Merlin's Mustache

(this question currently is our culture’s  proverbial communication ice-breaker, and perhaps the grandaddy or grandchild of our “mennonite game” cultural subset?)

Usually, on airplanes, I do not answer this question, as I know what is going to come. The person often wants to tell me about some problem, and I’m in for a four-hour session when I was hoping to binge on a Netflix series. But for some reason, that day, I let it slip.

“I am a psychologist,” I said.

“Oh, my gosh,” she said. “I have to tell you about my boyfriend.”

(Here we go …) I sighed.

“So, what’s the issue?” I asked.

“I just broke up with him again… and I am heartbroken. I can’t believe we are in this situation again, but I just couldn’t do it anymore.” She began to cry, “We break up because I can’t live with it, and then I miss him so much. He comes back to me because I love him, and it is good for a minute, and then it all happens again, and I can’t take it and I break up. But then I miss him again and we get back together again. And now it has happened again,” she explained.

“What happens again that is so painful you can’t live with?” I queried.

“His anger,” she said. “He just gets so angry, and it is so hurtful, and I also get kind of scared.”

“What is he so angry about?” I asked.

“Whenever I don’t do what he wants, he gets angry. He tries to control me and if I don’t want to, he rages.” She went on. He won’t listen to what hurts me.”

“So, what do you do then?” I wondered aloud. “What makes it better?”

“Well, I know how to calm him down. I just do whatever he wants, and then he is fine. We have peace … but I can’t always do that.” I sometime just can’t, but then he gets enraged, and then I do whatever he wants, and things are good again. But I just can’t live like that.” She cried. “I can calm him down by agreeing with him, but I can’t always just give in. I feel like I am not a person and am losing myself. So, we break up and then I go back.”

“Well,” I said. “There is an old saying: ‘If you rescue an angry man, you will only have to do it again.’ Keep going back and rescuing him from his anger by complying, and you will calm him down, but it will only repeat itself.”

“Wait … what was that saying again?” she asked.

“If you rescue an angry man, you will only have to do it again. ,” I repeated.

“That is amazing!” she exclaimed. “Where did you get that?”

“The Bible,” I said.

“Wait …” she said. “That’s in the Bible?”

“Yep. Proverbs 19:19. Go check it out,” I told her. “You should read it sometime. There is good stuff in there.”

“I never knew that was in the Bible!” she said.

“Yeah, I know. I didn’t either, until I started to really read it.”

We talked some more, and I told her a little about my story. But what stood out for me throughout my journey was that there a zillion ways psychology validates the scriptures. For example, the terms “rescuer” or “enabler” became popular in addiction science in the last century, but the Bible had said for centuries that rescuing someone with a character problem would never work. (Try just being nicer to a malignant narcissist, and see where it gets you. There are many verses advising against that.) The Bible usually prescribes limits and boundaries, which sometimes will help and protect you from them. Addictionologists began to discover codependency in the middle of the last century, which that the addict is not the only one who has a problem – the one who was enabling them by letting them off the hook and not confronting it with boundaries was part of the overall problem as well. Awesome discovery by science, right?

Not exactly. Awesome validation of what Moses had said when he was giving us God’s ways so we might always thrive, as I discussed earlier. He said that when we fail to set limits and confront someone because they are either weak/needy or powerful (the two reasons we usually don’t set limits on bad behavior … either we over-identify with their weakness or neediness and do not require them to do what is needed for them to get well, or we are afraid to confront them, as in my seatmate’s case, because of their “power”), just as the addictionologists and nowadays the “how to deal with narcissists” gurus will tell you correctly, we keep the problem going. They are usually not going to change by your giving in to them. That is what she was doing with her boyfriend. Only limits might help (see Leviticus 19;15,17). (Sometimes, though someone may need help with those limits, as in some cases, the angry one is also dangerous. Seek help if that is you, and do not put yourself in a dangerous scenario with an abusive person.)

