Program and Heaven Don’t Mix

I’ve read a troubling book calledThe Shack. I’ve cried much, form of wailing actually (another good reason to be out of earshot). I both do and don’t recommend it to you. It was sent to me last week by a friend and he was not aware that the author was also a friend of mine from long ago. We have reconnected as a result. Much of the book revolves around a lonely shack in the woods where the Trinity met a father who had more personal demons than he realized. I share that to say I read that book at my “shack” and was exposed both to many of my personal demons and also to the warmth of the Presence of God… One deep truth I am walking away from this time with the Father is that friendship is about expectancy, about looking forward to being together. When we change that verb into a noun, it destroys all that God intended.

Program and Heaven Don’t Mix

Can Heaven’s desire and humanity’s method ever work compatibly? The Trinity lives relationship. They invite us to abide, to be reconciled, to live in and with them, to fellowship in unity, but they do not speak much of program.
We in our desire to do things right spend most of our energy building structure, outlining responsibilities then holding people accountable. We do not live for the expectancy found in relationship but rather we create expectations both from and within relationship. These can be spoken or not yet they still define key roles and functions. In so doing the most pleasurable part of relationship is lost.
We have been created to experience one another. There is a real sense of freedom to be who we are rather than the conformity to the expectations of another. That freedom however is rarely expressed due to the reality that we may long for it but our relationships are not open enough to support it. Thus we constantly second guess the other to determine the level of freedom we can express.
One obvious concern is being taken advantage of, being ill-treated and having to live with outcomes that violate a sense of personal comfort. All true, because this “system” of relating to each other is not compatible with humanity’s norm. It is only possible if we apply the proper environment for its success. Living in the Vine. I in you and you in Me. Jesus established the environment of Heaven and invites us to live there.
It is a place were “rights” are not important because relationship is valued more. There, caring for others as we do ourselves brings great clarity to the “theory”. Loving the enemy, praying for those who persecute you only make sense in an environment that does not value control and does not seek to define significance by what is done. In Heaven’s world significance seems to be defined by who you are, not positionally (as in social status), but inwardly (your heart and motive).

Jesus speaks of greatness as serving. That is usually understood through a lens that sees humility as an admirable trait. But what if the underlying issue of service is the longing for relationship, the experience, not expectation? Suddenly there is an expansion of understanding that recognizes that this is more than simply inner maturity. It is a desire for community, a willingness to value the person for who they are (a living being created in the image of our own Creator) than by what they have done. That is more than mere humility. It is life under another banner. It is counter-intuitive to all that Western culture values.
Another way of putting it is that you cannot value the system created by Capitalism and be able to live the life of Christ’s intention.
A young man with a sincere heart approached Jesus asking a form of this very issue. “What do I need to do to have eternal life?” Jesus’ final answer was “give everything you have away and come follow Me.” That invitation could not be accepted because it was based on other’s ability to ensure my well-being. That understood, most of humanity does not function under those values. He did not realize that Jesus was capable of supplying what other’s could not. Yet we are no different. We do not believe society will care for us if we abandon our warehouses to the poor. And we are correct. Society would lay us to the side as it does many others because it is based on expectation not experience, on outcomes not relationship.
To survive in this world we can embrace the foundational assumptions of being responsible people: responsible for the care of ourselves and our families; responsible for the health of our community; responsible for the state of our nation and world. Or we can reject that premise and begin to step into another world, a Heavenly one that places greater value on relationship than possessions, on being more than doing.
Jesus instructed us to stay where we were in society. Be fully there, but don’t live by the assumptions that its worldview offers. He calls us to be in the world but be wholly other than it. Salt our cultures with new values and philosophies. As much as it is up to us, be at peace with all men. Care for the widow and orphan. When you cared for the least of these you did it for me.
Jesus never said, “When you paid someone else to care for them. When you vicariously cared through your donations to charity.” He said, “When you did it, when you do it, you did it for me.”
He speaks of giving a glass of cold water. Yet it is done in Christ’s name. The implication is more than telling people your motive; “God loves you and so do I.” The implication is towards abiding in the Vine. We cannot genuinely speak of loving the stranger without the Abiding Love within us, loving out through us as an expression of His very Essence. The glass of cold water was given by Christ through us to whomever He brings across our path.
That understanding is simply not compatible with Capitalism’s call to “eat, drink and be merry.” It isn’t compatible with Religion’s call to acts of charity because it is the right thing to do. Both perspectives simplify a worldview and accompanying lifestyle down to a simple formula of behavioral responses. It replaces the experience for the expectation and reduces the abiding in Christ to performing for Him.
It is dangerous ground when we walk into the Kingdom of Heaven while still living on earth. It will most likely lead to being misunderstood, ridiculed, abandoned because we no longer are seen as having anything that will benefit a person’s status, lifestyle and influence. We become swine upon which pearls should not be wasted.
Paul speaks of becoming a fool for the sake of Christ. In reality, he was no fool. Yet in reality many viewed him as one. What was it about Paul that left such an impression upon people? Possibly it was the throwing away of his pedigree. He once knew how to use his credentials for power. Many respected him for that. Counting it as meaningless reinforced the actions of a “fool”. What person in his “right” mind would place hardship as a greater treasure than position? Who would place himself in danger simply for the sake of a message, even a message that could bring salvation to the very people who would return this compassion with whips, rocks, spit and insult?
The only answer to that is a person who lived under different values. In Paul’s case he invites us to think on things that reinforce another kingdom’s view. It is a culture from another place. That place Paul says, “is above”. “Whatever is true and honorable and right, pure and lovely and admirable, excellent and worthy of praise, think about these things.”
In a novel entitled The Shake, God explains, “Religion must use law to empower itself and control the people who they need in order to survive. I give you an ability to respond and your response is to be free to love and serve in every situation, and therefore each moment is different and unique and wonderful. Because I am your ability to respond, I have to be present in you. If I simply gave you a responsibility, I would not have to be with you at all. It would now be a task to perform, an obligation to be met, something to fail.”
I welcome you to the journey.
David

Comments

[Bena]

Love it~ it is so simple yet profound and can only be understood through experience. :)