I am currently reading Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion, having been given it as a present. I doubt if I would have bought it myself, but having been given it, one can hardly refuse to read it.
After having read about a quarter of it, I am moved to comment. Dawkins can cite all sorts of examples where religious people have done vile things in the name of their religion. But these are irrelevant to his main theme that there is no God. It boils down to the belief that nothing can exist which cannot be examined by the scientific method. This is a belief system which cannot be dealt with scientifically, simply because it would be impossible to devise a means of falsification of this hypothesis. This central belief of Dawkins is either true or false (a delusion?), but it cannot be examined by the scientific method. For if God is, by definition, beyond this physical universe, outside it as well as able to communicate with it, then there is, also by definition, no way to disprove this, or to prove it.
As a Christian I do not ever try to prove the existence of God to others, though I am aware of all sorts of 'arguments' that have been devised, in the hope of giving intellectual support to a belief in God. Try a Google search on 'ontological' and you will see what I mean.
And the God I believe in has been very explicit about the difference between the physical universe, the things that science can observe and measure, or - to use a Biblical phrase - the 'things that are seen', and that which is beyond the physical universe, the 'things that cannot be seen'. This comes in Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, and it is good to check out the different translations. 'The things that are seen are temporal (AV) / transient (RSV) / temporary (NIV), but the things that are not seen are eternal (AV/RSV/NIV). Which is why Paul urges that we should 'fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.' [2 Cor. 4:18]
I have never seen God, and again the Bible tells us that this is something no one from inside this physical universe has ever done, rather implying that it can never be done. The apostles remind their followers about this: 'Though you have not seen him, you love him.' [1 Peter 1:8]. 'No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us ...' [1 John 4:12]
So I am just one of a vast body of people who experience God in a way that no scientific method could ever examine, or measure. 'We know that we live in him, and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.' [1 John 4:13]
This internal experience is where we Christians come from. In some way which is totally real, but also totally impossible to prove to anyone else, and very hard even to explain to anyone else, we experience God. But there is certainly one condition that I must fulfil for this experience to be possible: I must open myself to God. The Psalmist expressed it thus: 'O Lord you have searched me and you know me ... before a word is on my tongue you know it completely ... search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts ...' [Psalm 139 extracts].
I have written elsewhere how this adventure began for me, how I was challenged to open my heart and innermost being to the Lord. Nearly fifty years later the reality of it all is so familiar that Professor Dawkins' certainties leave me cold, and I think it will take real scientists (and I do not claim to be one) to demonstrate to him where the boundaries of science are.
Monday
The Temple of God
A correspondent has written to me recently urging that I identify the Temple of God, so as to be sure I am worshipping God in the right way and in the right place. This struck me as a very interesting concept. Many of my Christian friends find a church building a very worship-inspiring place, and of course in this country of ours there are some architectural masterpieces. The church in my village, for instance, was built in the 14th century, and I grew up under the shadow of what some think of as the finest cathedral of them all, at Durham.
So I was moved to think about the phrase 'Temple of God'. In the Old Covenant which God made with the people He chose to have a special relationship with, there was first a portable temple, because they were a nomadic people. Then they were settled in the land God had promised them, so their king thought it right to build something on the same lines in stone. But even Solomon recognised the inappropriateness of thinking that God could be contained in a building: "But will God indeed dwell on earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain thee: how much less this house which I have built?" (1 Kings 8:27 RSV).
In the gospels we read that Jesus foretold that the temple rebuilt in Jerusalem by Herod would be destroyed, and this took place when the Romans crushed the rebellion of the Jewish nationalists some thirty or so years later.
Christians have always recognised that in the New Covenant, offered to men and women of every race, there is no longer any special priesthood class: 'No longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother, saying "Know the Lord," because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord.' (Jeremiah 31:34 NIV). In fact in the writings of the apostles we are told that we Christians are all priests (e.g. in 1 Peter ch. 2), that we are the very stones of the metaphorical temple of God (1 Peter 2:4), and even that our bodies are the temple of God, since He lives within us through His Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19). Paul puts it very bluntly "We are the temple of the living God." (2 Corinthians 6:16).
If people can get some idea of what God is like through observing my life, my responses to situations, my choices, my words, then I am fulfilling a priestly role in presenting God to those who do not know Him.