Anyway, I found out she was like me and a lot of others. Oftentimes, we just do not know what the Bible says about these issues. I had been in the church at this point for several years, yet I’d never been taught about “boundaries” in the church. I learned that from the science of psychology. And then, when I went back to the Bible, there it was all along, in a million passages. I was amazed at how many Christians had never known that the Bible taught that you should set limits with people, and not only just “love” them or be “forgiving.” While forgiveness and love are true, many had only seen only those sides of the Bible’s teachings, not the limits that the Bible also supports.

That is just one little example of a tip from a much bigger metapsychology that the Scriptures actually teach. And that is what got me interested and began to further validate my faith, another pillar of “why I believe.”

merlin now:

This is indeed “heavy” stuff for all of us; but thankfully, we’re in the company of Henry Cloud to guide out present thinking and future healing from the tragic mishandling we’ve either “endured” from others, or “afflicted” on others, because that dominant dysfunctional behavior model was the “bait” we, the next generation, instinctively took, or were simply “infected” by, such as being in proximity to the contagion, whether TB, pink eye, or a flu bug. This is a 28-page chapter and we’ll wind it down in the next four sessions as you’ve been given more than sufficient reason to purchase the book.

An interesting side note here is while Loretta and I were at a HS graduation party this afternoon (July 3) I observed this unknown older couple for an hour engaged in conversations with others at a distance, and before leaving, of course I had to introduce myself and then discovered he was our Wayne Co Sheriff Travis Hutchinson. Retiring now at the end of the year, I came away with a confirmatory appreciation for his integrity, love and devotion for his deputies and we, the citizens. He explained during his tenure how the unusual chaplaincy program was begun for the deputies, and the positive influence it has provided their functioning.

Currently, Wayne Co has a state-of-the-art jail addition underway that will add more than thirty beds to “keep” persons with various mental conditions/afflictions, likely to prevent situations from arising that may have previously culminated in crimes requiring incarceration, such as were for the inmates of jails formerly. This reminds me of the June 28 post explaining our tendency to focus on the behavioral FRUIT (polar opposite to His Nine Fruits of the Spirit!) of our problems, whereas Christ addressed focusing on the Root cause of our problems. Interesting dynamics and implications.

This conversation fueled for me the pertinacity of Henry Clouds books from the Biblical supported psychology to real life situations today. And the value of Jamie Winship’s concepts in “Living Fearless: Exchanging the Lies Of The World For The Liberating Truth of God.” Winship, whose identity in Christ is a “militant peacemaker,” who incidentally I understand, is speaking Saturday evening Sunday morning August 10-11 at The Well between Winesburg and Mt. Eaton. More information will be coming on that soon.

Again, thanks readers for your tenacity for His truth and wisdom as we’re empowered and guided by His Spirit today.

BOTTOM LINE from Cloud:

Most mental health problems that are not biologically rooted come from a handful of human issues that manifest themselves in various clinical, relational, and performance symptoms. (Said another way, many of the same symptoms can come from the same underlying issue.) And these human issues are basically what the Bible is about. It names them over and over, and beyond that, gives the processes that cure them. I have never seen an evidence-based treatment, one that has been proven to work, in which the underlying process involved is not an issue the Bible covers. That is what blew my mind, and it still does.

NEXT UP:

Cloud identifies the four principal issues that psychology explores. My intent is to summarize each issue in a post. First up will be the issue of attachment, bonding, and connection versus human emotional isolation, disruptive connection, or lack of connection. Stay tune. I’m finding the four issue summaries are easier to understand that the four stated issues themselves because they do define the issue landscape.

I’d be remiss today, being a day of pop-up thunderstorms and the potential for a much-needed general rain for the crops, in addition to it being a family holiday of celebrations; not to do a pop up unplanned post, and even on the subject nonetheless, of by we relying on the Lord, therefore we’re able to rejoice in the Lord. And besides, it is strongly connected to this week’s theme of mental health! The below is taken from Robert J Morgan’s devotional All to Jesus. Day 5 2008

Let ALL who take refuge in You rejoice; let them shout for joy forever. Psalm 5:11

During two periods of my life, I’ve suffered bouts of depression, so I know something of its perils. According to the World Health Organization, major depression is the fourth leading cause of disability in the world, and it’s on its way to becoming the second-leading just behind heart disease. (and it’s no secrete among Christ Followers that disease of the heart is the root cause of much dis-ease today).

