For some strange reason, people who are theologically rigid have deceived themselves into believing that their rigidity is a form of spirituality..........This in turn leaves them with a hard, non feeling, cold heart! They are out of touch with their own reality (their true inner feelings and motives), and being out of touch with their own feelings, are insensitive to everybody else's.....
I once had a girlfriend who said to me she admired how I took my hat off when I prayed to God. I smiled and said 'Well it says in the Bible about men keeping their heads uncovered when they pray so I have to', or something along those lines. Immediately her face changed to something else. I could tell though, it was no longer admiration. That memory sticks with me still after 5 years. Though I didn't understand why her face went like that at the time, now I do.
Law. Dogma. An unfeeling heart and just a rigid adherence to a law. That's what she saw and that's why her face changed. I, for such a long time, have prided myself on my dogmaticness. My rigidity. My ability not to blur the lines, but to be conclusively right on every point. To be right about what the Christian's attitude should be to secular music, gay marriage, sex before marriage, demonic symbolism and so on. But what if God doesn't want that. What if avoiding some things and accepting some things doesn't in itself demonstrate a pure heart. Where does that leave me....
A little illustration.
There are two men. One organises himself so well that he makes sure at 1pm each day he texts his wife to say 'I love you'. He makes sure, religiously, that every week the family sit in the living room and have family time (Saturday 2pm-4pm). He makes sure he works his 9-5 so he can bring home what the family 'need'. He also makes sure one holiday for the family a year is financially viable and never forgets to make one of his kid's high school games because it's in his diary.
But if you were to ask his family if he loves them, they would be hard pressed to give a confident yes, especially his teenage kids.
The other man is quite random. He loves his wife, and though his life is quite incoherent, he makes as much time as he can to be with her. He works for the local Co-op from 9am-6pm but when he gets home, he makes sure he cuddles up with them to watch TV and express his opinion on the best thing on the box at the moment. Aaron, his son is having a game on Thursday. He has no personal organiser but he makes sure he remembers the date so he can be there to support him. He has no money for a holiday every year. The closest his family has been to overseas is a camping trip 10 years ago to the Isle of Wight!
But if you ask them if he loves them, although he doesn't always say it they know he does. His love may not be organised, but it's real.
Now I don't know about you but in life I've often found myself sitting in the court of the first man, longing for people to see I love them and love God by keeping unwritten laws and rigidly adhering to Bible principles and commandments. I'm very legalistic, though I hate to say it and be it. I find it hard to walk in grace and love though I speak about it and long after it. And the more I work towards it, the more it seems so out of my reach. Today God showed me I have a religious and rigid mindset and for him to use me in the way he wishes to, I'll have to drop that.
But the religious man is proud. 'I do so much to reach God. I do much more than the other guy over there. I make time for God and all that guy has to do to get closer to God is try a bit harder to organise himself. If he made time in his day he could read two chapters from the Old testament, 1 from the New and one from the Psalms and Proverbs. All he'd have to do then is to pray for half an hour each day and he'd be on his way'. He trusts in and prides himself in what he does and it's so hard for him to give up that way of living. But God can do it in a flash, if such a man is open. God can change his rigidity and make him into a new man. He could make him to live in his grace and love and extend that to others. If only he'd trust him.
If only I'd trust him...
Richard Innes (Acts International)
Today, God told me I must not be so rigid. And I've been thinking about it all day. This almost completely contradicts my prideful post on 'religious behaviour' but here goes......
I once had a girlfriend who said to me she admired how I took my hat off when I prayed to God. I smiled and said 'Well it says in the Bible about men keeping their heads uncovered when they pray so I have to', or something along those lines. Immediately her face changed to something else. I could tell though, it was no longer admiration. That memory sticks with me still after 5 years. Though I didn't understand why her face went like that at the time, now I do.
Law. Dogma. An unfeeling heart and just a rigid adherence to a law. That's what she saw and that's why her face changed. I, for such a long time, have prided myself on my dogmaticness. My rigidity. My ability not to blur the lines, but to be conclusively right on every point. To be right about what the Christian's attitude should be to secular music, gay marriage, sex before marriage, demonic symbolism and so on. But what if God doesn't want that. What if avoiding some things and accepting some things doesn't in itself demonstrate a pure heart. Where does that leave me....
A little illustration.
There are two men. One organises himself so well that he makes sure at 1pm each day he texts his wife to say 'I love you'. He makes sure, religiously, that every week the family sit in the living room and have family time (Saturday 2pm-4pm). He makes sure he works his 9-5 so he can bring home what the family 'need'. He also makes sure one holiday for the family a year is financially viable and never forgets to make one of his kid's high school games because it's in his diary.
But if you were to ask his family if he loves them, they would be hard pressed to give a confident yes, especially his teenage kids.
The other man is quite random. He loves his wife, and though his life is quite incoherent, he makes as much time as he can to be with her. He works for the local Co-op from 9am-6pm but when he gets home, he makes sure he cuddles up with them to watch TV and express his opinion on the best thing on the box at the moment. Aaron, his son is having a game on Thursday. He has no personal organiser but he makes sure he remembers the date so he can be there to support him. He has no money for a holiday every year. The closest his family has been to overseas is a camping trip 10 years ago to the Isle of Wight!
But if you ask them if he loves them, although he doesn't always say it they know he does. His love may not be organised, but it's real.
Now I don't know about you but in life I've often found myself sitting in the court of the first man, longing for people to see I love them and love God by keeping unwritten laws and rigidly adhering to Bible principles and commandments. I'm very legalistic, though I hate to say it and be it. I find it hard to walk in grace and love though I speak about it and long after it. And the more I work towards it, the more it seems so out of my reach. Today God showed me I have a religious and rigid mindset and for him to use me in the way he wishes to, I'll have to drop that.
But the religious man is proud. 'I do so much to reach God. I do much more than the other guy over there. I make time for God and all that guy has to do to get closer to God is try a bit harder to organise himself. If he made time in his day he could read two chapters from the Old testament, 1 from the New and one from the Psalms and Proverbs. All he'd have to do then is to pray for half an hour each day and he'd be on his way'. He trusts in and prides himself in what he does and it's so hard for him to give up that way of living. But God can do it in a flash, if such a man is open. God can change his rigidity and make him into a new man. He could make him to live in his grace and love and extend that to others. If only he'd trust him.
If only I'd trust him...