This to me is a far more demanding challenge than mere words can express. I know my failings only too well, better than anyone else on earth, and yet I know that God is reaching out to others through me. Phew!
I agree with Solomon about buildings. To suppose God could be so diminished that He could dwell inside something built by men, in a particular location, is to reduce God to something men may control, which is the very basis of all idolatries.
So I was moved to think about the phrase 'Temple of God'. In the Old Covenant which God made with the people He chose to have a special relationship with, there was first a portable temple, because they were a nomadic people. Then they were settled in the land God had promised them, so their king thought it right to build something on the same lines in stone. But even Solomon recognised the inappropriateness of thinking that God could be contained in a building: "But will God indeed dwell on earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain thee: how much less this house which I have built?" (1 Kings 8:27 RSV).
In the gospels we read that Jesus foretold that the temple rebuilt in Jerusalem by Herod would be destroyed, and this took place when the Romans crushed the rebellion of the Jewish nationalists some thirty or so years later.
Christians have always recognised that in the New Covenant, offered to men and women of every race, there is no longer any special priesthood class: 'No longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother, saying "Know the Lord," because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord.' (Jeremiah 31:34 NIV). In fact in the writings of the apostles we are told that we Christians are all priests (e.g. in 1 Peter ch. 2), that we are the very stones of the metaphorical temple of God (1 Peter 2:4), and even that our bodies are the temple of God, since He lives within us through His Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19). Paul puts it very bluntly "We are the temple of the living God." (2 Corinthians 6:16).
If people can get some idea of what God is like through observing my life, my responses to situations, my choices, my words, then I am fulfilling a priestly role in presenting God to those who do not know Him.
This to me is a far more demanding challenge than mere words can express. I know my failings only too well, better than anyone else on earth, and yet I know that God is reaching out to others through me. Phew!
I agree with Solomon about buildings. To suppose God could be so diminished that He could dwell inside something built by men, in a particular location, is to reduce God to something men may control, which is the very basis of all idolatries.
In search of God
Quite recently there has been a series of three radio interviews on BBC Radio 4 called 'Humphrys in search of God'. In each a leading representative of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism was interviewed by the broadcaster John Humphrys, well-known for his acerbic style of interviewing, and regarded as the interviewer most feared by politicians.
John Humphrys presents himself as one who remembers his faith when a child (brought up as an Anglican) but now finding it impossible to believe in a loving God when so much misery is allowed to happen without God's intervention. The transcripts of the interviews are available on the www.bbc.co.uk website. Having not originally heard all of the radio broadcasts I did a search on 'John Humphrys faith' and was able to find the pages and download the transcripts. They make fascinating reading.
Humphrys challenged all three leaders with the questions "Is God an intervening God?", "What does it mean when you pray?", and "How can a loving God allow things like Auschwitz to happen?", in varying forms.
One of three leaders spots that the very basis behind these hard questions means that Humphrys is really thinking God's thoughts. In other words there only is a problem if there really is a loving God, who cares about us mere mortals. The questions presume God's existence. They can only be asked by someone who believes in God enough to regard them as problems. Yet as each interview concludes the impression one has is that Humphrys is not convinced, that he must still continue with his search for faith. In reality I think it entirely possible he has more faith than he realises. He is asking the right questions, which would not be possible without a faith he is perhaps unconscious of.
I am writing this in the Christmas season, and I believe that the message of this season has perhaps a hint as to how to answer these questions. Christians believe that God has intervened in human affairs, by taking upon Himself our very nature: the Eternal Word, Creator of everything, 'became flesh and lived for a while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the only begotten who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.' (John 1:1-14). When God intervened two millenia ago it was as a vulnerable child, in very danger of his life. And the intervention came to an Auschwitz-like climax, with that man being tortured to death, nailed on a cross. God aligned Himself with those who were also tortured to death in Auschwitz and other similar places. If "where was God in Auschwitz?" is the question, "alongside all the victims," is the answer.
Since the Bethlehem intervention, and following the victory over death this intervention achieved, God's intervention has continued, but in a different way. He is working through all who have given their lives to the Son. However imperfectly, and the imperfections are all too easy to pinpoint, God is working through His people. There are those who tend the sick, feed the hungry, and comfort the sufferers in whatever practical way is possible. It is a war between good and evil, between light and darkness, and though it has gone on for two millenia already we are promised an eventual end. There will be a final intervention, we know not when.