Depression is a complex illness, and I do not desire to oversimplify it. Yet our depression, anxiety, anger, or fear is often the byproduct of discounting the unfailing promises of God. Israel’s King David suffered periodic depression, as revealed in some of his Psalms. He often brought his heavy heart to the Lord and replenished his emotions in the endless reservoirs of God’s grace. In so doing, he developed this formula in Psalm 5:11.

Relying on the Lord >>>> Rejoicing in the Lord

That is simple enough for a wall plaque, yet it is one of the most profound equations for emotional health ever discovered: Let all those rejoice who put their trust in you.” (NKJV).  The word ALL signifies that this truth is applicable to everyone on earth. We can all learn to rely, and thereby, to rejoice.

My daughter Grace once gave me figurine of a lazy frog with his hands behind his head, resting on a rock, legs folded leisurely. Knowing my penchant for worry, she thought it a good reminder of the acronym FROG: Fully Rely On God. It’s hard to be depressed when there’s a frog on your desk; and it’s hard not to rejoice when you’re fully relying on him.

NEXT UP: Back on schedule. Part III as stated prior.

Continuing on from Page 225

So, I decided to resolve this dilemma no matter what it took. I knew God was real. And I knew the Bible was true in the ways we have discussed previously. But many of the Christian views I had learned of psychology were just not completely true, or, at the very least, where there was truth, fell short. I knew too much to go back to thinking they were right or accepting them as they were being presented. I could not live with that, so here is what I did. I basically dropped out of life for the better part of a couple years.

Of course, I still worked and played golf … couldn’t stop those. But every other waking moment I decided to do one thing: just read and study my Bible. I was not going to read any of the Christian stuff about psychology or mental health issues and what they had to say. I already knew that literature. I wanted to see what the Bible itself said about these issues. Just on its own, as I looked at it through the lenses of my clinical and scientific expertise that I had gained over those years. And here is what happened”

I was literally “born again.”

I could not believe it. Literally everything I was learning in the science that showed where mental health, relational, and performance issues came from, as well as how to resolve them, was right there in the Scriptures. All along, it was all there.

The causes and the cures of those issues were throughout the Bible, and much of the “Christian” material that one reads was not there and, not only that, was actually even taught against! It was much like my previous chapter on bad-behaving Christians. People reject the Bible because they see the falsehood of some Christians and think that is what faith is about, but as I have shown, the Bible sometimes agrees with the skeptics, not the other way around. In this case, the Bible supported my skepticism of the things some of the church was teaching and, instead, was agreeing with the science of psychology! (I am sure I will get some angry emails from some for that proposition, but that’s not new. I have had those debates for decades. Feel free to send them.) Remember, when Job suffered, God chastened the religious counselors for not speaking the truth, too. Religious people don’t always get it right. They gave Job all  of the “Christian” answers of the time, and they were wrong too.

So, after a period of deep study, my conflict was resolved. But more than resolved … I had a new life mission in a sense. I could now really help people get u n c o n f l i c t e d, but more than that, I could show them and others that the Bible really does know you suffer and that what God says there can help you. So, I ended writing a lot of books on that topic, and I still do.

And it has been an amazing journey, for which I am grateful to God. One capstone I think back on that was particularly fulfilling was that after John and I designed treatment centers and hospital units that used all these faith- and science-based clinical treatment methods, we opened them up to outside university researchers. After their clinical research, that treatment program was documented to get better results than others that were non-faith-based in treating Axis 1 (DSM) clinical issues and, surprisingly for many, Axis 2 issues (personality disorders) as well. This research was presented at the American Psychological Association’s annual meeting and was surprisingly well received. It was a real highlight of all of this work.

My books Changes That Heal, Boundaries, and How People Grow (by myself and John Townsend) came out of this work and this season.

And all along the way, I have had a blast. It is surprising to me as well as how many people just do not know what the Bible has to offer in these areas that psychology addresses. I fondly recall a conversation I had with a woman on an airplane one day.

