Radical love and awareness

Jesus didn’t just show us what we could be. He also taught that it is our natural state. He showed us this natural state through his character and actions. He showed us what unconditional love looks like. 

Now, we may get confused about what unconditional love means. To love unconditionally is to love no matter what. But a person that loves unconditionally can still demand things of others. Just not as a condition for love. Jesus demanded things of people. He said: “This is what you need to do to follow me” and “This is what you need to do if you want to be free and happy”. The world is what it is and it comes with its conditions. And no matter how much Jesus loves, as long as we live in a fallen world, he can’t help us out of our bondage unless we do what he says that we need to do in order to be free. 

In any interaction with another person, we can choose to meet that person with love and openness. This is our natural state. But from the day we were born, we have been programmed to respond otherwise. Therefore, what should come natural is hard for most of us. What should come natural is met with resistance. I am no exception to this. This is not something that I have conquered within myself. And this is where it has to begin: within ourselves. Actions and words that on the surface are identical, can have opposite meanings depending on what inner state that they stem from.

In any interaction with another person, we can choose to think loving thoughts about the person. We can choose what qualities to focus on. And every time we make such a choice, our hearts open or close a little bit. Love is a feeling that exists in infinite abundance, we can choose it any time and it is always possible to cultivate more of it.

Jesus said: “turn the other cheek” and “love your enemies”. He also told us over and over again to look at our own shortcomings, instead of finding faults in others. These are very clear instructions. There is very little room for misunderstanding here.

So why don’t we always cultivate love. For me, at least part of the reason was that no one told me that I had a choice. At least not in a way that got through to me. And here is where the programming comes in. We learn so many things without questioning them. From movies, music, the news, people around us and other channels, we learn that we live in a hostile world full of selfish people. We learn that power struggles is a necessary part of life, that we live in scarcity and that we need to take what we can and guard ourselves against others. We learn that material possessions and status are important for a happy life. We learn that self esteem comes from putting others in their place and taking revenge. We learn that we should feel offended when we think that someone has wronged us. Just to name a few ways of functioning in the world, that have nothing to do with love, that many of us learn without questioning. 

It is very much a question of awareness whether we make a conscious choice about these matters or not. We may for example feel justified in our anger towards someone. Maybe the person has intentionally wronged us in some way. But if we manage to take a step back and observe what is going on, we can consider what course of action is most beneficial to all concerned parties. Hint: It’s usually not to go off on a slanderous rant as we vent our hurt feelings to a mutual friend. In fact, if we can stop ourselves at the level of our thoughts, this is usually the best way of approaching the issue. If we can keep calm and remember that our thoughts do not represent reality. 

The problem is that we are seldom fully aware of what is going on inside of our own heads. We often assume that we are. But upon closer inspection, we notice all kinds of nonsense in our minds. We notice that there is a constant chatter in our minds whether we like it or not, that we believe many thoughts without sufficient reason and that we often confuse thoughts and feelings. For example. 

We also notice something else, which is very relevant here. Namely that once a negative emotion gets hold of us, we lose our conscious awareness. Then the emotion starts to color our thoughts and perceptions, it becomes much easier to mistake our distorted perception of reality for reality and to start engaging in behavior that has no clear purpose. Such as saying something that we may regret later, to- or about another person. Such as acting in a way that is not loving.

But we often do have a few seconds where we remember, for example, a commitment not to judge. But then comes the justifications: “He or she did this or that to me”. Or we simply pretend that we didn’t hear the little reminder of our commitment at all. Our inner life is interesting in that way, in a rather frightening manner. We often know, on some level, that we have the choice of stopping ourselves. But another side of us doesn’t want to. And when this side wins we let go. And when we let go we go unconscious and words seem to flow more or less automatically out of our mouths. 

We may come to our senses after a while, much depending on our level of maturity. But not before having given ourselves another reason not to trust ourselves. For what reason? Why do we do such things? The only honest answer is: “I don’t know”. As with many, if not most, of our behaviors, we may think up an explanation for them. But if we are being honest with ourselves, it is just that - something that we have thought up. 

The good news is that the more awareness we bring into the present moment, the easier it becomes to make different choices. The easier it becomes to catch ourselves before we think, act and speak in an unloving manner. The easier it becomes to choose love. And the more we choose love, the closer we get to our rebirth in the image of God. In Christ likeness. Which is the goal of every human, whether we recognize it or not.

Die to live

Before we can simply let go and be reborn, there are so many things that we cling on to, that we have to let go of. We cling on to our social status, career, different pleasures, political opinions, aspirations and so on. These are some of the most common things that we cling to, but the list could be almost endless. 

