Body Wanted

I have been reading Mere Christianity for some time now. Let's just say I have been distracted and now I am determined to finish it. I find that I like the way C. S. Lewis puts the thoughts together. For those who don't know, he started out as an atheist and over time realized that God could not be explained away. He argues that there is proof there is a God.

So that is a VERY brief background, and it really does not do any justice to the man. I want to get to what I read last night. Let me put 2 paragraphs here exactly as they appear. Also realize that you do not have the benefit of the context since you are not currently reading it, but trust me this all makes sense.

"When you come to knowing God, the initiative lies on His side. If He does not show Himself, nothing you can do will enable you to find Him. And, in fact, He shows much more of Himself to some people than to others -- not because he has favourites, but because it is impossible for Him to show Himself to a man whose whole mind and character are in the wrong condition. Just as sunlight, though it has no favourites, cannot be reflected in a dusty mirror as clearly as in a clean one.

You can put this another way by saying that while in other sciences the instruments you use are things external to yourself (things like microscopes and telescopes), the instrument through which you see God is your whole self. And if a man's self is not kept clean and bright, his glimpse of God will be blurred -- like the Moon seen through a dirty telescope. That is why horrible nations have horrible religions: they have been looking at God through a dirty lens."

He goes on to suggest that the only real adequate instrument for learning about God is the entire Christian community. So we need to be a community and a body of believers. We need that fellowship and camaraderie to help to reveal God in and through each other. We need to go be the church where there is no church. That made perfect sense to me last night. Wow. People everywhere are deffinitely seeing things through a dirty lens.

Pride: Part 1 of who knows

Wow, it has been a long time since I posted a blog. That is for many reasons, but one main one is because I have been dealing with pride recently. That is not a easy problem to tackle.

After seeing Ann Graham Lotz a few weeks back, she made me take a little bit of a look internally. She had struggled with some sin in her life she did not even realize was there. This was only 3 years ago and she has been preaching for over 3 decades. So I thought that I need to look a little more at myself.

I have been reading C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity" for a little while now. I have started reading it and trying to apply it to me as opposed to apply to those around me. The latest chapter I have been reading was about pride. Those 8 pages took me about 4 days to read. I kept going back and rereading and then not wanting to turn the page because I realized I had some pride issues.

Clive Staples Lewis states that, "There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which every one in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty of themselves." Believe me, Christians struggle with pride. Mr. Lewis is not trying to make that point.

I realize that being in Christian entertainment pride is rampant. We tie everything up in a package that we can sell, which in and of itself is ok. As we create that package it is next to impossible to not let your pride get puffed up. We have the clothes, the lights, the stage, the producers, writers, consultants and the list goes on. Would I still play if there was no stage? No lights? No money? No recognition? If I answered no then I am doing this all for prideful reasons. For this express reason it is vitally important that I stay plugged in to a community of believers and serve as much as I can.

My wife Cassi asked me a few days ago what I would do if I could do anything. I gave her a stock answer I am sure but my first thought was that I wanted to be significant in whatever it was that I did. How is that not pride? I wish my first thought was to be in God's perfect will and give Him excellence. That seems a little more in the right direction.

Pray for me and my pride. I will be working on humility. By the way, Mere Christianity has been excellent so far. I would suggest it as a good read. I am a slow reader so I should be done with my copy in a few months. :)

Peace