“So, what do you do?” she asked.

NEXT UP:

Usually, on airplanes, I do not answer that question, as I know what is to come. The person wants to tell me about some problem, and I’m in for a four-hour session when I was hoping to …

Author Henry Cloud “If you remember from the Preface (Jun 24 post and subsequent posts on June 25 -27) this book began as a desire to talk to my friends about God … and help them understand how I could be “one of those?” And from that initial desire, I decided to treat it like a real book and share it with a larger audience. And to write it in a way that other believers who want to share their faith with their friends could pass it on and begin their own conversations.”

Merlin now, I envision this book may be an integral component in training others to share their faith and facilitate the vibrant underground discipleship modules now being envisioned by churches, fellowships and various Christian service organizations struggling to once again attempt to integrate (or revitalize) “His message” with “their mission.” Reminds me a bit of the bottom line from the Bethany House 2015 book Mission Drift: The Unspoken Crisis Facing Leaders, Charities, & Churches by Chris Horst, Peter Greer, & George W Sarris. I’m thinking perhaps the Plain Community Business Exchange (PCBE) folk understand and practice the book’s tenants best!

Christ Followers today possess such an inexpensive availability of life-giving resources today, and to what avail? Why are we allowing ourselves to be so stifled and deceived on so many fronts, while precious countdown hours are being wasted and the planets disintegrate as the Scriptures predict?

Here is Chapter 12. Psychology and Faith. Enjoy.

I have been in the field of psychology for many decades now; including being a student, decades of clinical practice, conducting research, being a clinical director for an entire system of hospital units and treatment centers, and decades of performance and leadership consulting. Add to that continuing education through out that time to stay current with the latest research and findings in psychology and neuroscience. It has been a long journey, and it is interesting to look back at the path and see how psychology proved the Bible to be true for me. And the proving grounds did not begin with the science. Actually, surprisingly, it was the Bible that had to rescue me from the “psychology” that I was learning from the church. My first few years of faith, as a psychology graduate student and “churchgoer” and treader of many Christian “psychology” books, I learned all the models of how the two go together. I did not know enough at that time to see their deficiencies. So I accepted what they were saying. Many in the faith world saw secular psychology as being antithetical to faith, coming from a humanistic worldview having little to offer. Others integrated it somewhat, picking and choosing what they liked.

There were models that taught that clinical issues all came from sins that were in need of repentance, or not knowing enough Bible to have in your heads to order your thinking to wellness, spiritual, or supernatural experiences of emotional healing, or deliverance from demons and spiritual oppression, for example.

Certainly, there is some truth in all of those arenas. Our own “sins” can cause a lot of suffering … think of wrecked homes, for example, from bad behavior, or lives destroyed through addiction and characteristic disorders. Of course, self-destructive thinking can cause a lot of pain, as the science in cognitive therapy has proven. And for sure, the need for God to touch our broken hearts and trauma is real, and He does; there are countless testimonies of that reality, including my own. You can wonder about the existence of the supernatural and other areas if you are a materialist, but many psychologists will attest to some “wicked” stuff they have seen that they cannot explain, which certainly at least seems supernatural at the time.

But s much as I saw some truth in all of those models, as I gained more and more clinical experience, the Christian models began to fall short of both my scientific understanding of the bigger picture, as well as my clinical experience. And here was the experience that threw me into a mini crisis of faith: what I was learning to be true clinically, and scientifically, was not what many of the “Christian “ models proposed.

Mostly because I saw them fall short … people were not getting well a lot of times when they had much treatment in those models of the “Christian way” of treating mental health issues. And all of these were touted as the “biblical” way, even though much within those models disagreed with each other. I chuckle at how many people call their system of change to be “God’s“ way, while disagreeing with the other “God’s “ way. Makes God look confused as to what His way is, it seems to me.

