At the core ... in the inner recesses of the heart ... in the depths of our spirit ... that's where the battle is won or lost. What resides deep within gives birth to everything we say and do. The inside determines the outside.
Which raises the question: what lies in the inner recesses of my/your heart?
It seems to me that one of two realities reigns in the heart: anxiety OR peace, specifically, the peace of Christ.
Anxiety is inherent to our human condition. It is an inner dis-ease with which we live. Anxiety is old fear living beneath the surface of our awareness. It is the fear that we will once again experience the pain we experienced in the past. Anxiety is the lens through which we view all of life. It governs our perception of reality and, thereby, our reactions. In other words, we live in fear, with fear, out of fear. Our lives are driven by fear ... unrecognized, unacknowledged fear called anxiety.
Anxiety is the default setting of our inner life. As the default, it lies outside our awareness. It just is ... an unrecognized dimension of our lives.
Evidence of anxiety's hold on us is readily seen in three places. The first is our emotional reactivity to current events. Social media reflects the polarization and the accompanying attacks of the "other" that have seemingly become the accepted norm in our society. Both the polarization and the attacks are fueled by fear. They are expressed as anger, but anger is the mask fear wears to appear powerful. We as a nation are living out of fear. The anxiety and fear that are on the inside come out in what we say and do. The second indicator of our deep-seated, unrecognized anxiety is our attempts to escape the discomfort and inner dis-ease it stirs. Our lives are filled with busyness, over-commitment, multiple forms of entertainment, and the pursuit of pleasure. The stay-in-place requirements of the pandemic have limited this coping mechanism, increasing our sense of discomfort and the itch to get out. Which gives way to the third indicator of our anxiety: we seldom are still and quiet. I would dare say many of us do not know how to be still or quiet. It's as though we are addicted to always doing something. Even if our bodies are still, our minds are racing with thoughts. Our internal busyness, like our external busyness, points to the dis-ease rooted in our deep-seated anxiety.
Although anxiety is the default setting of our inner world, it is not mark of the follower of Jesus. Anxiety-fueled living is not the way of Jesus. For the follower of Jesus, peace ... inner peace ... God's peace ... the peace of Christ ... displaces anxiety. Such peace positions us to love ... which IS the way of Jesus.
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you" (John 14:27). This promise of peace is tied to the gift of the Spirit who live in us (John 14:26). The Spirit guides us into this peace.
Paul spoke of peace as the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:21-22). It is what the Spirit produces in our lives. As we keep in step with the Spirit, we access the peace of Christ. Peace, not anxiety, governs the heart. Consequently, we live out of that peace. That peace frees us to love as Jesus loved ... to be patient, kind, generous, faithful, gentle in the face of anxiety-producing situations. The Spirit empowers us to respond to others with love rather than react to others out of anxiety, in ways that are self-serving.
Because anxiety is the default setting of our inner life, we have to learn to access and live out of the peace of Christ. It doesn't "just happen."
Jesus pointed to this reality when he promised us his peace. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you ... Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid" (John 14:27). He spoke of managing our hearts ... of managing the inherent anxiety. The original carries a meaning the English translation does not capture: stop allowing your hearts to be troubled and afraid. "You're doing it; stop it!" (Note the self-awareness!) Anxiety is normal and unavoidable. It is our default setting. But we don't have to live in it. We can move beyond it ... through Spirit-guided self-awareness and self-control.
Paul said the same thing in his letter to the Philippians. "Do not worry about anything" (Philippians 4:6). Again, the original expresses the idea of stop: "stop worrying!" You're doing it; stop! We do not have to live with worry (anxiety). Paul offers an antidote to worry: prayer. "Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).
Paul speaks of displacing worry (anxiety) with peace ... God's peace. He identified the path to that peace as prayer with thanksgiving. Manage the anxiety (1) by turning your attention away from what is stirring the anxiety, back to God (prayer) and (2) by resting in God's faithful love (thanksgiving - remembering God's faithfulness in the past). (I develop this concept in Chapter 8 of The Fruit of the Spirit: the Path That Leads to Loving as Jesus Love, and in Chapter 19 of Discovering Your True Self: A Guide for the Journey.) We can move beyond anxiety into peace ... through Spirit-guided, Spirit-empowered self-awareness and self-control.
