There are many golden opportunities in life… and silence is rarely one of them. Unfortunately, I don’t possess the filter that stifles inflammatory ideas from spouting from my mind – to my fingers – to the words on this blog. It is in this space that I have talked through ideas and bloughts on God, Culture, and Economics (and the interdependency between them).
This is my blought on “opinion as fact”:
It seems that we have fallen into the trap of casual determinism,1 which is against the very nature of a mystical Creator, whom we can never fully understand… as Christians we tell our fellow man about our “black and white God” and then dictate to them what their reaction should be. Leaving out the part about incomprehensibility of God, stating as fact our finite description of an infinite being. As A.W. Tozer puts it… “Left to ourselves we tend to immediately reduce God to manageable terms.”2 We use “like” and “appearance of” language to describe the intangible – because that is the only language we possess. Labeling the heretics as those who question our orthodox simile of God!
Now, hear me… I am not questioning the authenticity of God. I’m merely suggesting that the doctrine of Man in response to God cannot be taken as absolute Truth (in this case we would have thousands of definitions of absolute Truth). This is where the pitfall of determinism within Christian theology rears its ugly head…
A bit about “determinism:”
The foundation of determinism is aptly taken from Gottfried Leibniz’s “Principle of Sufficient Reason”, which is a common philosophical idea that everything can, in principle, be explained, or that everything that is, has a sufficient reason for being and being as it is, and not otherwise.1
Determinism is one of the fallacies of modern thinking which tells us there is a reason and explanation for our belief, of which modern scientific reason exemplifies. This linear thinking has bled into Western Christianity. Western Christians (a generalization) pursue Faith like a scientific equation, setting up formulas and guidelines in the pursuit of “truth.” For example: If you struggle with depression – pray more. If you feel distant from God – read your Bible.
If (f) is Christianity to the full… then what part of the formula are you lacking? And what part do you need to shore up? These things are nothing more than a prescription that covers the pain, and does not heal the root cause of the discomfort.
This linear thinking developed from determinism has deterred many from grasping the true nature of God, and the freedom found in a lasting relationship with Christ. It is easy to prescribe a remedy and much harder to walk through life’s messiness with another person. Yet, that seems to be what Jesus has called us to do and be… Good Samaritans. Loving the unloved, treating our enemies with respect and equality, and taking up the cross – sacrificing our dreams and desires for His.
When relationships are reduced to formulas and strategy, we generally lose the relationship. The same can be said in our relationship with God… who never desired to be a product of a formula based upon opinions. Or so I think (and yes, I accept the plausibility that I am wrong).
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1. Causal determinism: The world is governed by (or is under the sway of) determinism if and only if, given a specified way things are at a time t, the way things go thereafter is fixed as a matter of natural law.
2. A.W. Tozer; “The Knowledge of the Holy: The Attributes of God: Their Meaning in the Christian Life;” pg. 8
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So through all of this, we as Westerners have systematically been programmed whether consciously or unconsciously to try live within this Christian equation. The question for me is how do we break this cycle, how do we begin anew? Even in this prior statement I am trying to formulate or create a new equation to solve what I deem to be a problem in my own equation.
Among all things that can inhibit Christians from experiencing the full life that Jesus describes, to me it is simply (or really not so simply) guilt. We live in repetitive cycle of guilt potentially due to having the idealistic and western equation ” a + b + c + d + e = f.” An equation that we can never obtain or fulfill. Guilt of not being good enough or like individuals beside us, or even not being able to achieve the level that people perceive us to be at/or should be at. Therefore the affects of the emotion of guilt which is self constructed prevents us from community and relations of freedom with our Creator.
So i think the question for me is, how do we ditch the Western cultural programming and the guilt that inhibits us from a life of freedom, relation, and community with our Creator and others?
That is a great observation. Guilt drives us not towards new thinking but towards a head down, “let me work at this harder” response. How do we ditch the norm? I have some opinions, but they all require a “kayak against the current” attitude, that many do not possess. It is about living differently than the Jones' and trying in this minimalism to hear the voice of God for our lives… the direction he wants us to pursue in our circle of friends and in our community. Would love to hear more of your thoughts.
and how's the beard?
Unfortunately i think that there may be two sides to this coin. I do believe many desire to change their current situation and the direction that they are heading in with the modern church and the dominating majority of its followers. I also believe that many do not know how to escape their current mindset to go against the grain, as well as do not have the surroundings and community to be supported during the time of “re-setting” their course. It is also a path that seems to have been rarely taken by those that have preceded us, so we are in a sense on our own- with no path to necessarily follow.
There are many obstacles that weigh against anyone who chooses to go against the current direction of perceived progression while punishment and pain are sure to follow from the majority of individuals around you.
However for going against the grain in a pursuit of desiring to be in relations with our God who we can no longer continue to fit into an equation- the rewards are exponential, maybe not in the immediate or foreseeable future, but eventually and then eternally.
So here's to becoming a “kayak against the current” and all the uncertainty that befriends it.
The beard is gone, it became just to hot. I was for about a week or so constantly thinking about shaving it so after so that week i shaved and love it.
One more thing, the more I think about it this idea it seems that it might require a complete starting over. I say that because we are so embedded into our culture and lifestyles. Where to begin?
Unfortunately i think that there may be two sides to this coin. I do believe many desire to change their current situation and the direction that they are heading in with the modern church and the dominating majority of its followers. I also believe that many do not know how to escape their current mindset to go against the grain, as well as do not have the surroundings and community to be supported during the time of “re-setting” their course. It is also a path that seems to have been rarely taken by those that have preceded us, so we are in a sense on our own- with no path to necessarily follow.
There are many obstacles that weigh against anyone who chooses to go against the current direction of perceived progression while punishment and pain are sure to follow from the majority of individuals around you.
However for going against the grain in a pursuit of desiring to be in relations with our God who we can no longer continue to fit into an equation- the rewards are exponential, maybe not in the immediate or foreseeable future, but eventually and then eternally.
So here's to becoming a “kayak against the current” and all the uncertainty that befriends it.
The beard is gone, it became just to hot. I was for about a week or so constantly thinking about shaving it so after so that week i shaved and love it.
One more thing, the more I think about it this idea it seems that it might require a complete starting over. I say that because we are so embedded into our culture and lifestyles. Where to begin?