To See What You Can't See is Seeing

[HKHaugan]

“For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ (1Cor.3:11).)

I still maintain that the real issues in any culture are spiritual which means they can’t be dealt with politically and for the most part are treated superficially by the populace. Yet it is the spirituality of a people that determines their attitudes, their choices and their behavior. And it is spiritual issues that determine how any group of people chooses their leadership, their politics, their economy, their education, their professions and their interpersonal exchange.

So let’s look at spirituality for what it really is. I repeat what I believe to be a basic principle, 100% of everything we do is governed by what we can’t see. Everything invisible is spiritual with the exception of the physical forces that hold the physical universe together. For us of course, who are disciples of Jesus, even the visible is sourced spiritually. The unseeable, the invisible, the ‘out of sight’ realities of everyday life are what determine how we use the material physical environment.

Yes, we may live in physical bodies in a physical environment in a large seemingly endless universe but who and what we are is invisible, driven by motivations that are invisible using a decision making process which is invisible in a mind, heart and spirit which are invisible. Motivation itself is invisible and spiritually driven. The very being we have, ---our self-consciousness, our identity, purpose, significance--- hinges on invisibly identifying and dealing with whatever drives us.

The process of being human in every dimension is invisible. All of this invisibility is spiritual in that it has a moral base from which no one is exempt. Morality is a spiritual structure motivating behavior. Even atheism and agnosticism are belief systems thus making them ‘religious’ by definition and spiritual in nature. They believe in not believing or concluding they believe in not knowing. No human being can say he doesn’t believe because that’s the way we are built. It is impossible not to believe. Belief is spiritual and what drives our beliefs is spiritual.

Having said all that let’s get down to reality. Reality every day is the experience of good and evil. How do you sort out the difference? How do you sort out what it means to be a good person from a bad person? How do you sort out what it means to have a relationship with others that benefits them and us at the same time? How do we sort out the fine points of living in a larger social structure like a family, community and nation? Who and what do you believe, trust and have faith in to give the answers?

For me the answer, the bottom line, the conclusion of the matter, is one person, Jesus the Christ. He is the only person in history who came from the invisible realm, demonstrated a humanity that defines all humanity, showed us the difference between good and evil, gave us His example, His Spirit and His Word to identify evil, its source and the new life to overcome it and be productive in the process. Jesus identified fear and death, the devil their source, let them kill Him, then be resurrected to offer us the same eternal life He has.

As far as politics, economics, education, interpersonal behavior, identity and purpose are concerned Jesus the Christ is where we start. Our task is to grow our mind, heart and spirit in His mind, heart and Spirit. Our further task is to bring as many people into the knowledge of Him as possible. That’s how humanity and its motivations are freed from the invisible dimension’s evil and its powers. Jesus Christ is the answer to the ‘how’ of life. When He is planted in the minds, hearts and spirits of people the shape of human society changes. It becomes more personal, more honest, more dependent on God and more interdependent on the talents and skills of others. His attitude becomes our attitude. We look forward and not backward. We believe, we trust and we have faith in Him who leads us to look ahead. Anything or anyone less than Jesus separates, divides and erodes human progress.

“Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it (Haggai 1:5-6).”