Until we learn how to access and live out of the peace of Christ, unrecognized anxiety will be the spirit out of which we live. It will determine what we do.
Living out of the peace of Christ, resting in God's faithful love lies at the heart of the spiritual journey. It is a way of living the Spirit is teaching us so that we can love as Jesus loved.
Sunday, July 26, 2020
Sunday, July 19, 2020
A Lot on Our Plates
The COVID pandemic - government-mandated closure of non-essential businesses and wearing of masks - working from home - isolation from family and friends - loved ones dying alone - inability to celebrate their lives with a proper funeral - school closures with on line, distance learning - push to reopen schools and businesses - medical facilities operating beyond capacity - medical personnel stretched and at risk - no vaccine or established treatment plan - a lack of a unified response in how to deal with the virus - a politicized response to the virus - a divided view of the virus: fear of it for some, blatant disregard of it by others - distrust of the media and scientific experts - loss of the norm and, with it, our comfort zones - a new, crazy norm we don't like - uncertainty about how long this new norm will last - uncertainty about what life after COVID will look like - personal liberties and constitutional rights - police brutality - protests - De-fund the Police/Back the Blue - race issues (again!) - Black Lives Matter/All Lives Matter/Blue Lives Matter - white privilege - resurgence of white supremacy ideology and America-first nationalism - LGBTQ+ rights - a highly polarized nation - a polarizing President - an election year - social media keeping it all in our faces - foreign hackers feeding the fear and fueling the polarization through social media. Then mix in the suffocating Texas summer heat!
Are you feeling overwhelmed yet? And you wonder why! Any one of these issues would have been challenging in and of itself, but we are dealing with all of these issues (not to mention our own personal issues), all at the same time. You might say we have a lot on our plates right now.
It seems to me these challenges have revealed a couple of things about us as individuals, about us as a nation, and about the church.
The challenges of this time have pulled back the curtain to reveal what is in our hearts - to reveal the attitudes and spirit out of which we live. And a lot of it isn't pretty. What is being revealed is open hostility and rancor towards one another. Anger, driven by fear, is vented without censor or filter. People of all stripes are demanding their way and their rights, demanding that everyone else adapt to them, attacking those who differ as though they were the devil-incarnate. I am reminded of the Apostle Paul's warning about biting and devouring and destroying one another (Galatians 5:15).
We should not be surprised by these attitudes and this behavior - grieved, but not surprised. Paul spoke of this kind of behavior as works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21). In my book, The Fruit of the Spirit: the Path That Leads to Loving as Jesus Loved, I defined Paul's term the flesh as the self-focused, self-serving spirit that is inherent to our human condition. It is our default nature that is marked by a what’s-in-it-for-me spirit. It is driven by deep-seated anxiety and fear. In other words, what we are seeing is our most base selves. We are living out of fear masked as anger. So much for being a Christian nation!
The challenges of this time have also revealed how isolated we are from one another. We drifted along in the silos we created - silos composed of "people like me" - silos that excluded those who were different. Another way to say it, we lived segregated lives - lives segregated from those not like us ethnically, economically, politically, religiously, or in sexual orientation. Again, this isolation-segregation should not surprise us. Segregation is the basic pattern of human relationships. (See again Genesis 11:1-9.) Paul identifies it as an expression of the flesh: enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy (Galatians 5:20). Sound familiar? This isolation-segregation is rooted in fear - fear of that which is different, fear of the other, fear of missing out, fear of losing our identity and exceptional status. It is rooted in a competitive spirit that seeks to define who is right and who is wrong, who is better and who is less than. This fear-driven competitive spirit leads us to view "the other" with suspicion from a position of smug superiority.
The challenges of this time have also revealed how unprepared we were for what we are facing. Our lifestyles are designed for comfort and pleasure. We spend enormous amounts of time and money on entertainment that allows us to escape the stress of our get-ahead, production-oriented world. In other words, the lifestyles we pursue are not designed for growth or for dealing with challenge or for learning to adapt or for knowing how to embrace change. The challenges of this time have revealed something we don't want to recognize, much less admit: how emotionally-relationally-spiritually immature we really are.
