A realistic opinion of yourself!

Humility is not a common characteristic in our 21st century there are so many things vying for our attention, including people organisations and causes. The way of our world is blatant self promotion. This is quite contrary to the values espoused in the Gospels, but the Christian world and individual Christians can become easily ensnared.

That is why I so love the work of our next writer Jeremy Taylor (1713-1667). He is so in your face with truth. So I am going to give you straight quotes for a start because I can do no better.

The grace of humility is exercised in the following rules.
First do not think better of yourself because of any outward circumstance that happens to you. Although you may - because of the gifts bestowed upon you - be better at something that someone else ( as one horse runs faster than another), know that it is for the benefit of others, not yourself.
Remember that you are merely human and that you have nothing in yourself that merits worth except your right choices.

Second, Humility does not consist in criticizing yourself, or wearing ragged clothes or walking around submissively wherever you go. Humility consists of  a realistic opinion of yourself namely that you are an unworthy person. Believe this about yourself with the same certainty you believe that you are hungry when you have gone without food.

Third, When you this opinion of yourself be content that others think the same of you. If you realise that you are not wise, do not be angry if someone else should agree!

Fourth, Nurture a love to do good things in secret, concealed from the eyes of others and therefore not highly esteemed because of them. Be content to go without praise, never being troubled when someone has slighted or undervalued you. remember no one can undervalue you if you are unworthy.

There are another eight rules, but we just don't have time to cover them at this stage.

Wow this is very radical thinking for our day and age! Acknowledging that it is by God's grace that we have any gift or ability. to develop any of these gifts is but to do what is right before god as long as we acknowledge they are not for our glory but the glory of God and the service of others.

I must admit that I so struggle at times if I do not get recognised for what I do or my ideas. This puts an entirely new spin on it. I obviously have some work to do.  There in may be the beginning of my right choices.It may not be easily be received in our generation because it counter cultural, especially in an age of the celebrity preachers and mega churches.

Definitely food for thought!!

Until Next time

John maybe be quite right.

Hannah Whitall Smith was a Quaker born in 1832 makes some interesting comments as she talks about the decline of our first love relationship to one of obligation and duty. I would imagine all of us who have been around the Christian world for some time will have experienced that.

She describes it like this: The souls finds itself say instead the "May I" of love the "Must I" of duty. Service that has become more or less bondage, done purely as a matter of duty and often as a trial or a cross to bare. Things that were at first a joy and delight have become after a while weary tasks, performed faithfully but with a secret disinclination, or wish that they did not have to be at all or at least so often!

Her perspective is that it is altogether the way we look at things whether we consider them crosses or not. Seeing she died in 1911 she would probably be shocked at the fairly Consumer viewpoint that seems to have developed towards the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st Centuries. It would have probably appalled her with the state of Christianity in some quarters. "Our what's in it for me culture???"

John The Baptist

She goes on and says what we need to do is...............get believers to want to do the will of God as much as other people want to do their own will. This would seem a judgemental viewpoint until she says this.......and this is the idea of the gospel. It is what God intended for us ; and it is what he promised. it started to make a little more sense when we start to think in light of the gospel. In John 3 John the Baptist states that I must grow less so he(Jesus) can grow more. Loosely explained our own will must begin to decline to allow the Spirit of God to take over. Therefore we are subject to the guidance of the Spirit of God rather than our own more self interested carnal thoughts and desires.
This sounds easy but is difficult to practice but that does not make it wrong or undesirable. As many of us are a long way from "our first love" it will take a very conscious effort to hand our will over to God. But as any recovering addict will tell you it can be done!!

Hannah puts a finger on what many of us experience daily the weary treadmill of Christian duty. The thin end of religion rather, than relationship with our loving heavenly Father much like the older son in the Prodigal Son story of Luke 15.

Hannah's words may seem dated, patronising, harsh and judgemental in  a 21st century setting. However the truth is the truth which ever way you look at it. Jesus made no claim to being user friendly. Quite the contrary he said the path is narrow!

Until next time
Paul

As the poem says I took the Road less travelled and it made all the difference!

Where is your focus?

Hasn't it been an interesting time in the elections in the United States recently, with an aftermath of protests and even riots in some areas. The candidates themselves seemed to have some fairly obvious character flaws, yet both aroused passion in their followers. Thus bringing about the subsequent events and a divided nation. This weeks author John Woolman (1720-17772) was a Quaker  from pre-independence America. He would not recognise his country to today for so many reasons.

John's life was devoted to living a life with the True Shepherd. A life based on Christian principles moderated by the Holy Spirit. This was his key focus where is God and what is he saying in this situation. He gave up what we would probably see as opportunities to better himself  financially to align himself with what God would have him do. For me this is a remarkable thing in any age, but would seem to be a marvel in our current social climate. In our country where political correctness is rampant and we spend so much time not wanting to appear offensive in way. I wonder if we have we lost some of the strength of the Christian message?

John put it like this:
"Our standard value is the way things affect us. Each of us takes our place in the centre of our world. But I am not the centre of the world, or the standard of reference between good and bad. I am not, but God is."

There are so many of us that though we profess Christ we are still at the centre of our world not God. We are not truly following the true shepherd we are shepherding ourselves. Which is why to the world doesn't seem to see that there is any major difference between the church and themselves. It takes time and courage to step away from the consumerist mentally that seems have gripped the western church on Sundays as well as every other day of the week. When we learn to fear God as much as we love him and his grace, we may overcome the fear of man that so blights the modern church.

So where is your first focus on God, yourself or the opinions of others. If you are like me it is a question worth asking on a fairly frequent basis until change develops.

As John the Baptist said "I must grow less so he can grow more."

The Deity of Self

We are now moving into a new section in our journey which is that of the "Compassionate Life", which might be loosely translated as social justice. This weeks writer is a twentieth century Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury,  William Temple (1181-1944), who shares some thoughts on the subject with us.

He suggests that the church has two basic roles in social justice. Firstly it is to announce Christian principles to the existing social order and point out where society is at odds with them. Secondly the church must pass on to Christian citizens acting in their regular life the task of reshaping that order and moving into closer proximity to the Christian principles. As someone who is very interested in social justice I am in reasonable agreement with those ideals.

 I guess the problems may arise with varied methods decided on by individuals and Christian organisations; churches, "para-churches" and aid agencies about what that might look like. Temple suggests that our role isn't solving all the problems but highlighting the need and where society has strayed from the principles of scripture. I am not sure that I can totally live there in the arena of social justice. I personally believe we have to a more defined active role that makes us part of the solution as a Christian. Rather than just as Christian individuals within some wider premise of being a good citizen.

One of the things that he later brings up is the simple fact we are "self-centred". I think we are probably even more obviously self-centred than people were in the earlier part of the Twentieth Century when he wrote this. We seem to have made "I" a socially acceptable art form with self awareness, self actualisation self help, self talk, personal visions and the list goes on.

The almighty "I" seems to be very much alive and well. This would definitely seem to be a real impediment to social justice. Because while we are so absorbed in finding out who "I" am and what "I" want, others are homeless, starving and going to Hell while we watch. I guess for me this is why the social justice section is placed towards the end of the book, so that Spirit of God can make us God focussed and therefore we replace the god of Self with the Trinity. There by making us God focussed and in that same process we become "others focussed".   Focussed on making a difference for others who are ultimately change and grow themselves.

Be part of the solution help someone out this week.