The very nature of this final intervention leaves one torn between, on the one hand, asking 'How long, O Lord?' and praying for the intervention to be soon, so that there may be an end to suffering, and on the other hand not daring to be found unready and unprepared. This final intervention will sweep away the physical universe as we know it, and bring in the Age to Come. There are some uncomfortable words about those who will be left behind. It is a very brave man who says to God: "Please intervene now."
Whether what I have written will help John Humphrys (or any like him), who knows? For each of us whatever faith we have is a gift from God. Both he and I will be judged on how well we have worked out in our lives the measure of faith given to us. From those to whom much is given, much will be required.
John Humphrys presents himself as one who remembers his faith when a child (brought up as an Anglican) but now finding it impossible to believe in a loving God when so much misery is allowed to happen without God's intervention. The transcripts of the interviews are available on the www.bbc.co.uk website. Having not originally heard all of the radio broadcasts I did a search on 'John Humphrys faith' and was able to find the pages and download the transcripts. They make fascinating reading.
Humphrys challenged all three leaders with the questions "Is God an intervening God?", "What does it mean when you pray?", and "How can a loving God allow things like Auschwitz to happen?", in varying forms.
One of three leaders spots that the very basis behind these hard questions means that Humphrys is really thinking God's thoughts. In other words there only is a problem if there really is a loving God, who cares about us mere mortals. The questions presume God's existence. They can only be asked by someone who believes in God enough to regard them as problems. Yet as each interview concludes the impression one has is that Humphrys is not convinced, that he must still continue with his search for faith. In reality I think it entirely possible he has more faith than he realises. He is asking the right questions, which would not be possible without a faith he is perhaps unconscious of.
I am writing this in the Christmas season, and I believe that the message of this season has perhaps a hint as to how to answer these questions. Christians believe that God has intervened in human affairs, by taking upon Himself our very nature: the Eternal Word, Creator of everything, 'became flesh and lived for a while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the only begotten who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.' (John 1:1-14). When God intervened two millenia ago it was as a vulnerable child, in very danger of his life. And the intervention came to an Auschwitz-like climax, with that man being tortured to death, nailed on a cross. God aligned Himself with those who were also tortured to death in Auschwitz and other similar places. If "where was God in Auschwitz?" is the question, "alongside all the victims," is the answer.
Since the Bethlehem intervention, and following the victory over death this intervention achieved, God's intervention has continued, but in a different way. He is working through all who have given their lives to the Son. However imperfectly, and the imperfections are all too easy to pinpoint, God is working through His people. There are those who tend the sick, feed the hungry, and comfort the sufferers in whatever practical way is possible. It is a war between good and evil, between light and darkness, and though it has gone on for two millenia already we are promised an eventual end. There will be a final intervention, we know not when.
The very nature of this final intervention leaves one torn between, on the one hand, asking 'How long, O Lord?' and praying for the intervention to be soon, so that there may be an end to suffering, and on the other hand not daring to be found unready and unprepared. This final intervention will sweep away the physical universe as we know it, and bring in the Age to Come. There are some uncomfortable words about those who will be left behind. It is a very brave man who says to God: "Please intervene now."
Whether what I have written will help John Humphrys (or any like him), who knows? For each of us whatever faith we have is a gift from God. Both he and I will be judged on how well we have worked out in our lives the measure of faith given to us. From those to whom much is given, much will be required.
A homepage
My apologies for having gone so long without adding any meditation. I write as the Lord moves me, and if I have nothing new to say, then I keep my peace. Since the spring of this year the Lord has opened up a new area of working for me, and now at last the dust of this activity is beginning to settle, and I have more time to just think about life - and its challenges.
One of my correspondents let me know recently that she uses Netcaster's opening page as her homepage on the Internet. In other words, when she turns her browser on, this is the page she sees. I was thinking about this, and the whole idea of a default homepage for one's browser, and decided the sort of page I would like. I though I would like to see the date, and have a small clock to remind me of the time. Then I thought I would like to see a different verse from the Bible every day, to give me some prompting for my thinking.