It seems to me that those of us in the church have been complicit in creating and perpetuating these realities. We have focused on beliefs and behavior - external things that we can control, that we can use to define right and wrong, that we can use to judge and exclude others, that leave the ego intact - and ignored the transformation of the heart (the inner world) that is the essence of true spirituality. Consequently, our basic human nature is very much intact, untouched by all of our religious involvement. In some ways, our religious life actually protects our ego-centric nature. Our focus on beliefs and behavior has allowed us to segregate ourselves from others, isolating ourselves into silos of those who think like us. Our focus on proper belief and behavior has prevented us from learning how to think theologically or how to practice spiritual discernment. As a result, our thinking reflects cultural and political positions rather than the ways of God that Jesus taught. And we appeal to the Bible to support those positions. Our focus on proper belief and behavior has allowed us to avoid the hard issues - the very issues with which we are struggling during this time. We don't know how to talk about them now that they confront us. So we go to our respective corners, prepared to come out fighting at the drop of a hat (or social media post) by attacking the other while defending our position as the only intelligent-rational-biblical position.
But there is good news in all of these challenges. The disruption we are experiencing and the challenges we are facing offer us the opportunity to learn and grow ... if we are open and teachable. They can teach us that we are all connected ... that we do better when we work together and seek the common good ... that no one has a corner on truth ... that experts and scientists might actually know what they are taking about ... that in attempting to destroy the other, we destroy ourselves. The challenges of this time are an invitation to learn, an invitation to grow. They are a call to become more than we are and have been ... a call to become our best selves.
So maybe the challenges of this time will reveal something more: our capacity to learn, grow, and change ... by the grace of God, through the transforming work of the Spirit.
Merciful God, may it be!
Are you feeling overwhelmed yet? And you wonder why! Any one of these issues would have been challenging in and of itself, but we are dealing with all of these issues (not to mention our own personal issues), all at the same time. You might say we have a lot on our plates right now.
It seems to me these challenges have revealed a couple of things about us as individuals, about us as a nation, and about the church.
The challenges of this time have pulled back the curtain to reveal what is in our hearts - to reveal the attitudes and spirit out of which we live. And a lot of it isn't pretty. What is being revealed is open hostility and rancor towards one another. Anger, driven by fear, is vented without censor or filter. People of all stripes are demanding their way and their rights, demanding that everyone else adapt to them, attacking those who differ as though they were the devil-incarnate. I am reminded of the Apostle Paul's warning about biting and devouring and destroying one another (Galatians 5:15).
We should not be surprised by these attitudes and this behavior - grieved, but not surprised. Paul spoke of this kind of behavior as works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21). In my book, The Fruit of the Spirit: the Path That Leads to Loving as Jesus Loved, I defined Paul's term the flesh as the self-focused, self-serving spirit that is inherent to our human condition. It is our default nature that is marked by a what’s-in-it-for-me spirit. It is driven by deep-seated anxiety and fear. In other words, what we are seeing is our most base selves. We are living out of fear masked as anger. So much for being a Christian nation!
The challenges of this time have also revealed how isolated we are from one another. We drifted along in the silos we created - silos composed of "people like me" - silos that excluded those who were different. Another way to say it, we lived segregated lives - lives segregated from those not like us ethnically, economically, politically, religiously, or in sexual orientation. Again, this isolation-segregation should not surprise us. Segregation is the basic pattern of human relationships. (See again Genesis 11:1-9.) Paul identifies it as an expression of the flesh: enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy (Galatians 5:20). Sound familiar? This isolation-segregation is rooted in fear - fear of that which is different, fear of the other, fear of missing out, fear of losing our identity and exceptional status. It is rooted in a competitive spirit that seeks to define who is right and who is wrong, who is better and who is less than. This fear-driven competitive spirit leads us to view "the other" with suspicion from a position of smug superiority.
The challenges of this time have also revealed how unprepared we were for what we are facing. Our lifestyles are designed for comfort and pleasure. We spend enormous amounts of time and money on entertainment that allows us to escape the stress of our get-ahead, production-oriented world. In other words, the lifestyles we pursue are not designed for growth or for dealing with challenge or for learning to adapt or for knowing how to embrace change. The challenges of this time have revealed something we don't want to recognize, much less admit: how emotionally-relationally-spiritually immature we really are.
