Kingdom's Keys Fellowship
Where God's Kingdom Meets Man's Heart.
Why Jesus? Part 6
Why Jesus? Part 6
The need to be right is like that itch on your back that you try to reach but never quite make it. So you rub up against the side of a door or, if there is someone close by, you ask them to scratch. Those two are temporary fixes. But there is always another itch in another place at another time. Even as this is being written the concern remains, will it convey the right thoughts, the thoughts that best communicate the truth, the right words, the right structure and grammar? Will it be greeted with the right understanding and if not, a response to it that will enable the ability to bring the right clarity to what is not clear? For example, not being a good typist makes me thankful for the backspace and delete buttons on the computer. But when it comes to those buttons in thinking and behavior they don’t exist. What we think, why we think and how we react cannot be backspaced or deleted. We want to get it right the first time. The frustration is that we can’t. They are history not only in your memory but in others as well. Being right is not only a desire it is the paramount source of anxiety and guilt. It is what we said in Part 5. It is unsettling, accusatory and tyrannical. It is the stuff of cultural conditioning from childhood on. There’s peer pressure, clothing styles, advertising images, slang, dating, club, school, profession and neighborhood choices. Conversations with close friends or strangers, responding to a boss or colleague, surveying the landscape of all decision-making, the need to be right surfaces our self-conscious aloneness.
Right or wrong what’s the best thing to do? This entire process takes place within and it takes place in not what is seen but what is unseen. That makes it spiritual. It is an interlinked mind and heart experience and it is real. At those moments we are in the invisible world of choice and reaction. That makes it spiritual. When we are thrust into the arena of choice, when we ask what is best, what is right what is wrong, what effect will this have on me, on others, it is more than just intellectual or ethical, it is spiritual. When we have to decide what is the authority for that decision, that makes it spiritual. That process without God will inevitably lead to our immediate reactions being self-protective, self-promoting and self-securing, the other name for which is sin, the spiritual flaw that puts self above all. And the forces that exploit that condition are spiritual. Pride, greed, lust, fear, hate, resentment, bitterness, depression, anger, false judgment, are more than just personal and psychological idiosyncrasies, they are forces that latch on to sin and use sin to tempt us to be in control of self.
Now here is the spiritual problem. No human being can control the spiritual dimension. We may research all kinds of personality issues, glean the writings and principles of history’s greatest psychiatrists, gather information from the vast pool of intellectual giants' recorded works and even test the waters of experience to plumb the depths for answers. What we will discover is that ultimate answers are not found in our personal intuition and consequent conclusions. We have to go outside and consider who knows and gives clear and personal insights into what and who governs invisible reality. The need to be right is a spiritual longing for more than just personal satisfaction since it involves others, the meaning and direction of life, purpose and where we belong in the larger context of the world and existence. What every human being is looking for is spiritual direction. If we recognize that and we recognize the flaw of sin, its imperfections and our lonely condition, we are drawn to find someone and something from the spiritual realm to give us the answers.
All that has been described thus far is the condition into which God chose to send His Son. Jesus responded to His Father’s will to embrace that aloneness and be the person who would demonstrate what being right in aloneness is all about and actually achieve that for every human being.
Jesus came from the Creator, the spiritual source of the physical universe, with the purpose of spiritually restoring the alone heart to His Father. He came to restore what right is felt like within and return the Spirit of being right to all those who would accept what He offered. No more itching that can’t be scratched, no more fear of being a failure at being right, no longer alone, no longer having to be unsettled within, no longer being guilty for not measuring up to whatever, no longer feeling condemnation, no longer under the tyranny of internal and external expectations.
What He offers in the spiritual dimension is a relationship; a personal relationship with Him that opens the door to spiritual mending of internal heart needs, of spiritual freedom from self-centered fear, anxiety and isolation. He offers us the spiritual power to offset and heal us from the years of cultural conditioning that thrives on exploitation and abuse. That power is the Holy Spirit who brings the personal presence of Jesus into the heart. He offers us the restoration of the mind to see the intellectual foundation for understanding our significance and purpose for existence. He offers us the spiritual context to place the physical dimension and all its structures and institutions in a usable, positive, practical and balanced extension of the human heart. Jesus ‘ message is simple. Transform the human heart and you transform society and the world. In Part 7 we look at how Jesus accomplished His presentation and gave us an open door to all He offers. Stay tuned.
The need to be right is like that itch on your back that you try to reach but never quite make it. So you rub up against the side of a door or, if there is someone close by, you ask them to scratch. Those two are temporary fixes. But there is always another itch in another place at another time. Even as this is being written the concern remains, will it convey the right thoughts, the thoughts that best communicate the truth, the right words, the right structure and grammar? Will it be greeted with the right understanding and if not, a response to it that will enable the ability to bring the right clarity to what is not clear? For example, not being a good typist makes me thankful for the backspace and delete buttons on the computer. But when it comes to those buttons in thinking and behavior they don’t exist. What we think, why we think and how we react cannot be backspaced or deleted. We want to get it right the first time. The frustration is that we can’t. They are history not only in your memory but in others as well. Being right is not only a desire it is the paramount source of anxiety and guilt. It is what we said in Part 5. It is unsettling, accusatory and tyrannical. It is the stuff of cultural conditioning from childhood on. There’s peer pressure, clothing styles, advertising images, slang, dating, club, school, profession and neighborhood choices. Conversations with close friends or strangers, responding to a boss or colleague, surveying the landscape of all decision-making, the need to be right surfaces our self-conscious aloneness.
