Attraction and Revulsion

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. (Romans 12:9 NAS95)

As I look at the original words for this verse in the Greek I see that it is extremely simple and efficient. There are simply two words for each phrase in this verse making up six words altogether. But those words are full of meaning that takes a great deal more English words to convey than even the number used by most translators. But the simplicity of the original also conveys a strong message as well.

The first phrase says that we should love (agape kind of love) sincerely, without faking or pretending in any way. First of all agape kind of love is impossible to have apart from first receiving it from the only Source of this kind of totally selfless love. So it will not be possible to just work very hard at convincing others that we come across as nice, pleasant and friendly and satisfy this instruction. Even training ourselves to perform all sorts of loving activities may only accomplish fooling ourselves into believing that we have this love and have satisfied this requirement. No, real agape love can only be demonstrated from a heart that is experiencing first-hand the results of being loved with this kind of love.

I am reminded repeatedly in my considerations of these things that I am only a mirror and as such have no ability to produce any light of love on my own. If I attempt to paint a picture of light on the face of my mirror, so to speak, I might come across as very convincing to some who can't perceive the difference, especially if they have not yet seen the real thing. But just because I may have great artistic skills to paint the most beautiful pictures in the world on the face of my life mirror it will never come close to the real-time reflections that could radiate in brilliant beams of glistening glory if I would just have my mirror cleaned and turn it toward the Source of all love allowing His glory bounce off my heart to others. It makes no sense to paint a picture when a reflection of the real thing holds so much more beauty and attraction.

The next two phrases appear to be designed to be opposite sides of the same coin. The first one says that we are to abhor, to have revulsion away from, to push away like the pressure created when like poles of two magnets come near each other. This is in contrast to the action word in the second phrase which means to cleave, glue to, be extremely attached to as with a strong adhesive. And the objects of these two contrasting actions are also opposite of each other. The word for evil that we are to be repelled from includes nearly everything imaginable that is hurtful, bad and diseased. In essence we are to share God's intense feelings of revulsion toward all the sin that has separated Him from the hearts of billions of beings He created to enjoy intimate love with each other and His own heart. We are to come into sympathy with God's view of sin and become emptied of all sympathy for sin in any form.

Equally, in contrast we are to join God in His intense passion for all that is good and live-giving and beneficial. In fact the Greek word for good here is very similar to the word Agape which is the kind of love that emanates from God and holds the whole universe together. While we are to have revulsion for sin, at the same time we must also be filled with the compassion and unselfish love for those caught in the web of sin just as God does. Really, what I find in these verses of instruction are simply descriptions of what God is like and how He relates toward us. We are simply being taught here to reflect those attributes of God toward others in all of our life.

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Proportions of Faith

I see some patterns in this chapter (Romans 12) emerging that I want to flush out more into the open. There are phrases that, taken together all refer to what we need to receive to empower us. Then there are other things that we are to do with that empowerment and proportionally to it. Again, all of this activity must not be divorced from the original cause and reason for all of it – a keen and increasing awareness of the depth of the riches of God described in 11:33-36. Otherwise everything we read in chapter 12 becomes just another list to perform, another obligation to fulfill that will only result in frustrations.

In the first few verses Paul is modeling what he wants us to follow. He first of all urges us, because of his own awareness of the mercies of God as his motivation, to present our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice just as presumably he has done. Then he describes what that means and what it looks like throughout the rest of the chapter, in fact the rest of the book. But repeatedly throughout he reminds us that our sacrifice and service should always be proportional to the grace that we have first received and the level of real faith that our growing awareness of God's goodness has grown within our hearts. It is vital that we keep the cause ahead of the effects or we will slip right back into a legalistic mode of thinking and living instead of the spontaneous righteousness that flows naturally from the heart of a redeemed lover.

Filling our minds and hearts with fresh revelations of God's mercies and grace from His extravagant riches is the reason and motivation for us to present ourselves as a willing sacrifice in glad service through the gifts received from our God. This is in the context of being continually transformed by the renewing of our minds and discerning what the good and perfect will of God is and not from an attitude of conformity. Everything that follows must be viewed from and rooted in this solid ground of our growing and vibrant connection personally with God.