It seems to me that those of us in the church have been complicit in creating and perpetuating these realities. We have focused on beliefs and behavior - external things that we can control, that we can use to define right and wrong, that we can use to judge and exclude others, that leave the ego intact - and ignored the transformation of the heart (the inner world) that is the essence of true spirituality. Consequently, our basic human nature is very much intact, untouched by all of our religious involvement. In some ways, our religious life actually protects our ego-centric nature. Our focus on beliefs and behavior has allowed us to segregate ourselves from others, isolating ourselves into silos of those who think like us. Our focus on proper belief and behavior has prevented us from learning how to think theologically or how to practice spiritual discernment. As a result, our thinking reflects cultural and political positions rather than the ways of God that Jesus taught. And we appeal to the Bible to support those positions. Our focus on proper belief and behavior has allowed us to avoid the hard issues - the very issues with which we are struggling during this time. We don't know how to talk about them now that they confront us. So we go to our respective corners, prepared to come out fighting at the drop of a hat (or social media post) by attacking the other while defending our position as the only intelligent-rational-biblical position.
But there is good news in all of these challenges. The disruption we are experiencing and the challenges we are facing offer us the opportunity to learn and grow ... if we are open and teachable. They can teach us that we are all connected ... that we do better when we work together and seek the common good ... that no one has a corner on truth ... that experts and scientists might actually know what they are taking about ... that in attempting to destroy the other, we destroy ourselves. The challenges of this time are an invitation to learn, an invitation to grow. They are a call to become more than we are and have been ... a call to become our best selves.
So maybe the challenges of this time will reveal something more: our capacity to learn, grow, and change ... by the grace of God, through the transforming work of the Spirit.
Merciful God, may it be!
Sunday, July 12, 2020
Lord, Give Me Patience
I don't know who was the first to say it, but many people echo it: "Lord, give me patience ... and give it to me right now!!"
Patience seems to be a struggle for many of us. Especially during this time of polarization in our nation, we struggle to be patient with those "on the other side" with whom we disagree. It is easier to criticize, judge, and complain than to be patient. Being patient positions us to "hear" the other and opens the door to honest conversation in pursuit of mutual respect and understanding.
Perhaps if we understood patience, we would be better at practicing it.
Patience is tied to expectations. We are impatient when someone fails to live up to our expectations - when things aren't how we think they ought to be - when something isn't done the way we think it should be. Impatience is the anger we feel when our expectations are not met. It leads to and is expressed in being critical and judgmental of the one that doesn't measure up to our expectations. Often, the one with whom we are impatient the most is our self. If we want to practice patience, we have to deal with our expectations.
Patience comes as we surrender our desire to control other people and how things are done. We experience impatience because we can't control the other person or what they do or what happens. Control is tied to expectations. They both are attempts to bend the world to our will - to how we think life should be. As long as we live with this subtle me-centered mentality, we will struggle with being patient. If we want to practice patience, we have to surrender our desire to control other people, what they do, and how they do it.
Patience is rooted in grace-based thinking. Impatience is rooted in merit-reward, earning-deserving thinking. The criticism and judgment that grow out of our impatience are our way of punishing the other for not measuring up to our expectations. Grace, on the other hand, seeks to be understanding and compassionate. In the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:21-22), patience is linked with being kind, generous, faithful, and gentle. We can't be patient as long as we are critical and judgmental, harsh and demeaning.
Patience is one of the nine traits identified as the fruit of the Spirit. It is the product of the Spirit's work in our lives. We cannot conjure up patience through an act of our will or self-effort. The ability to be patient grows in us as we grow spiritually, as we move beyond merit-based thinking into grace-based thinking and relating, as we surrender to the transforming work of the Spirit within us.
"Lord, give me patience ... and give it to me right now!!" The prayer (if it is really a prayer) expresses our impatience with not being patient. It reflects our expectations that we should be more patient. But being impatient with being impatient does not make us more patient. What being impatient does do is invite us to go beyond the impatience to what lies behind it: the expectations, the desire and futile attempt to be in control, the merit-based thinking. Being impatient is a call to turn to the Spirit to deal with what is in us rather than focusing on the other and what they should do.
But beware of wanting patience!!! If we practice patience, we will be less critical and judgmental. We will stay connected with those with whom we disagree. We will be generous and kind in how we think of them, speak of them, and treat them.
No wonder patience is something the Spirit produces in us. It is an expression of love (1 Corinthians 1:4).
Patience seems to be a struggle for many of us. Especially during this time of polarization in our nation, we struggle to be patient with those "on the other side" with whom we disagree. It is easier to criticize, judge, and complain than to be patient. Being patient positions us to "hear" the other and opens the door to honest conversation in pursuit of mutual respect and understanding.
