Reflections on a Me Culture - a glimpse of the NY Times Bestseller Untamed by Glennon Doyle

 

Most would agree that it's been a long winter - this winter of the pandemic.  BUT it's finally springtime!!  It's seems like everyone has burst forth outside like the blooms on the trees.  There just seems to be a new exhuberance with restaurants opening and people out and about after such a long darkness of being inside. 

Life seems so pure in the springtime - washed clean.  Romance and weddings are in the air.  Maybe that why the song Your Love is Like the Springtime really spoke to me this Sunday at church.  I invite you to paste this into your browser and listen to it.  

                                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8wRprU4988

Some of the lyrics are (instead of a poem by me this time):

We will sing a new song,                                                                                                                               'Cause death is dead and gone with the winter.                                                                                             We will sing a new song,                                                                                                                               Let "hallelujahs" flow like a river.

We're coming back to life                                                                                                                              Reaching toward the light.     

You're the living water                                                                                                                                   God, we thirst for You.                                                                                                                                  The dry and barren                                                                                                                                        Will bloom and grow                                                                                                                     

Come tend the soil of my soul                                                                                                                      And like a garden I will grow.                                                                                                                        And like a garden I will grow.  

And yet...as I drove to early morning exercise later this week,  revelling in the soft breeze with the windows open in the car, and the sun shining, I was reminded by the preacher Colin Smith on the radio that we are both saints and sinners.  The resurrection has come!  We are forgiven!  BUT, I am reminded that sin is a problem to which there is no human solution. 

He reminded us of Ps. 55 where the Psalmist laments the darkness, oppression, violence, strife, malice, abuse and wickedness that still abounds - even amidst the glimpses we get of heaven on earth - and that we are promised will come again.  It is only in the glory of the new earth where there will be the beauty of the Gal. 5 fruits of the spirit in every season!  Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control will be blooming everywhere.  

But not yet...There will never be a government that will bring real truth and justice to the world until King Jesus comes again.  Even His churches here on earth will be tainted by self-righteousness perversity.  We all have the blood lines of sin, absorbed by self in our very nature.  It hasn't changed for 3,000 years since that that pslam was  written  - and will not come again until the new earth according to the bible.

This echoed the sermon this week, (listen to it on TheCrossingChurch. com under the title:Shouldn't I be true to my Own Myth?)  that came directly after this song in which, listening to it, for a moment the world seemed right - I had a glimpse of the hope to which we are called.  

But then...the sermon was a summary of a Ten Minute Bible Talk blog (which you can access at TheCrossingChurch.com under blogs.  It was titled Why You Don't Want Friends to Read Glennon Doyle - on the second page of podcasts.) In the book, Untamed by Glennon Doyle, the current cultural standard seems to hold true to what this book purports :  that we should live according to our own truth; that true freedom is living according to our own inner nature. It sounds right that we should break away from external influences and decide for ourselves what is truth in order to have a self-determining freedom.  This seems to be the therapeutic self-talk of today.

Tim Keller comments on this as a recent approach to identity - not allowing anyone else to determine our truth or to make us feel guilty by their standards, so that anyone coming against that is an oppressor. (Listen also to Ten Minute Bible Talks on Critical Race Theory).

Paul actually comments in 1 Corinthians 4:3 on this modern subject well before it's inception:  I care little if I am judged ...by any human court; indeed I do not even judge myself.  My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent.  It is the Lord who judges me...He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness amd will expose the motives of the heart." 

Paul is pointing out that we have a flaw in our human GPS system, and following it will not always bring us to a flourishing life.  He is telling us that being true to yourself, is saying that your best conscience is within you. It is not!!  Paul is saying that his own conscience is not reliable! This is reiterated in Jeremiah 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?  The Lord will search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, to what their deeds deserve.  

Do we not rationalize our own selfishness?  We all at some point lie or cheat or slander, get filled with resentment, bitterness, envy.  We have pride and arrogance that causes strife in relationships.  Why? Because we naturally follow our inner desires amd THINK we're the good guys.  (Just like the German people did in blindly following Mother Germany during the time of the Holocaust.)  Don't think so?  We were challenged to look at our own broken relationships  left in our paths as evidence - we all have them.  

In Confronting Christianity Rebecca McLauflin writes: "It has been said that no friendship would last a day if we could see each other's thoughts... If I let them see a transcript of my thoughts... my marriage would die.  My children would be crushed.  My friends would leave. My thoughts are not all bad; many are good and kind and true. But like a bag of flour infested by maggots, no part of me is pure."

True freedom comes only one way - what may be seen by some as a very intolerant statement in the bible:  John 14:6 - I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.  In John 8:31 -  Jesus says:  If you hold to my teaching then you will know if you are my disciple.  The truth will set you free.  Over and over He says:  Truly, truly, I say to you... as He teaches us the real, one and only truth.  

That's why Jesus as the Good Shepherd uses sheep to describe us - just like wandering sheep who won't stay in the safety of the flock, trapped in their own self-destructive desire to what they see as freedom.  

These words in the sermon struck me:  "If the loudest voice in our head is our own, it might be wise to pause before we speak."  It's a reason to meditate on the scriptures rather than the news.  Romans 1:18-32 tells us why there is such disorder in our lives and in our world:  We exchanged truth for a LIE!  

