Judgment and Worship

It is written: "'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.'" (Romans 14:11 NIV)

I am starting to see more clearly now that the choices I make about what I believe about God and what He is like determine the outcome of my own salvation. The Great War between evil and good, between Christ and Satan revolves around the opinions of all those caught up in this battle about what God is really like. We are all trapped in this war and have no option to get out of it. We can only go through it to the very climax. But each one of us has the freedom to chose which side we will believe and that choice will determine the results that will be seen worked out in our life and our eternal destiny.

One of the important things to remember when seeking to understand these passages is to pay attention to the real meaning of the important words and realize that most of our assumed meanings are often decoys to keep us off target. Worship is one of those things that is little understood but is immensely significant and appears to be the real subject of this verse. One of the most important things about real worship is the spontaneous nature of it. Worship is not really worship if it is coerced or extracted. Worship is an activity of the heart and as such has it roots much deeper than our conscious activity or control. We may be able to perform outward acts of worship and appear to be worshiping, but real worship always springs from the affections of the heart at much deeper levels.

When God says that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess to God, He is not describing any forced compliance with His demands that He has to be worshiped. That is never the kind of worship that He will accept or is interested in in the slightest. But God is so amazingly wise and patient in this very long and tragic experiment with sin that Lucifer started, that He knows that in spite of all the lies and deceptions and slander and distortions about Him, that in the end the lies will all come unraveled and the real truth about His perfect goodness, love, forgiveness and fairness will emerge above it all and will eclipse every deception of the enemy. This is the wisdom of God and this is the reason that every being that ever existed will one day unite in complete submission to the real truth about God and will willingly offer real worship to Him and acknowledge that His ways are right and fair and that there is no other way that can work. Lucifer's lies will be forever completely exposed and will never again have any power to deceive anyone. The light of the real truth about God will be clearer and brighter than at any time before in the existence of the universe and everyone will be permanently inoculated against ever desiring to rebel again.

It is this same truth about God that works in our lives today to attract us to prepare for this great day of real Judgment. For it is not enough to just be brought to the place of willingly acknowledging the real truth about God and giving Him the worship due to Him. All of the lost along with all of the fallen angels turned demons will also participate in this great day of real worship and confessional praise. But I certainly do not want to be in their midst on that day of worship. The worship that comes from those who are lost will not last very long because they have destroyed their capacity to love God in response to His love for them. And there is nothing more torturous than being intensely loved while being unable to love in return. That is the very essence of why hell will be so hellish.

What I noticed this morning was how closely the two quotations that Paul uses from the Old Testament are linked together. The previous one is found in 12:20 where Paul describes the essence of God's ways of dealing with sin and vengeance. It is in essence part of a definition of the wrath of God.

On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." (Romans 12:20 NIV)

Notice the clear results of these acts of kindness that we are commanded to use against those who are our enemies. The result of using God's kindness against those who abuse and hurt you is the producing of coals of fire. These are the very same coals of fire that constitute the fires of hell. And this is one of the best descriptions that can be seen as to how God is going to resolve the problem of sin in His universe. He will not eliminate sin by the use of force, through acts that are designed to instill fear in our hearts or through any other means invented by His archenemy. He does not have to adjust the way He deals with others and He did not have to come up with new ways to relate to His creatures when sin entered. It that were true then Satan's original charges would be proven to be true, for Lucifer insisted that there were flaws in God's ways of dealing with His created beings and that Lucifer had a better alternative. We can now see the results of his “better alternative” and it is quite obvious to most that it is not better in the least. But we are so blind to the better original plan and the character of God that we still refuse to believe that God's ways are really better and more attractive than the ways of this world.

The whole plan of salvation is the unveiling of the real truth about God in His attempt to attract as many as possible to become His experiments of grace. For if He is given permission by any individual, He will take them on as His unique and special project and will transform them back into His own image to reflect His perfect goodness, love and joy. As they allow Him to do His work in their hearts and minds by continuing to give Him ongoing permission, He will perfect His own character in their lives until they perfectly reflect His beauty and are filled with the passion that emanates from His own heart. They will glow with the spirit of love that is described in this verse and will be prepared to worship Him not only on the final day of Judgment but will be learning to truly worship Him more often even now.