So I designed a date mechanism and a clock mechanism. This was the easy part. The way it works depends on the inbuilt clock of your PC, so if this is wrong, the data on the screen will be wrong too. Right click on the very bottom right of your PC screen, where the digital time indicator is, and you can correct it if it is wrong. I chose a clock design from a website of the company that makes clocks and watches to the design of the Swiss Railway clocks, at www.mondaine.com. The design is recognised as something rather special.
Then I looked, using my favourite search engine, for a site that had a different Bible quotation every day, which I could perhaps link to. There are some 'near misses' for what I actually wanted, and in the end I decided to do the work myself. So I am building 31 separate pages, one for each day of the month, and linking to each one depending on what day of the month it is. It took me a little while to work out the Javascript technique for this, and you need to have Javascript enabled on your PC for it to work.
I have found selecting the 31 passages a wonderful challenge. I must try to provide a balanced overview of the faith. All the passages are from the New Testament, and I have decided to use the Revised Standard Version as the translation. This has the cadences of the oldest versions, while avoiding the errors and changing meaning of words that diminish the value of the old versions. There is a balance between the words of Jesus (which I always introduce with "Jesus said:") and other passages. I have typed out all the passages myself, which has been a wonderful exercise. Let me know if you find any typos. In the end I also decided not to give the reference for each quotation, as I wanted the words to stand alone. Any small omissions from a passage, for the sake of continuity, had been shown by the usual three dots. All the words are pure scripture, with no additions or changes.
If you are not sure how to set a live page from the Internet as your browser's home page, here is the method for MS Internet Explorer. Go to the page, using the link you have below. Then select 'Tools' and 'Internet Options' and you will see a button to select the current page as your homepage. Click this button, then 'Apply'. For Firefox it is virtually the same, except at the end click 'OK'.
To get there click on homepage.htm. The page will open in a new window. I pray that this daily word from God will be a great blessing to you.
One of my correspondents let me know recently that she uses Netcaster's opening page as her homepage on the Internet. In other words, when she turns her browser on, this is the page she sees. I was thinking about this, and the whole idea of a default homepage for one's browser, and decided the sort of page I would like. I though I would like to see the date, and have a small clock to remind me of the time. Then I thought I would like to see a different verse from the Bible every day, to give me some prompting for my thinking.
So I designed a date mechanism and a clock mechanism. This was the easy part. The way it works depends on the inbuilt clock of your PC, so if this is wrong, the data on the screen will be wrong too. Right click on the very bottom right of your PC screen, where the digital time indicator is, and you can correct it if it is wrong. I chose a clock design from a website of the company that makes clocks and watches to the design of the Swiss Railway clocks, at www.mondaine.com. The design is recognised as something rather special.
Then I looked, using my favourite search engine, for a site that had a different Bible quotation every day, which I could perhaps link to. There are some 'near misses' for what I actually wanted, and in the end I decided to do the work myself. So I am building 31 separate pages, one for each day of the month, and linking to each one depending on what day of the month it is. It took me a little while to work out the Javascript technique for this, and you need to have Javascript enabled on your PC for it to work.
I have found selecting the 31 passages a wonderful challenge. I must try to provide a balanced overview of the faith. All the passages are from the New Testament, and I have decided to use the Revised Standard Version as the translation. This has the cadences of the oldest versions, while avoiding the errors and changing meaning of words that diminish the value of the old versions. There is a balance between the words of Jesus (which I always introduce with "Jesus said:") and other passages. I have typed out all the passages myself, which has been a wonderful exercise. Let me know if you find any typos. In the end I also decided not to give the reference for each quotation, as I wanted the words to stand alone. Any small omissions from a passage, for the sake of continuity, had been shown by the usual three dots. All the words are pure scripture, with no additions or changes.
If you are not sure how to set a live page from the Internet as your browser's home page, here is the method for MS Internet Explorer. Go to the page, using the link you have below. Then select 'Tools' and 'Internet Options' and you will see a button to select the current page as your homepage. Click this button, then 'Apply'. For Firefox it is virtually the same, except at the end click 'OK'.
To get there click on homepage.htm. The page will open in a new window. I pray that this daily word from God will be a great blessing to you.
More about Grace
My last piece was about grace and this has provoked a comment or two. How much easier is the doctrine of legalism. There are those who would say that grace is the one doctrine unique to Christianity. Many other religions believe in a creator god, even in an incarnated god. Many promise rewards in the next life, and many prescribe rules to be followed in this. But only Christianity offers grace.
