It amazes me how bound we can be by the unspoken. This is especially true, I think, within the church. We say we believe such-and-such, we state the truth to the best of our ability, we sprinkle careful phrases into our speeches, and we follow our God-given agendas . . . or do we?
I don't for a moment want to question the motives of people who do ministry in ways that differ from my own. I clearly do not have all of the answers, and I have no desire to force my likes and dislikes on others. If we seek the truth, if we're serving the true God, we don't have to agree on everything.
There is something, however, which threatens us all. It is the power of the subtle. Our beliefs may be consistent with Scripture, our formulations may all be orthodox, and our voice inflections may all make us sound very believable. So far, so good. But we are never immune to the power of the subtle.
What do I mean by subtle? Well, I guess I'm thinking of things like this:
* Speaking the truth . . . so that we can (nicely, mind you) hit others over the head with it. So, we stand around after church or as we sit as the local coffee shop, and we (nicely, again) criticize those whose beliefs aren't just like ours.
* Announcing the need to be humble . . . yet doing so in rather arrogant sounding ways.
* Telling others and ourselves that only the truth matters . . . but making people feel guilty for things and practices that, frankly, the Bible has nothing to say about. Ever had a discussion with someone who tried to regulate your fashion choices, how much money you can "squander" on so-called frivolous things, or whether it's right to drink a beer or watch a Hollywood movie?
* Putting forth an agenda of love but--in the name of love--judging almost everyone for whom you are suppose to lay down your life.
* Getting together to discuss theology . . . but doing so in such a way that you come away from your discussions feeling, well, pretty good about yourself. Sometimes, I think, our meetings and conferences do more to feed our egos than to transform our hearts.
Please don't misunderstand. Many of the things I've mentioned are good. I certainly do not want to diminish the truth, nor our efforts at finding it. All I'm saying is that it is very, very, very easy to hold high views, defend right positions, promote acceptable behavior, and sign accurate confessions and yet still find ourselves governed by other things. Indeed, I think it's just like us to allow the truth to almost mask our truest desires. As a result, we delude ourselves into thinking that if we talk enough about the truth, if we use orthodox lingo, if we preach the truth (or at least claim to do so), if we are familiar with all of the best authors and all of the "in" books, if we defend, teach, write about, and proclaim our favorite doctrines, then we have pretty secured our own spiritual stability. But the subtle, the unspoken, is too insidious to allow ourselves to fall into this trap. As valid as all these "truth practices" can be, we need constant reminding that what matters most is not how much we know intellectually or how impressive our official stance but how much we embrace the truth personally.
God save us from those pernicious habits, those ingrained trends, those unspoken tendencies to live our lives in ways that contradict our nice-sounding formulas and programs. Lord, save us (save me!) from the power of the subtle!
I don't for a moment want to question the motives of people who do ministry in ways that differ from my own. I clearly do not have all of the answers, and I have no desire to force my likes and dislikes on others. If we seek the truth, if we're serving the true God, we don't have to agree on everything.
There is something, however, which threatens us all. It is the power of the subtle. Our beliefs may be consistent with Scripture, our formulations may all be orthodox, and our voice inflections may all make us sound very believable. So far, so good. But we are never immune to the power of the subtle.
What do I mean by subtle? Well, I guess I'm thinking of things like this:
* Speaking the truth . . . so that we can (nicely, mind you) hit others over the head with it. So, we stand around after church or as we sit as the local coffee shop, and we (nicely, again) criticize those whose beliefs aren't just like ours.
* Announcing the need to be humble . . . yet doing so in rather arrogant sounding ways.
* Telling others and ourselves that only the truth matters . . . but making people feel guilty for things and practices that, frankly, the Bible has nothing to say about. Ever had a discussion with someone who tried to regulate your fashion choices, how much money you can "squander" on so-called frivolous things, or whether it's right to drink a beer or watch a Hollywood movie?
* Putting forth an agenda of love but--in the name of love--judging almost everyone for whom you are suppose to lay down your life.
* Getting together to discuss theology . . . but doing so in such a way that you come away from your discussions feeling, well, pretty good about yourself. Sometimes, I think, our meetings and conferences do more to feed our egos than to transform our hearts.
Please don't misunderstand. Many of the things I've mentioned are good. I certainly do not want to diminish the truth, nor our efforts at finding it. All I'm saying is that it is very, very, very easy to hold high views, defend right positions, promote acceptable behavior, and sign accurate confessions and yet still find ourselves governed by other things. Indeed, I think it's just like us to allow the truth to almost mask our truest desires. As a result, we delude ourselves into thinking that if we talk enough about the truth, if we use orthodox lingo, if we preach the truth (or at least claim to do so), if we are familiar with all of the best authors and all of the "in" books, if we defend, teach, write about, and proclaim our favorite doctrines, then we have pretty secured our own spiritual stability. But the subtle, the unspoken, is too insidious to allow ourselves to fall into this trap. As valid as all these "truth practices" can be, we need constant reminding that what matters most is not how much we know intellectually or how impressive our official stance but how much we embrace the truth personally.
God save us from those pernicious habits, those ingrained trends, those unspoken tendencies to live our lives in ways that contradict our nice-sounding formulas and programs. Lord, save us (save me!) from the power of the subtle!
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