A funny paradox in all of this, is that it seems like that in order for us to begin to let go, we first need to fully accept that these things are in our lives and not judge ourselves for it. It's not about being hard on ourselves or disliking ourselves, but about seeing what is there and being honest with what it does to us. Remember that we're all sinners.

While there is much in the world that we need to let go of if we want to live dignified lives, God created the world and saw that it was good. This does not change just because sin and corruption has entered the picture. So to just look at it as a garbage dump full of misery that we should strive to remove ourselves from, does not seem like a wise thing to do. I believe something like this: We need to learn to live in the world the way God intends for us to live in it and not in the way that our culture tells us to. To enjoy life and the pleasures of God’s creation in the way that God intended. To focus on what’s essential instead of getting caught up in what doesn’t really matter. Instead of getting caught up in trivialities. Ultimately, to learn to view life from a God-centered eternity-perspective. Because if we truly believe in God and that life will continue after death, to strive for this perspective ought to follow logically.

Jesus says: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). The Bible is full of verses about dying to self so that one can live. So that one can become renewed. There is an old self that has to die, so that another, more real self can live. If we follow this line of reasoning, there is a very simple conclusion, which is staring us right in the face when we read the Bible: There is a right and a wrong way when it comes to how we conduct ourselves in our day-to-day lives. There is a right and a wrong way when it comes to how we treat other people and ourselves. There is a right and a wrong way when it comes to how we eat, drink and conduct ourselves. I would even argue that there is a right and a wrong way when it comes to our posture, how we breathe and how we treat our attention. Do we pay attention consciously or do we let chance dictate what we pay attention to?

This last bit, about our attention, is important here. Because something happens when we pay conscious attention to something. If we for example pay attention to our breathing, it becomes more calm and natural all by itself, if we don’t try to do anything with it. There is also a warning implied here. Because attention matters gravely. Think about it. How much what you pay attention to dictates your life. Really think about it. And now think about our society, where there is constantly something ot someone that tries to grab our attention, as loudly as possible. Think about what such a society may do to us if we don’t consciously choose to take control of our attention. Give it some thought. What role does you attention play in your life? And are you consciously trying to control your attention?

We may have very different beliefs about what is going on in the world right now. About the crisises that we are facing. About their origins, severity, what is most dangerous, which people and what information we can trust. But no matter what, I believe that everyone, right in this moment, is called to a renewal in Christ. We may have different views when it comes to many theological issues. But when it comes to the basics of how to conduct ourselves in our day-to-day lives the Bible is very clear. And if we don’t take things out of their context, the truth of what the Bible teaches about this is easy to recognize. Even more so when it is applied. Jesus sets the example that we need to follow, no matter how many times we mess up when we try to do so. We should love, forgive, turn the other cheek, practice non-judgment, do everything with moderation, put our own lives under scrutiny instead of trying to find faults in other people, pray in earnest for our enemies, and so on. 

If we shift our focus a bit, we can in all likelihood find things in our lives that we can change, that do not take any real effort. Do we, for example, really have to take our political opinions so seriously, that we condemn others for having opinions that we find disagreeable? Do we have to speak ill of other people’s lifestyle choices for no good reason? When it might really be our culture, that encourages people to make unsound choices, that we need to criticize? The point is that we do so many things, that do not contribute to who we want to be without even thinking about it. Often without thinking about that we have a choice. 

It might be time to ask ourselves some tough questions: Do I want to become a person that lives up to what it means to be made in the image of God? Do I believe that this is something that I may want to prioritize? Put some time, energy and effort into? Or do I feel that I have other, more important, priorities in my life? If so, why? What is more important than God and to strive be and live the way God intended?

Let me emphasize that I’m not speaking from any high horses here. I don’t look at myself as a particularly good person. How I do see myself however, is as someone that has something to communicate. As someone who is in many ways weak, broken, full of shortcomings and moral failures. But also as someone that sincerely tries to become better. As someone who has been asked by God to do something, even though I don’t know exactly what. Only that it may have something to do with this very striving to become a better, more Christ-like person.

I see myself as someone who has done nothing to deserve this calling, but on the contrary has committed many unworthy acts. All the way from unnecessary and slightly harmful, to seriously shameful and destructive. The only thing that I’ve done to deserve this, is to say yes to the calling, no matter what it may entail. But I’ve also moaned and complained a lot about my everyday struggles. I've often had a hard time keeping up my trust in God. So I guess that I haven’t said yes completely to the whole package. But I at least think that I’m making some progress. That I’m beginning to accept more and more of my hardships as parts of my journey.