Part of this transformation involves letting go of all judgment against those around me and embracing them as brothers and sisters in Christ. Chapter 14 is a description in part of this process of transformation and reveals some of the false ways of thinking and feeling that need to be let go of as the Spirit of God convicts me. As I focus my attention on God and the real truth about His character and the way He interacts with me, I will be more and more transformed into treating others the way God treats me and will lay aside all judgment and contempt.

This also makes more plain the truth that God never indulges in any of this counterfeit activity of judgment either. God does not tell me to not judge others and then turn around and do it Himself. God is my perfect example, not the exceptions to His requirements for me. It is a tragic mistake to believe that we are never to judge each other but that it will be O.K. for God to do it. God never employs the methods of His enemy and neither should I. The true kind of judgment that God uses is radically different than the condemning kind of judgment that I am warned against here. Counterfeit judgment involves shame and fear and condemnation. True judgment is the natural process of revealing what is hidden by simply introducing light and allowing the real truth to be seen as a result of that light.

This is precisely why God knows that at some point in time every person will willingly worship and confess to Him. (Remember, confession simply means agreeing with.) That is because light always ultimately wins over darkness. Darkness simply does not have what it takes to keep things hidden. When light is increased enough the darkness simply has to evaporate in its presence. But God values freedom so obsessively that He allows all the time it takes for every person to make up their own minds as to whom they will believe. And the issue that this belief is about is what we are going to believe about God.

I used to be very confused and frustrated when I read the books by the apostle John. He repeatedly said that Jesus' response to people looking for truth or eternal life was to tell them to “believe”. But often it was not clear at all to me what He was asking them to believe. He might say something like, believe on the Son of Man, but that still did not really make sense to me.

Then a few years ago it began to dawn on me what this really meant as my own picture of God began to radically shift. One of Jesus' claims was that He was the perfect representation of what God is like. So when He told people to believe in Him, He was really asking them to believe that the way He treated people and related to us is exactly what God is like and demonstrates the real truth of how God feels about us. He is really begging us to let go of our many lies about God and to believe the truth about God as revealed in the life and teachings of Jesus.

Jesus came to expose and challenge our terribly distorted ideas about God. We still cling to many of those false ideas and He is still pleading with us to let go of these lies. The more clearly I perceive the real truth about what God is like and how He feels about me the more attracted I am to wanting to know more about Him and to become like Him. This has certainly not been my experience for much of my life. I spent a great share of my life living in fear and hidden hatred for God while desperately trying to perform good enough to stave off as much of His wrath as possible. That was a very exhausting kind of religion that I want to become totally free from as soon as possible.

I am now beginning to experience a new kind of Christianity, a very personal and intimate relationship that is growing, interactive and uncomfortably out of control at times. I have to remind myself that I am His project and not the other way around. Therefore it is not important for me to be in control but to simply listen and cooperate with whatever He wants to share with me at the moment. I am experiencing much more peace in this relational-based spirituality than I ever dreamed possible in my performance-based religion in which I spent so many years. I am learning to overcome fears instead of looking for more. I am slowly (way too slowly) learning to lighten up and try to allow my heart to breathe and thrive and blossom in an atmosphere of love and safety in the presence of God. As a result I am starting to understand more of the true meaning of worship.

As I see more clearly the real truth about God, that He treats everyone with love and respect, that His wrath is radically different than our assumptions about that word, that He loves His enemies and never reverses that love – ever, then my desire to bow my knees in willing worship becomes more real and my willingness to confess and agree with the convictions of His Spirit becomes easier. As I immerse myself in His Word and fill my mind with His truths I find my heart becoming more alive and more synchronized with His ways and with His true family both in heaven and here on earth.

As a result I choose to continue to offer more praise to Him for the wonderful revelations He has been sharing with me. I chose to honor Him by allowing Him more access to my heart and life so that He can more perfectly cause me to reflect His kind of goodness and character. I offer my praise and gratitude to Him for His amazing kindness, grace and unconditional forgiveness. And as I embrace that forgiveness and reflect it to those who have hurt and offended my own spirit, I experience more and more freedom from the heaviness that I have lived under for most of my life.

