They believe unequivocally in their system of beliefs, and no matter of discussion or coercion would deter them otherwise.
I don't think that any human being in existence can look at this world and all that it contains with completely unobstructed vision.
Everyone, I believe, sees the world through their own individual spectacles.
Our life experiences, memories and how we've been taught/brought up all affect what prescription we wear.
Have you ever looked at something and perceived it to be a certain color, then had someone tell you that it was a different color? You thought that you were looking at a red ball, but someone else was equally as convinced that it was dark orange.
Why could 2 different people with perfect vision, see the same object as being 2 different colors?
Could it be the way the light hits it at different angles, the shadowing, the ball's juxtaposition to it's surroundings?
It could be a host of different things. But one thing is certain- that ball IS one specific color.
The question is: how do we objectively ascertain the RIGHT answer?
Now I will apply this to the Bible.
Raeleen and I were raised in Christian (Christ following/believing) homes, where we were taught the Bible by our parents, churches, and in my case, school.
I have always looked at other religions/cults with incredulity, and wondered how so many people, or groups of people could all believe such bogus, outlandish ideas.
Not only believe those ideas, but fashion the entirety of their lifestyle around it.
"Lemming Suicide" is a frequently used metaphor in reference to people who go along unquestioningly with popular opinion, with potentially dangerous or fatal consequences.
It is my conclusion that human beings, in all our wisdom and intellect embody that metaphor.
Unfortunately, Christians are no exception.
It is unsettling to me that we as Christians are taught how to live a Christ-centered life, more through the spectacles of our society and culture, then through the perfect, untainted eyesight of God's word, the Bible.
As I mentioned in a previous blog posting, Raeleen and I almost burnt out trying to live Christianity through the spectacles of North America's cultural understanding of the Bible.
It's amazing to me that God, continually throughout the scriptures exists far outside the human paradigm and realm of understanding. He would constantly turn conventional wisdom on it's head and urge people to step outside of logic and live a lifestyle that would seem ludicrous to the non-believer.
Yet the Christian church in western civilization tends to examine it's culture, and how it operates, then sort out their understanding of the Bible THROUGH the beer goggles of their cultural understanding.
Where in the Bible does it talk about having a safety-net or retirement plan?
The exact opposite is the case over and over in the scriptures.
Many stories have God asking people with established careers, businesses, homes and family to leave all of it behind and completely and blindly follow Him.
It talks about people who owned much, having anxiety and stress over trying to maintain and protect their possessions. It talks about not waking up really early in the morning or staying up late at night to work for your money. Don't strive, because God desires that you have rest.
It talks about the rich man who was held back from doing what God wanted him to do because of his attachment to his wealth.
The Bible talks about providing for your family, but what does providing mean?
It seems that people use the Bible's talk about provision as a license to hoard as much money as possible so that they might provide everything under the sun for their families.
Providing for the needs of your family, and keeping up with the Jones' are not even remotely the same thing. Yet Christians somehow squeeze all of these other possessions into the equation and justify it as "provision".
God designed us to be more content with less than with more. We have been crafted to experience more joy in simplicity than in complexity. The more stuff that we have in our lives, the bigger the gaping hole becomes that is needing closure.
That's why the constant pursuit of more debilitates us from fully following God.
God asks us to swim across the river to where He wants us, but instead we wade in the water up to our knees, holding all of our possessions and security above our heads so we don't lose them downstream. We can only get so far in the water that way before we either have to let the possessions go, or walk back to land.
The people that God used were ones that could do anything He asked of them, at a moments notice if needed. They just needed to do what He said, and He would do the rest.
They had no strings attached. And the people that did have strings severed those strings at the drop of a hat to follow God's will.
God's word talks about living generous lives, not worrying about our finances or possessions.
Yet Christians complain continually about not giving of themselves because they have nothing to give. They are barely getting by themselves. They say that they WILL give once they have more, but that is never the case. People who aren't generous out of the little that they have, won't be generous out of the lot.
Again, this is where God exists completely outside of our logic box.
Raeleen and I had this flawed mindset for years. We genuinely yearned to give to and help others, but found it so difficult to do so when we were just barely scraping by on our own.
The natural remedy that would be suggested to us by non-Christian and Christian alike was either to get a better paying job, work more hours, or spend less.
So that's exactly what we did. We continually received raises and promotions, worked lots of overtime and lived a "financially responsible lifestyle", yet we STILL felt like we could never get ahead. The "God helps those who help themselves" adage just wasn't working for us.
It wasn't until we had a clear concept of what "get ahead" means in God's eyes that we began to live a prosperous, joyful and peace-filled lifestyle.
We started doing the things that we have always wanted to do...