There seems to be no other way than to clean house completely, no matter how long it takes. We need to look not just at our habits, but the way we speak and what thoughts we fill our heads with. Yes, our whole personalities. And it cannot be just something that we decide on doing. We need to observe ourselves and consciously decide to break our behavioral patterns. Over and over again. Till we’re completely renewed. From inside out. Does it sound overwhelming? The good news is that it can be practiced all the time, whatever we are doing. And no one is expecting us to be perfect. It doesn’t matter how good or bad we are at this. It’s not that kind of game. Contrary to the games of the world, this is not a competition and what matters here is truly that we try our best. We’re not expected to reach or even hope for perfection. At least not in this life. But, also contrary to the games of the world, there is no way that we can cheat or fool anyone in this game. 

Love one another!

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength […] Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:30-31). 

In these two commandments, Jesus summarizes his whole message. But how often do we really live by it?

What do we answer to questions such as the following: Am I really doing my best to practice non-judgment and forgiveness in all situations? In most? At least towards those closest to me? How do I view those that are different from me? That think differently from me? How do I view people that have the “wrong” opinions? If a brother came to me in sincere repentance and confessed his sins, would I be able to meet him/her in unconditional love no matter what he/she confessed? Would my capacity for unconditional love be affected by whether what he/she confessed affected me personally or not?

When I’m being honest with myself, I’m forced to admit that I’m often unable to follow even the most basic teachings of Jesus and the Bible. And yet I’m often off into all kinds of more or less advanced speculations about right and wrong. I try to figure out what logically must follow from this and that, while ignoring how much I lack when it comes to following that which is written in clear language. Not only written in clear language, but put at the centre of everything that the central figure of the Bible taught. Things that even a five year old can understand.

St. Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, says: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1). 

In light of this quote from st. Paul, I often feel like nothing. I’ve felt the love I’m capable of. If I look back at those moments, when I’ve been overwhelmed by love not just for those around me, but for the whole of humanity, the world and life itself, I wasn’t aware of this at the time. But I believe that these have been moments when my ego has stepped aside to freely allow God to love through me. 

In my day to day life however, I often feel numb, disconnected and uncaring. This in a time when we need to love, care for and forgive one another more than ever. In a time when we need unity more than ever. I know that I can still choose to act in a loving manner, no matter how I feel. And in these colder moments, perhaps it’s the best that we can do. If it is, it has to be enough until we can do better. But when life runs on autopilot, which it often does, and negative emotions sneak up on us, it’s not always easy to remember to be our best. And more times than I would like to admit, I willingly act against against better judgment. Even though I, at the time, manage to convince myself that I’m not. 

Here I would like to interject, that the more I've processed the negative emotions that I've suppressed and allowed to fester inside my body, the more I've been able to let God's love shine through me. Suppressed emotions, I believe, is one of the main reasons why we feel numb and unloving.

Furthermore, there seems to be layers to this. It probably comes to no one’s surprise, that temptations are harder to resist some times than others. But there seems to be more to it. Sometimes the bile just starts flowing, seemingly by itself. Other times, we have a few seconds to stop ourselves, but for one reason or another, we don’t. We may provide more or less muddled justifications for our behavior. But the truth is that we often simply don’t want to stop ourselves. Our ego has been hurt and demands that the world listens to it when it expresses just how hurt it feels, how it wants others to pay for the hurt and how it expects to be compensated. Or that someone else has done or not done something that disqualifies them as good people. 

If what characterizes Christians is their love for their fellow people, we fall short of this ideal way too often. I fall short of this ideal way too often. I have learned to say no to the really low emotions, such as hate and contempt. If a contemptuous thought creeps into my mind, I usually catch it and refuse to engage with it. But I feel unjustified anger way too often. Anger that is not about some injustice out in the world, but one that stems from my pride having been wounded or something equally ridiculous. 

As you can see, I have a long way to go. But that has to be okay. We all have our baggage. Little habits of thought, speech and action. And if I look at where I was just a couple of years ago, I’ve made a lot of progress. I’m not really such a self-righteous jerk anymore. My baggage is not as heavy anymore. I know that it’s time to put my life completely in God’s hands, no matter what. I know that I owe my whole life to God. Discernment is something that I pray for often. I do my best to understand God’s will. Even if I often fool myself. I want to be able to notice when I speak, act and think in a loveless manner. When I judge and condemn. To bring the light of awareness into the dark corners of my life. And I humbly as God to remove the burden of lovelessness from my shoulders.

