Walking the Line

Here is a good reminder of what we are called to be right now. We are neither called to be silent nor called to carry the torch of every cause without consideration, thought, wisdom, and love. We must be introspective, willing to submit our own desires and actions to analysis. We must be drenched in community, even in a time when we have to be careful about gathering together. We must be humble enough to listen, and to be uncomfortable, perhaps masking in our own homes in order to have fellowship; yet we must be brave enough to live in the midst of a time when it would be easy to isolate and accuse and cast stones only. There is a balance we are called to strike right now, and it is hard. But then again, Jesus never told us it would be easy. 

I feel like every day is me fighting to walk that line, to give the right amount of energy, to rest enough, not to give in to a spirit of slumber while also not serving the god of performance. This is a spiritual battle, not against flesh and blood. 

Chambers writes:

Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works; not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. — Hebrews 10:24-25

"We are all capable of being spiritual sluggards; we do not want to mix with the rough and tumble of life as it is, our one object is to secure retirement. The note struck in Hebrews 10 is that of provoking one another and of keeping together — both of which require initiative, the initiative of Christ-realisation, not of self-realisation. To live a remote, retired, secluded life is the antipodes of spirituality as Jesus Christ taught it.

The test of our spirituality comes when we come up against injustice and meanness and ingratitude and turmoil, all of which have the tendency to make us spiritual sluggards. We want to use prayer and Bible reading for the purpose of retirement. We utilise God for the sake of getting peace and joy, that is, we do not want to realise Jesus Christ, but only our enjoyment of Him. This is the first step in the wrong direction. All these things are effects and we try to make them causes.

“I think it meet,” said Peter, “…to stir you up by putting you in remembrance.” It is a most disturbing thing to be smitten in the ribs by some provoker of God, by someone who is full of spiritual activity. Active work and spiritual activity are not the same thing. Active work may be the counterfeit of spiritual activity. The danger of spiritual sluggishness is that we do not wish to be stirred up, all we want to hear about is spiritual retirement. Jesus Christ never encourages the idea of retirement — “Go tell My brethren.…” -Myutmost.org July 10, 2020

These words are wise, and I sit in them this morning. 

My sister wrote the following to me yesterday in conversation. She and I have a good deal of political differences if one looks only at the surface, but at the heart, many if not most or even all of the same things are exactly important to us; at the center, we share the Gospel. We are both seeking to live it out faithfully, and I respect her a great deal. We differ at times in how we feel like these things, these important issues of life are best achieved and heralded to the nations, or even to what degree such things should be heralded; however, she makes some keen observations here. I would clarify one thing she writes for my readers. When she refers to America as a nation unlike any other, she is not seeking to say we are BETTER than others necessarily. She is pointing out unique parts of us, for better or worse. I know this because if you ask her point blank, she'll tell you point blank. She teaches me about being blunt 😁👸👏👏. She most certainly doesn't think we've gotten it all right.

Lastly, I will clarify my reason even for sharing her words on a post that is a devotional: 

I am actually timid if this is the best conversation in which to share her thoughts, but my intent here is to direct our eyes in humility toward Jesus. With that intention, I share her words because what grasps me about them is her ability to point out the reality of this unique time in which we find ourselves as Christians, as Americans, as humans. At the risk of being entirely overly-dramatic, which my lovely sister has many times called me, I believe we are living in a period of time that is unprecedented for some of our more recent generations. Times have certainly been as challenging or more challenging in history, but for the people currently ALIVE in America, today is one of the more challenging times they have faced. And for the sovereign nations that have the most play in the world, and the world leaders leading them, NOW is perhaps the most complex time. With such a possible truth in mind, we must humble ourselves and take upon the mindset preached above lest we either retreat to despair or tyrannically rule. Fear can become tyranny (thanks Titus), as my dear friend mentioned to me in conversation yesterday, but denial can also be tyranny as well. So let us walk cautiously and wisely, being willing to defer to one another, and being brave enough to be bold even if it costs us our reputations.

"There is not another country like us at the foundation. Everyone expected us to fail. Many have been actively trying to get us to fail throughout our history. But we are not designed to withstand more than about a month in storm shelter and that was for the end of the world as we know it! ..... This has likely ended the world as we know it, but our people are struggling to believe that. We have been in control of our destination and have mostly had the tools or opportunity to do as we desire. This changes that. Our brains can’t comprehend this, and even I still have difficulty imagining this going on beyond 2021 ... Other countries just look to the government for answers and do what they are told. Right now many people are waiting for American scientists and the government to fix this. Americans and other countries are both waiting I believe. And I do believe our country is working with other countries, but the real issue comes when Americans figure out this is real and that the government is not fixing it and so they take to solving this themselves. We could have anarchy like the civil war or another boom of advancement like in the 50’s .... the goal is to avoid the former and know we won’t be able to control the latter but that we must be able to help people survive and have good information on how to be safe when the time comes..... This virus is a war; yes it’s a health hazard, but if affects our daily lives in a way that other diseases have not, and it must be dealt with a different mindset than anyone other than our aged generation have ever done." -Buffie, the dear sister, who once put me in a trashcan! Because that's what you do with your baby sister. You play with her! :)

I would add to her assessment this: that the virus is taking place in the midst of another war as people rise up and stand up against other oppressive and abusive powers, fighting to come to alignment on issues like systemic racism and sexism and how we handle our politics and politicize issues that need not be politicized. So in the midst of all of this, we find we are in a perfect storm.... and you all know how that movie ended.....Gosh- THAT MOVIE. So tragic. So REAL. It IS real. Let us come together and prepare ourselves for battle, for weather... soaking our minds and our hearts in the Word. In this world we will have trouble. Christ has overcome the world though; it is incumbent upon Christians to step into that authority and truth and live rightly.... not living for a political platform or only a certain cause, but living as Micah 6:8 tells us... to grapple with that, and to hold ourselves accountable... to stop casting stones and picking out specks, but to work on our logs and the things Jesus writes in the sand about our lives. Our obligation is to check ourselves before we wreck ourselves, my go-to phrase, and to weep... weep over this world like Jesus weeps over Jerusalem, and then walk out into it and give it our lives just like Jesus gives His life for us. A living sacrifice, we are called to be...a LIVING sacrifice. Daily sacrificing that others might live. Daily being the change we hope to SEE in the world; not just preaching, but PRACTICING. We will make mistakes. We will fail. It is inevitable, but there is grace... and if we do not try, well, I venture to say we are not Christians at all... We have our faith... now let's put it to work... We can do it hand-in-hand...you, me, and my sister.