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Posts Tagged ‘way of Jesus’

New Self; Old Self

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 15, 2011| Leave a Comment »

New self is a transaction of the heart and soul. For me, it happened when I accepted and engaged the Christ and invited the tangible presence of the Holy Spirit within. Unfortunately, old self is like a familiar and in some places threadbare winter coat or sweater I am unwilling to permanently discard.

Colossians 3:9-10
Do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old (unregenerate) self with its evil practices, And have clothed yourselves with the new [spiritual self], which is [ever in the process of being] renewed and remolded into [fuller and more perfect knowledge upon] knowledge after the image (the likeness) of Him Who created it. [Amplified]

It’s easy to tell that I’m still wearing the old because of the fruit or behaviors.

Last night, I had such an explosion of emotion with my daughter. The F bomb rolled off the tongue like I had never stopped using it. Anger turned to rage and every frustration and resentment bubbled up and over. It was acid.

Oh yes, the old self took back its place and the light of all that is new and self was quenched. No light shone through. It was quite dark inside.

In the light of today, I can see the damage done and how quickly the old coat slipped back into place. God forgive me.

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Idolatry Obstructs Resurrections

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 14, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Becoming is a series of resurrections. In order to optimize the resurrections of the heart, soul & mind, there must be deaths–crucifixions, to be specific. But a number of hindrances to the deaths as well as the awakenings play out in my life. Categorically, the biggest obstacle is idolatry.

Colossians 3:3-5
For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

This type of idolatry is not just worshiping a statue or foreign god, it’s putting Self up on a pedestal. The earthly nature illustrated in this verse (immorality, impurity, sex, evil desire and greed), is all about self-pleasure and choices made without concern or care for the other. Idolatry is another way of acting out extreme narcissism.

To crucify or “kill” these tendencies, desires, and controlling habits, I must first be willing. Jesus gave us the way to the cross. It didn’t seem very fair at the time. And it was a painful process, a breaking down of everything. His body was stripped of all protections. He was laid bare both physically and mentally.

Can I lay bare my own ego that wants to defy the Spirit and doesn’t want to understand or trust the paradox of faith in a Christ? Sexual behaviors and addictive pursuits are not the only features of an earthly nature. I have other consuming thoughts like ambition, notoriety, fame, power, wealth, and control. These too must be crucified before they can become the seed that dies and transforms into a thriving plant or tree. [John 12:24]

This remains unknown territory. I must willingly walk my personal “Via Dolorosa” and encourage my ego to let go of the survival skills I have developed over the years out of pain and fear and abandonment. They push people away. They block the free flowing release of the Spirit within. And what’s on the other side of crucifying the old ways? The old idolatries? I don’t really know. I only have a promise and a faith in the One within.

But I do know this: until that earthly nature loses its grip on my life, I’ll never know the truth of a truly resurrected life. They cannot live together.

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Breaking the Rules

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , on January 12, 2011| Leave a Comment »

It’s hard to break the rules when we’ve been told all of our lives that the rules are immutable. Imagine being raised a Judean back in the day, and then told by Jesus and his followers that all things can be eaten, all people can be touched, nothing is intrinsically forbidden. It’s outrageous!

Colossians 2:20-22
Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. [NIV UK]

But what about the 21st century believer? Have I been lulled into habitual narrowness? Have I taken passages from scripture and turned them into rigid human laws and interpretations?

If Judeans had a hard time giving up the dietary laws they followed over 3,000 years, isn’t it possible we’ve gotten equally inflexible about food, music, movies, dancing, beat, clothing, language, sexual preference, and so on? After all, they were “told” in the laws of Moses that many these things were forbidden. And yet, with the death and resurrection of Christ, suddenly, everything was allowed.

Someone once told me that Jesus never healed any two people the same way because human nature tends to codify behavior into a rule or law or procedure. Jesus was in the rule-breaking business. The last thing he needed was to set up a system.

The reason that “externals” are not so very important (even today) is that the work is within. What Christ did, as God incarnate, was to establish a new point in time.

People tend to forget, when Jesus sat down and “ate” with sinners, these were parties (Roman-type orgies, probably). There was “unclean” food all over the place and people were lounging around and engaging in all kinds of unseemly behaviors. There were dancing girls and slaves. There were gay and straight guests. It was a sensuous culture, the way of the wealthy. That’s one of the reasons the priests were indignant about Jesus. That’s why they couldn’t buy into the stories–Jesus, the Messiah? Uou’ve got to be kidding, he’s totally unclean. Impossible!

Why could he do all of these and it not matter? Because he was reaching for the heart, the sacred other, the soul, the part of all humans that can be transformed, instantly (or slowly), but often, an evolution that cannot be readily discerned by the outer shell.

Now I can go ahead and never do a bad thing or lust after all kinds of things that I shouldn’t, and yet, despite all that outer goodness, my heart could still be another shrunken head, tied to a string of trophies on the belt of a great enemy.

This past weekend, I walked a prayer labyrinth; it is “used as an instrument to facilitate meditation, prayer, and personal reflection.” For each person, the journey is unique even though the path is identical. For me, the word that dominated my walk was “balance.”

Let me start there.

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Cancellations and Disarmament

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , on January 10, 2011| 2 Comments »

Forgiveness cancels and disarms. Cancellations are not easy; they imply change. They bring to mind a huge stop sign. Something that was planned and moving forward, is no more. All gone. Disarmament is not much different: whatever weapons we carry, we lay down . . . willingly and by agreement.


