Fake It 'Til You Make It

Appearance is very important to our society. However, Christ is not a mask or a costume. He doesn't hide who we are, and he doesn't make us appear as something we are not. If we are taught that we must make others see Christ in us we should realize that is separating us from him. If we are taught that others must see us as Christ we should realize that is also separating us from him. Life in Christ does not require us to recognize something separate within us and attempt to encourage or allow it to take over by an overt act of our will or for such appearances to be validated by others.

Caution

I have been very cautious to post. There are many reasons.

Due to my experiences over the last 15 years (has it really been 15 years?), I am more guarded. It isn't that I have been burned, but I'll have to admit to taking counsel of fears of being burned.

There is a documentary available on Netflix about the famous life coach Tony Robbins titled, "Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru." It is in my watchlist. I have never watched it, but it popped into my head just now and reminds me that I am cautious lest I myself, let alone anyone else, would think I should be more than a cheerleader.

I am cautious that while being friendly, people might expect me to be a better friend than I am, or even am capable of being...right now, in the future...ever?

I like looking at things from different perspectives. I am cautious that people are not that flexible to look with me. I am cautious about the assumptions they will make. I am cautious of the drain that explaining myself will make on my time.

I am cautious about my choices. I'm fond of saying that, "In life, there aren't many right or wrong choices. Mostly, there are just choices and the consequences." My dad taught me that it isn't wrong to tilt against windmills, a la Don Quixote, only to try and make sure to make the tilting count, or at least to tilt against the windmills that matter; suggesting that losing a fight for the right reasons makes it worth fighting. I am still cautious because I don't want to lose in a fight.

So, I have been very cautious. I changed. I don't like all of the changes. In some ways, it feels that parts of me went dormant. I would like some of them to wake up. If you visit here, don't be too hopeful. I am still very cautious, but even admitting that to myself seems like it could be a good sign.

Untainted

There is a view in the world that things in the world, or the world itself, can stain your soul.

Moving On

When children are old enough, it is no longer healthy for them to be subjected to life under their parents' rule. Contrast this with the organization of religious organizations where the system has one or more people in charge of each group. While the progression of life is to set the offspring up for success in life, we do not find such development in chruches or other religions. These systems are designed and intended to operate by the followers continually subjecting themselves to the teaching and decisions of, in many cases, self-appointed leaders. Those that become disaffected with following will often branch out on their own, establishing their own system which places themselves as the leaders. There is no freedom in the system. There can't be, it cannot sustain itself any other way.

Purpose of Life

"There is no spoon." -Spoon boy, The Matrix

When learning about grace, many struggle without limits. Questions arise from the fear of being limitless and the belief that commandment is what kept us from sin in the first place. However, the life of one burdened by sin is consumed in struggling to free themselves​ from that burden. Commandment is the ruler with which we measure our own efforts. It continued to keep us enslaved and under the burden. Now, freed from the burden by another's efforts, why would we continue to evaluate our own to continually work ourselves free of a burden that is no longer there? That thought ignores that freedom has changed our purpose; no longer to free ourselves, but to be free.

The questions try and tie us back to the framework of having a metric, a measurement to evaluate our progress in freeing ourselves from the burden. But we can't ask, "What burden?" without offending those who still find their value in a purpose of freeing themselves. While we are free to compare our respective efforts to measure up, this is not the purpose of freedom. Neither is the purpose of freedom to step over a line to break commandments, because then we do it all in reference to the commandment rather than in reference to freedom.

Drawing Lines

Where do you draw the line?

When do you start to see the separations?

What are the limits?

Comparison is judgment
Excluding is judgment
Including is judgment
So then, what is righteous judgment?

New Wine in New Wineskins

Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”

Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
(Matthew 9:14-17, NIV)

I used to read this and wonder what is Jesus talking about? I mean, I get the fasting vs. celebrating, but what does he mean about the patch and wineskins. I didn't get it, but now it seems so simple. You don't mix the old with the new. Who in Jesus' day would do such things that were against the common sense of the day?

Take a second look, the old cannot handle the new. The old, threadbare cloth tears, the old, brittle wineskins split. You can't take your old way of thinking about God, yourself, others, the cross, and salvation, sprinkle on a little grace and end up with a new way to follow the old doctrines of self-justification and self-promotion. It just doesn't work.

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
(2 Cor 5:16-17, NIV)