The contrast is simple: in most religions the focus is on the rules, and there is a broad universality about them. In 'The Abolition of Man' C S Lewis listed the common agreement about the natural law (the Tao) recognised by nearly all of mankind. Buddhism has its well defined path to enlightenment, Hinduism has its doctrine of karma, and the Jewish and Islamic rules are well known, especially regarding diet and other everyday things. And there are some who want to represent Christianity as a set of rules to be followed, with 'pie in the sky when we die' as the prize to be earned.
This approach satisfies our natural sense of fair-play. By contrast Jesus told a story (Matt 20:1-16)about a man who went out to hire labourers, and agreed a day rate with them. Three hours later he saw that there will still some men not yet hired, so he told them to go and work in his vineyard too. Similarly more men were set to work six hours later, and even nine hours later. At the eleventh hour of the day, with just one hour left for work, he hired a final few. When the day was done he started paying off the men, beginning with those hired last. He paid these men a full day's wage, and those who had worked longer noticed this. The man paid each worker the same, and those who had worked the full day complained because they had received exactly the same as those who had worked much less. 'But I have paid you what we agreed,' the hirer said. 'I can do what I will with my own money. Do not criticise my generosity.'
In the Psalms we meet the Hebrew word, hesed, which explains all this. It is best translated as 'steadfast love' or 'unchanging love'. Read the whole of Psalm 89, which begins: 'I will sing of thy steadfast love, O Lord, for ever; with my mouth I will proclaim thy faithfulness to all generations.' Later the psalm speaks of the covenant God has made with David and his descendants, and we read: 'If his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my ordinances ... then I will punish their transgressions with the rod and their iniquity with scourges; but I will not remove from him my steadfast love, or be false to my faithfulness.' (translation is the RSV).
Legalism focuses on us and what we do. Grace focuses on God and who He is.
It was Jesus who taught us to approach God as our Father in Heaven. Although not all fathers on earth are perfect models of fatherhood, it is as a Perfect Father that we should approach God. He will not allow us to remain satisfied with anything less than perfection. He will not pass over our follies as if they did not matter, but above all else He is constant. His love is the given, the certain, the absolute and unchanging constant, that we can rely on. It is (to quote a well-loved hymn) the love that will not let us go.
We have our weaknesses and God knows about them and has an agenda for dealing with them. Paul had an affliction (we know not what, whether it was physical or moral) and he prayed three times for this 'thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan' to be removed. But God's answer was: 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' (2 Cor 12:7-9) This led Paul to 'boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me ... for when I am weak, then I am strong.'
As Christians we can rejoice at our weakness, knowing that the steadfastness of God is the foundation on which our relationship with Him is built. Our whole lives are an exploration of His unchanging love. And to quote Paul again (Rom 8:19) 'nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.'
The contrast is simple: in most religions the focus is on the rules, and there is a broad universality about them. In 'The Abolition of Man' C S Lewis listed the common agreement about the natural law (the Tao) recognised by nearly all of mankind. Buddhism has its well defined path to enlightenment, Hinduism has its doctrine of karma, and the Jewish and Islamic rules are well known, especially regarding diet and other everyday things. And there are some who want to represent Christianity as a set of rules to be followed, with 'pie in the sky when we die' as the prize to be earned.
This approach satisfies our natural sense of fair-play. By contrast Jesus told a story (Matt 20:1-16)about a man who went out to hire labourers, and agreed a day rate with them. Three hours later he saw that there will still some men not yet hired, so he told them to go and work in his vineyard too. Similarly more men were set to work six hours later, and even nine hours later. At the eleventh hour of the day, with just one hour left for work, he hired a final few. When the day was done he started paying off the men, beginning with those hired last. He paid these men a full day's wage, and those who had worked longer noticed this. The man paid each worker the same, and those who had worked the full day complained because they had received exactly the same as those who had worked much less. 'But I have paid you what we agreed,' the hirer said. 'I can do what I will with my own money. Do not criticise my generosity.'