Colossians 2:13b – 15a
He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. . . having disarmed the powers and authorities . . .

If I forgive you, I lay down my weapons and I cancel the plans I had toward you. If you forgive me, the same thing happens: I lay down my dagger and I remove the pay-backs. Everything stops. The old way is done. The previous mistakes, hurts, anger, frustrations, or attacks are no longer an option.

That’s how it’s supposed to work.

Another word is reprieve. It’s like standing before a firing squad or sitting in the electric chair, and someone comes in and says it’s over, no strings attached. Freedom.

You would think the reprieved criminal would be appreciative and transformed. Not always. Sometimes, he/she is cut loose and soon repeats the same actions, the same mistakes, the same crimes.

Are we much different? Am I? I have been reprieved as well. My Spirit has been awakened and I am in relationship with the Holy Christ Spirit. I am forgiven for my mistakes and I have been set free from layers and layers of synthetic and man-made theories, laws, rules, and interpretations.

These layers are a cage and although the work has been done (for everyone), I still have to step out of that cage to experience the freedom. I have to trust that no one will slam the cage door shut. I have to trust that the cancellation and disarmament are real. I have to believe. I have to operate in a new way. Caged life is different from meadow life.

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Circumcised by Christ

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 8, 2011| Leave a Comment »

That should get your attention. It got mine. The symbolism begins with the origin of the word: cutting around. This rite is performed by Jews, Muslims, and many Christians. Its been in practice for centuries. Circumcising the heart and soul, not so long.

Colossians 2:11-12
In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

By aligning myself with Christ, by submitting to Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection, I am allowing Christ to complete that process by cutting around and cutting off, the coverings of my heart and soul. I am laying myself open and bare to Holy Spirit. I am different.

The longer we wait for spiritual circumcision, just like physical circumcision, the more painful it becomes. Adult men who choose to be circumcised have a long recovery (up to six weeks) as well as the potential for unforeseen complications and infection. Spiritual circumcision is no different because we resist the process. We become used to the way it was. We may know we don’t have a robust relationship with the Christ Spirit and we understand intellectually that this circumcision is necessary to really experience and feel the Spirit, but we cower under the threat of pain and discomfort. The pain comes from what we try to hold onto and the habits that secure the layers of narcissism.

I’m afraid, unlike physical circumcision which is a permanent change, spiritual circumcision is not so everlasting. We have to actual pay attention and participate. It’s not strictly passive. I think my heart and soul have been covered over by my fears, my disappointments, my anger, and so forth. I’ve had a series of circumcisions of the heart.

I can only be grateful that Jesus is a good, kind, and patient medicine man.

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Fullness of the Deity

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , on January 7, 2011| Leave a Comment »

I knew there was a reason this phrase jumped out at me: it’s the only time I can find that it appears in the Bible. Jesus, the Christ, is the fullness of the Deity, and like AA, I’m thinking, that deity is whatever you consider your higher power to be. That’s the point. Jesus is the 3-D version (bodily form).

Colossians 2:9-10
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.

This is strong stuff. If anyone, then, accepts that Christ is this fullness, this complete form of God (the Deity), then the next revelation is equally exhilarating: we have access and the potential for experiential relationship with the Deity through that Christ.

I know there is great controversy on whether Christ is the “only way” and all that and I’m not going to enter that fray here. But there is something to be said for the stated headship of the Christ — the power and authority. So, whether it is or isn’t the only way, apparently it’s a powerful way.

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Within and Without

Posted in Christmas Through Epiphany, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on January 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Odd passages about Paul “struggling” with the energy that Christ has given him for the sake of others. And that energy is for them to experience the two-fold mystery of God: Christ within (where our unique relationship is built with the Holy Spirit) and without, in our relationships with others.

Colossians 2:2
My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ . . .

This idea of Christ within and Christ without reminds me of the various ways people get caught up in their own brand of Christianity. Some put all of their energy into good works and service, reaching out to the poor, developing community and building fellowship (all good stuff), while others put everything into those private places where contemplation, prayer, study, and various other personal disciplines expand their inner domains.

Paul’s work is on both fronts for his people that they might be “encouraged in heart” (interior work) as well as “united in love” (exterior work). The complete understanding comes from both sides of the equation. This reminds me of that well worn passage in James 2:14, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?”

I don’t do well in this dual role. And yet, intellectually I know that both feed each other. I know that my interior life endows my walk on the outside with better choices, if I allow it to do so. And really, good works can draw a person into a deeper inner life, if permitted.

I am intentionally adding the proviso of permission here because I don’t believe I do it. I don’t give way to the power of the Spirit within. If I did, I’d be doing better (the fruits of that relationship with the Christ Spirit would be more evident). This is part of that “free will” concept. I can limit my relationship with God. I can have surface-only interactions. I can pick and choose. It doesn’t really serve me to do it, but I can. And unfortunately, I do become frightened and put on the brakes.

When the Toronto Blessing was in full swing, one of their most popular phrases was “More Lord, more.” I understand now it was a way to “allow” God in more. It was teaching self to let go and receive. It was not about God giving more, it was about the person opening the door wider to the flow of grace.

The mystery of Christ needs both arenas for full understanding. There is a “battlefield” both within and without. But the interesting aspect of these skirmishes is that I would do better through surrender–that is, surrender to the One who reigns over both and all.

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