Religion: Crutch, Crucible, or Confidence.
Today I would like to write on a topic that I will call “Scriptural Principles in Conflict”. That statement might be uncomfortable for those that hold tight on the Bible as the whole truth without error, for those of you please bear with me for a little while. For those desiring to orchestrate their religion with a Bible twist that statement is home. The Bible is a big book, with a lot of big concepts that can cause a lot of big conflicts in our ordinary capricious lives. And if you have any desire to solve those big conflicts, and I pray you do, how do you go about it? I hope the words that follow will provide some guidance as your work through them.
What do I mean by the statement: “Scriptural Principles in Conflict”? Let’s start with – Matthew 8:18-22 18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around Him, He gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea. 19 Then a scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” 20 Jesus *said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 21 Another of the disciples said to Him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” 22 But Jesus *said to him, “Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead.” We don’t get a response from the scribe, but we do hear from one of Jesus’s own disciples and what a good disciple he is. He is following the commandments that God had passed down to him! What a good son he was to take care of his parents. What a good Jew to stay connected in his family and community. How noble he was! And I say shame on him, the same way I say shame on myself for committing the same sin. That is the sin of using religion as a crutch. It is easy for us to allow even scriptural principles to invade our minds in the form of justification allowing us to settle, and what we don’t realize is that we are settling downward into a state of mediocrity, a state of lukewarmness. Settling is easy I admit, I confess to its inviting nature.
Then there are times when God is extremely logical. I raise the conflict again, what if Jesus had desired the disciple to be like you, to be like me. To live my life day to day as best I can fixing transmissions, clicking on links, teaching the next generation, or raising up children as they should? If this is what God desires of you it is just as admirable as winning wars, or building missions out of hay and mud. This life is not organized in such a way where we have a playbook, as if this, then that sort of way. To respond, I return to where I started, in scripture. “But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come.” – John 16:13. This life is fluid, a constant give and take with our Abba. Here’s the skinny. Is your Abba, your religion, a crutch? Are you hiding behind principles that appear as justifications? Are you settling, or even sitting in a state of mediocrity? This onslaught of questions is not intended to be intrusive, but rather a plea for self-introspection. This world has grown tired of mediocre people. This world wants sincerity in relationships, and consistency between word and action. Be close enough to Jesus to know what He calls excellence for you.
I as a person struggle with people that live in such a way that the things they volunteer for, and ordinary things of life such as picking up their children from their private school, or even waking up 15 minutes early become great trials to them. It’s true though, volunteering is hard and will never been enough for some. Picking up kids from some of the best schools in the world is difficult, it costs gas, and requires us to juggle schedules. And rolling out of a warm comfortable bed with that foam topper is difficult. There are those that live this life with God. Friends, colleagues, acquaintances, readers, and enemies we can’t afford to be negative with God. Your religion is not a crucible and God is not your trial. I see this in Cain – Cain’s sacrifice to God was no good; 5 but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. 6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” – Genesis 4:5-8. If you continue to reading through your Bible you’d find that Cain’s heart was not right in his offering. If his heart was not right, his mind was not right, his thoughts weren’t right. It is no stretch for me to consider Cain’s thoughts as “Man, I have to go sacrifice again.” I wonder how far that is from “Man, I have to go to church again?” This is very close to Paul’s words of “…taking every thought captive…” in 2nd Corinthians 10. This world is stooped in negative thought and I feel for you that battle every moment of every day. I entered this topic trivial and outlandishly with gusto, but the truth is, this is serious and seriously painful. For those of you that recognize this in yourself, take every thought captive – be positive. This is not a one and done. This is a marathon. This isn’t a battle. This is war. Be consistent, be of good cheer. Focus on the positive, over and over and over again. You’re rewiring your mind; you’re rewiring your heart. And by the grace of God He may do it in a moment, in the twinkle of an eye, but for those of us that have not had that. Suit up, and surround yourself with good, no, great people. For those of you that do not battle this, you are those great people. Be encouragers to those in need of a positive word. Your God is with you. He is next to you, being the greatest of people for you. Be humble, be positive, and be consistent. This life with the Abba is not a crucible. It is not a labor’s part of our lives. Do not complain about fostering the greatest part of your life, rejoice in it.
There are those that find confidence in this life. For them their religion is not a crutch, or a crucible, but rather a confidence. My memory is sparked with the boldness that Peter and John had at the gate Beautiful in Acts 3 and on into Acts 4. Peter heals a lame man, and was arrested for his teaching, or arguably a conviction, in the temple that followed the healing. Yet, no where do I read in Acts that Peter complained; that Peter hid behind his Abba. He was perceived to have boldness, confidence in what he was doing and saying. I read on through the chapter, and I see things like “Peter ran to his friends”…“they had everything in common” and that they were not worried about consequences, they were not bound by fear. I don’t have much to say here, I just want to smile. Be happy with your Abba, be confident in your Abba and with holy boldness and lasting friendships, a community will find you.
My call to action is simply this. For you to be honest, and to be real, and to ask in your own words, in your own actions, and in your our thoughts; is your religion, a crutch, a crucible, or your confidence?
If you can answer yes to more than one of those, then eradicate everything but confidence. If you are not sure then I encourage you to talk with someone that will be honest with you and help you work through those questions.
God Bless,
Jordan Turner