In the Psalms we meet the Hebrew word, hesed, which explains all this. It is best translated as 'steadfast love' or 'unchanging love'. Read the whole of Psalm 89, which begins: 'I will sing of thy steadfast love, O Lord, for ever; with my mouth I will proclaim thy faithfulness to all generations.' Later the psalm speaks of the covenant God has made with David and his descendants, and we read: 'If his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my ordinances ... then I will punish their transgressions with the rod and their iniquity with scourges; but I will not remove from him my steadfast love, or be false to my faithfulness.' (translation is the RSV).
Legalism focuses on us and what we do. Grace focuses on God and who He is.
It was Jesus who taught us to approach God as our Father in Heaven. Although not all fathers on earth are perfect models of fatherhood, it is as a Perfect Father that we should approach God. He will not allow us to remain satisfied with anything less than perfection. He will not pass over our follies as if they did not matter, but above all else He is constant. His love is the given, the certain, the absolute and unchanging constant, that we can rely on. It is (to quote a well-loved hymn) the love that will not let us go.
We have our weaknesses and God knows about them and has an agenda for dealing with them. Paul had an affliction (we know not what, whether it was physical or moral) and he prayed three times for this 'thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan' to be removed. But God's answer was: 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' (2 Cor 12:7-9) This led Paul to 'boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me ... for when I am weak, then I am strong.'
As Christians we can rejoice at our weakness, knowing that the steadfastness of God is the foundation on which our relationship with Him is built. Our whole lives are an exploration of His unchanging love. And to quote Paul again (Rom 8:19) 'nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.'
More or Less
I was looking the other day in a Christian bookshop for a book on the subject of grace, and found one I really took to. The reason for my attraction to it was the first two lines on the back of the book:
There is nothing you can do to make God love you more.
There is nothing you can do to make God love you less.
The doctrine of grace is at the very heart of the Christian message. God has taken the initiative in our salvation, out of pure love for us, not because we have done anything to deserve it. Salvation is the gift He offers us, and by salvation is meant simply His kind of life. We can ignore this gift, or we can receive it with open arms and embrace it.
In the opening of each letter Paul wrote to his new converts around the Roman Empire he wishes them 'grace and peace' or (occasionally) 'grace, mercy, and peace'. And to the Ephesians he spelt out the doctrine of grace in very explicit terms: "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." (Eph. 2:4-9). No one can boast. No one can say 'because I did this, or this, or this, God has saved me.'
There is nothing you can do to make God love you more. This is the message we celebrate every Christmas, when we remember the greatest gift God had at His disposal: His own Son, born into the weakness of human flesh, the total dependency of a little child.
Let us expand the thought a little. There is nothing I can do to make God love me more means that wherever I am, He loves me perfectly. I need no special building, no special intermediary, no special form of words, to bring me into a state whereby God can love me more. I cannot earn His love, or bargain for His love, or even deserve His love. It comes because He is love.
There is nothing I can do to make God love me less. This means that when I sin, and disappoint Him, and grieve Him, by what I do (or more likely fail to do), He is still there loving me no less. Jesus told the story of the father whose son took his share of the family property, then went off and wasted it all. The father was waiting for this son's return all the time, and when the son finally came to his senses, and returned confessing all, the response was simply 'prepare a feast, for my son was lost and is found, was dead and is alive again.' Thus God waits for us whenever we stray, and wherever we stray, and however we stray.
Any teaching that claims to tell us how we can make God love us more, what we must do to earn God's blessings, is a denial of what is central to the gospel Jesus preached, to the grace of God in His gift of salvation. Once restored into God's family, we do need to understand what sort of people He wants us to be. The pattern of Paul's letters was always first to proclaim the basis on which we have been saved, and then guidance on how to live the Christ-life that has been breathed into us. Our sins will grieve the Holy Spirit, sure enough, but God's willingness to forgive us is constant.
So this Christmas, amid all the present giving and receiving, remember the child in the crib:
God's gift to us
There is nothing you can do to make God love you more.
There is nothing you can do to make God love you less.
The doctrine of grace is at the very heart of the Christian message. God has taken the initiative in our salvation, out of pure love for us, not because we have done anything to deserve it. Salvation is the gift He offers us, and by salvation is meant simply His kind of life. We can ignore this gift, or we can receive it with open arms and embrace it.
In the opening of each letter Paul wrote to his new converts around the Roman Empire he wishes them 'grace and peace' or (occasionally) 'grace, mercy, and peace'. And to the Ephesians he spelt out the doctrine of grace in very explicit terms: "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." (Eph. 2:4-9). No one can boast. No one can say 'because I did this, or this, or this, God has saved me.'