Thank-you Jesus!

(next in series) and also another post along this same subject.

Judgment, Relationships and Light

For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. (Romans 14:9-10)

This whole passage is a correctionary warning to avoid staying trapped within the false system of the world that I have called “hierarchy” or “kingship”. This is the whole, pervasive mindset of comparing everyone with each other or measuring people according to many and various artificial standards to determine their relative value. It is the acts of discrimination in all of its myriad forms that we daily practice all over the world. It is so ingrained within our psyche that it is difficult to even realize when we are doing it much of the time, but it is part of the problem of judging that is being addressed in this chapter.

But when we begin to measure others, or even ourselves for that matter, instead of accepting God's declarations about our worth and equality in His eyes, then we are indulging in the counterfeit system invented by Satan, the master accuser of the brethren. And in setting ourself up as judge we are also usurping the parental role of our Father in heaven and are trying to claim authority that does not belong to us.

In these verses we are reminded that we are all brothers and sisters in the family of God and as such are all equally loved, valued and cherished in His eyes. But we are also warned here that it is wrong to try to change that status by attempting to elevate our own perceived position and think that we are somehow better or more important than others around us. There is only one true Lord and we must remember that we are not Lord. In fact, whenever we attempt to lord it over someone by viewing them with contempt, criticism and judgment, we are really rejecting God and Christ from being our own Lord in the process.

I see these verses as a clear call to constant attention to realign ourselves to the position in which we are called to serve, as brothers and sisters to all around us with abstinence from trying to play God in their lives. It is a reminder to re-engage in filling our lives and hearts with the love that Jesus taught and to be filled with the servant-spirit that Jesus demonstrated.

When I really begin to be filled with a true spirit of humility as that that filled the heart and mind of Jesus, then I will have the joyful freedom in Christ that will keep me from wanting to judge my brothers and sisters and thus play God with their hearts. I will remember that we all have only one Lord and Judge and that it is never my responsibility to expose or point out the faults of anyone else, whether in an attempt to coerce them to change or to make myself look better by contrast. I am here to encourage, to lift up, to come alongside others who have similar struggles and temptations that I do and treat them as Jesus treated sinners when He was here on earth and still does yet today. I must leave all judgment up to God because God is the only one in the universe capable of exercising the real kind of judgment in a way that is most redemptive.

The problem with humans trying to judge each other is that we cannot be completely free of twisted views and ideas about judgment and so our selfishness and pride always contaminates our attempts in this arena. That is why Paul stated unequivocally in Romans 12:19 that we must leave all revenge in God's hands. God knows all about how to deal with sin and it is radically different than the way we think it should be done. But when it is all said and done every intelligent being throughout the whole universe will be completely satisfied that God did it fairly and in perfect love without any force or coercion of any kind.

And that is precisely what is wrong with our methods of judgment. The way we judge others is a subtle or not so subtle means of trying to coerce them into changing somehow. We use shame or imposed guilt, threats or all sorts of invalid means of trying to force others to change their ways and align themselves to be more like us (which is really the real purpose of judgment). But since we are all sinners and full of faults of our own, to pressure others into becoming more like us is only to try to get them to become more like our style of sinner instead of their style.

Instead, we must come alongside all of our brothers and sisters and together seek God's face and to know much clearer the real truth about God so that in being judged by Him we will be drawn to become more like His perfect character free of all condemnation and fear. When we choose to properly relate to God and to each other, then judgment will begin to lose its grip of fearfulness in our hearts and we will begin to desire to enter into true judgment for ourselves on a regular basis.

The sins of some men are quite evident, going before them to judgment; for others, their sins follow after. Likewise also, deeds that are good are quite evident, and those which are otherwise cannot be concealed. (1 Timothy 5:24-25)

This is along the line of the true kind of judgment that is God's way. True judgment is simply arranging things in such a way that the true motives and secrets of the heart are revealed for all to see. It does not involve force or arbitrary pronouncements over groveling subjects. It is an inward conviction that can no longer be avoided and an enlightening of the heart and mind that exposes all the dark things of deception behind which we have hidden for all of our lives. Light always brings judgment, not through the means of force but by the principle inherent in light itself.

