Crap, revisited.
From: Paul
To: A Friend
Subject: Crap
Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2003 00:53:18 EST
Today in our ICQ chat I said that I believed that we, in North America, are blind to our "condition". When I say that, I mean that Christians here have allowed the "world" and it's systems to become such a major part of their lives that they have become detached in many ways from the Spirit of God. And they can't see it because it has become so normal.
Going to Brazil allowed me to see these things in myself. And worse yet, returning to Canada has challenged me to NOT become what I was - and what everyone around me IS.
Jesus said, "I came into the world to bring everything into the clear light of day, making all the distinctions clear, so that those who have never seen will see, and those who have made a great pretense of seeing will be exposed as blind."
Some Pharisees overheard him and said, "Does that mean you're calling us blind?" Jesus said, "If you were really blind, you would be blameless, but since you claim to see everything so well, you're accountable for every fault and failure." John 9:39-41 [The Message]
In many ways I have become accountable for what I see around me, and in me. So, when I make a comment about "us" not being powerful because of all the "crap" that's in the way, I am referring to the same things (or condition) that we have become comfortable with in North America.
For example...
1. Children. Children disobeying and disrespecting their parents and the parents NOT responding in love and discipline. What I see here I would have never seen in Brazil. A child in Brazil, even a teenager in Brazil, knows their place... and they know that their parent is the person in charge. As a result, those children not only respect their parents position of authority in their lives, they love them with their whole being.
What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn't treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand.
So God said, in effect, "If that's what you want, that's what you get."
And then all hell broke loose: rampant evil, grabbing and grasping, vicious backstabbing. They made life hell on earth with their envy, wanton killing, bickering, and cheating. Look at them: mean-spirited, venomous, fork-tongued God-bashers. Bullies, swaggerers, insufferable windbags! They keep inventing new ways of wrecking lives. They ditch their parents (disobey their parents - NIV) when they get in the way. Romans 1:21-24, 29-30 [The Message]
2. Selfishness. I am overhwhelmed by this sometimes. People here seem to only be interested in themselves. (And please note that I WAS like this... and perhaps still am in some ways.) How can we love our family members, friends, etc. when we are so inward focused? Not to mention our "fellow believers". Forget it. We are NOT loving each other. In Brazil... people lived their lives in a sacrificial way in ORDER to love others!
This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. 1 John 3:16, 17 [The Message]
3. Materialism. Gosh. What can I say. I just want to run away from materialism. I can hardly believe how much consumerism COMSUMES our society - Christian or not. I said to someone today that this Christmas was the most Christ-less Christmas I've ever experienced. Not only do we "gather up" too much stuff - stuff we DON'T NEED, but we spend beyond our means - it seems to be a way of life here. You make "x" amount of dollars and you get a credit card so you can live above what you make. Today it seems so sinful to me.
Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or - worse! - stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being. Matthew 6:19-21 [The Message]
And lastly... (although I could go on and on)...
4. Justice and mercy. I could say SO MUCH about this, especially in light of the way I was treated by my former fellowship. But instead, let me focus more on social issues. Like you... a single mom... what are "we" doing for mothers like you? How are we helping them? And what about the "least of these"? Forget it. It's not popular to help those kind of people. Let's move out of the cities, build churches in the burbs and rely on missions to help "those" people. THOSE people?!! Jesus IS those people!!! Whatever we do to the least... we do unto HIM!!!
There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. Deuteronomy 15:11 [NIV]
Do you sort of understand where I am going with all of this? I don't expect (or want) you to challenge what I am saying, I am simply trying to help you see that "we" have so many ungodly characteristics in our lives as Christians... why in the WORLD would demons listen to us? We can't even take charge of our cheque books let alone take charge over principalities... and most of us don't even know what THEY are!!
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil (spiritual wickedness - KJV) in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12 [NIV]
We gotta clean the crap off first... before we will ever see that kind of power in our lives.
God help us.
Paul
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1:09 AM
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8:56 AM
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11:50 AM
I removed the first three comments on this post for personal reasons. Mostly because the comments were more personal than usual and I don't want them to be misunderstood.
Just like this post - I don't want it to be misunderstood. So, I've edited the post as well.
Here are some things you should know:
The email posted here was recently sent BACK to me, (from the friend I originally sent it to), as a reminder of some things I said shortly after I returned to Canada from a 6 month stay in Brazil.
In the email, I was simply clarifying some of the things I had been experiencing while being integrated back into North American culture.
When I first came back (May 2003) I had a very difficult time. In fact, I wept every day for almost a month because I was grieving the loss of what I had experienced in Brazil.
At first, this was hard to explain to people. Most often I offended my friends while trying to explain myself. So eventually I became silent.
This email was not based on a disagreement with my friend. And as far as I can remember it was sent to stir up and encourage faith.
Reflecting on the impact that Brazil had on me is once again challenging MY faith. AND my actions. And for me, it's all good.
So I'm glad that my friend sent this email back to me. Because the reminder hit home.
12:11 AM
FYI
I wrote to my "friend" about this post and asked: "Can you please read my blog comment and let me know if I correctly understood your reasons for sending that email back to me? I think I did, but the LAST thing I want to do is misunderstand you..."
My friend replied with: "You've understood perfectly..."