And, past that … here is what really threw me: I was learning that there were real clinical modalities and interventions and approaches to therapy that worked. I was seeing eating disorders healed, depression healed, anxiety states overcome, thought disorders “cured” trauma healed, and the like. I was falling in love with my field as I saw the fruits of clinical practice. I loved my clinical work. But in falling in love with all that, I felt as if I was an adulterer … my new love seemingly was not the love I was supposed to have with my faith and the Bible. It was a spiritual crisis almost as severe as my first one of “where is God?” I saw people getting well … but where was the faith as I understood it in all of this? I was beginning to feel like two people : one who believed in my Christian faith, and one who believed in the truth that I was seeing before me that seemed to be in conflict with my Christian faith. Did I have to be a “science denier”? It felt like it. I was still using prayer and the Bible and knew that helped, but not in the ways that some of the systems of “Christian” counseling was espousing.

NEXT UP:

So, I decided to resolve this dilemma no matter what it took! Part II Thursday morning, early!

Utmost for His Highest June 26

II Corinthians 6: 1

KJV: We then, as workers together with Him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.

The Message Version: Companions as we are in this work with you, we beg you, please don’t squander one bit of this marvelous life of grace God has given us.

Understand now that the grace you had yesterday will not be sufficient for today. Grace is the overflowing favor of God, and you can always count on it being available to draw upon as needed. “…in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses”— that is where our patience is tested (II Corinthians 6:4).

Are you failing to rely on the grace of God there? Are you saying to yourself, “Oh well, I won’t count this time”? It is not a question of praying and asking God to help you— it is taking the grace of God now. We tend to make prayer the preparation for our service, yet it is never that in the Bible. Prayer is the practice of drawing on the grace of God. Don’t say, “I will endure this until I can get away and pray.” Pray now — draw on the grace of God in your moment of need. Prayer is the most normal and useful thing; it is not simply a reflex action of your devotion to God. We are very slow to learn to draw on God’s grace through prayer.

“…in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors…” (2 Corinthians 6:5)— in all these things, display in your life a drawing on the grace of God, which will show evidence to yourself and to others that you are a miracle of His. Draw on His grace now, not later. The primary word in the spiritual vocabulary is now. Let circumstances take you where they will, but keep drawing on the grace of God in whatever condition you may find yourself.

One of the greatest proofs that you are drawing on the grace of God is that you can be totally humiliated before others without displaying even the slightest trace of anything but His grace.

BOTTOM LINE:

“…having nothing….” Never hold anything in reserve. Pour yourself out, giving the best that you have, and always be poor. Never be diplomatic and careful with the treasure God gives you. “…and yet possessing all things”— this is poverty triumphant (II Corinthians 6:10).

NEXT UP:

After extensively exploring grace in recent posts, this week looking forward, I’ve decided to use the next week plus to conclude Cloud’s book “Why I Believe.” My five loaner copies arrived yesterday, so if I wet your appetite to read it, first come-first served, to borrow a copy for a week before you buy, or not. This week I will present verbatim (no comments from me) from his last chapter, Psychology and Faith, therein containing Biblical wisdom for Christ-Followers if need be, to be retooled in order to thrive here forward. Indeed, purposeful reading!

I do realize a few of you may be tempted to pass or check out on this “endurance run (we will do it in short 5 minute segments), but Loretta & I have been so blessed by listening to this Psychology and Faith chapter repeatedly, I’d be remiss not to get you to reconsider and commit. In fact, I’m pretty sure your first read will insure you’ll buy the book. At, least that’s what I will tell the Worthy Publishing lawyers when & if they ever come calling….

So, as I see it, perhaps I’ll just be Worthy’s first blog post freebee book sales promoter! It’s simply my mission at this moment of my life that I or, actually anyone could do. As I prayerfully envision this, everyone involved or impacted will hopefully be blessed and elevated spiritually, while Worthy sells more wisdom books. FYI, page 117 – 121 titled “Do not sign it” details Cloud’s choosing to remain a free agent, a story you really need to hear before chapter 12.

Do not fret – it only causes harm. Psalm 37:8

The word “fret” comes from an eleventh-century Old English term meaning “to devour.”It was used of monsters and Vikings, and of animals that ate people, as you can see by looking closely at the word”fret.” The first two letters – “fr” – are similar to the word “for” or “for the purpose of.” And the last two letters are “et.” Think “eat.” The word “fret,” then, described the fear of being eaten by an animal. In biblical days, people worried about encountering a lion or a bear as they traveled. They fretted about it.