The radical love message of Jesus has always been important. But as I said before, I believe that it’s more important than ever today. Because the world is growing colder and darker. It’s easier than ever to get swept away by its ways. What is instead needed, is to stand strong in our faith and make a conscious effort to burn brighter.

In the times ahead we will need each other more than ever. In a few years, we are going to need to come together more than just when we meet at church on Sundays or through the regular church activities. Therefore we need to work actively to strengthen our love for one another. To build up love within ourselves. It’s not always easy. Many of us have, unconsciously, grown cold and numb for many years. If so, it’s time to awaken!

We need each other’s support, care, unconditional love and help through tough situations. Each other’s forgiveness and understanding. And we need to be able to both count on receiving and be able to give this.

Why Christianity?

Should we put our faith in God and put our lives in his hands? Or should we learn about the conditions that we live under to the best of our ability. Learn so that we can defend ourselves against those that want to hurt us through their knowledge about our psyches and how the world functions? 

I believe that this choice is an illusion. I believe that if we choose one and neglect the other, we will risk getting swept away by the storm that is coming. Because a storm is coming. And we’ve just felt the first tiny winds the past few years. But I believe that it’s a storm that brings with it lots of reasons to be hopeful. And hopefulness is really what this post is about. Because we can rest assured that God will carry us through whatever comes our way, in one way or another. It will probably not be the way we expect it. And for most of us, it will most certainly not be without hardships. But we are carried and when this life ends, we will be welcomed back into our heavenly father’s loving arms. 

At the same time, some of us feel called to learn more about ourselves, the world and how we are being manipulated by those that want to control us for their own selfish aims. I believe that the best foundation, if we want to stand strong, is to be found in the Bible. I know that many feel an instinctive resistance towards this idea. If you do, I want you to ask yourself why. Maybe Christianity conjures up images of dry, narrow-minded people that have left their intellects behind to “just believe”. This is the caricature that we are being fed. These types of people are the ones that we for the most part see in movies, on TV and in general everywhere mainstream. 

Before moving forward, I wish to interject that I think that there is much that we have yet to learn about Christianity. I think that Jesus taught many esoteric things and that understood correctly, Christianity is the most exciting spiritual belief out there. If you want an example, you can ponder the meaning of the following statement by Jesus: “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light” (Matthew 6:22, King James version).

Here is the thing: we are being fed a certain worldview through the mainstream, whether is’s through Hollywood, the music industry or the papers that we read. We are being taught to believe certain things. And the smarter we think that we are, the more susceptible we are to this. Because fundamentally we are not rational beings. Our minds don’t work the way we think that they do. Unless we consciously take a step back and question the information that is being presented to us, we tend to believe it unless it conflicts too much with our current beliefs. So if the shift takes place gradually towards a new belief, we won’t notice it. This is what a normalization process looks like. Things that would have been considered unthinkable a a few decades ago pass by unnoticed today. 

So, why the Bible? Because it tells us the truth about us and our relationship with God and the world. It tells us that God is a loving, personal God that cares for- and has a will for us. It gives us an ideal to follow in Jesus. Someone that both in his words and actions shows us who we should strive to be. It tells us who the Holy Spirit is, so that we can seek his guidance, which is an indispensable help when we try to find our way through this difficult life. He is also a really good friend. One that is always by our side, never lets us down and gives us a window into how it would feel to fully walk with God.

The Bible also clearly tells us about all of the traps that we can fall into and how to avoid them. Because the traps are the same today as 2000 years ago. Even though they are amplified and packaged differently. Nothing new under the sun.

Knowledge about these traps is in other words more needed than ever. Because the world is telling us that in order to be free, we need lots of sensory gratification. And it’s telling us this like never before. 

We need partying, things, sex and tasty food. We are free when we indulge in these things. We are shown that those that are happy, fun and joyful are those that follow their impulses. Those are the heroes of movies today. And those that don't are presented as boring and inhibited by outdated values.

Everywhere we are bombarded with calls to do just that. To give in and follow our impulses. Music and movies that a few decades ago would have been considered too extreme for anyone but a few, are today considered mainstream and is even consumed by children. And if you truly think that these things have no effect on us whatsoever, I don’t think that you have examined it carefully enough. We’ve been conditioned gradually to accept more and more things as normal.

To put it bluntly, the truly exciting things are happening on a spiritual plane. In our relationship with God. On the inside. And in the meeting with other people that are also on a spiritual/religious path. In the conversations we have and what we discover together. So we may abstain from partying and certain types of entertainment. But on the inside, a whole new world might be opening up instead. It is for me. And I know or know of many others that are experiencing the same thing. If friends leave us because we don’t want to take part in their self-destruction anymore, we’re probably better off without them. 