Right or wrong what’s the best thing to do? This entire process takes place within and it takes place in not what is seen but what is unseen. That makes it spiritual. It is an interlinked mind and heart experience and it is real. At those moments we are in the invisible world of choice and reaction. That makes it spiritual. When we are thrust into the arena of choice, when we ask what is best, what is right what is wrong, what effect will this have on me, on others, it is more than just intellectual or ethical, it is spiritual. When we have to decide what is the authority for that decision, that makes it spiritual. That process without God will inevitably lead to our immediate reactions being self-protective, self-promoting and self-securing, the other name for which is sin, the spiritual flaw that puts self above all. And the forces that exploit that condition are spiritual. Pride, greed, lust, fear, hate, resentment, bitterness, depression, anger, false judgment, are more than just personal and psychological idiosyncrasies, they are forces that latch on to sin and use sin to tempt us to be in control of self.
Now here is the spiritual problem. No human being can control the spiritual dimension. We may research all kinds of personality issues, glean the writings and principles of history’s greatest psychiatrists, gather information from the vast pool of intellectual giants' recorded works and even test the waters of experience to plumb the depths for answers. What we will discover is that ultimate answers are not found in our personal intuition and consequent conclusions. We have to go outside and consider who knows and gives clear and personal insights into what and who governs invisible reality. The need to be right is a spiritual longing for more than just personal satisfaction since it involves others, the meaning and direction of life, purpose and where we belong in the larger context of the world and existence. What every human being is looking for is spiritual direction. If we recognize that and we recognize the flaw of sin, its imperfections and our lonely condition, we are drawn to find someone and something from the spiritual realm to give us the answers.
All that has been described thus far is the condition into which God chose to send His Son. Jesus responded to His Father’s will to embrace that aloneness and be the person who would demonstrate what being right in aloneness is all about and actually achieve that for every human being.
Jesus came from the Creator, the spiritual source of the physical universe, with the purpose of spiritually restoring the alone heart to His Father. He came to restore what right is felt like within and return the Spirit of being right to all those who would accept what He offered. No more itching that can’t be scratched, no more fear of being a failure at being right, no longer alone, no longer having to be unsettled within, no longer being guilty for not measuring up to whatever, no longer feeling condemnation, no longer under the tyranny of internal and external expectations.
What He offers in the spiritual dimension is a relationship; a personal relationship with Him that opens the door to spiritual mending of internal heart needs, of spiritual freedom from self-centered fear, anxiety and isolation. He offers us the spiritual power to offset and heal us from the years of cultural conditioning that thrives on exploitation and abuse. That power is the Holy Spirit who brings the personal presence of Jesus into the heart. He offers us the restoration of the mind to see the intellectual foundation for understanding our significance and purpose for existence. He offers us the spiritual context to place the physical dimension and all its structures and institutions in a usable, positive, practical and balanced extension of the human heart. Jesus ‘ message is simple. Transform the human heart and you transform society and the world. In Part 7 we look at how Jesus accomplished His presentation and gave us an open door to all He offers. Stay tuned.
Views: 19
Comment
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Comment by HKHaugan on February 24, 2009 at 4:39pm
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Don't we all? But again memory is a two way street. It is a gift to be able to remember the Cross of Christ and the healing power of His Spirit but also the other side of memory, it keeps us honest. Even if we slip and think and do the same thing over again the blessing is that in repentance we are forgiven and God who knows our hearts takes care of it by saying He forgets our past and remembers it no more. ><>W
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Comment by joyce warner on February 24, 2009 at 3:25pm
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What I wouldn"t give for a backspace or delete key for my mind!!!!!!!
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Troy has some great stuff here. His questions and concerns are open for sharing. All of you who read them can join in and reply. Hope you do. Is there a fear of being right? What part does the Spirit play? How about Joyce's observation that being right overwhelms obedience? Does Why Jesus Part 7 help?
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Comment by Troy Harvey on February 22, 2009 at 2:39pm
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I find myself struggling with what I call ‘being understood’. I suppose in reality it is the same root of wanting to be right. Of course as you stated, it is not the desire or need to be right that is wrong – it is thinking that we can ever be right without Christ. I believe one way we are created in His image is this innate desire to be right; we just need the transformation of His Spirit to enable us to understand what right is.
It seems that God has created us with many needs, desires, attitudes, dreams, abilities, etc- that fall short and even frustrate us – unless they have been sanctified. Moreover, if they lie unchecked and unsanctified they may grow and rise up to mislead or injure many. Maybe one way to explain the enigma that is our modern political leadership. “There is a way that seems right unto a man”…
Joyce commented “My need to be right overwhelms what should be my desire to be obedient”, and that is an excellent way to put it. However, do we really need to avoid being right – or is the point just where does ‘our right’ come from; is it self serving a ‘need to be right’ or is it glorifying God by our being right through Christ – as in through our obedience to Him? – still a constant struggle.
I mean, I think as Christians who understand this teaching, we actually develop a fear of being right.
I suppose what concerns me is that our fear of being right allows wrong to proliferate.
-t
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