Nowadays we use this word to describe a worry that is eating us up on the inside. Here’s what the Bible says about it: “Do not fret … Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret … Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret … Do not fret because of evildoers” (Psalm 37:1, 7, 8 and Proverbs 24:19).

BOTTOM LINE:

Worry is a hard emotion to control, but you’ll find strength in remembering these seven words of Scripture: Don’t fret – it only causes harm.

David Jeremiah Destinations 2013 June 30

PS: This post was entirely not expected or planned as I have recently largely refrained from Sunday posts. However, early this morning when I read the above post, I was compelled to prepare it. Hours later at the pre-service prayer time, a dear saintly prayer warrior expressed concern that the author of yesterday’s post and a former pastor is indeed, breaking our hearts, again, as did Ravi Z, and numerous others over the years.

Again, I’m reminded the sermon this very morning heavily emphasized Satan is pulling out all the stops to create confusion and chaos in Christ’s Kingdom. The author of yesterday’s post, serves as yet another example of our Godly spiritual vulnerability, whether in church leadership or not, and our utmost need is to be authentically sharing in a “caring cultivating anchored community,” such as Marlin Miller speaks of in Plain Values.

I find it interesting now though, looking back over the decades, that too many of these leadership persons, such as Tullian T, Robert M, Ravi Z, etc. that initially connected and inspired my spiritual growth, are now “fallen from grace,” and honestly, that is a matter of concern to me. Am I spiritually gullible and lacking in discernment? Perhaps that is why now my first scriptures each morning are from dailylightdevotional.org, because it is so pure and simple without any detracting narrative! I do believe the greatest compliment a MM blog reader could give me is that they are now literally addicted to reading dailylightdevotional.org and extensive prayer every morning when they rise before tackling anything else. Thanks for your time!

My friend Dr. Rod Rosenbladt told me a story of how he’d wrecked his car when he was sixteen years old after he and his friends had been drinking.

Following the accident, Rod called his dad, and the first thing his dad asked him was, “Are you all right?” Rod said yes. Then he confessed to his dad that he was drunk. Rod was naturally terrified about how his father might respond. Later that night after Rod had made it home, he wept and wept in his father’s study. He was embarrassed, ashamed. At the end of the ordeal, his father asked him this question: “How about tomorrow we go and get you a new car?”

Rod says that he became a Christian in that moment. God’s grace became real to him in that moment of forgiveness and mercy. Now nearly seventy, Rod has since spent his life as a spokesman for the theology of grace. Rod’s father’s grace didn’t turn Rod into a drunk – it made him love his father and the Lord he served.

Now let me ask you: What would you like to say to Rod’s dad? Rod says that every time he tells that story in public, there are always people in the audience who get angry. They say, “Your dad let you get away with that? He didn’t punish you at all? What a great opportunity for your dad to teach you responsibility!” Having this sense of the law is universal. The apostle Paul claims it is written on each person’s hearts. Even those who don’t believe in God struggle with self-recrimination and self-hatred as much as believers. Some of us even compound our sense of guilt by heaping judgement upon judgement, intoxicated by the voice of “not-enoughness” until we have effectively usurped the role of the only One who is actually qualified to pass a sentence.

Rod always chuckles when he hears that response and says, “Don’t you think it wasn’t the most painful moment of my whole life up to that point? I was ashamed; I was scared. My father spoke grace to me in a moment when I knew I deserved wrath … and I came alive.”

Isn’t that the nature of grace? We know that we deserve punishment and then, when we receive mercy instead, we discover grace. Romans 5: 8 reads “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God gives forgiveness and inputes righteousness to us even though we are sinful and while we were His enemies (v. 6, 8, 10).

BOTTOM LINE:

Our offenses are infinitely greater than a sixteen-year-old getting drunk and wrecking his car, yet God’s grace is greater still. The grace of God always prevails. When we finally come to the end of ourselves, there it will be. There He will be. Just as He will be the next time we come to the end of ourselves, and the time after that, and … until we meet in glory, safe at home…

NEXT UP:

We tend to make prayer the preparation for our service, yet it is never that in the Bible. Prayer is the practice of drawing on the grace of God NOW!