I would say that the bare minimum for making it through life, especially in these troubled times, is a belief in a personal God and an understanding of the basic morals of the Bible. If we have this, we have a solid foundation to stand on. Whatever else we decide to learn besides this will differ from person to person. It’s between us and God. 

I myself have chosen to try and learn as much as possible about religion, spirituality and human psychology. Because I want to be free from the invisible prison of the world. And I want to help others to free themselves. But no matter what I do when it comes to this, I know that I never have to stand alone. That whatever happens, everything is in God’s hands.

To me the leap of faith that I will conclude this post with, came as a necessary consequence of believing what the Bible teaches me about myself and the world. As I hope that I’ve shown, I’m not talking about the historical claims. I’m talking about the impossibility that the Bible could have come about as a result of the efforts of human minds alone.

For me, accepting Jesus as my lord and savior and to actually believe that he died on the cross to atone for my sins is the necessary consequence that I’m talking about. It has neither been proven to me, nor experienced on a personal level. At least not directly, even though you could say that I’ve received what could be called inner confirmations. Confirmations through sensations and shifts on the inside. But not until after I took the leap of faith. 

The leap of faith, as I’ve already stated, came as a result of seeing that what the Bible tells me about myself and how the world operates is absolutely true. And for it to be so, in this way, the hand of God must have been involved. And the more I’ve studied the Bible, the more I’ve seen this hand of God. Seen it through how everything fits together, in spite of so many writers. Seen it through how the symbolism works on so many levels. How prophecies have come true throughout the time span that the Bible was written. And how prophecies are coming true today one after another. How the prophecies fit together. And how they all fit into a greater narrative. Just to name a few things

The life, death and resurrection of Jesus stands at the centre of everything. Without this, everything else falls apart. I’ve been convinced about the truth of everything that I find relevant about the Bible. In such a way that I believe that God must have inspired it. And therefore I find no other choice than to also accept that Jesus Christ is exactly who he said that he is. And that he did exactly what the Bible says that he did.

Christianity is NOT the oppressive political religion of the DARK AGES

Jesus was the most kind, loving, peaceful and compassionate person that has ever lived. He was also a person that spoke out against worldly authorities. So how could Christianity turn into a political power that oppressed and killed people for over a thousand years? If you just open and read the Bible, it’s pretty clear that this was not what Jesus intended. That it’s not something that Jesus approves of.

One explanation is of course that almost no one, except a very small religious elite, could open and read the Bible at the time when this took place. That fallen humans in a fallen world decided to use their monopoly on biblical truth for their own gains. Many undoubtedly didn’t understand that this was what they were doing. Because the capacity for self-deception, especially among intellectuals, is endless.

Christianity was first adopted as a state religion by Armenia 301 A.D. But it was because of the emperor Constantine and the Roman empire that Christianity got a foothold as a political religion. 

As far as I’m concerned, it’s obvious that turning Christianity into a political religion went directly against the message of Jesus and the word of God. Instead of being a force for peace and liberation, it became the opposite: a force for violence and oppression. Anyone that opens the Bible and reads about Jesus will see how totally incompatible this is with what he stood for. “…the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32) is one of the most famous Jesus quotes from the Bible. If we instead get tyranny and oppression, can it really be the truth that Jesus talked about?

This does not mean that I believe that Catholicism today is bad. I neither find Catholicism nor Protestantism all bad or all good. The Catholics that I’ve met or know of seem to be good people and there are many things that I appreciate about Catholicism. Among many other things, I appreciate the colorful liturgy of Catholicism, that speak much more to the emotions than the one in protestantism. I think that this fills a deep need within humans. We need to have our emotions stirred in one way or another to keep our faith alive. This can often come from within, but there is no guarantee that it does. 

I also think that the institutionalized confession of sins fills an important function. This is because something happens to us when we tell someone about our wrongdoings. And the knowledge that we eventually will have to tell someone about our actions is a powerful deterrent for many of us. Not all of us, since some seem to use confession as a license to sin. But even though I have no proof of this, I would bet such a person would sin no matter what.

Catholicism has also, even in the Middle Ages, given birth to many wonderful theologians and mystics, such as Thomas Aquinas and Julian of Norwich. 

But what is most relevant for this discussion, is that I believe that in spite of the medieval corruption, God in the end managed to turn the corruption into something good. On many levels. In fact, God turning something evil into good is a core theme of the Bible. All the way from the initial corruption, to Jesus’ death on the cross, to when he will come back to finally make everything right forever. 