The next thing we must be careful to pay attention to in this context is to not allow ourselves to become once again unbalanced in our thinking. We must not allow our left brain intellectual analysis or formula mentality or problem solving penchant to eclipse our heart's need to keep a vital and constant focus on the source of our new life. To do so would be to fall back into the conformity model instead of the transformational lifestyle. Maybe this is why Paul repeatedly reminds us to exercise our gifts according to the proportion of our faith. If we attempt to exercise our gifts beyond the maturity of our faith – which is a description of how much our heart really trusts God in our life – we will be moving into the arena warned against in verse 3, of thinking too highly of ourself or just thinking too much period, out of proportion to where our heart is currently functioning.

I think I am beginning to get a little idea of what this might mean in my own experience. There are times when I suddenly become aware that my mind is running too far ahead of my heart and I have a choice to make at that point. I might be talking with someone or writing out thoughts that I feel compelled to share. But I get a sudden sense of uneasiness that alerts me that something is not quite right and that I need to stop my head and listen to my heart immediately.

It is easy to keep on going at that point because I am often confident that I can handle the situation and I can trust my ability and gifts to enable me to finish what I am in the middle of. But my heart warns me that I may be moving beyond my proportion of faith, my heart-connection with the Holy Spirit in that moment, and that it would be the wise thing to do to suspend immediately whatever it is I am doing and allow my heart to listen in quietness until I feel reconnected and reassured of my peace and my heart-link with God. I also know that when I instead choose to just finish what I am doing and then come back to pay full attention to my heart that the results are always a sense of disappointment and loss. I wonder if that is what Elijah felt like after his experience on Mount Carmel?

This passage (starting with 11:33) is a progressive unpacking of what a life will look like that is being transformed described in greater and greater detail. It reveals that we need to view this new life in the context of our need to utilize the gifts and skills received from God and within the context of nurturing others who are likewise being transformed around us. But like a measuring stick showing up over and over we are instructed to use these gifts according to the proportion of our faith and really no more beyond that.

That brings something interesting to my attention. What is wrong with exercising a gift beyond the faith I may currently have? Is that a problem that we might be able to observe that could be causing many of the problems today in the body of Christ? What would it look like to use a gift beyond our measure of faith? And might it even be difficult to discern this problem?

What might happen if a prophet should use the gift of prophecy beyond or outside his proportion of faith? That might be easy to identity (or maybe not) but what about a person who's gift is to serve others? How easy is it to get into Christian service without being motivated and inspired from a heart full of faith in response to the awesome goodness of God? It seems to me like we might have examples of this all over the place.

What about teaching and exhorting and giving? What about leadership and even the gift of being merciful? Is it a problem to exercise mercy without having a clear experience of receiving mercy ourselves? I think it might be very easy for anyone of us to want to perform any of these activities that might be our gifts outside the parameters of faith that naturally springs up from deep in a heart full of appreciation for what God is doing in our own lives. It is so easy to begin subtly relying on the good feedback we can get from exercising gifts as the measurement of our value and worth. I think we do it far more than most of us ever suspect. It takes a great deal of brutal self-honesty and conviction by the Holy Spirit to reveal to us how much we depend on what others think of us for our self-worth and value instead of solely on how much God values and cherishes us at the heart level.

I know that this is true in my own life. I am constantly becoming more and more aware of how much I crave being well thought of by others as a fix for my feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem. It seems so much easier to get a good shot of pleasure and satisfaction from compliments on my performance or my helping someone than to focus my heart and mind on finding out what God thinks about me. These confirmations and assurances and praises from others are so much more tangible and immediate than spending the time unmasking the pain and fears in my soul before God and spending time in His Word and His presence. But like every other addiction this has the tell-tale signs of being an empty quick fix that tends to help me avoid facing the real issues much deeper in my life. These fixes are like tasty junk food full of very pleasing but empty calories that leave me more malnourished than I was before.