Drawing on the Grace of God — NOW! June 26 Utmost for His Highest. Updated version

PS:

Added 7:20 AM from dailylightdevotional.org June 29

Evening

Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions. Psa. 25:7

I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins. Isa. 44:22

I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Isa. 43:25

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Isa. 1:18

I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Jer. 31:34

Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Micah 7:19

Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. Isa. 38:17

Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity? … he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. Micah 7:18

Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, … to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Rev. 1:5

Mark 7: 14-15, 20-23

“Jesus called the crowd together again and said’ “Listen now, all of you – take this to heart. It’s not what you swallow that pollutes life; it’s what you vomit – that’s the real pollution.”

He went on: “It’s what comes out of a person that pollutes: obscenities, lusts, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, depravity, deceptive dealings, carousing, mean looks, slander, arrogance, foolishness, and at this very moment in history while witnessing the world’s culmination of hatred toward the Jews, our distinct inability and confusion to demonstrate sacrificially Christ’s love to all of our enemies, including all of His children, (everyone made in His image) regardless of race or origin – for all these diverse and evil consuming behaviors, are vomited from the heart. This is the source of your pollution!” (Crude perhaps… but double dead on!)

            So, why is it we North American Christians have such a remarkable tendency to focus exclusively on the behavioral “fruit” of our problems; whereas Christ addressed the “root cause” of our problems?

Does this focus on “fruit” rather than “roots” remind you of our addictive symptom driven prescription American healthcare system today?  Is this “behavioral fruit vs. root causes” driving us as parents asunder with our children; or pastors with our parishioners, or husbands with wives, and wives with husbands? And yes indeed, we even do this with ourselves in the darker corners of our consciousness…

            Notice though, how the gospel on the other hand, addresses the root of our problems. And these roots are not merely bad behavior! Bad behavior is merely the symptom, like a fever, of a hidden much deeper root cause, such as an infection. Our chief problem, as Jesus made exponentially clear, is not “what goes into a man,” but rather its hardened, wooden, defiled, perhaps even necrotic, heart. Indeed, the causal root!

Consider how Christian growth absolutely consists not of behavior modification but of the daily realization that in Christ we have died and in Christ we have been raised. Daily reformation, therefore, is the fruit of daily resurrection (Romans 6:1-11). To get it the other way around (which we tend to do by default; ignorance is not bliss!) is to miss the power and point of the gospel. In his book God in the Dock, C. S. Lewis makes the obvious point that “you can’t get second things by putting them first; you can get second things only by putting first things first.” Behavior (good or bad) is a second thing.

            “Life is a web of trials and temptations,” said Robert Capon, Episcopal priest and author, “but only one of them can ever be fatal, and that is the temptation to think it is by further, better, and more aggressive living that we can have life.” The truth is, you can’t live your way to life – you can only die [your] way there, and lose [your] way there … For Jesus came to raise the dead. He did not come to reward the re-wardable, improve the improvable, or correct the correctable; he came simply to be the resurrection and the life for those who will take their stand on a death He can use instead of on a life He cannot.”

BOTTOM LINE:

Moral renovation, in other words, is to refocus our eyes away from ourselves:

to that man’s obedience,

to that man’s cross,

to that man’s blood,

to that man’s death and resurrection,

by daily accepting to love the glorious exchange (our sin for His Righteousness),

to lean on its finished – ness,

and to live under its banner.

That is His plan for us to be morally reformed.

Now, consider the Fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23 as the living proof of His transformation and empowerment in your life as well as the lives of others. Remember the famous nine: Love Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-control.

PS: The main characteristic which is the proof of th indwelling Spirit is an amazing tenderness in personal dealing, and a blazing truthfulness with regard to God’s Word. Oswald Chambers from Disciples Indeed 386 R

Inspired, modified, & expanded from Tuillian Tchividjian’s devotional book IT IS FINISHED: 365 Days of Good News, 2015 June 20