As I wrap up my long weekend, I feel relief as the heat wave passes, and I achieve a comfortable temperature. A beautiful breeze blows through the windows, and in all of this glory, I've been wanting to indulge in this good feeling, and entertain some feel-good thoughts of what a beautiful world it is.
I do not find it acceptable to defy my Christian beliefs, which requests of me to read my Bible in its entirety and which in turn permits me to stand strong in the face of disbelief or incredible heresy, by rejecting the harsh truth of where it came from – an ancient world so devastating at times, that I would rather pretend it isn’t a part of my cultural history. But I have come to understand that a huge chunk of a life well-lived is spent in preparation. Preparation for the droughts, the wars, and the apathy.
Sacrificing theology on the altar of “feeling good”, which I understand today as idolatry and which paradoxically therefore separates me from God, is something I reject today. I have gone through the fire and stood before the naysayers enough times now to know that it’s not just about knowing a few of Jesus’ more famous quotes (and then taking them out of context only to frustrate his true message of repentance), but it’s about knowing the history of those quotes.
It’s terribly frustrating to witness the mangling of the gospel to the point that it’s a whole new belief system, but at the same time, the joy of the evangelical is to speak the words of God, without even intending to, simply because “a lie can travel halfway around the world before truth gets its shoes on”. This is the stupidity of the devil: he doesn’t understand the human heart, and that when transformed by God through the grace of regeneration, it is brilliant and fearless.
So when my daily Bible reading was particularly upsetting, with a story from Samuel 2 that greatly disturbed me, I was tempted to just close the book for good. But I pressed on, and this is because while I am given these moments of relief, and dare I say bliss, life in and of itself is riddled with scarcity, violence, and heartache.
I do not find it acceptable to defy my Christian beliefs, which requests of me to read my Bible in its entirety and which in turn permits me to stand strong in the face of disbelief or incredible heresy, by rejecting the harsh truth of where it came from – an ancient world so devastating at times, that I would rather pretend it isn’t a part of my cultural history. But I have come to understand that a huge chunk of a life well-lived is spent in preparation. Preparation for the droughts, the wars, and the apathy.
Sacrificing theology on the altar of “feeling good”, which I understand today as idolatry and which paradoxically therefore separates me from God, is something I reject today. I have gone through the fire and stood before the naysayers enough times now to know that it’s not just about knowing a few of Jesus’ more famous quotes (and then taking them out of context only to frustrate his true message of repentance), but it’s about knowing the history of those quotes.
It’s terribly frustrating to witness the mangling of the gospel to the point that it’s a whole new belief system, but at the same time, the joy of the evangelical is to speak the words of God, without even intending to, simply because “a lie can travel halfway around the world before truth gets its shoes on”. This is the stupidity of the devil: he doesn’t understand the human heart, and that when transformed by God through the grace of regeneration, it is brilliant and fearless.
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