Today from Jurgen
Jesus scares me. Too often we read the Bible letting the familiar words roll through our minds without ever truly absorbing them. Consider Matthew chapters 5 through 7. They contain the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount. If you're content with where you are in your faith try reading these three chapters and see how secure you feel. As for me, all I sense is a long series of failures.
Anytime you feel you've got it together as a Christian you can see how well you're doing be re-reading these chapters. I know I am humbled every time I read them. Things close with Matthew 7:24-27 where we find that if we heed the words in chapters 5 through 7 we can withstand anything-everything but, if we do not, we will be lost...swept away.
There's no need to recite all of the verses here...we can read them...they are easy to understand. The problem is the "doing" of them. Jesus' famous sermon will make us squirm-we will look for ways out. He can't possibly mean what he says. It's too extreme. Too unreasonable. But, once accepted...meeting His standards will become a lifetime vocation.
If someone wants your cloak give him more...do not give so others know...you can't serve two master...don't worry (be present now because everything is OK)...love your enemies...evil thoughts are as bad as evil actions...do not judge others (there goes one of our main games)...do unto others...the gate is narrow...don't fool yourself...don't be just a hearer but be a doer. Well, that's just a sampling.
So, anytime you feel you're really getting ahead as a Christian...read Matthew and be humbled.
09/23/05 (Jurgen)
It occurs to me that I often do not fully appreciate that "ideas have consequences." If we look at our leaders it is not too hard to see that their agendas (ethics, causes, goals) are often a result of ideas they championed in their youth with some new things pasted on to them.
Obviously this is true of you and me as well. Here's the problem. Too often we just stick new ideas onto old ideas whether they are compatible or not. We are comfortable with each of the ideas because some of them help us hold on to continuity with our past and some define who we are now. But, this process can fragment us so that our belief system is schizophrenic.
For example: My youthful idea that wealth should be shared and distributed among all seemed to mesh with my Christian belief in charity and caring for the poor. But I now believe that distributing money to the poor and needy is a moral obligation that involves effort on my part. It should be a more conscious process. In other words, to be consistent, I must shed the idea that the government can perform my Christian duties.
It is important that I examine my beliefs--past and present--to make sure they do not, at some point, contradict each other. The old belief must be dropped when a new understanding is reached.
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9/22/05 (Jurgen)
Too often my prayer life falters. I find it hard to sustain a consistent practice. One of two things usually happens: either my prayers become rote and, therefore, meaningless, or I simply forget to pray. Even worse-sometimes I fall into a "gimmie" mode instead of a "thy will be done" position. At such times I am saying, "Let my will be thy will." And-that's really scary!
In spite of this, I am convinced that without daily contact with God, I will fall into the snares that lie about everywhere in this world. I have plenty of supporting evidence for this from my past. One of the greatest helps for me has come from Bill Hybels, a Protestant pastor.
Years ago he wrote a book the title of which nags at me. Whenever I begin to drift away from a daily pray practice, that title calls. It is Too Busy Not to Pray. I have not even read the book...the title alone is enough to destroy my excuses and bring me to my knees. Whenever I feel I have no time for anything, this title echoes in my mind. And I return to a daily prayer practice with renewed energy.
Perhaps the title of Hybels' book will do the same for you. You are Too Busy Not to Pray. Could anyone have said it better for the fast-paced-instant-everything-world we live in?