I think about how Jesus lived and the melting pot of community that constantly surrounded Him. I think we forget that he lived in a Roman occupied Israel where He dined at tables mixed with both pharisees and prostitutes. The cultural subversiveness that Jesus showed us we have forgotten.
We also forget that Paul didn't call people out of persecution, but encouraged them to endure it. I think that if we think about getting back to any better way of life, it is this subversive, inclusive, enduring community we should look to model. Looking to the past can be helpful, but too often we look to the past to show us what was better and not instead looking to the past to inform us of our sins. The present will always be difficult because in the present we do not know what is to come, and that uncertainty is hard to bear. When we look to the past, we think we can endure, because it is known. I love how A.J. Swoboda directs us in one of his books to turn from the sin of nostalgia. I had never thought about nostalgia as sin, but it truly is hangup for many in the US.
In the present, there are so many christians who are on high alert looking for when the government to overstep their right to worship God. They are so certain that they must preserve or flee that it keeps them from this moment. People have told me that they can not be social workers any longer because of the oppression against white christians. Others have told me how they must create self-sustaining homesteads to provide for themselves in what is to come. Many others are leaving the states that don't favor their political affiliations because they are frustrated they have no control. And, as much as looking to get back to christianity in our nation keeps us from being with God and doing for God in the present, the same also occurs when we are projecting our future plights. The reality is, I can't be for God in the present if I don't see the present. Which is why we have Matthew 6:34 to remind us that God is our caretaker, not ourselves.
The question I have is, for those who see the need to be in the present and to turn from the past and the future, is it for us to try and persuade the others blinded by the past and future to see the present?
Hi Shalisa, I'm sorry for the delayed reply. I'm still learning how to interact on Substack. I appreciate your thought and insight. I hadn't thought about the future in the terms you describe, but I think you are onto something there. As for persuading other Christians, I think that persuading will ultimately be the work of the Spirit and that we participate by embodying the faithfulness we espouse and describing it in terms folks can understand. As I have turned from arguing to embodying, I have been pleasantly surprised to find a wide range of people having the same conversation.
This I think is true, that it is the work of the Spirit. Thank you for that reminder. I have been thinking about this in terms of peace and justice. That it is the Spirit that brings peace, my job to be embodied with it. It is Christ who brings ultimate justice, my job is to work at it though not my job to fulfill it. It is not our job to turn hearts and minds, but our job to walk in love. "He has shown you, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you; but to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God."- Micah 6:8
I think about how Jesus lived and the melting pot of community that constantly surrounded Him. I think we forget that he lived in a Roman occupied Israel where He dined at tables mixed with both pharisees and prostitutes. The cultural subversiveness that Jesus showed us we have forgotten.
We also forget that Paul didn't call people out of persecution, but encouraged them to endure it. I think that if we think about getting back to any better way of life, it is this subversive, inclusive, enduring community we should look to model. Looking to the past can be helpful, but too often we look to the past to show us what was better and not instead looking to the past to inform us of our sins. The present will always be difficult because in the present we do not know what is to come, and that uncertainty is hard to bear. When we look to the past, we think we can endure, because it is known. I love how A.J. Swoboda directs us in one of his books to turn from the sin of nostalgia. I had never thought about nostalgia as sin, but it truly is hangup for many in the US.
In the present, there are so many christians who are on high alert looking for when the government to overstep their right to worship God. They are so certain that they must preserve or flee that it keeps them from this moment. People have told me that they can not be social workers any longer because of the oppression against white christians. Others have told me how they must create self-sustaining homesteads to provide for themselves in what is to come. Many others are leaving the states that don't favor their political affiliations because they are frustrated they have no control. And, as much as looking to get back to christianity in our nation keeps us from being with God and doing for God in the present, the same also occurs when we are projecting our future plights. The reality is, I can't be for God in the present if I don't see the present. Which is why we have Matthew 6:34 to remind us that God is our caretaker, not ourselves.
The question I have is, for those who see the need to be in the present and to turn from the past and the future, is it for us to try and persuade the others blinded by the past and future to see the present?
Hi Shalisa, I'm sorry for the delayed reply. I'm still learning how to interact on Substack. I appreciate your thought and insight. I hadn't thought about the future in the terms you describe, but I think you are onto something there. As for persuading other Christians, I think that persuading will ultimately be the work of the Spirit and that we participate by embodying the faithfulness we espouse and describing it in terms folks can understand. As I have turned from arguing to embodying, I have been pleasantly surprised to find a wide range of people having the same conversation.
This I think is true, that it is the work of the Spirit. Thank you for that reminder. I have been thinking about this in terms of peace and justice. That it is the Spirit that brings peace, my job to be embodied with it. It is Christ who brings ultimate justice, my job is to work at it though not my job to fulfill it. It is not our job to turn hearts and minds, but our job to walk in love. "He has shown you, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you; but to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God."- Micah 6:8
Amen and amen. Thank you for speaking my heart.
Hi Patti, I'm glad that the posts are helpful! Thanks for commenting.
This series is so helpful and refreshing.
Hi Dana, Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad it's helpful!