is a sign from heaven – is pointing you to that place of abundance and fruitfulness for which you were created? Are we destined for mere existence or are we destined for abundance. Jesus promised the latter.

The parable of the minas – where the Master gave to three servants a measure of wealth to steward in his absence - is a great illustration of what I am trying to convey. Two of the servants took that which was deposited within them and did something with it. The third servant never acted – he merely existed, he just “got by” – and in the end he lost everything. A life lived without consideration of the true desires within us is a life that rejects that gift from above. This is serious stuff. Allow me to share a few verses of Scripture that speak to this issue of desire:

“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4

“What the wicked dreads will overtake him. What the righteous desires will be granted.”
Proverbs 10:24

“You have granted him the desires of his heart and have not withheld the requests of his lips.” Psalm 21:2

“All of my desire lies open before you, Lord; my sighing is not hidden from You.”
Psalm 38:9

“Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You.”
Psalm 73:25

“You open Your hands and satisfy the desires of every living thing....He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him.” Psalm 145:16, 19a

“The desire of the righteous ends only in good...” Proverbs 11:23

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life...A desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul.” Proverbs 13:12, 19a

“What a man desires is unfailing love...” Proverbs 19:22

“...Your name and renown are the desires of our heart.” Isaiah 26:8b

“And desire spiritual gifts...” I Cor. 14:1

CONCLUSIONS – ALMOST!
So, let’s come to some conclusions. First of all, we can see in these few verses an obvious connection between loving God – desiring God – and having our God given desires met. The two are inseparable. We cannot really know ourselves and the desires that God has placed within us until we know and love Him. The desires within – which lead to great joy, fulfillment and prosperity of soul and body – are all tied up with Him. If we do not desire God we will not have – or probably even know - our own desires. We will be left to muddle along with a survivor mentality without realizing that in our pockets we carry the keys to the Kingdom.

A GREAT STORY OF DESIRE
But having said that – let me share a brief story. There is a famous artist by the name of Deborah Crone who lives in Vacaville, CA. A few short years ago no one had heard of her. The only paintbrush that Deb had picked up was the kind that painted hallways and bedrooms. One Christmas, her husband Dave – a Pastor - invited his whole family to a retreat prior to the beginning of the New Year. Pastor Dave had prayed that God would reveal to everyone in the family the dreams and the desires that were heaven-sent for each one of them. It took awhile to get people talking – especially Deborah. She was used to helping others and suppressing her own dreams and desires because – as she put it – she was a responsible person. Finally, she told her family that she had a desire to be an artist and that her paintings would hang in the finest galleries in the world. Her family not only began to pray for those desires to be fulfilled, they went out and purchased mom some canvas and paint supplies. Within a year – Deb’s paintings were not only hanging in famous galleries around the world, she had become one of the highest paid and most sought after artists in California and Hawaii. (You can see her work at this link: http://www.sargentsfineart.com/artist/crone.php). I was privileged to be able to meet with Dave & Deb on a recent trip to California and what struck me the most was how normal and down to earth this couple was. They both are living a joyful, fruitful, purposeful life because they were courageous enough to speak from their heart those dreams and desires that God had placed within them. With the money that Deb makes, she and her husband support orphanages and countless missionaries around the world. That too had been a desire of their heart – to be generous to the poor. One desire has helped fulfill the other desire.

THE REAL CONCLUSION
In conclusion, I suggest the following:
1. Seek the Father and talk to Him about your desires – those heaven-sent treasures that He has placed within you.
2. Get together with your family or some good Christian friends and spend some time praying and speaking forth your desires.
3. Receive...let others speak into your life, sow into your life, prophesy into your life what God tells them in regard to your desires.
4. Act – sooner rather than later. If you pray for rain, start carrying an umbrella. If you desire to paint, buy some paint supplies. If you desire to make music, visit the music store. Your desires will begin to drive your values and the stewardship of your resources of time, treasure and talent.
5. And – go with God. Your Father wants to delight you by giving you the desires of your heart. His purposes work well through happy contented children. The world does not “desire” grumpy followers of God. The world is drawn to the fulfilled.

Much Love,
CJ Alderton
Patrick Crossing

Meditations On The Word, Faith, Part 5

Somewhere in the dusty recesses of my mind is some unknown preacher, with a spare chin or two, shaking his head and speaking with a deep tremolo voice about some friend of his who was a: “Great man of faith.” I cannot remember who the preacher was or who his friend was. I just remember the Billy goat flair he inserted in his voice when he said that line: “Greeaaaat maaaannnn of faaaaiiiith” and the undulating waddle beneath his original chin as he moved his head from side to side. I had many such views from the pew as a child.