3:29 PM
BTW "Crap revisited" would make a wonderful Punk band name.
I hear you on this Paul. On quite a number of occassions we've been able to understand a bit of each other's process in dealing with coming back to our culture and being forced to deal with it's inadequacies.
I think I told you this once, but I remember sitting with Cal Bombay looking at pictures of one of his "slave freeing" Sudan trips. He looked at me and said.
"The worst part of these trips is the moment my son calls and says let's go out to McDonalds and I have to find a way to deal with our culture again. But we have to function in the culture we're in."
While that's totally profound and true, it's also so important to bring spiritual concepts that we have (and so many others have) seen and along them to function here too... because we want the FULLNESS of God in Brantford too.
8:27 AM
Since we talked about this as it not being directed at a specific person I do believe there are a lot of truths. I hope some day I can go thru something like this with wet feet. AKA doing missionary type dealy. I don't know what it is latly but I just want to dive into ministry and help people grow :). I feel god is telling me you will never be ready but lets get those feet wet.. :)
8:40 AM
Paul.. Yes.. Yes.. and DId I mention Yes. I feel the same way.. and I struggle with those influence myself - how easy it is to slip into complacency motivated by materialism and all the wrong things...God has worked through - and continues to work - at sawing off the rough edges of my SELF, making room for the flow of His Spirit in my life - IT IS a process, not one that is always completed quickly... I too have had missions impact me significantly in this way.. and I DARE anyone - who really wants to obtain the heart of God - to go on Mission - Especially to a 3rd world country - our poorest poor in America are rich by the world's standards... and yet they are rich in the things that matter most - and the smiles on their faces prove it! Thank you Paul for a sobering reminder!
5:46 PM
I've never travelled to a third world country ... but I believe the reports of those who have and I believe the reports from World Vision and Amnesty International, each organization working feverishly to bring mercy and justice to our world.... and there are many other organizations, these are just the two I personally support.
I recently have met a missionary doctor to India. She has also spent time in China. My first question to her was about the organization I support's influence in the country she has given her life and talents to. She speaks very well of World Vision and Compassion and she says India has vast areas of poverty still in need. I will be asking her about Amnesty next time I see her.
We have poverty here, but it isn't the same ... there is noone "dying" of hunger here... we can feed any Canadian at any time... find shelter for them at any time ... at least that is the way it is now.
We also don't HAVE to go there to GET the idea or have compassion in our hearts for those in need of something as basic as food.
We live in an international community now ... and we need to pay more attention ... they are the least of these, those that starve to death and suffer many more atrocities. We ARE the light of the world.
At the same time we must not feel guilty about the abundance in our nation ...these are the promises of God to us and will be to Third World Nations as well. He is no respecter of persons... anyone who turns to the Lord of Lords and King of Kings will be blessed.
Paul, correct me if I'm wrong, but you are talking about us North Americans pulling up our socks because we have forgotten who is responsible for our peace and abundance and victory in war against our enemies.This is what we need to repent about and we need to hand our nation back to God.
Proverbs 30:8
Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD ?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
1:08 AM
Can poverty be relative?
Brazil is a third-world country and poverty can be extreme is some areas. Most of the people I met in Brazil would have been considered ABOVE the poverty level in their country, but were poorer than the poor in North America.
The only people in North America that would come close to the poor in Brazil would be homeless people. And even THEY have government options for food and shelter.
I reflected on this a lot when I first came back to Canada, noting that most poor in North America have a car and a big screen TV. But today I see it differently.
I think poverty is relative. And although the poor in our country do not compare to Brazil, we DO have poor among us.
Mostly because of a poverty mentality. I've discovered that most of the big screen TVs are being rented through a company that is charging overwhelming interest rates - you know, those "quick cash" companies that lend money to people who can't afford a loan.
And the poor among us get poorer. And eventually their TVs are confiscated because they can't afford to pay the monthly lease.
And no one teaches them how to get off these merry-go-rounds.
Also, there are a couple of things that I saw in the poor in Brazil that I don't see in North America:
1. Brazilian poor take care of the little that they have. They have excellent hygiene and they clean their homes regularly - even if the floor is made of dirt.
2. AND... Brazilian poor have joy! Especially if they are Christian. They were the happiest people I've ever met. And they truly trust that God would supply all of their needs, according to His riches.
3:11 PM
Yes, poverty is relative ... it depends on how many others around you are in the same situation as to how others perceive you.In Canada the middle class is the majority
... so if you are poor by their standards you are in a bad way, socially.
People look at you as if you have zero in the way of smarts and you are left out of many people activities because you are deemed to not have the resources to be involved. And you probably don't. Your clothing, your house and what's IN it is a standard by which many in our society judge you... many "Christians" included. Although I question the depth of your walk with Christ if you snub any poor person no matter what the reason for their plight.
The poor in Canada who depend on the Lord and talk with Him daily are a special group... they are a happy people. I think because they hang out with those who genuinely like them and deem them valuable, regardless of their lack of funds. A poor person will only warm to those who will sincerely love them... there is no pretending because it is only those who sincerely love who will stand by a poor person in Canada or anywhere for that matter ... They are God's people ... those who love the poor and see their talents and value and the poor who love those that love them ...
1John 4:15-17
"If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him."
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