Perhaps if we understood patience, we would be better at practicing it.
Patience is tied to expectations. We are impatient when someone fails to live up to our expectations - when things aren't how we think they ought to be - when something isn't done the way we think it should be. Impatience is the anger we feel when our expectations are not met. It leads to and is expressed in being critical and judgmental of the one that doesn't measure up to our expectations. Often, the one with whom we are impatient the most is our self. If we want to practice patience, we have to deal with our expectations.
Patience comes as we surrender our desire to control other people and how things are done. We experience impatience because we can't control the other person or what they do or what happens. Control is tied to expectations. They both are attempts to bend the world to our will - to how we think life should be. As long as we live with this subtle me-centered mentality, we will struggle with being patient. If we want to practice patience, we have to surrender our desire to control other people, what they do, and how they do it.
Patience is rooted in grace-based thinking. Impatience is rooted in merit-reward, earning-deserving thinking. The criticism and judgment that grow out of our impatience are our way of punishing the other for not measuring up to our expectations. Grace, on the other hand, seeks to be understanding and compassionate. In the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:21-22), patience is linked with being kind, generous, faithful, and gentle. We can't be patient as long as we are critical and judgmental, harsh and demeaning.
Patience is one of the nine traits identified as the fruit of the Spirit. It is the product of the Spirit's work in our lives. We cannot conjure up patience through an act of our will or self-effort. The ability to be patient grows in us as we grow spiritually, as we move beyond merit-based thinking into grace-based thinking and relating, as we surrender to the transforming work of the Spirit within us.
"Lord, give me patience ... and give it to me right now!!" The prayer (if it is really a prayer) expresses our impatience with not being patient. It reflects our expectations that we should be more patient. But being impatient with being impatient does not make us more patient. What being impatient does do is invite us to go beyond the impatience to what lies behind it: the expectations, the desire and futile attempt to be in control, the merit-based thinking. Being impatient is a call to turn to the Spirit to deal with what is in us rather than focusing on the other and what they should do.
But beware of wanting patience!!! If we practice patience, we will be less critical and judgmental. We will stay connected with those with whom we disagree. We will be generous and kind in how we think of them, speak of them, and treat them.
No wonder patience is something the Spirit produces in us. It is an expression of love (1 Corinthians 1:4).
Sunday, July 5, 2020
Ears to Hear
The loss of the ability to hear - what is commonly referred to as "being hard of hearing" - is a physical trait found in my biological family. I observed it in my grandfather, uncle, and brother. These family members are like many in our culture who lose the ability to hear. Thankfully, hearing aids can help address hearing loss in many cases.
The inability to hear is a common metaphor in scripture. It refers to a spiritual condition in which a person cannot recognize or embrace spiritual truth. Jesus, quoting the call experience of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 6:9-10), identified this condition in many of the people who listened to him teach (Matthew 13:13-15). It was almost as if they refused to hear the truths he proclaimed. It spoke of them as a hard path that the seed of truth could not penetrate. Isaiah, too, preached to a people who did not want to hear what he had to say.
Jesus identified their hearing problem as a heart problem. "This people's heart has grown dull and their ears hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn" (Matthew 13:15). Jesus observed that the people's heart had become dull - meaning insensitive, callous, unresponsive. Their unresponsive heart resulted in ears that couldn't hear. The condition of the heart impacted what they were able to hear and see.
Jesus' words suggest this spiritual condition is chosen. It was, Jesus said, as though they consciously shut their eyes so they would not see. The inability or refusal to hear spiritual truth is a way to avoid having to change. If they saw with their eyes and heard with their ears, Jesus said, then they would understand with their heart the spiritual truth that called them to turn - i.e., to repent, to change.
Spiritual truth is a heart issue, not a matter of the intellect (although the mind is involved). The heart recognizes spiritual truth. It resonates with truth. The heart - the interior realm - is the realm of the Spirit. The heart recognizes the Spirit's witness to spiritual truth.
The inability to hear (embrace) spiritual truth is the result of a process. The heart is naturally pliable, responsive. It was created for God and for relationship with God. The heart grows dull - insensitive, callous, unresponsive - when we repeatedly resist the Spirit's teaching ... as we cling to old, comfortable ways of thinking ... as we resist the change that spiritual truth produces.
