Sunday, October 30, 2005
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*sigh*..................
Why can't people just get along -
Why do "we" have to be "right"
And "you" have to be wrong?
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Comments (19)
Why can't people just get along -
Why do "we" have to be "right"
And "you" have to be wrong?
my friend, it doesn't have to be
you cold be right too -
if you'd just agree with me.
(submitted with tongue firmly planted in cheek)
Sounds like something I posted on my journal awhile back Why indeed?
Why cannot we
embrace the difference
that is you and me
Enjoy the sonnet as much as the free rhyme?
...well, I'm not good at that but there it is, and proving my point to boot! *grin*
Have a great Sunday...
All of those reasons could be right. Last night Jason and I discussed this, why people have to be right against someone else's wrong. We've been taught in the word of faith that everything is about what we believe and what we say. We must change our 'confession' in order to change our position with God and with man. This, to a realistic soul, is nonsense, of course. But to them that cling to such a flimsy idea, it is hard to believe because it's supposed to be hard to believe; if it were easy, it wouldn't be 'faith'.
What we have is an exclusive club built not on merit nor on good deed done, but simply how we say things. What could be easier for a group who would rather than manipulate God than actually work for a living? If your mouth and what you say is more important than what you do, then Stephen Hawking should be the most 'in-faith' man alive. But no, because if he were, he'd step right out of that chair, wouldn't he?
Do you see the snare? Can you feel its grip? It is justified judging, giving people a right to condemn your faith walk if it is not as good as theirs, and be jealous of it if it's better. Yes, it's all about self and how we see ourselves and how we want ourselves to be and it is the greatest tragedy that this is built up under a group that profess the name of Jesus, heartily and with more frequence than any other group it says. 'Jesus' is not a magic word, nor a vending machine.
Saying all that to say this- we have to be right and they have to be wrong because our identity is found in what we believe. We identify with what the Bible says we are because that what God supposedly says we are, but no more than that. We are nothing more than exact replicas of Jesus with no room for individuality or personal will. We must believe that God is first and last because if He's not in our lives, our lives will suck. We have to change everyone else's opinion because we need to be validated, as everyone does, but our validation comes in what we believe, so what we believe must matter so that we can too.
Exactly. Jesus didn't argue, threaten, coerce or manipulate people into believing the Kingdom of God had come. He didn't try to convince anyone that God even existed. Remember, He said all His words, all that He did, came from the Father in Him. This is how we should be as well. What we say, what we do, should come out of our hearts, out of our intimate connection to God (Vine/branch), not from some "twelve steps to effective evangelization."
Being in the Kingdom of God rather than maintaining allegiance to the god of this world is a simple matter of choice, and all are free to make that choice or not. If they are not drawn by the Jesus they see in you and in me, we have nothing to say to them. And if all we know of Him is what others have told us, we have even less to say. Witnesses are just that, those who know. We can only tell what we know.
Jesus said no one comes to Him (read: the Kingdom of God where He reigns) except the Father draws them. Those whose hearts are inclined away from the world and towards God will be "drawn" into the Kingdom of God like a moth to the flame, while those who love the world and themselves (two peas from the same pod) reject both. And yet we cannot look at any and judge their heart. Only God can. So we cannot ever say this person is saved and that one not.
Show me someone who does random acts of kindness that no one but God will ever know, and I'll show you someone truly inclined towards God, towards goodness and integrity, someone who has more power to draw others to God than the most popular preacher on earth, because all that they are and all that they do comes from a connection to God that they may not even be aware of, but God is. Jesus went about helping others find that connection. He was and is a bridge to God, spanning the vast chasm between heaven and earth.
we'll never get along because we are self motivated. geez. people are so backwards. we are told specifically to put others above ourselves, gladly spend of ourselves for others, but we are so concerned with our needs being met that we never really get that far.
have you seen GI Jane? there is a scene where she is helping her team get over this huge wall by getting on her hands and knees and letting them step on her. these people treated her like trash, yet she gladly spent herself for them.
it shouldn't be about me. it should be about God and then you. but we are so afraid we won't be taken care of.
mattie.
Indeed. I find myself whining this a lot lately, "Why can't we all just get along?" Why does it have to be about right and wrong? I don't think it is.
I was thinking about this the other day. Even for people like us who claim to be deep thinkers and a greater or deeper understanding of God... our knowledge is so basic and elementary. Good and evil? Right and wrong? Sex and marriage? Black and White? Gray?
The God that is so other is indefinable. Yet so paradoxical that He is simpler than any equation, and closer than our skin.
Why can't people just get along -
Why do "we" have to be "right"
And "you" have to be wrong?
With "axis of evil" the rallying song
We justify the use of bombs
Judge "freedom lovers" always right
And "freedom haters" always wrong
"If they are not drawn by the Jesus they see in you and in me, we have nothing to say to them."
You show an insight that, sadly, I think many well-intended people miss. Whan Jesus was asked, "Show us the Father"', He responded "He who has SEEN me has SEEN the Father." He SHOWED what God was about by His life; what He did and said as well as how he lived.
While I certainly make no claim to be some type of sage, I will say that this particular point becomes clearer and clearer to me over time..that is, that my life must be consistent with what I believe, and with what I believe God wants it to be. The saying, "You/I may be the only Bible another person 'reads' ", is threadbare, but true.
The Greeks had a word, "Ethos" which is aften used in reference to presence and body language in public speaking. The translation of Ethos is "What you are speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say".
God, live through me thoroughly; let others see and hear you so clearly that they praise not the insrument, but its maker and master.
....jim