This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God. (John 3:19-21)

If we try to act as original light to expose someone around us by judging them or viewing them with contempt, we are trying to act as an Antichrist. Instead, we must focus on aiming our mirrors on Jesus and allowing His perfect light to shine through our lives and hearts and simply allow natural judgment to happen wherever God desires without any pressure from us. As the true Light from Jesus flows through our lives, judgment will begin to happen all around us. But we must always refrain from the temptation of trying to make it happen on our own. Only light from the sacred fire of God can bring about healthy, transformative judgment in the ways that God intends. We must never introduce strange fire into the work of God in our midst.

(next in series)

Judging and Holiness

...Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. (Romans 14:5-9)

As I read this passage again this morning I was reminded of the very insightful teaching on the word “holy” that I heard from Craig Hill of Family Foundations. He pointed out that the true concept in this word “holy” does not so much mean good or righteous or pious as we often associate with it, but it simply means exclusive dedication to something or someone else for their use. Holiness, therefore, must always have an object toward which it is focused.

Now I am seeing this very concept clearly spelled out in these verses in Romans 14. The need to be fully convinced in our mind is the very same idea as being fully dedicated in the word “holy”. And this makes sense since we are called to be a holy people before God. Without holiness no one can see God and live. But that holiness is not a self-generated piety or perfection by which we get ourselves finally good enough to convince God to let us into His presence. It is a total and exclusive dedication of our complete being in pure abandon to the will and ways and authority of God in our lives.

Notice in this passage how many times the phrase for the Lord is repeated. It is also interesting to note that this phrase applies equally to people who have sharp differences of opinions about certain religious subjects. And yet Paul is stressing very much here that we absolutely must not view anyone with contempt because they hold a different opinion about some point differing from ours. He even goes on to say that God is quite able and will make them stand, independent of our opinions about their beliefs. What this is really saying is the same thing that is found in the true meaning of “holiness”, that the object of our focus and attention and devotion is to be exclusively the Lord.

I took up this phrase about being fully convinced in our own minds a few days ago and wondered what deeper implications might be uncovered in it. I am now seeing some of those deeper implications. To be fully convinced in my own mind is very important, but at the same time it is even more important what the object of that conviction is. I have seen too many tragic examples of those who are fully convinced of their own opinions and subsequently view with contempt anyone who differs with them while strenuously trying to convince others of their own opinions. But when I compare this passage with what I learned about true holiness I see that the object of my being fully convinced is to be found in an exclusive devotion to God as my Lord, not to an opinion that becomes my slave-master.

In this passage I am clearly instructed that whatever beliefs I hold need to come from a total submission and devotion and relationship with God that is greater than any belief or opinions that I may hold. This reinforces the growing conviction I have had that my spirit and my relationship with God must always trump my ability to prove that I am right or the accuracy of my opinions. And furthermore I must definitely avoid taking the next step and spend time criticizing others and dwell on how I think they are wrong. This chapter is a blatant warning against going down this path.

Quite apparently the Christians that Paul was writing to must have had a problem with this divisive activity and unfortunately nothing has changed much today. It is still all too easy a temptation to fall into by growing Christians (that be all Christians) who find it a challenge to keep their focus on their own relationship with God and off of comparing themselves with others in the body. But what I am seeing in these verses is that the far more important aspect that I must focus on is my relationship with Jesus who died and rose to life again in order that I and He might have this exclusive relationship of holiness with each other.

This is spelled out very clearly in the words for this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord. This tells me that at least one of the main reasons He did what He did when He came to this earth was to be able to establish that unique kind of relationship with each one of us. Verse five says in the original language that very specifically, individually, each one in particular apart from what anyone around them does, needs to be fully convinced, or to be exclusively dedicated themselves to engage in a holy-kind of relationship with this Lord, the Christ, the Savior in their own mind.

Verse eight is also very enlightening in this respect. One of the true definitions of a genuine Christian is a person who no longer lives or even dies for themselves. This addresses the issue of self-survival that is an inherent instinct in all of us. But Jesus said that those who want real life must let go of their desperate grasp on life in order to achieve real life. If we try to stay in the mode of self-justification, self-defense, self-promotion and comparing ourselves with others to determine how valuable we are, we will not be able to enter into the eternal life that Jesus came to offer us.

