Category: Uncategorized

Desensitized

So much is mixed up in Lent this year, in my heart and mind. Literally in my heart with various rounds of heart testing. The continuing trauma and heartbreak of Ukraine. The anxiety of Covid, inflation, gas prices, etc. All of the above and family concerns have made it difficult to focus on the passion of Christ.
But it’s more than that.
I hadn’t realized how much more until a recent conversation arrested my attention. I was speaking with an expert in the field of early childhood education. She was volunteering in her church in the preschool department. She was appalled when she was given a coloring sheet for the children that was a close-up of Jesus’ face with the crown of thorns and blood dripping. This is what we consider age-appropriate exposure to the gospel message for preschoolers? Someone being tortured! Even Christ on the cross…I mean, would I want them to see the pictures of torture and murder that are coming out of Ukraine? Wouldn’t I want to shelter them from that if I was a good parent or educator?
I realize many children watch movies, cartoons, and games that contain violence and murder. However, on some level, they know or should know that those things are not real. I wonder if Christian children’s early, constant exposure to images of Christ’s death has not done the same. I know my breath doesn’t catch, tears don’t come to my eyes, my stomach doesn’t clench in horror when I look at a crucifix the same way it does when I see the images of the bodies lying in the streets of Ukraine and hear the stories of inhuman atrocities. Why?
Because I have been desensitized. I have been exposed from birth to the coloring pages depicting the horrible, torturous death of Christ as just pictures in a story.
I am not claiming to know how we should change the narrative and the exposure of children in order to present Christ’s sacrifice in a meaningful way that does not lead either to traumatizing or desensitization to the horror. But I wish I had the answer. Somehow, we MUST find a way! It just seems that by the time our Christian kids leave home as young adults, it is no longer REAL to them.
Furthermore, is it still REAL to me? Even the best dramatic, cinematic presentations can feel like what they are- just a movie.


But reality hits hard with Ukraine.
When I feel the horror of the naked bodies of women raped- do I remember that Christ was stripped naked on the cross?
When my stomach turns at the signs of torture on the bodies of the Ukrainian dead- do I remember that is what the crown of thorns, the flogging, the beatings that Christ endured were torture?
When I cry, listening to the sobs of the grieving mother as she tells of her only son who was shot in the street- do I see Christ’s mother Mary prostrate with grief at the foot of the cross?
When I hear the calls, see the messages, asking for prayers for the missing, the lost- do I catch the anxiety of Mary in the garden, “They have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where he is!”
As I beg God for mercy and peace for the country of Ukraine- can I imagine, do I really believe there can be a resurrection? Or am I a disciple who wants to run and hide in a locked room?
The wide-awake nightmare of Ukraine’s suffering is REAL. The passion of Christ is REAL.
The only hope is in the God of Easter, of resurrection! Only through knowing Him can we find meaning in it all.
Philippians 3: 10 “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”
That is my prayer for Ukraine. That you may know Him in the power of His resurrection. You have shared in His suffering, become like Him in His death- may you now attain a resurrection from the dead.
I didn’t give up anything for lent this year. I just determined that I would not turn away from what was happening in Ukraine. Instead, I would stay with those I could find where I had some connection. To pray- to hold up their hands as the battle raged around them. To let them know they were not alone when they were crying out.
I didn’t expect it to hit me with the reality of Christ’s passion. We have a story to tell- not a cartoonish coloring page story, a REAL story of horror and death…for LOVE! God, please help us find a way to communicate that reality without desensitizing ourselves or our children!

What is “faith”?

Recently, while studying both the books of Hebrews and James in the Bible, I have been taking a new look at an old topic: faith. Examining faith is like holding a jewel to the sunlight and admiring the multifaceted way it reveals the light.

The New International Version gives in Hebrews 11:1 the following definition, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” The Amplified version expands it somewhat, “faith is perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses” In Hebrews, the list of heroes given were all people who were looking forward and believing in the arrival and salvation of Christ the Messiah to come. They had to look forward and believe, while we have to look backward and believe. Hebrews 11:6 states, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” As the Amplified Bible says, we have to accept as real fact a God who provides a way for us to know Him even though He is not perceived through our physical senses.

This faith is not a merely an intellectual assent. I really like the way the Amplified describes “faith” in the writings of Paul, “the leaning of your entire human personality on Him in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness”. This aspect of faith goes beyond the concept of belief to encompass the next level of trust. It is one thing to believe that a person exists, but quite another matter to trust yourself to their care.

