Isaiah 58:6 "Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?" What does that mean in 2012? (listening) I'm not sure about the rest of it but the part that is tugging at my heart today is the line, "To loose the bonds of wickedness" I don't know that I could define the word wickedness... oh I can say, "It means doing evil" but what does that mean? I believe evil is much more subtle than we realize. How do you "loose the bonds of wickedness" ? Are we to get help people get free from their addictions, hangups and evil desires? Or are we to free those who are trapped by the wickedness of others? I suppose it could be both but the picture I have is of that trapped feeling I get when I'm out of options. I'm thinking of domestic violence, or modern day slavery. (listening) Hmmm can you sum up wickedness as power and control? I'm thinking that power is not wicked... it is a gift or a circumstance but the misuse of it is way wicked
I often feel trapped when I feel like I am given no voice. For instance, I feel trapped in our politics. I live in an area that has one large population center and many small rural communities. The rural communities vote one way, the big city votes another. Because more people in the city, how they vote is how we then live for the next few years. I feel impotent. If the word oppressed were exchanged for trapped it has more meaning for me. (listening) Wow, how many people in our world feel trapped? If I feel trapped in my circumstance, think of people in say, Syria or Somalia. The misuse of power is a great evil. But how do we do anything about it? (listening) How can I let the oppressed go free? (listening)
Interesting, the picture turned in my head to the passage in Romans 12:3 and beyond where it says to use the gifts that we have been given. Hmmm, like freedom is both allowing those who are gifted to move in their gifting but also to walk free in your gifts because walking free in your gift, sets others free in theirs. It is the opposite of power and control to walk free... like live free to free
Showing posts with label power and control. Show all posts
Showing posts with label power and control. Show all posts
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Grace vrs control and contempt
2 Corinthians 8:7 "But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—see that you abound in this grace also."
What is grace? How can you abound in it like in diligence and love?
I know when I am treated with grace. Sometimes I can feel God's grace sort of pouring over me. But I'm not sure sometimes how to walk in it... or abound in it. I want to be a carrier of grace. Like you can be a carrier of the flu! I want to have people say when I leave, "That was like a breath of fresh air." But how?
I can see opposites to grace. I have been thinking about a God who allows choice. Allowing people choice has allowed so much cruelty. Without choice there would be no sin... maybe, or is control sin all by itself? By allowing choice, God seems to deem control as more ugly than all the horrible things we have done to ourselves. I can see as many oppressive leaders are being challenged right now that control is at the heart of the damage they are doing. People need freedom to become great.
Another opposite of grace is contempt. There deeply seated enemy of love. Contempt is seeing the wrong instead of the right. It's choosing to be judges instead of participants in relationship. Contempt is by it's very nature a destroyer of people. Contempt is easy when people make so many mistakes. But there is something right inside of everyone. God breathed into us life... that life is holy. It's not that I want to ignore evil. I want to call out to the good. Blow on the coals of the authentic... is that grace?
What is grace? How can you abound in it like in diligence and love?
I know when I am treated with grace. Sometimes I can feel God's grace sort of pouring over me. But I'm not sure sometimes how to walk in it... or abound in it. I want to be a carrier of grace. Like you can be a carrier of the flu! I want to have people say when I leave, "That was like a breath of fresh air." But how?
I can see opposites to grace. I have been thinking about a God who allows choice. Allowing people choice has allowed so much cruelty. Without choice there would be no sin... maybe, or is control sin all by itself? By allowing choice, God seems to deem control as more ugly than all the horrible things we have done to ourselves. I can see as many oppressive leaders are being challenged right now that control is at the heart of the damage they are doing. People need freedom to become great.
Another opposite of grace is contempt. There deeply seated enemy of love. Contempt is seeing the wrong instead of the right. It's choosing to be judges instead of participants in relationship. Contempt is by it's very nature a destroyer of people. Contempt is easy when people make so many mistakes. But there is something right inside of everyone. God breathed into us life... that life is holy. It's not that I want to ignore evil. I want to call out to the good. Blow on the coals of the authentic... is that grace?
