On being a sinner.
Yesterday and today, I read Lamentations... I finally finished Jeremiah over the weekend, so I was eager to move onto something new.
In Lamentations, the writer mourns the consequence of the disobedience of the people - God allowed destruction to come upon the people because they would not follow Him. I really enjoyed reading Jeremiah because it showed how diligently God pursues us - how many opportunities He gives us to change our ways.
The people, though, would say that they were turning back to God - and then would continue whatever they were already doing.
I don't know where I read this or heard this recently, but someone said, "Maybe the problem is in how we think about ourselves. We picture ourselves as a godly people who sometimes do ungodly things. Maybe, instead, we should think of ourselves as ungodly people who sometimes do godly things."
I like that. Sometimes, I think people struggle with Christianity because they begin to feel like the scum of the earth. We live in a culture where we constantly need to assure ourselves of our worth - where we struggle to have self-esteem. It's interesting to me, because this didn't seem to be an issue a hundred years ago, this struggle with Self. One could posit that we didn't have the words to label the struggle, but I've read a lot of literature, and there never seemed to be this question of worth that we have today.
So, I see people reluctant to give into the idea that we are not necessarily Good people. There seems to be a fear to let go of that - a desperation - because if we aren't Good, what are we?
What I really liked about Lamentations is that nowhere does the writer blame God for the consequences. The tone isn't, "Oh, God, why are you letting this happen to us?"
Instead, he writes: "'See, O Lord, that I am in distress; my soul is troubled; my heart is overturned within me. For I have been very rebellious.'"
When we cling to the idea of being Good, I think we deny the fact that there are consequences for things that we do wrong. In 1984, Orwell writes, "The consequences of an act are included in the act itself." In teaching this concept to teenagers, I'll typically use the issue of underage drinking. Teenagers seem to think the consequences of being caught are totally separate from their decision to drink. For instance, in their minds, the drinking was fun and good, but it is bad that they were caught and are being punished.
I really think that, in our culture, we've forgotten how to take the blame for things. I've seen this in some of my relationships and friendships - that if you admit to doing something wrong, you become Less. Your value decreases. Your worth is minimized. You screwed up.
No wonder we want to think of ourselves as being Good.
Maybe, though, we need to shift this thinking. We need to think about it in terms of the Whole of Christianity. We can't just think of ourselves as sinners and then stop there. I think we all innately know that we screw up a lot. But we try desperately to cover that up, because maybe then people won't love us as much - maybe then they'll know who we Really are, deep down inside.
In my grad class in the spring, I learned about the concept of "unconditional regard" in terms of teaching. This is much like "unconditional love," but I guess love is a touchy subject in the non-feeling, litigious world of education. It is the concept an educator should hold towards his or her students - that no matter what they do wrong in a day, they will still be held in unconditional regard - that when they come into the class the next day, they will be treated with the same respect that they received on the first day of class.
I think that's how God views us, with unconditional regard, respect, love. That's what I mean by the Whole of Christianity; if we stop at the idea that we do things wrong, we'll fight forever to find some shred of self-esteem. It's hard to imagine a Being in whose sight we do not lose value because we do things wrong.
There's a gorgeous worship song that Hector introduced me to a few months ago, and I just came across it again this morning while loading his CDs into iTunes. The song is directed towards God, but Hector had wondered aloud if it isn't how God speaks to us:
I need you like the rain
Come to me and sing again
I long for your love so much
I've wanted your pure touch
You are beautiful, beautiful
You're beautiful, beautiful
So beautiful, so beautiful
I need you to be here
Come to me, I can feel you near
I love you, you are my hope
You love me as your own
You are beautiful, beautiful
You're beautiful, beautiful
So beautiful, so beautiful
(And as a side note, it's kind of funny/ironic - I looked up these lyrics online, and to the side, there was an advertisement with a scantily clad woman, asking, "Looking for love?")
I don't think we humans can really grasp God's love for us. We seem to dwell on the idea that we are unlovable, but whew! Good thing some of the people in our lives haven't caught on to how undeserving of love that we really are.
But we, I think, know that God sees all, and then subconsiously we conclude that He really must not love us much after all.
But what if He is crying out to us, "You're beautiful?"
Can you imagine that?
Can you comprehend that?
Our sin does not make us unlovable. In fact, if it did, why would God care when we do something wrong? We'd be written off by the time we were six. We don't continue pursuing people we don't love anymore.
But I picture God crying out to us, "No - no - I need you, like the rain."
The author of Lamentations realizes this, even while going through terrible pain and anguish - "Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul. 'Therefore I hope in Him!'" (3:22-24)
What amazing faith that is - to accept blame for what WE have done wrong and to praise God through the most terrible of situations. To find hope in that.
It is a tremendously beautiful thing.
"Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the Lord; let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven." (Lamentations 3:40-41)
If you find yourself questioning your worth, wondering how lovable you are, be encouraged. Have hope. Isn't it amazing that we are so desperately looking for love - and we are already loved more passionately and more deeply than we could imagine?