Faith is revealed in yet another facet by the writing of James. James will not let faith rest as belief in God and salvation, or even as total commitment of ourselves into a relationship of trust with God. James says faith requires action. My husband has often used the following definition of faith, “Faith is taking the knowledge of God you have and putting it into action!” James says it in the strongest terms in James 2:17, “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” NIV

Our faith is meant to show the world who God is, by the process of our becoming more like Christ. Our life of faith should demonstrate the love of God! This is so often where we feel so pathetically inadequate that our faith stalls. We got belief and we know we need to trust Him, but how do we work this out in our daily lives? James says we just need to do it! In other words, how do we learn to do anything? We practice! We learn by doing it. Truth be told, we make mistakes, just like you make mistakes learning any new skill. However the beautiful thing is that “doing it/obeying God leads to a greater revelation of Himself. Growth comes by acting in obedience. “Obedience rises out of the soil of faith to bear its fruit of obedience.” Louis H. Evans Jr.

In Hebrews 11, the writer drives home the point that it was in their obedient actions that the heroes expressed their faith. They couldn’t just believe; they needed to act. What are the actions that James says we need to be involved in practicing?

Chapter 1

Being joyful under trial – Asking for wisdom – Not trusting in wealth – Dealing with deep inner desires that make us susceptible to temptation – Being quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry – Keeping a tight rein on our tongues – Caring for the orphans and widows – Not being lured into accepting culture’s values (That is just chapter one! If you need more to work on…)

Chapter 2 and beyond

Not showing favoritism regardless of social, economic position – Not offering empty religious pat phrases rather than real material support to the needy – Taming our tongues (Again! He seems to think this is important…) – Seeking wisdom from above – Submitting to God while resisting the Devil and the self-centered pull of our culture – Not trusting in our own plans instead trusting God’s will – Being patient in suffering and praying in faith.

I want to be known as a person of faith! The creator God who gives us faith is also a faithful God. We cannot do any of this in our own strength and wisdom. I get stuck at the “slow to become angry” part. That is why Philippians 1:6 from the Amplified Bible is such an encouragement to me. “6 And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you.” He is working it in, so I can work it out! Thank you Jesus!

Renewed

It seems like all week long that I have been receiving notification via social media that another one of our former classmates has become a grandparent. This news, along with the announcement that our eldest son and his wife are expecting their second child, (YES!) has caused my mind to contemplate both the new and the old. So many beautifully brand-new little faces, happy young parents, and beaming grandparents; new life is an overwhelming time of wonder and joy. However, the fact that these same GRANDPARENTS, my friends and former classmates, are the ones struggling with what affectionately appropriate name should they be called now that they have a grandchild, can be somewhat alarming. We don’t want to be old; we don’t feel old, but we have to face that fact; we are definitely not “new”!

Thinking along this line brought to mind the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:16, “16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.”

Well, maybe we are not to the point where we are ready to admit to “wasting away”, but I really like the idea that whatever happens on the outside, inwardly we can be RE-newed every day.

I can have a brand new me inside day by day. Paul was not referring to the new-birth or salvation experience in that scripture. He was speaking to believers and even to those who were struggling with persecution and trouble all around them. So, in spite of whatever was happening outside they could be new within their own souls. But how? 

Two other scriptures give us more specific insight into this process of renewal.

Ephesians 4:22-24 describes it almost as if describing getting dressed.

“22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Obviously there is some spiritual cognitive therapy happening because the renewal comes in the “spirit of your minds.”

How? Colossians 3:1-17 is one of the most detailed descriptions of our part in this renewal.

 Seek the things that are above by setting your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Then just in case that is too theoretical, he brings it down to VERY practical, on the concrete, daily living.

“5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”

“now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.” “9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices”

Those are some strong phrases, but it is not all negative.  Change is difficult if behaviors and thinking patterns are just removed. Something will need to take the place of the negative and Paul has the answer again.

“12 Put on then …compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,

13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Out with the old- in with the new! This is not about a “works” based religion. Remember in both of the passages Paul is speaking to followers of Christ. Colossians 3:7 says, “7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away”

One of the best statements I have heard all year is “Grace is not opposed to effort, but to earning.” Our salvation is the free gift of God, but if we want to be renewed every day then, we need to get busy and quit waiting for God to smite us with Christlikeness!

Put to death! Put away! Then…

Put on, bearing with, forgiving, love, be thankful!

Verse 16 is the pivotal point- stay in the WORD, surround yourself with good God music (apparently even Paul made allowance for differing music tastes, you got your psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs), and keep an attitude of gratitude.   

Finally do everything is Jesus name. In other words, if you cannot do whatever you are about to do, in a way that honors the name of Jesus, do not do it!

I want to be re-newed today, tomorrow, the next day. You will never know it to look on the outside of all of us grandmothers and grandfathers, but inside some of us will be getting “newer” every day!