Reading for July 14-21: Ch. 5, pgs. 129-134 ("Master of Moral Understanding", ending at subtitle "The Brilliance of Jesus: One Final Look")
Before moving on to the content of chapter 5, I wanted to share how God challenged me this morning regarding what Bryan posted last time about misfits and outcasts. Yesterday, a judge in Hawaii sentenced a young man named Keli'i Acasia to 30 years in prison for killing an older gentlemen who intervened when Acasia and his friend Ben were in the middle of a botched burglarly attempt and assault in Waikiki.
During my 2.5 years at the Detention Home, I worked periodically with these boys (now young men). I can't recall if I ever heard this from them, but I can remember plenty of other kids like them referring to me, usually under their breath, as "f-ing haole") To be totally honest, I am very glad that Acasia will be kept safe from society for a very long time.
However, God also challenged me in the following way this morning: is my experience with His grace so concrete that I could still naturally approach Acasia and joyfully share with him that God's forgiveness, love, and strength is available to him, and that God could renew him and give Him an incredible meaningful life. Moreover, do I have the capability of feeling joy at the prospect of enjoying eternity with Acasia if he were to repent and become a disciple of Jesus? If not, why not? Do I think that Acasia is beyond Jesus' reach. If I have the courage to keep being honest, I'd have to question whether or not, in my heart of hearts, I've wanted to do physical harm to those who have wronged me. The answer is yes. This leads me to really desiring to grab a hold of the next chapter: how do I become a "good" person at my core, and not just settling for the "righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees" which settles for appearing good on the outside, but being filled with crap on the inside. I can relate.
Now for Chapter 5:
Here are the key quotes I found:
- He (Jesus) plunges immediately into the guts of human existence: raging anger, coentmept, hatred, obsessive lust, divorce, verbal manipulation, revenge, slapping, suing, cursing, coercing, and begging. It is the stuff of soap operas and the daily news--and real life.
- His aim is to enable people to be good, not just talk about it.
- We want to be good but are ready to do evil, and we come prepared with length justifications.
- But the centuries-long attempt to devise a morality from within merely human resources has now proven itself a failure.
You may wonder why I put a photo of Gerry Lopez on this post. Basically, Willard is going to develop an argument that that it is very, very important that we truly believe that Jesus is the smartest, most competent person in the history of man to ever teach on morality and what constitutes what it really means to be a good person. Moreover, He is the only one with the real answers of how to achieve this. I thought that a similar comparison would be if one wanted to learn how to master surfing Pipeline. Gerry Lopez was the very first guy in the '70's to ever ride this wave and single-handedly mastered the wave. Humbly admitting that Lopez is the "Pipe Master" and trusting in his guidance and teaching would be a sure way to learn how to ride pipe. Similarly, it crucial for us to trust in Jesus as the absolute most competent teacher to ever speak on how to become a truly good person and live in the flow of the Kingdom of God.
Here's my question for consideration for this reading:
What are the area(s) of your life where you absolutely know you need to be a good person through and through, and not just have right actions?
aloha,
Matt
Deal with the problem, not just the symptoms. The Scribes, Pharisees, and teachers of the law were dealing with the outside only – the symptoms – by creating their elaborate system of rules and traditions. “Don’t do this, you must do that…” How exciting and liberating to know that that’s impossible! And that if I allow God to transform me to BE holy, I won’t have to worry about what to do and what not to do – it will come naturally. The Army has a saying: “Be – Know – Do.” “Be” comes first! “Do” will follow.
ReplyDeleteThis past weekend at our church (I love our church!) the JH director (pastor was on vacation) gave a message on purity. 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 was the text. Sexual immorality was a key point of discussion, but he spoke about purity across the board. He said one thing that has stuck with me well and I hope it never leaves my mind: the question should never be, “Am I sinning?” Rather, it should always be, “Does this please God?”
To answer Matt’s question directly, lust is a big one for me. “Every Man’s Battle” is definitely my battle as well. May God transform me into a man of true purity – not just me trying to do the right thing by my own strength (impossible). I want to BE pure, holy, good, righteous – not just try to stay away from the fire. Father, change me!