Skip to main content

Rafting At Sea, Or Does Your Boat Have A Rudder?


Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is he who keeps the law. (Proverbs 29:18 NASB)

          Those who like the song "Imagine" would probably read this passage and say, "Yes, exactly, those who aren't caught up in a religious delusion are free." They make two mistakes. The first is that the freedom they're describing is like being on a raft in the middle of the ocean. There is no way to make the raft go in any direction: no sail, no rudder, no oars. The second is that their vision is lawless and that no law is needed. The song demands that you put aside religion, love of country and connection to anything that is not part of its utopian ideal.
         The reality is that we all have a worldview. We may not be able to put it into words, but we all have beliefs about the ultimate nature of reality, where we came from; what happened that causes us to not be as we suspect or believe we should be; what must be done to fix it; what happens when we die and how we can know anything.
          For most people, this world view is not consciously developed. It's learned from our experiences, and most notably from our education. The problem is that it is cobbled together. It's a Frankenstein's monster, stitched together from bits of philosophies, religions and cultures. It is a raft that doesn't hold together, but we hold on to as many bits and pieces of it as we can as we fend off the sharks of daily life. To make matters worse, the pieces of worldview that we adopt often have other pieces of that worldview attached to them. We may not even realize that one of our pieces of raft has a anchor chained to it, pulling it toward the sea floor.
         This is one of the problems we face as we seek to build community. Even among our "one anothers" the worldviews aren't always the same. When "not one anothers" are added, it becomes more complicated. This is the challenge facing us today.
Worldviews are being aggressively promoted. How do we deal with these other views? Scripture suggests that we love them but not their worldviews. We permit them to live among us, but we do not accept or obey their ways, even if it means our death, incarceration or humiliation.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Especially to those who belong to the family of believers."

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. (Gal 6:10)   “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.   By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)           Joshua grinned when he saw Rex standing by the door, studying something on the ground. "Hey, man! Are we ready to do this thing?"          Rex looked up. "Josh, I can't do it. We're still best buds, but I can't stand your fiancée."           I've met "Rex" many times. I've been Rex. Joshua (Jesus) loves the Church. He's not a fool. He knows the Church is far from perfect, but she is His chosen bride. The Rexes of this world, who think themselves His friend, turn away from her. "You don't need the Church to...
Post a Comment
Read more

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more