So, as we were challenged to decide:  If you really believe that God created the universe, do you think that your own distorted desires named sin is what will make your life flourish?  Gal. 5 tells us that the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh, so that you are NOT to do whatever you want...The acts of the flesh are obvious:  sexual immorality (but isn't it ok to live together without being married?), impurity, debauchery (they all do it in Washington - it's the way they play the game), idolatry (only my party is going to change the world), hatred (well, if they're wrong...), discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissentions, factions, envy, drunkennes, etc...!!!!

Do you really believe what Gal. 5:24 plainly says?  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Do you believe what it says further up in verse 13?  You, my brothers and sisters were called to be free.  But do not use your freedom to indulge in the flesh.

So I say at the end of reflecting on this sermon and this best-selling book:  As for me and my house, I will serve the Lord - well, at least to the best of my ability.  Being one of those sheep, I trust I will be led back to the fold when those natural desires call me to seek freedom elsewhere.  But as for me, it is not my own thoughts that I will try to follow the lead on but Galatians 5:16 - So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  

                                                                                                            

Thoughts on A Gentle Answer by Scott Sauls

                        

              Thoughts on A Gentle Answer:  In a World of Us Against Them

                                                   by Scott Sauls

Ok,  it's official.  It's brain damage.  Thankfully not dementia or Alzheimers - just "white spots". Those of  you who know me well, know I've always been a bit squirrely.  But this time with my chronic malady of sinus infections that this time is causing strange symptoms like dizziness (ok, friends, I mean, worse than usual - to the point of not being able to walk straight without assistance), "white spots" showed up on my MRI.   Some of those come naturally as we age, but people with chronic issues get them sooner - chronic  issues like my thorn of  sinus infections - (wonder if that was Paul's thorn, too?) -  even high cholesterol can cause them.  I've always known that the first sign of a sinus infection is that I begin to do crazy forgetful things - but at least now I know why.  Will be going to a neurologist to see if it is signaling MS or something else.  In the meantime, I'm thankful that I can go on with life, as my relatively normal, abnormal self.  

As I begin this health journey to check these new findings out, I am more committed to blog, not just to share my thoughts with others, but to help me remember thoughts that touch my heart.  I always consider those "thought bubbles from God" that make me take pause and want to lock them in my mind.  But, at least these findings on the MRI validate that there is a reason I need to write them down.  

So, I decided there are plenty of bloggers out there.  Therefore,  I've decided to spend time writing down thoughts from others that touch me, perhaps summarizing some books for people that might want a Cliff Note version of some books they haven't had time to read.

I'm starting with a book that I just studied at church with other ladies eager to know how to navigate the difficulty of the polarized world we live in as Christians.  How do we stand up for the truth of the Bible when it's looked on as being intolerant?  How do we handle the dissention of the times and decide what we are to do as Christians politically when even asking questions that we're wondering about causes outrage from those who have decided what their opinion is, and become incensed when others might not agree, or even are trying to decide their position on an issue?  How do we tear down the dividing walls of hostility? How do we express righteous anger against wrong without taking offense, shaming and slandering?  How do we be like Jesus, who rather than shaming and scolding sinners, welcomed them and ate with them? Whether conservative or progressive, how do we avoid, in our passionate zeal against the unloving Pharisee, that we do not become unloving Phaisees ourselves, becoming a hate group who is harsh, judgemental and condemning against anyone who disagrees with us - whether it is along ideological, doctrinal, or cultural issues?  

The book, A Gentle Answer - Our Secret Weapon in an Age of Us Against Them by Scott Sauls, is a stable boat in the stream of navigating such difficult questions.  There is no way I can cover even the main points of a book when I wanted to underline something on almost each page!!!  But, if you've read any of my blogs, you'll see that one way I can make sense out of a large amount of material is with ....a poem!!  I wish I could summarize each chapter under the topic of How His Gentleness Changes Us such as We Grow Thicker Skin, We Do Anger Well, We Allow Him to Disarm the Cynic in Us, We Bless Our Own Betrayers.  But today I'll start with a poem that summarizes some of the underlines in the book that I marked with 3 Stars because they shouted out to me.  And hopefully you may want to read this masterpiece by a true, gentle Jesus follower.  And writing about it will help me remember the wisdom on each page of this beautiful book.

A Gentle Answer in a World of Us Against Them

It's a broken world we live in, 

Polarized beyond a doubt.

You see white, I see black.

No compromise can be worked out.

You see things your way,

I see them mine.

And soon it turns to hatefulness

Way too much of the time.

There is a time for anger.

Yet we're told to be angry and do not sin.

Be like Jesus, but stand for righteousness.

That's where the difficulty comes in.

Jesus overthrew the money changers.

But he never told us to. 

The message He made most prevalent

Is the one that's hardest to do.

He embraced humbleness.

He was gentle and lowly of heart.

To know how to navigate this world - 

That's precisely where we must start.

Jesus didn't take on Rome.

But He changed the world one heart at a time.

He helped us recognize the Pharisees for what they were,

But that's where He drew the line.

He let the rich young ruler go too. 
He built relationships to teach what's right.

He told us to shake the dust from our sandals,

Not to pursue those who want to fight.

He befriended and embraced.

He always gave a gentle answer.

He forgave and loved and taught,

Didn't get into arguments that can grow like a cancer.

His message was not for us to preach 

    what we think is the best way to make the world right.

His message was to preach the gospel,

To keep the kingdom of heaven always in sight.

For His kingdom is not of this world.

His Spirit is not in the form of confrontation.

Rather it's about earning the right to speak to hearts

Which is the only hope for the nations.

Peace, equality, justice and hope.

Can only come from His lead.

Love, patience, kindness and self-control

Bring the gentle answers we need.