Passive Spirituality – Part 4

Remember where we left off?

 

You said you might want to take it up a notch spiritually.

 

Don’t remember?

 

Trust me, some of you ‘thought it’ at the very least.

 

And here was my response.

 

God loves to help those who ask for help. So, seek on.

 

He’s waiting.

 

So, we’re seeking on.

 

Disclaimer: One last thing. Any “Holier Than Thous” out there? I have to ask. They can really mess things up (mostly for themselves – but occasionally for those around them as well). So I need to know and so do you. How do you know? I mean if you’re one of them? Here’s how.

 

When you read the paragraph in yesterday’s post, on “playing the game” did you feel a little, special?

You know, above it all?

 

Perhaps you felt a touch of pity in your heart for the other folks who struggle with the comparison game? Perhaps you attempted to sort of whiz through that section because you were just positive none of it applied to you in any way.

 

Not now.

 

Not ever.

 

I can read your mind because I’ve been at this for so long. Here’s what I read, yada, yada, yada. Blah, blah, blah. Been there. Done that.

 

Ok, ok, but can I tell you something? THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT THE COMPARISON GAME DOES!! So, WATCH OUT! In reality, you’re actually playing a much more dangerous game, the ‘Pharisee game.’

 

You’re not in any immediate danger. As long as you don’t ‘out click,’ with a, “been there, done that” provision. If you do that, you’re in for a long, arduous ride. And I probably can’t help you. So, hang in there, at least for a couple more posts. If you do, you’ll find answers that have eluded you your entire life. And, if you do, you’ll be out of the woods.

 

So, can we continue?

 

I’ve heard it said that in order for real change to take place, an individual must first feel an adequate level of discontent with the status quo. As long as we’re comfortable where we are, doing what we’re doing and being who we are being, we will not change.

 

Passive spirituality is the status quo for most. It’s comfortable, non threatening, it even has its occasional moments of inspirational warm fuzzies. So what if your mansion in heaven isn’t as nice as Billy Graham’s, or Billy Sunday’s, or perhaps even Billy Bob Thorton’s. You’ll get in, and a large, palatial (perhaps something along the lines of a French Normandy or English Tutor) summer home suitable enough for the likes of Bill Gates is all you really need.

 

You don’t ask for much.

 

But is this really how it all works in God’s heavenly administration? Or is that the ‘comfortable’ scenario we’ve created in our own image?

 

Sorry, it’s the later. It would be nice though, wouldn’t it? So, I’m with you on this one. I’ve told myself the same bogus story time and time again. Problem is, there are always those pesky moments of truth that pop up from my time at Dallas Theological Seminary studying passages of scripture in the original Hebrew or Greek and learning unequivocally that these theories are nothing more than wishful thinking. We imagine God working that way because it seems fair to us. It seems like a reasonable system given all the hassles we have to endure down here on earth. But there are a whole host of problems with this line of reasoning.

 

First, who are we to judge what’s fair? The Lord alone understands, “fair.” Psalm 51:4 says, You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen it all, seen the full extent of my evil. You have all the facts before you; whatever you decide about me is fair. And His Word is the original manual on fairness, A manual for living, for learning what’s right and just and fair; Proverbs 1:3. When human beings attempt to be fair and just, the results run the full gambit. What’s fair to me may seem incredibly insensitive and unfair to you. But God judges fairness against Himself. And sense God alone is perfect and completely without sin, His standard of fair and right and wrong is without flaw.

 

That doesn’t mean we’ll always like it, or even agree with it. It simply means that our opinion has no affect on God’s fairness.

 

It is what it is.

 

Until next time.

 

Keep seeking His face!