If we find ourselves judging others or viewing them with contempt it is very likely that we are slipping back into a mode of living for ourselves again and are no longer resting in that exclusive, holy relationship with our Lord who is able to make us stand. We are not only putting stumbling blocks and obstacles in the paths of those around us but we are also creating or exposing faults within our own lives that we will be required to give an account of in the day of final Judgment ourselves.

This sheds light on verse ten as well. If judging someone else in the body of believers creates an issue within my own heart for which I must give account to my own Lord in judgment, then why would I do such a thing? In fact, now that I think about this a little bit, the thing I may be required to give account for is my attempt to usurp the role of judge in someone else's life. So how am I going to explain to the true Judge of all the universe why I thought I was capable of taking His place and doing His job for Him in someone else's life? What gives me the illusion that I can meddle in someone else's relationship with their Master and Lord? What makes me think I have that kind of authority over their relationship with God?

This is getting stickier and stickier the more I think about it. This is very similar to me attempting to step in and try to micromanage and advise and control how someone else's spouse should relate to their partner in marriage, especially when my own marriage is far short of ideal. It actually might be very tempting for me and for many others to do that very thing, but it would also be ludicrous if I have my head on straight at all. It is never my place to try to control how another person should relate to their husband or wife. And likewise it is never my place to attempt to control or manipulate someone else's intimate relationship with their lover and Lord, Jesus their Savior.

I have to confess that these warnings and instructions are all too applicable to me. I wish that was not the case, but it is true. I am all to easily tempted to judge others and view them with contempt and try to manipulate their relationship with the Lord. I may do so because I am comparing their opinions and beliefs with my own instead of paying closer attention to listening to the Spirit communicating to me from my own Lord. That means I am meddling instead of serving, and that will always end in disaster.

Lord, keep reminding me that I have far too many issues and faults of my own to spend time dwelling on those of others. Remind me that the most important thing for me to focus on at all times is to be in right relationship to You as my Lord and not try to lord it over someone else through contempt, fault-finding and a critical attitude. I likely do these kinds of things because I still don't have a grasp at the heart level of how much You value me, and so I try to make myself feel more valuable by comparing myself with others that I think are less right than me. Forgive me for doing this so often and change the way I think and the way I perceive others. Give me the eyes of heaven and Your heart of love and compassion to see others with the same infinite worth and value that You see in them. And help me to really grasp how much You value and cherish me so that I will not be so tempted to compare other's opinions with mine and judge them with contempt.

Thank-you Father, for not treating me the way I have treated others so many times. If You judged me like I judge others I would be overwhelmed with discouragement and depression and would have given up on our relationship many years ago. Please get me off this addiction quickly and heal whatever is inside me that continues to feed on this sin. Cleanse me from all unrighteousness and cause me to reflect more perfectly Your glory and Your grace so that others will be more attracted to wanting You as their Lord.

(next in series)

Accounting for Who?

...For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. (Romans 14:10, 12)

For a number of months now I have been compiling and digesting information from various sources that help me to more clearly understand the two kinds of judgment. There is a counterfeit form of judgment that is the kind that most people think of whenever the word judgment is used. In fact, counterfeit judgment is so pervasive in our thinking that even when we talk about the judgment of God which is the true kind of judgment, we make many assumptions about it that infuse false ideas from our distorted views about judgment that we are more familiar with.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that the words used are the same for both. It is one of those instances where language itself becomes part of the problem and so a lot of extra explanation must take place and a lot of qualifications and clarifications need to happen during the process of examination in order to understand the differences between the two. But once it becomes more clear what the differences are it is much easier to see the contrast between the righteousness of God's judgment and the destructive, debilitating nature of false judgment which is about all most of us are familiar with.

Most of this chapter thus far has talked almost exclusively about the false or counterfeit kind of judgment. As such, we are repeatedly warned about the pitfalls of indulging in this kind of judging which God never participates in. Paul brings this passage to a head with the climaxing statement: Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this – not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother's way. (Romans 14:13)

It becomes even more clear in this last verse what the true nature of counterfeit judgment is all about. False judgment places obstacles and stumbling blocks in people's ways and inhibits their ability to come closer to God and to each other. Because of the nature of this activity it is quite clear that false judgment is from the enemy of God and is something none of us should ever participate in. And yet we find ourselves slipping into this mode of thinking and speaking so easily and unconsciously much of the time. And that is why it is so important to awaken our hearts and train our minds with the clear warnings and instructions of this passage.