Monday, July 19, 2010
Fighting contempt with honor
Romans 14:1-4 says this, "Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand." NAS
For me, this passage is about diversity and contempt. I am curious about the wording of the first verse. Now accept the one who is weak... but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. Can you accept someone for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions? That's frightening to me mostly because I have felt the hot sting of contempt. What exactly is contempt? The word carries with it not only blatant disrespect and scorn but also a more subtle flavor of that prideful looking down on the “lesser” human being. I hate contempt. It tears deeply into me when I am the victim of it but I still can’t seem to catch myself in the act often enough. Contempt is so very easy. I am well trained in it. But honor is hard, especially in response to contempt.
I wonder if power-and-control and contempt are related. If you look at contempt as “dishonoring another”, then I would say they are. I have learned the hard way that you can’t fight control with control. It becomes a power play that sinks into ugly in no time. In the same way fighting off contempt with contempt is brutal and unproductive to say the least! I have been leveled by the contempt of others. It smothers me with a deep message of unwelcome. If we all need to “belong” then contempt is a death blow.
Looking back at Romans 14, I am learning much more how we, that is how I, deflect real, vulnerable, relational encounters by passing judgment. Frankly, I am overwhelmed as I look at how I personally have used contempt to keep people from getting too close. Why? What am I afraid of? Well, contempt of course. Hmmm, fighting contempt with contempt can be so subtle!
I think contempt is at the core of labels. We label people all the time, “your mean,” “your lazy,” “your never on time”. Labels are hurtful and last much longer than the moment they are spoken or inferred. “Positive labels like, “your pretty,” “your smart,” “your fun” are just as destructive. These sound like kind affirmations but they still come from a place of contempt. When I speak this way, I am elevating myself and dishonoring another. All these thoughts are new to me. I am trying to learn to say things that keep us both on the level, “When you say that, it hurts me.” “When you are late, I feel unimportant” or “I so enjoy your playfulness! The thing is, fighting contempt with honor is risky. You have to reveal your heart in the process and the vulnerability is frightening! I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Ruth Ann Lea
(For more thoughts on this subject check this out: thinkingoutwords.blogspot.com)
For me, this passage is about diversity and contempt. I am curious about the wording of the first verse. Now accept the one who is weak... but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. Can you accept someone for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions? That's frightening to me mostly because I have felt the hot sting of contempt. What exactly is contempt? The word carries with it not only blatant disrespect and scorn but also a more subtle flavor of that prideful looking down on the “lesser” human being. I hate contempt. It tears deeply into me when I am the victim of it but I still can’t seem to catch myself in the act often enough. Contempt is so very easy. I am well trained in it. But honor is hard, especially in response to contempt.
I wonder if power-and-control and contempt are related. If you look at contempt as “dishonoring another”, then I would say they are. I have learned the hard way that you can’t fight control with control. It becomes a power play that sinks into ugly in no time. In the same way fighting off contempt with contempt is brutal and unproductive to say the least! I have been leveled by the contempt of others. It smothers me with a deep message of unwelcome. If we all need to “belong” then contempt is a death blow.
Looking back at Romans 14, I am learning much more how we, that is how I, deflect real, vulnerable, relational encounters by passing judgment. Frankly, I am overwhelmed as I look at how I personally have used contempt to keep people from getting too close. Why? What am I afraid of? Well, contempt of course. Hmmm, fighting contempt with contempt can be so subtle!
I think contempt is at the core of labels. We label people all the time, “your mean,” “your lazy,” “your never on time”. Labels are hurtful and last much longer than the moment they are spoken or inferred. “Positive labels like, “your pretty,” “your smart,” “your fun” are just as destructive. These sound like kind affirmations but they still come from a place of contempt. When I speak this way, I am elevating myself and dishonoring another. All these thoughts are new to me. I am trying to learn to say things that keep us both on the level, “When you say that, it hurts me.” “When you are late, I feel unimportant” or “I so enjoy your playfulness! The thing is, fighting contempt with honor is risky. You have to reveal your heart in the process and the vulnerability is frightening! I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Ruth Ann Lea
(For more thoughts on this subject check this out: thinkingoutwords.blogspot.com)
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