In Lamentations, the writer mourns the consequence of the disobedience of the people - God allowed destruction to come upon the people because they would not follow Him. I really enjoyed reading Jeremiah because it showed how diligently God pursues us - how many opportunities He gives us to change our ways.
The people, though, would say that they were turning back to God - and then would continue whatever they were already doing.
I don't know where I read this or heard this recently, but someone said, "Maybe the problem is in how we think about ourselves. We picture ourselves as a godly people who sometimes do ungodly things. Maybe, instead, we should think of ourselves as ungodly people who sometimes do godly things."
I like that. Sometimes, I think people struggle with Christianity because they begin to feel like the scum of the earth. We live in a culture where we constantly need to assure ourselves of our worth - where we struggle to have self-esteem. It's interesting to me, because this didn't seem to be an issue a hundred years ago, this struggle with Self. One could posit that we didn't have the words to label the struggle, but I've read a lot of literature, and there never seemed to be this question of worth that we have today.
So, I see people reluctant to give into the idea that we are not necessarily Good people. There seems to be a fear to let go of that - a desperation - because if we aren't Good, what are we?
What I really liked about Lamentations is that nowhere does the writer blame God for the consequences. The tone isn't, "Oh, God, why are you letting this happen to us?"
Instead, he writes: "'See, O Lord, that I am in distress; my soul is troubled; my heart is overturned within me. For I have been very rebellious.'"
When we cling to the idea of being Good, I think we deny the fact that there are consequences for things that we do wrong. In 1984, Orwell writes, "The consequences of an act are included in the act itself." In teaching this concept to teenagers, I'll typically use the issue of underage drinking. Teenagers seem to think the consequences of being caught are totally separate from their decision to drink. For instance, in their minds, the drinking was fun and good, but it is bad that they were caught and are being punished.
I really think that, in our culture, we've forgotten how to take the blame for things. I've seen this in some of my relationships and friendships - that if you admit to doing something wrong, you become Less. Your value decreases. Your worth is minimized. You screwed up.
No wonder we want to think of ourselves as being Good.
Maybe, though, we need to shift this thinking. We need to think about it in terms of the Whole of Christianity. We can't just think of ourselves as sinners and then stop there. I think we all innately know that we screw up a lot. But we try desperately to cover that up, because maybe then people won't love us as much - maybe then they'll know who we Really are, deep down inside.
In my grad class in the spring, I learned about the concept of "unconditional regard" in terms of teaching. This is much like "unconditional love," but I guess love is a touchy subject in the non-feeling, litigious world of education. It is the concept an educator should hold towards his or her students - that no matter what they do wrong in a day, they will still be held in unconditional regard - that when they come into the class the next day, they will be treated with the same respect that they received on the first day of class.
I think that's how God views us, with unconditional regard, respect, love. That's what I mean by the Whole of Christianity; if we stop at the idea that we do things wrong, we'll fight forever to find some shred of self-esteem. It's hard to imagine a Being in whose sight we do not lose value because we do things wrong.
There's a gorgeous worship song that Hector introduced me to a few months ago, and I just came across it again this morning while loading his CDs into iTunes. The song is directed towards God, but Hector had wondered aloud if it isn't how God speaks to us:
I need you like the rain
Come to me and sing again
I long for your love so much
I've wanted your pure touch
You are beautiful, beautiful
You're beautiful, beautiful
So beautiful, so beautiful
I need you to be here
Come to me, I can feel you near
I love you, you are my hope
You love me as your own
You are beautiful, beautiful
You're beautiful, beautiful
So beautiful, so beautiful
(And as a side note, it's kind of funny/ironic - I looked up these lyrics online, and to the side, there was an advertisement with a scantily clad woman, asking, "Looking for love?")
I don't think we humans can really grasp God's love for us. We seem to dwell on the idea that we are unlovable, but whew! Good thing some of the people in our lives haven't caught on to how undeserving of love that we really are.
But we, I think, know that God sees all, and then subconsiously we conclude that He really must not love us much after all.
But what if He is crying out to us, "You're beautiful?"
Can you imagine that?
Can you comprehend that?
Our sin does not make us unlovable. In fact, if it did, why would God care when we do something wrong? We'd be written off by the time we were six. We don't continue pursuing people we don't love anymore.
But I picture God crying out to us, "No - no - I need you, like the rain."
The author of Lamentations realizes this, even while going through terrible pain and anguish - "Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul. 'Therefore I hope in Him!'" (3:22-24)
What amazing faith that is - to accept blame for what WE have done wrong and to praise God through the most terrible of situations. To find hope in that.
It is a tremendously beautiful thing.
"Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the Lord; let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven." (Lamentations 3:40-41)
If you find yourself questioning your worth, wondering how lovable you are, be encouraged. Have hope. Isn't it amazing that we are so desperately looking for love - and we are already loved more passionately and more deeply than we could imagine?
posted by Heather at 10:16 AM
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