But tucked into the middle of this chapter is a reference to the true kind of judgment that happens when God executes justice. Paul talks about the day of Judgment when everyone without exception is going to appear before the real Judgment Seat of God, the only true Judge. If we want to know what real, valid judgment looks like it might be helpful to carefully examine what goes on during the time of true judgment. And we find that right here in this verse.

First of all, we are shown the results that naturally will take place whenever true judgment happens. When true judgment occurs, those who are judged will do at least two things according to verse eleven: they will willingly bow their knees in submission to the superiority to the one and only true God and secondly they will use their own mouth to give praise to God who alone is worthy of all praise.

Next we are shown how each person will relate to the conditions that cause true judgment to happen. For whatever reason, and I believe we need to learn why, each one will give an account of himself to God. The reason behind this must be very carefully examined without introducing elements and assumptions from our false ideas of judgment into the picture. But very clearly this is what will take place when true judgment occurs. Notice that it is not God imposing His determinations about people onto them. It says that each person will himself give the account. This is consistent with the immense value that God places on personal freedom and His respect for our power of free choice. Each person makes their own choices and then finds themselves in a position where they feel they must confess the true reasons and motives for those choices.

I think that we might be able to learn some things about counterfeit judgment by contrasting it with real judgment. In true judgment it says that we will give an account of ourself to God. False judging places obstacles in the lives of others. So inherent in the very nature of false judgment I see that it is focused on attempting to possibly involve ourselves in accounting for other people instead of ourselves. Maybe we are even trying to pretend to be in relationship to them as their judge instead of helping them get properly aligned and prepared for the real kind of judgment. That sounds very much like the blame and shame game that Satan introduced into the human race in the Garden of Eden.

There are a number of compelling reasons to refrain from false judgment. False judgment does not lead a person to spontaneously submit to God's sovereignty. False judgment will not produce genuine praise and gratitude and admiration toward God. Counterfeit judging will tend to illicit a response of a like spirit in the person, a defensiveness that damages their perception of the truth about God and creates fear in their heart. Contempt and false judging creates the wrong spirit in a person and induces unnecessary pain in the heart of those accused that causes them to draw away from God instead of learning to trust and appreciate Him more.

I still plan to take some time to lay out the clear differences between true and counterfeit judgment and I hope to do it very soon. It is helping me to clear up many things in my own mind and heart as I process through and examine carefully the issues and problems involved in this subject. The more I learn about the true kind of judgment the more exciting it is but the more I realize that much of the time I am not in harmony with the ways of God on this issue. But the more I implement the principles of true judgment the easier it is for others to see the real truth about God and be attracted to His heart of love. True judgment always results in glory and praise being given to God.

(next in series)

Refocus

For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. (Romans 14:7-8)

I have been thinking about this verse off and on for quite awhile since I started this chapter in Romans wondering what it really means. It seems that the way it is usually approached is so idealistic or vague that it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense in everyday life. I am praying for more insight about what God wants me to know about these verses.

What comes to mind this morning is that religion has become so self-focused and human-centered that God is trying to remind us that the center of all our attention needs to be outward focused and directed toward His heart. This comes right at the end of a whole passage delineating differences between beliefs of people within the body of Christ that conflict with each other. Now it appears that Paul is saying that focusing on our differences is not nearly so important as focusing on God.

If we view our relationship with God like spokes on a wheel then this would make a lot of sense. If viewed from a position on the opposite side of the wheel, other spokes will be very much out of line with our viewpoint and opinions. It will be very easy for us to compare others position on issues with our own and criticize, condemn and pass judgment on their views. But the same would be just as easy for them to do to us. Conducting ourselves in this way only tends to highlight our differences and create more and more division and disharmony within the body. No matter how right we may feel we are, pointing out perceived faults in others tends to only alienate and tear down the work that the Holy Spirit is seeking to accomplish at the heart level.

