WHATS WRONG WITH YOU....IS PROBABLY WHATS WRONG WITH ME
by Dr. Randall Worley (Transformational Thinking)
After years of being involved in organized religion, I am daily awakening to the reality of God's presence being the priority over all our principles and practices. I have discovered in discussions with others that are coming to this same realization there is the propensity to have an aversion for what we now believe to be the sterile and monotonous practices of "religion." The one caveat is that we can become what we have contempt for. I am reminded that the quickest way to become a pharisee is to become adept in identifying them.
Rising to new levels of revelation and encounter in God can foster in us a condescending attitude towards those that don't have an appreciation for the "deeper" things. We should never forget that if it were not for the grace of God we too would still be going through all those tired religious motions that we now consider to be "form without power."
Jesus said ... "judge not lest you be judged." When we assess someones level of spirituality we really are not judging them but ourselves. The prayer of a pharisee started by saying "I thank God that I am a pharisee and not as other men." The need to point out the shallowness and inferiority of others by parading our perceived superiority is the sin of presumption. Paul said that "knowledge puffs up." Conversely knowing Him genders humility. God did not choose us because we were special. We are special because He choze us.
Pride causes us to assume that those we perceive to be spiritually inferior to us need to learn from us. Humility on the other hand positions us to listen rather needing to be heard. We may prove someone wrong in a theological argument and be guilty of something worse than their error. The need to right. For the most part Christians are notorious for becoming defensive when their beliefs are challenged. It was a sobering thought for me a few years ago to realize that I had studied the scriptures to prove what I already believed. I had been reading "into" rather than "out of" the Bible. I think it is true that there is no such thing as unbiased thought. There is a visceral fear in so many that exploring beyond their doctrinal parameters with an open mind could result in their brains falling out. Over time it seems that God has imparted to me a greater faith to receive revelation than a fear of being deceived. I realized that when I heard something new that initally offended me that I often bacame defensive. I now know that the defensiveness was revealing that I might not be sure about many of my beliefs. This is illustrated when Peter attempting to defend Jesus in the garden from the relgious posse severed the ear of Malchus. My knee jerk reaction to anything that threatened my beliefs had resulted in cutting off the ears of many. Would be hearers were bludgeoned by my belligerent weilding of the "sword of truth."
Saul who was tranformed into Paul had a blinding encounter with the Lord. He was described as a religious maniac breathing out threatenings. He thought he knew God and then had a head on collision with God. I have often wondered why he was left physically blind after the encounter. I have concluded that he had been blind all along. His intolerant and self righteous attitude had blinded him to who God really was. It has been said that we become like the God we believe in.
I will conclude with this. The litmus test for any truth is if it does not make me more aware of His love for me and consequently move me to love others it probably is error. It really is that simple. Jesus said on these hang all the law and the prophets.
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July 30th, 2010 (02:07)