So I guess maybe trying to use our gifts outside the proportion of our faith is not such a good idea after all. It actually may act just like all other addictions and prevent us from building a more secure foundation for our life with God.

I believe there is also a great danger that is seen all too often, of pushing others to use their gifts beyond their proportion of faith. This can easily happen when praise is focused more on the person and their abilities than on the heart. But what is the difference between needed encouragement for the timid who need to express their faith more openly so it can grow even more, and undue praise for those who may be relying on our compliments as their false source of value? I believe that there is a valid and important place for real compliments and appreciation. I believe that we too often rob others of the assurances that they need that could encourage them to move much farther in their growth and increase their effectiveness in their gifts if they were just more appreciated. Where there is a counterfeit there is also always a genuine.

I believe that our lack of encouragement for others is a big reason we see so little growth of faith within the hearts of believers. That is one of the main reasons that God intends for us to bond much closer into the body of Christ; it is so that our gifts will be used to inspire others and remind them of their value to God and the value of their gifts from Him. Used correctly our gifts are to multiply, not only in our own life but by planting seeds in other lives that can spring up to produce more fruit. But whenever we loose sight of the fundamental reason and context from which we should always derive our worth, it is extremely easy to shift our source of perceived value over to a basis of performance or appearance instead of our growing awareness of God's love for us.

From my own experience I know the value of genuine affirmation that reminds me of my value to God. I also know how empty and uneasy I feel when I receive compliments and praise that focuses on me as if I was the originator of the gift instead of the receiver. I also know how awkward a person can feel when being confused between the two. There are those who feel compelled to remove all attention away from the ones exercising their gifts in fear that praise and appreciation will be detrimental to them and maybe even upsetting to God. I have sometimes been on the receiving end of this kind of this kind of fearful attitude and I can assure you that it does not encourage me to keep using my gifts. It may make the one commenting about me feel more righteous because they did not flatter me but it certainly did not encourage me.

I remember many years ago struggling with this very issue and even asking a person I had never met what she thought about it. I had just visited a different church and had been richly blessed by her piano playing. I wanted to let her know how much it inspired and blessed me for I also had many times been on the other side of that equation without receiving any affirmations. I knew how much I needed this kind of encouragement myself and I felt it was only fair that a person should receive legitimate affirmation for blessing others with their gift. So I explained my dilemma to this lady and asked her what she thought was the right thing to do.

She gave me a most helpful answer that I have never forgotten because of its deep wisdom and insight. She said that if someone's praise and appreciation was focused only on her abilities and skill that she felt it was inappropriate as far as trying to live in the context of praise to God goes. Also, just saying, “Praise the Lord for your talents” or some other such deflective comment leaves one feeling that the person is trying to avoid recognizing you and is more concerned with not saying the wrong thing. What she told me that means the most to her, and what has been confirmed in my own heart ever since she told me this, is for a person to express to her honest appreciation for the skills and effort put forth by the musician (or whatever gift is being used) and then relaying to them the effect that it had on their heart and how much it inspired them to feel closer to God.

When I heard this I immediately knew that this would be the most fulfilling affirmation that someone could give me. It would acknowledge legitimate appreciation for the exercise of my gift while at the same time give me deep satisfaction that my efforts had done just what I really wanted them to do – to attract a heart to move closer to God's heart. I guess what this really means is that if a compliment or affirmation is expressed much more in heart terms than based on externals then its value and effectiveness to encourage the one exercising their gifts will be uplifting and motivate them to use their gift even more eloquently. One does not need to be fearful of inducing pride by showing genuine appreciation if they are honest about what effect the blessing had on their own heart. Otherwise the fear mingled into the appreciation really nullifies the intended effect of the gratitude and the person pretending to appreciate is more focused on themselves and their fears than on encouraging another.