We started working less hours, downsizing our lifestyle, and putting more focus on being content with little.
The more content we became with little, the less urgency we had to maintain what we had.
The less hours we worked, the more time we were able to spend as a family, and helping other people.
We realized the most bizarre thing...that we were making less money, working less hours, and had less possessions than we ever had in our whole marriage- and it was AWESOME!
The little that we had we enjoyed so much more. We felt completely free to help anyone whenever we saw a need, because our schedules were now flexible.
We started giving more money than we ever have before, and yet somehow were always thriving!
In all of this I by no means suggest that God doesn't desire for us to have possessions, or wealth.
But if the achievement of possessions and/or wealth is what gives your sense of security and validity, then you will never escape that feeling of being short-changed.
It was the people who weren't shackled to their possessions and finances that God funneled riches through.
I think that we need to continually and consistently re-examine our motives in life.
Raeleen and I have to do this over and over and it's definitely not easy, but it becomes easier and easier the less attached you are to your possessions and your "image".
We need to continually ask ourselves this question:
"If God asked me to do something crazy right this second, is there anything in my life that would hold me back from saying yes?"
The exact opposite is the case over and over in the scriptures.
Many stories have God asking people with established careers, businesses, homes and family to leave all of it behind and completely and blindly follow Him.
It talks about people who owned much, having anxiety and stress over trying to maintain and protect their possessions. It talks about not waking up really early in the morning or staying up late at night to work for your money. Don't strive, because God desires that you have rest.
It talks about the rich man who was held back from doing what God wanted him to do because of his attachment to his wealth.
The Bible talks about providing for your family, but what does providing mean?
It seems that people use the Bible's talk about provision as a license to hoard as much money as possible so that they might provide everything under the sun for their families.
Providing for the needs of your family, and keeping up with the Jones' are not even remotely the same thing. Yet Christians somehow squeeze all of these other possessions into the equation and justify it as "provision".
God designed us to be more content with less than with more. We have been crafted to experience more joy in simplicity than in complexity. The more stuff that we have in our lives, the bigger the gaping hole becomes that is needing closure.
That's why the constant pursuit of more debilitates us from fully following God.
God asks us to swim across the river to where He wants us, but instead we wade in the water up to our knees, holding all of our possessions and security above our heads so we don't lose them downstream. We can only get so far in the water that way before we either have to let the possessions go, or walk back to land.
The people that God used were ones that could do anything He asked of them, at a moments notice if needed. They just needed to do what He said, and He would do the rest.
They had no strings attached. And the people that did have strings severed those strings at the drop of a hat to follow God's will.
God's word talks about living generous lives, not worrying about our finances or possessions.
Yet Christians complain continually about not giving of themselves because they have nothing to give. They are barely getting by themselves. They say that they WILL give once they have more, but that is never the case. People who aren't generous out of the little that they have, won't be generous out of the lot.
Again, this is where God exists completely outside of our logic box.
Raeleen and I had this flawed mindset for years. We genuinely yearned to give to and help others, but found it so difficult to do so when we were just barely scraping by on our own.
The natural remedy that would be suggested to us by non-Christian and Christian alike was either to get a better paying job, work more hours, or spend less.
So that's exactly what we did. We continually received raises and promotions, worked lots of overtime and lived a "financially responsible lifestyle", yet we STILL felt like we could never get ahead. The "God helps those who help themselves" adage just wasn't working for us.
It wasn't until we had a clear concept of what "get ahead" means in God's eyes that we began to live a prosperous, joyful and peace-filled lifestyle.
We started doing the things that we have always wanted to do...
We started working less hours, downsizing our lifestyle, and putting more focus on being content with little.
The more content we became with little, the less urgency we had to maintain what we had.
The less hours we worked, the more time we were able to spend as a family, and helping other people.
We realized the most bizarre thing...that we were making less money, working less hours, and had less possessions than we ever had in our whole marriage- and it was AWESOME!
The little that we had we enjoyed so much more. We felt completely free to help anyone whenever we saw a need, because our schedules were now flexible.
We started giving more money than we ever have before, and yet somehow were always thriving!
In all of this I by no means suggest that God doesn't desire for us to have possessions, or wealth.
But if the achievement of possessions and/or wealth is what gives your sense of security and validity, then you will never escape that feeling of being short-changed.
It was the people who weren't shackled to their possessions and finances that God funneled riches through.
I think that we need to continually and consistently re-examine our motives in life.
Raeleen and I have to do this over and over and it's definitely not easy, but it becomes easier and easier the less attached you are to your possessions and your "image".
We need to continually ask ourselves this question:
"If God asked me to do something crazy right this second, is there anything in my life that would hold me back from saying yes?"
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