In these verses I see a call to realign our thinking and focus back onto what is important and what will bring us closer to the real and only point of legitimate reference for any Christian. Religion is not something we are to perform to earn anything from God. No matter where we are coming from theologically, if we center our focus on God, seeing truth about Him more clearly for ourselves and deepening our affections for Him ahead of everything else, then we will inevitably find ourselves coming closer and closer to each other as we approach the common center of all truth.

Not one of us lives for himself... I sense that Paul is writing from within a social context of community experienced by the early church that is so foreign to most of us today that we do not really understand most of the implications and assumptions of those within that body of believers. While they certainly had a lot of personal problems and each person was very much in a healing process, there was a level of transparency, vulnerability and mutual love and trust that would be shocking and even frightening to most people in churches today. I believe most people who now consider themselves quite religious would be scandalized by the level of openness that was required in order to participate in that early community.

When Paul talks about one of us, he is referring to those who have chosen to be absorbed into the body of Christ and fully participate in community with all its implications. I have to admit that not only is my church a very long ways from reflecting that kind of unity and openness but that I have never even seen a community or group of people who were experiencing that kind of intimacy. I certainly believe that God fully intends for us to live in that kind of oneness with each other and it will happen with or without us very soon. I am quite hungry to find and experience the kind of fellowship as described in the New Testament church but am also very skeptical of claims by people today to have achieved this kind of community. When they are more closely examined it is usually found that they are carefully orchestrated image management programs that are trying very hard to create the external symptoms of community life without properly addressing the root causes and creating an atmosphere where hearts can really thrive in a safe environment.

The early New Testament church was so energized, quite literally, by the dynamic inner power and working of the Holy Spirit that it was downright dangerous to your very life to try to join yourself to that intimate fellowship of vulnerable believers unless your were willing to dismantle all of your charades and masks you had acquired throughout your life. Ananias and Sapphira found out the hard way that you had better not mess with the intense power surging through a real church that is full of transparency and healing power from the very real presence of God in their midst. They thought that they could maintain their status quo of pretension like everyone else they knew that was part of typical religion, but they discovered too late that this was no typical religion. This was the real thing and the power in this religion was a great deal more than they had bargained for.

Quite literally, the early believers had to choose between continuing to live for themselves or to surrender control and authority over their hearts to the one and only Lord worthy of that role. It is important to note that they were not surrendering control of their hearts and minds to any human leader. That is how most counterfeit religions work. True spirituality does not assign any human being to be the channel of control over anyone else. In Christ's kingdom there is only one Master and that is the humble, graceful, kind and perfect Jesus who is no different now than when He lived here physically on this earth.

Every person in the true body of believers must be connected and subordinated directly to the Lordship of Jesus Himself individually from their heart and not to any other lord. Everything in their life then flows out of that relationship with Jesus and the intimacy that is enjoyed with Him is openly shared with all others who are likewise fully submitted to the complete authority of Jesus within their hearts. Intimacy is one of the most important things our hearts were created to enjoy and thrive on but has been mostly lost through the effects of sin in our world.

The counterfeit of true intimacy for which our heart constantly craves is the myriad offers of satisfaction through the various means and adaptations of everything sexually oriented in our world today. Satan knows that we crave intimacy almost more than life itself and he has spent thousands of years perfecting complex counterfeits that hold out convincing promises to satisfy that insatiable longing within us. But every one of them when indulged in leave us empty and even more hungry for the real thing. The deeper a person gets into the counterfeits the more intense and obvious they become aware of their deep need for real intimacy.

It sounds all too much like a cliché, but at the deepest level it is still unavoidably true: Jesus Himself is the only way we can find the intimacy that we each crave so deeply. Even the intimacy enjoyed by Christian couples within the context of true marriage is only a dim taste of the real intimacy that Jesus desires to ravish our heart with in direct connection with His own heart. This intense hunger inside of us has only one food that will hit the spot, and we can never feel really satisfied until we are realigned with our original wiring diagram, repaired and restored to our original destiny and purpose. Only when we are properly in intimate relationship with our Creator can we experience the true joys of pure, satisfying intimacy within the fellowship of true believers. Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's.

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