What we all need most is genuine and effective reminders of how much God values and loves and cherishes us. And I believe we need to do everything possible to directly connect to Him to receive those assurances. But I also believe He intends to send those messages to us through others who perceive our gifts and are blessed by them. The greatest compliment any of us can receive for the use of our gifts is repeated affirmations of how valuable we are to God, not because of our gift but because of how He feels about us. In fact, maybe that is the real purpose of every one of these gifts – to remind each other of how God feels about us and how much passion He has in His desire to transform and restore us into close fellowship with Him and the whole family of heaven.

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly...according to the proportion of his faith. (Romans 12:6)

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Surprises Inside the Gifts

Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. (Romans 12:6-8)

I took some time today to carefully look over the original Greek words for each of these gifts. What I found was very fascinating as each one is a reflection of some aspect of God's character or attitudes. I also feel it is very helpful and useful to throw out every previous notion or definition of every one of these words before replacing them with fresh, updated and more accurate definitions. There is so much baggage and tradition attached to many of these words that it is very difficult to do this, if not impossible at times. But as much as possible I try to do that. Here is what I found from the Greek.

Prophet – one who goes in front of God to people and speaks His thoughts.

Minister (KJV) – a servant who runs errands, an attendant, a waiter. (Luke 17:7-10)

Teacher – one who instructs and helps others learn.

Exhorter – one who calls people to come near, invites, beseeches, comforts, elicits desire, entreats, prays for. Extremely similar to the Greek word used for Comforter, Helper or Holy Spirit mentioned in John 16.

Giver – to join God in an adventure of distributing blessings, to yield and offer resources to others.

Leader – one who stands before others as one responsible for their care, an example to them of abiding in covenant, staunch and firm in demonstrating a covenant relationship.

Mercy – one who has great compassion on others, pity and mercy.

Here are some enhancers listed in these verses that I also found additional insights on from the Greek:

Liberality – with copious generosity and without any vested interest for one's self. Simple and bountiful.

Diligence – literally means speed, eagerness, earnestness and with care.

Cheerfulness – alacrity, prompt, willing, merry, with grace.

Wow! This is so radically different than the impressions that I usually get from reading this passage. It is becoming clear to me how God wants to reveal Himself in different ways through different people with different facets of His character. Each of these gifts have very positive, uplifting connotations to them and together become a very compelling magnet to draw others toward a deeper intimacy with their Creator.

I see nothing of the hierarchical differentiations that is often associated with the artificial offices and roles typically seen in most churches. We hear these gift words often used to label some people who are appointed positions in organizations, but when I simply look at this passage without reference to all those distractions I find a beautiful description of what the real body of Christ will look like when each person is allowed to naturally utilize their God-given gifts, their unique reflections of some facet of God, in blessing for those around them.

I don't see any implication of dominance over others within these gifts. And that, I think, is crucially important, for the Kingdom of Heaven is based firmly on the spirit of serving and unselfishness and love alone. All of life is to be lived to bless others as we have received blessing and gifts. The whole cycle of life itself thrives on the principle of receiving to give. If a lake refuses to give through an outlet it soon becomes poisoned with saltwater or silt and eventually dries up. These gifts are the outlets that are necessary to keep our souls alive and thriving so that we can be energized in the cycle of life designed by God.

I would like to mention a few more things about some of these gifts that I have learned in the past. A prophet is really one who is a connecting link between God and other people. I think this is not because God does not want to converse with people directly but because they stay so far away from Him and are so out of sync with Him that they are unable to receive many important things from Him directly. It becomes necessary for God to use an intermediary who will translate the awesome thoughts of God into the language of the simplistic and artificial world of the bottom-dwellers.

Sometimes a prophet is shown future events, but that is not necessary to be used as a prophet. We have linked this word so strongly with future-telling that we are loath to acknowledge anyone's gift as a prophet unless they can foretell the future. This sets us up as ripe for counterfeits which are more than ready to fill the spot. The true nature of a prophet is to share God's thoughts with others as well as represent a group of people before God. A prophet must always maintain the viewpoint of how heaven sees people and situations so that their communications reflect true reality.