There is nothing you can do to make God love you more. This is the message we celebrate every Christmas, when we remember the greatest gift God had at His disposal: His own Son, born into the weakness of human flesh, the total dependency of a little child.
Let us expand the thought a little. There is nothing I can do to make God love me more means that wherever I am, He loves me perfectly. I need no special building, no special intermediary, no special form of words, to bring me into a state whereby God can love me more. I cannot earn His love, or bargain for His love, or even deserve His love. It comes because He is love.
There is nothing I can do to make God love me less. This means that when I sin, and disappoint Him, and grieve Him, by what I do (or more likely fail to do), He is still there loving me no less. Jesus told the story of the father whose son took his share of the family property, then went off and wasted it all. The father was waiting for this son's return all the time, and when the son finally came to his senses, and returned confessing all, the response was simply 'prepare a feast, for my son was lost and is found, was dead and is alive again.' Thus God waits for us whenever we stray, and wherever we stray, and however we stray.
Any teaching that claims to tell us how we can make God love us more, what we must do to earn God's blessings, is a denial of what is central to the gospel Jesus preached, to the grace of God in His gift of salvation. Once restored into God's family, we do need to understand what sort of people He wants us to be. The pattern of Paul's letters was always first to proclaim the basis on which we have been saved, and then guidance on how to live the Christ-life that has been breathed into us. Our sins will grieve the Holy Spirit, sure enough, but God's willingness to forgive us is constant.
So this Christmas, amid all the present giving and receiving, remember the child in the crib:
God's gift to us
The X-Factor
I have observed in myself (predominantly) and in many others whom I know well enough a principle of human nature.
We all have certain aptitudes, things which make us who we are. In fact what distinguishes one human from another is the range and diversity of aptitudes they have or lack. By 'aptitude' I mean any particularly strong personality trait, the area of human activity where, comparatively at least, we excel. In myself, for instance, I have noted a capacity to focus on a task or project. When younger, while computer programming (which I did for a living for a good number of years) I managed quite often to surprise myself by noting at three o'clock in the afternoon that having started at nine in the morning I had worked through without pausing, or even noticing the passing of my usual lunchtime. Let us call this an aptitude.
But with every aptitude there seems to be tacked on the capability of taking it to an extreme. The power of focus, taken to its extreme, becomes a tendency to ignore what should not be ignored, especially other people and their needs. I have noted this too in myself, and in my better moments regret this fault, which it certainly is. So the aptitude which could be thought of as good becomes a fault when the X-Factor (being taken to the extreme) intrudes.
There are many virtues like this. Concern for others is a great quality, which we all need, but it can be taken to an extreme, such that the person interferes and makes themselves a nuisance even.
Another type of X-Factor is when a person tends to use their good quality to exploit others. This is the temptation with every meritorious quality, that I use it more for my own benefit and end up finding myself not caring how much this may be exploitative.
A further type of X-Factor is when we do a particular kind of good, but only for a limited few. Here we are guilty of excluding a group of people, whether deliberately or unconsciously. It is another X-Factor that sullies any beautiful quality we may have if it intrudes.
So each of these three key concepts (extremeness, exploitation, and exclusion) adds a layer of blemish to what would otherwise be a worthy characteristic of our personality. And sometimes two or more of them can come in unison. The X-Factor can take every good quality we have and turn it into something less than beautiful, or even - at its worst - into something ugly.
We will never know how far we owe heredity or our upbringing for the qualities and aptitudes we detect in ourselves. Certainly it is some of both. Was Mozart the musical genius he was because of his father or in spite of his father? Each of us grapples with the fact that we are different from our parents, yet owe them so much, physically, emotionally, intellectually. And we are different from each other. It is no use us saying 'I want to be like so-and-so.' We have our own unique bundle of physical, emotional, and intellectual characteristics. Our task is to use what we have.
God knows that each of us is an individual, each with our unique bundles, and with each of our good qualities tarnished to some degree by the X-Factor. What is His plan?