This does not mean that I condone the horrors that have been done in the name of religion. Neither do I believe that it somehow was necessary. What I believe that this has to do with, is our free will and the fact that we live in a fallen world. Now please bear with me, because this will be a somewhat lengthy discussion. I hope that I can tie it all together towards the end, in a way that is not entirely unsatisfying.

The kind of Christianity that needs manipulation and coercion to flourish is not true Christianity. From a secular perspective it would make sense that in order to grow, Christianity needs worldly powers. From a secular perspective you either have to argue, manipulate or coerce if you want others to adopt your message. But Christianity, true Christianity, needs only its truth to carry it. 

Why am I saying that Christianity only needs its truth to carry it? I’ve studied many religious teachings throughout my life. But it’s only the message of Christ, understood correctly, that has never failed to lead me where I want to go. Many other teachings seem more reasonable on the surface. But when scrutinized and applied to real life, they fall apart. And I’ve seen this in so many other people. But it’s hard to admit to oneself that something that we’ve put much time and energy into haven’t given the results that we’ve hoped for. 

When it comes to the Bible it’s the other way around. What on the surface might seem unreasonable, reveals its correctness when it’s studied more carefully, understood and applied. This is something that I will come back to over and over again. The need to understand the Bible in light of what Jesus taught and stood for. How it is undeniably clear that this is the way the Bible is intended to be understood. And that the Bible cannot be blamed when people choose to view it differently. Even though they should, and often do, know better.

In this context I feel the need to mention something. Namely that the Bible is a book whose message is continually being revealed. It contains numerous passages whose meaning no one fully understands yet. But I believe that we are living in times where much that was priorly hidden is about to be revealed.

Furthermore, the Bible has never failed to provide a correct analysis of the state of the world and of our existences as human beings. Furthermore, Christianity, true Christianity as it is taught by Jesus, works. It creates a change in people’s hearts that leads to peace, prosperity, humility, kindness and so on. When people understand the core truths of the message of Jesus and take them to heart, they cannot avoid becoming better people.

This is the intellectual “why?” when it comes to my beliefs. At least part of it.

Christianity is the only teaching that has offered me true peace, joy and hope in my, for the majority of my time here on earth, rather chaotic life. It has offered meaning and a sense of coherence. This is something that I especially value in the times of chaos and fragmentation that we are living in right now. It offers a hope and meaning that I truly feel that I can rely upon no matter how dark the world gets. No matter what happens to me on a personal level.

This is part of my emotional “why?”. 

I’ve had an abundance of personal experiences that have pointed towards its truth. I’m not going to elaborate on this. But if I call this the spiritual “why?”, you might get a clue of what I’m talking about. I believe that, in the times that we are living in, this side will become more prevalent among more and more people. Because Christianity was never meant as a set of rules to be followed. It was meant to come alive on the inside. And when it does, we will find many reasons to believe that are just meant for us. As the world grows darker, more and more people will find that a light is growing within them.

My point is that I’ve been so thoroughly convinced of the message of the Bible, that I have to simply accept the parts that I cannot comprehend. This is something that I feel called to share so that others may also see and understand the things that I have seen and understood. See and understand that God has something infinitely more valuable to give you, than what our fallen, broken world has to offer.

Among the things that I cannot comprehend is the fall. Some time in the past the world fell. And for some reason God could not just snap his fingers and restore the world to the state before the fall. For some reason, this restoration had to take time. And for some reason it had to be centered around Jesus’ death on the cross. For some reason this death had to happen to atone for the sins of humanity. So, it’s pretty clear how this plays out and why on one level. But why did it have to happen in this particular way? Why couldn’t God, who is almighty, just restore the world without all the may years of death and suffering? I don’t know. But I do know a few things. I know that my intellect is limited, while God’s is unlimited. I know that which I stated in the prior discussion. I know it to such a degree that I’m willing to bet my life on it. I know that I don’t have to understand everything. And I have humility enough to admit that just because I cannot understand something does not mean that it cannot be true. 

I know that the last paragraph is not a popular one in this era of intellectual pride, where we feel that the human intellect must be able comprehend everything. That referring to the limits of human reasoning is often seen as a cop-out. But what else can you say when you cannot understand the logic of the most central pieces of a puzzle, where all of the pieces fit together in an undeniable way?

All of these things taken together amount, for me, to the necessity of taking a leap of faith. A leap of faith with regard to the things that I don’t understand. To put my trust in Jesus and that he was exactly the person that the Bible says that he was. And that he did exactly what the Bible says that he did. 