I find the definition for minister very fascinating considering that all too many “ministers” using that label are too often the opposite in their spirit from what is revealed here. But this description is of a person who has the spirit of a good waiter. I think most of us can remember when our dining experience was extremely enhanced by enjoying the blessing of a thoughtful, cheerful, entertaining waiter or waitress that just made the experience almost more than perfect.

An effective waiter is humble and alert, always ready to anticipate and resolve any situation and need that may arise. Their primary purpose is to do everything possible to enrich and enhance the dining experience of their patrons without interfering or being noticed very much. Their job is to create the most pleasant atmosphere possible so that other people can connect with each other over a meal most effectively.

It reminds me of the spirit of John the Baptist who did everything possible to elevate Jesus and allow Him to connect with people's hearts while not promoting his own importance or ministry. He said he was a friend of the Bridegroom and as such was careful not to attempt to divert the affections of the bride. Jesus said that John was the greatest of anyone who had been born while at the same time he was the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. Since the Kingdom of Heaven is the reverse of the way we imagine kingdoms that means that in our terminology John is the greatest.

The meaning for exhortation is one of the most startling to me. The typical ideas that arise in my mind whenever I hear this word is along the lines of someone striving to deeply impress others with their beliefs and doctrines almost to the point of using force. It also brings up images of those who feel compelled to make others feel guilty for not measuring up and lecturing them on being better Christians – admonishment. That may be slightly extreme but is the tendencies of how this word seems to be often applied.

I was amazed to find in my study that this word really means to relate to others in a spirit of comforting, invitation, attraction, etc. Conviction is the work of the Holy Spirit but it is not our work – ever. But we can be used by the Spirit to assist Him in conveying the love and compassion and attractions of Jesus to other hearts and thus draw them and call them into a heart connection with God for themselves. When we view this word in its original meaning it takes on a whole new and attractive flavor.

Leader is another term that has a stark difference in the way it is demonstrated typically and the way this passage portrays it. In God's plan leaders are not to have any spirit of domination or coercion of any kind. A true leader is one who stands up for the covenant that we share with God and by example shows how to live in true covenant relationship with God and with God's family. Again, a leader is one who leads and models and demonstrates, not one who drives and forces and manipulates.

This is interesting given the nature of how the brain works. The left brain learns by receiving cognitive information and processing it logically. But the right brain learns by watching an example or demonstration and then imitates that. I believe the right brain is the primary entry point and communication access used by heaven to communicate with mankind. It is the part directly linked with the heart which is God's primary concern in salvation and it seems to be closer to the spirit part of us.

The other big surprise was when I discovered the real meaning of diligence. It too was very different than the meaning typically associated with it in my mind. Being linked with the gift of leadership I see that a leader needs to be unhesitating in modeling an example to imitate. That seems to indicate the need for a spirit of confidence and assurance and sometimes even boldness in being quick to demonstrate the advantages of living in covenant with God.

I find the last combination very heart-warming as well as instructive. It is important to always keep compassion hooked up with the pleasantness of cheerfulness. To have compassion and mercy linked with the word merry can give it a whole new dimension. I believe the opposite direction may also be important. If we are engaging in times of humor and fun we need to be very careful to be alert that our humor does not fail to always have compassion as the guardian to keep us from hurting anyone. Some people believe that humor itself is a bad thing. But I think this is because too often humor is used in the wrong way and at the expense of others. But just like everything else, there is always a healthy genuine whenever there are obvious counterfeits.

I have found that the most effective presenters dealing with some of the most dense truths to comprehend have made it much, much easier to learn and grasp and remember when the presenter had a kind and cheerful sense of humor balanced with compassion. It reminds me of the food we eat. We do not care for a meal consisting of all heavy, very dense foods with almost no liquids. Our stomachs would rebel at such a spread. Likewise I have noticed that when a person mixes together lightness and humor and stories along with deep, intense and important concepts in a proper way that the truths thus learned tend to linger much longer in my memory and are far quicker to return to my consciousness just when I need them in a real-life situation.

Now if you read the verses again with the light of their real definitions they take on new life and energy.

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