Having read the Bible now for many years I have become more and more enamored with the profound truth that Jesus spoke when He said: “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed – then that is enough to cause a mountain to be uprooted and flung into the sea.” To take this passage literally would rob it of its real usefulness and purpose. I have a lot of mountains within view of the desk from which I write. I have never tried to uproot them because I sort of like them where they are. But, the real intent of this image that Jesus painted was to simply contrast something very small with something very large and ostensibly impossible to budge. The power inherent in a tiny seed could in fact dislocate and disburse large, impossible barriers. And, He seemed to me to be saying that the “Great man of faith” wasn’t really the issue. The issue was the small faith pointed in the right direction and placed in the right power and the right resource. This “big God” could dispatch efficiently and effectively a miraculous answer to any situation were we predisposed to simply take the faith we had been given and place it in Him.

But, what if you question whether or not you even own a seedling of faith? How depressing to think that one might be lacking even that speck of which Jesus spoke. And, if that is the case – how then can we grow our faith to the point that we begin to see things happen that are explained only in terms of the supernatural hand of God at work? I believe the answer is very simple – at least in terms of an explanation. Let’s give it a go…

One of the more misunderstood and therefore “underpreached” passages of Scripture is found in the Book of James. James, an apostolic father of the Jerusalem church, makes a simple statement that has caused spirited theological debates and church splits ever since he penned these words: “Faith, if it has no works, is dead.” What on earth did James mean by this statement? I would like to suggest that he meant this: Faith, if it has no works, is dead. “How helpful,” you say. Well, it really is, especially if you desire to have and experience the type of faith that actually gets things done – that moves mountains.

Before I move on and explain this verse, let me tell you why it has caused so much commotion over the years. You see, those of us who are the heirs of the Protestant tradition are steeped in the rich heritage of the rediscovery of the revelation that we are saved by grace through faith – not by works. They feel that this verse undermines that great doctrine if taken literally.

Now, I agree wholeheartedly with the doctrine of ‘saved by grace through faith’. There is no good work that we can do that will “earn” for us a spot on the team. Grace does it all. But, the point that James is making is that grace does do something. A God encounter through grace is by its very definition, a transformative moment. Grace doesn’t just change things – it changes everything. Grace points us in a new direction with a new heart and with a new purpose. If what you refer to as your faith moment, your conversion, has left you as sullen, sinful, nasty, and purposeless as before, then there is a good chance – an almost certain chance - that your “faith” was not faith at all.

True faith always comes with a positive and negative call which grows and widens as one matures in the faith journey. God really does begin to speak at conversion – even at pre-conversion - of some things in us which must be ejected and left behind. That is a negative. And, the list of negative things that He will require of us to be removed will continue throughout this life. At first, the list of negatives will be obvious not only to you, but to those around you. If you were a self-centered, self-absorbed, foul-mouthed, inebriated jerk – well, it is pretty obvious that that will have to go. But, as we move on, His demands on our inner purity become more nuanced. He starts whittling away at the very core of our being, our motives, and our secret thoughts. His purpose is to make us good on the inside so that our thoughts mirror perfectly His thoughts.

He also calls us to new and greater goods. That is a positive. These goods quite often go hand in hand with giving up something. For me, it often has to do with my preferences and my conveniences and my comforts. God calls me to love my enemies, to forgive my enemies, to give water to the thirsty, to feed the poor, clothe the naked, and to visit the prisoner. Each of these good things He calls me to do requires a payment of some kind that is deducted from my pride, my rights, and my resources. All of these can put a real crunch on my daily campaigns and the relentless pursuit of my own “space”, comfort, and plans.

The point that I am making is that faith is something like a muscle that needs to be exercised or it will quickly atrophy. One cannot have faith to move a mountain if one does not exercise the faith to obey. The two are inseparable. People who wonder why their prayers remain unanswered oftentimes need only look to the operation and exercise of their faith on a moment by moment basis. Are you defeating the wicked thoughts that bombard your mind each moment? Or, are you allowing those thoughts a dark place to reproduce like a mold in your spirit? Are you learning to let go of this world and to grow in radical generosity because you are becoming more and more rooted in the true soil of a different kingdom? Or, are you becoming more and more attached to things of this world – which will pass away - and declaring with greater frequency the word “mine” over a growing hoard of objects, widgets, and self-centered pursuits?

You see - faith is not a static thing. It grows or it dies. A testimony that is 30 years old is fine and dandy so long as there is 30 years of fresh testimony that follow. But, if you place your “faith in your faith” – in an event of 30, 20, 10, 5, or 1 year ago without any fresh report of God’s activity in your life – then there is nothing with which God can work. There is an obedience today – this very moment – which requires faith and which faith requires. To not move with and toward the inner nudge indicates a lack of faith - something less than the seed.

(Okay – here I must stop simply because of length. But, there is much left to say to complete these thoughts, so – stay tuned and be blessed. –CJ)