I see a lot of evidence of this spiritual condition in today's polarized culture. On the national level, I am amazed at the overt rejection of anything that does not agree with the position someone holds. News reports are rejected as fake news. Scientific study is rejected as a ploy used to deceive, manipulate and control. Medical advice for dealing with the COVID pandemic is rejected as a violation of personal rights. People are demonized so that their opinion is discounted and outright rejected. Within The UMC, we defend our positions by quoting scripture that reinforce our belief. The old saying comes to mind: "don't confuse me with facts; my mind is made up!" Or to say it another way: "don't tell me what I don't want to know."
Don't tell me anything that will require me to change.
The inability to hear and a callous heart reflect the arrogance inherent in the human condition. We want other people to adapt to us. We want reality to be on our terms. ("I don't need a mask." "I have a right to go to the beach or bar." "We shouldn't presume that a group of experts somehow knows what is best," Senator Rand Paul. "You will not die," said the serpent (Genesis 3:4).) What we want becomes reality. What we believe becomes the measure of truth. We are right so why should we change.
No wonder Jesus would often say, "Let him with ears to hear, hear" (Matthew 13:43).
Lord, give us ears to hear. Give us a heart that is responsive to you, to your Spirit, and to your truth. Give us a teachable spirit that we might learn, grow and change.
The inability to hear is a common metaphor in scripture. It refers to a spiritual condition in which a person cannot recognize or embrace spiritual truth. Jesus, quoting the call experience of the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 6:9-10), identified this condition in many of the people who listened to him teach (Matthew 13:13-15). It was almost as if they refused to hear the truths he proclaimed. It spoke of them as a hard path that the seed of truth could not penetrate. Isaiah, too, preached to a people who did not want to hear what he had to say.
Jesus identified their hearing problem as a heart problem. "This people's heart has grown dull and their ears hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn" (Matthew 13:15). Jesus observed that the people's heart had become dull - meaning insensitive, callous, unresponsive. Their unresponsive heart resulted in ears that couldn't hear. The condition of the heart impacted what they were able to hear and see.
Jesus' words suggest this spiritual condition is chosen. It was, Jesus said, as though they consciously shut their eyes so they would not see. The inability or refusal to hear spiritual truth is a way to avoid having to change. If they saw with their eyes and heard with their ears, Jesus said, then they would understand with their heart the spiritual truth that called them to turn - i.e., to repent, to change.
Spiritual truth is a heart issue, not a matter of the intellect (although the mind is involved). The heart recognizes spiritual truth. It resonates with truth. The heart - the interior realm - is the realm of the Spirit. The heart recognizes the Spirit's witness to spiritual truth.
The inability to hear (embrace) spiritual truth is the result of a process. The heart is naturally pliable, responsive. It was created for God and for relationship with God. The heart grows dull - insensitive, callous, unresponsive - when we repeatedly resist the Spirit's teaching ... as we cling to old, comfortable ways of thinking ... as we resist the change that spiritual truth produces.
I see a lot of evidence of this spiritual condition in today's polarized culture. On the national level, I am amazed at the overt rejection of anything that does not agree with the position someone holds. News reports are rejected as fake news. Scientific study is rejected as a ploy used to deceive, manipulate and control. Medical advice for dealing with the COVID pandemic is rejected as a violation of personal rights. People are demonized so that their opinion is discounted and outright rejected. Within The UMC, we defend our positions by quoting scripture that reinforce our belief. The old saying comes to mind: "don't confuse me with facts; my mind is made up!" Or to say it another way: "don't tell me what I don't want to know."
Don't tell me anything that will require me to change.
The inability to hear and a callous heart reflect the arrogance inherent in the human condition. We want other people to adapt to us. We want reality to be on our terms. ("I don't need a mask." "I have a right to go to the beach or bar." "We shouldn't presume that a group of experts somehow knows what is best," Senator Rand Paul. "You will not die," said the serpent (Genesis 3:4).) What we want becomes reality. What we believe becomes the measure of truth. We are right so why should we change.
No wonder Jesus would often say, "Let him with ears to hear, hear" (Matthew 13:43).
Lord, give us ears to hear. Give us a heart that is responsive to you, to your Spirit, and to your truth. Give us a teachable spirit that we might learn, grow and change.
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