I believe He does not intend that we should all end up the same, as if there were a model human being prototype to which we will all one day be conformed. He Himself has taken on human flesh, and He knows how easy it is for us to be diverted from the best our good qualities can produce. He was without sin Himself, but He knows what strong impulses there are towards letting the X-Factor spoil things for us. His agenda is for us to be set free from the X-Factor in ourselves, and so become more the person we have the capacity to be, not less. Yes, He wants us to be Christ-like, but I believe we will be so in a multitude of different ways, when God's perfect will for us has eventually been achieved.
Meanwhile, on the way in this life towards that destination, we have a duty to look at our character traits very objectively. They exist, first of all, and we do no good by suppressing them, or pretending they don't exist, let alone presuming that the X-Factor does not matter. I believe we must be true to ourselves and be the person we know we are. We will not get rid of the X-Factor simply by will-power. We need God's help. So we need to live our lives openly, allowing Him to see how far we really understand ourselves, and all the time allowing Him to shine His light on the totality of who we are. To hide away is foolish, as well as - ultimately - impossible.
We all have certain aptitudes, things which make us who we are. In fact what distinguishes one human from another is the range and diversity of aptitudes they have or lack. By 'aptitude' I mean any particularly strong personality trait, the area of human activity where, comparatively at least, we excel. In myself, for instance, I have noted a capacity to focus on a task or project. When younger, while computer programming (which I did for a living for a good number of years) I managed quite often to surprise myself by noting at three o'clock in the afternoon that having started at nine in the morning I had worked through without pausing, or even noticing the passing of my usual lunchtime. Let us call this an aptitude.
But with every aptitude there seems to be tacked on the capability of taking it to an extreme. The power of focus, taken to its extreme, becomes a tendency to ignore what should not be ignored, especially other people and their needs. I have noted this too in myself, and in my better moments regret this fault, which it certainly is. So the aptitude which could be thought of as good becomes a fault when the X-Factor (being taken to the extreme) intrudes.
There are many virtues like this. Concern for others is a great quality, which we all need, but it can be taken to an extreme, such that the person interferes and makes themselves a nuisance even.
Another type of X-Factor is when a person tends to use their good quality to exploit others. This is the temptation with every meritorious quality, that I use it more for my own benefit and end up finding myself not caring how much this may be exploitative.
A further type of X-Factor is when we do a particular kind of good, but only for a limited few. Here we are guilty of excluding a group of people, whether deliberately or unconsciously. It is another X-Factor that sullies any beautiful quality we may have if it intrudes.
So each of these three key concepts (extremeness, exploitation, and exclusion) adds a layer of blemish to what would otherwise be a worthy characteristic of our personality. And sometimes two or more of them can come in unison. The X-Factor can take every good quality we have and turn it into something less than beautiful, or even - at its worst - into something ugly.
We will never know how far we owe heredity or our upbringing for the qualities and aptitudes we detect in ourselves. Certainly it is some of both. Was Mozart the musical genius he was because of his father or in spite of his father? Each of us grapples with the fact that we are different from our parents, yet owe them so much, physically, emotionally, intellectually. And we are different from each other. It is no use us saying 'I want to be like so-and-so.' We have our own unique bundle of physical, emotional, and intellectual characteristics. Our task is to use what we have.
God knows that each of us is an individual, each with our unique bundles, and with each of our good qualities tarnished to some degree by the X-Factor. What is His plan?
I believe He does not intend that we should all end up the same, as if there were a model human being prototype to which we will all one day be conformed. He Himself has taken on human flesh, and He knows how easy it is for us to be diverted from the best our good qualities can produce. He was without sin Himself, but He knows what strong impulses there are towards letting the X-Factor spoil things for us. His agenda is for us to be set free from the X-Factor in ourselves, and so become more the person we have the capacity to be, not less. Yes, He wants us to be Christ-like, but I believe we will be so in a multitude of different ways, when God's perfect will for us has eventually been achieved.
Meanwhile, on the way in this life towards that destination, we have a duty to look at our character traits very objectively. They exist, first of all, and we do no good by suppressing them, or pretending they don't exist, let alone presuming that the X-Factor does not matter. I believe we must be true to ourselves and be the person we know we are. We will not get rid of the X-Factor simply by will-power. We need God's help. So we need to live our lives openly, allowing Him to see how far we really understand ourselves, and all the time allowing Him to shine His light on the totality of who we are. To hide away is foolish, as well as - ultimately - impossible.
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