Wednesday, September 2, 2009

A Day's Deviations

Recently I have been spending a lot of time thinking about my life, Christianity, philosophy, mindsets, character and humor. And since I am currently cluttered up inside the seashell called the PC, I am going to allow this tidal wave of thoughts drift to the surface.

In my readings of Spiritual Leadership by Blackaby, some very probing questions have really challenged me and made me question a lot of aspects of my life. Questions like 'who is getting the glory for the things you are doing?' and 'are you comfortable with God speaking into your life?' So allow me to now answer some of these questions out loud to you... well, out loud in the sense that you can hear me in your head like you heard a bad Justin Timberlake song in 2005, playing over and over again.

Who gets the glory for the things I do? Honestly, I don't know. Maybe I am weird (wouldn't surprise me) but I don't spend much time, or any at all for that matter, thinking about who is getting the glory for things I do. Does that mean I am getting the glory? I don't think so, but maybe. Does that mean God is getting the glory? Maybe, but probably not. So does that mean that yesterday, when I picked up a woman's license off the ground and handed it to she who had unknowingly dropped it onto the pavement, God wasn't getting the glory? I didn't want the glory, I didn't think of glory at all. So where did it go? Did I replace the lost license with the glory, like litter left to lie out in the sun?

So what does that mean for my Christianity, that I am not pondering who is getting the glory? Am I an apathetic glory monger? [gasp]

Next question: are you comfortable with God speaking into your life? I can answer this question quite simply: heck no! Now let me explain. do I feel comfortable with God, the Lord of All Creation talking to me about any willy nilly thing he wants? NO! Frankly, whenever God wants to say something to me, it is generally something uncomfortable or something I don't want to hear... so why would I like it? Do I, do my best, to accept it? Yes (kinda). So there you go...

What about you? Honestly consider these questions: Who is getting the glory for the things you are doing? Are you comfortable with God speaking into your life?

2 comments:

  1. Excellent questions to ask. I've thought about the glory one before. I like using Lewis' understanding of and experiencing pleasure and applying it to this "God-consciousness" or "glorying" of all things at all times to God. Lewis explains that a person cannot experience a pleasure and be conscious of that pleasure at the same time. He claims that once you become aware or conscious of a pleasure, you automatically lose an integral part of the pleasure. (Obviously he explains it much better than I.) But it makes sense to me that God's glory can work in similar ways. I mean, we say things like “God is good” and “all truth is God's truth.” If these are true, then truth, goodness, and the like glorify God themselves, as they are right reflections of Him. This glorification does not involve our consciousness.
    However, for a balanced answer, I will say that there is merit in consciously giving praise/honor/glory to God when appropriate, which is usually. It is a sign of a healthy reciprocal relationship between Creator and Created. To me, there is a tension between consciously giving God glory, and letting life and the things of life give Him glory and pleasure on their own. Extremes on either end are dangerous. There is a point at which no conscious glory is given to God and at which we must wonder whether there is a relationship between Creator and Created. There is also a point at which trying to be conscious of God at all times just isn't practical or possible and just a bit silly. I do not know if this helps at all, but those are my thoughts as of now.

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