What I want to say with the rather lengthy discussion, is that none of it rules out that God used a faulty institution in service of a higher good. It also does not mean that things couldn’t have played out another way. On the contrary, if we add free will into the equation, things could have probably played out in an infinite number of ways. What cannot be altered is just the end goal of God’s plan. It is written out in clear language in the Book of Revelation. And the signs of the end is drawing near (wars, rumors of war, famine, godlessness, idolatry, rampant sexual immorality, a legion of false prophets, the rise of a one satanic world government etcetera) are written out clearly in that book. And in the gospels and letters of the New Testament. But in the end “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away (Revelation 21:4).

The discussion above does also in no way give legitimacy to the actions of the corrupt institution. That God can use evil to do good does not make evil good. But free will in a fallen world implies corruption, power hunger, greed and all of the other human vices that plague the our lives today. 

If you’ve understood the discussion of this post, how can you blame Christianity for the evils that has been done in its name? The Bible and Jesus are central to the whole of the Christian faith. Nothing that runs contrary to the Bible, as understood through Jesus, can be true Christianity. This is not some arbitrary standard. This is the foundation that the whole of Christianity rests on.

If actions taken in the name of Christian faith blatantly run contrary to the message of Jesus and the Bible, how can they be seen as expressions of true Christianity? Christianity has grown ever more peaceful, as its message has become more and more known to more and more people. Let me repeat and rephrase this: The more people learn what the Bible actually says, the better its fruits become. And when we try to understand what the Bible actually says, we always need to start with the life and message of Jesus. This is important. All of the rest of scripture has to be read using Jesus as a lense. This is so abundantly clear that a child can understand it. And if Jesus wouldn’t have approved of something done in his name, it clearly cannot be true Christianity.

You are loved and your life matters!

Your life is not a brief series of random, meaningless events before absolute oblivion. Your life means something. It is not meant to be squandered on pontless distractions and pleasures. No matter where you are or who you are, you are important. You are important to God and you are important to the world. Your choices and actions matter. 

In the past, we may have had to take up real swords to fight living, physical enemies. But today the sword is proverbial. And the war is against meaningless amusements, empty pleasures, addictions and corrupt values. 

You may think that I’m exaggerating here, but I’m not. Because this is a battle for our bodies and minds. And these things kill our spirits. 

To top it all off we did not get to where we are by accident. To a place where we’re surrounded by tools for self-destruction every minute of every hour of every day. This is by design.

No one is going to praise us for taking up this fight. But praise is not the reason why we do what we do. The point is not to be recognized as such or not by others. But those of us that refuse to just mindlessly go along with whatever degeneration our culture offers are heroes. Because it takes strength to go up against all that is preying on our lower natures. It takes courage to go against the cultural norms. And it takes determination to stick to our resolutions.

Best of all is that in this story everyone can be a hero. It doesn’t matter who you are when or where your particular journey ends. All that matters is that you start the journey and keep on walking. God will take care of the rest. And he has the rest of eternity to make you perfect. 

I know that it’s so easy to give in. But whatever you put on the table God and his Holy Spirit can work with that. This is not some airy fairy “is this real or just in my imagination”. You will have real spiritual powers coming to your aid. If you’ve sunk deep in the habit of being distracted you may not notice it at first. But they are there to help you. Eventually things will start to fall into place. Eventually life will not feel so random anymore.

I’m not sitting on some high horse talking down to you from a place of perfection and enlightenment. Just like many other people I’ve made a mess of a lot of things in my life. A mess of bad habits and financial troubles. A mess that I’m still stuck cleaning up. 

The world makes it easy for us to mess up. But this does not take away my, or anyone else’s personal responsibility. No one put a gun to our heads and forced us to mess up our lives. However, as I’ve already stated, I believe that there are people (and perhaps other forces) that want us to be bound to our messes because it benefits them. When the scales fall from our eyes, we will inevitably see all of the things that are there to enslave us. And to me at least, it is obvious that we didn’t get here by accident. 

But it is still our lack of consciousness that allows it to happen. We are still the ones allowing circumstances and our reactions to them to make the choices for us. Our controllers just provide the temptations. We are the ones that are careless with our thoughts, words and actions. They just prey on our carelessness. We are the ones that don’t keep God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit firmly in our minds. Those that want to hurt us just fill up the empty space.

Our past mistakes don’t have to be a waste. It is a cliché to talk about learning from our mistakes. But as with basically all clichés, it contains a lot of wisdom. Because how often don’t we just beat ourselves up for our mistakes without learning anything from them? But when we instead take a step back and try to figure out what went wrong, growth can come pretty fast.

And remember, when you decide to take your power back and say no you have unstoppable powers on your side. God, his son Jesus Christ and his Holy Spirit are there to help you. The almighty, triune, all-loving creator of the universe is on your side. These are not just empty words. It is the truth. You just have to let them in.

Those that want to hurt us tell us that life has no meaning. That we are a problem and even a cancer on the planet. That the world is full of useless people. Such ideas are the real cancer. 

The lack of meaning is one of the major sources of the difficulties that many of us face. The lack of meaning causes many to just grasp for whatever little momentary pleasure that they can get their hands on, with no concern for the future. This is why ideas matter. Why world views matter. They shape our thoughts, words and action. These nihilistic, misanthropic ideas turn “cancer on the planet” into a self-fulfilling prophecy. Because what is the point of trying if we’re just destined for oblivion in a meaningless world? A world that is just getting worse and worse, with no real real hope on the horizon. Where the best we can hope for is painful solutions that may or may not solve our problems. In such a world it would be very tempting to say: “Let’s just party till the lights go out.” 

This is not my vision. It is not God’s vision either. So do your best, work with what you’ve got and never lose your hope. An infinitely better future is on the horizon. One where no one is superfluous or useless. One where everyone, regardless of who they are, matter. 

You are loved, deeply cared for and your life matters!

Frame photo by Susan Wilkinson on Unsplash

3 crucial pillars of following Jesus

Willingness, knowledge and ability. These are the three pillars of following Jesus that I’m going to talk about today.

It’s a given that you need to be willing to follow Jesus if we are going to do so, so this one doesn’t need much explanation. We have to think that there is no better ideal to aspire to and, with all our brokenness and flaws, do our best to do so. It’s an ideal that we can never live up to, but we nonetheless succeed if we do our best to follow it. I myself am far from perfect when it comes to this. I have loads of baggage that makes its presence known daily and taints my commitments. 

Next we need to know how. What it means to follow Jesus. We need to know something about what it means to do so. What did he stand for? What example did he set through the life that he lived? What did he teach? And what did his teachings mean? This last question does not always have obvious answers. What does it for example mean to turn the other cheek or to remove the plank from one’s own eye, before trying to remove the one in one’s brother’s eye. It’s easy to turn such teachings into no more than beautiful words devoid of any true meaning, if we don’t ponder their significance for our lives.

Can I badmouth other people and follow Jesus? What about judging them? What about being hateful? Whining and complaining about trivial things?

It might surprise you that I say “yes” to all of these things. It’s when we do them intentionally that we fail to follow Jesus. Before we make a firm decision to change, we unconsciously adopt lots of behavioral patterns. This means that we may unconsciously badmouth other people or judge them. And we often let our emotions get the best of us and make us do and say things that are not in line with following Jesus. If we do these things, we fail to live up to the ideal set by Jesus, but we don’t fail to follow him. We can be the worst person in the world and still follow Jesus, if we do our best to do so. We probably wouldn’t be. In all likelihood, the more we strive to emulate Jesus, the more we grow in our ability to emulate him. But if, for one reason or another, it doesn’t happen, we still haven’t failed as long as we can truly and honestly say to ourselves that we have done our best, with all that it entails.

This leads us to the third pillar: ability. How do we turn ourselves into the kind of person that is most capable of following Jesus? Here, I believe, comes the real difficulty. And I know that we are living hectic lives and that all of us don’t have the time or energy for self-examination and self-improvement. So we have to work with what we’ve got and trust that if, again, we do our best, this will be enough. I think that one crucial thing, which I talk about a lot, that we can develop, is present moment awareness. In other words, being conscious and present in the now, so that we know what is going on both on the inside outside. In this context, what this will lead to is that we become more aware of our own thoughts, words and behaviors. So that we notice when we for example judge or badmouth others. Or when we want to flee responsibility for our actions or the situation that we are in. 

In general, I believe that the ability to follow Jesus increases as our character develops. How often do you think about your character? I know that I didn’t think one bit of it for most of my life. Which has turned many aspects of my life into an uphill battle. At the core of this lies the simple but oh so difficult abilities to say no to ourselves and to make ourselves to things that we find uncomfortable. In other words, the ability to make ourselves live and act in a way that is in line with Jesus’ life and teachings. 

These are a few examples of what I believe that we can all work on and become better at. There are many others. It can be boiled down to, just like Jesus was in every way, strive to become the best version of ourselves that we can be.