The Identity Equation
Through the Loupe. 2005.
Who are you?
It's a question that causes us to straighten our shoulders, sit up a little taller, and conjure up all sorts of lofty distinctions: I am a Wife. I am a Mother. I am a Homeschooler. I am a Musician. I am a Blogger. A Mountaineer. A Worldwide Traveler. A Phillumenist. An Antiques Collector. A Gourmet Cook. An Historical Reenactor. I am a Pyrotechnic. I am Making Things Up.
But here's a little mathematical dilemna that I calculated during my senior years of studying music:
If I identify myself as a Musician, then I am saying:
"Pamela = Musician".
And if I identify a peer as a Musician, then I am also saying:
"Someone Else = Musician."
Now, if:
"Someone Else" does a better job of being a "Musician" than I do,
then by the simple process of substitution:
"Someone Else" does a better job of being "Pamela" than I do!
And so I realized in my own convoluted way how foolish it is to define myself by the things I do or by the things I know, because there will always be someone better at doing the things I do, and there will always be someone more informed than I.
Staking my identity on my accomplishments has wrought great harm in the past: I have viewed excelling music students with competitive distrust, distancing myself from a possible friendship until it was almost too late. I have placed too much responsibility for my own contentment on my ability to excel. I have seized glory for myself that rightly belonged to God: I was proud.
So how do I identify myself now? When I'm free from the mire of self-important identity, I think of myself merely as someone who is available for God to use for His own glory.
And in His mercy and grace God calls me His child, a lofty distinction, indeed. However, this is the identity bestowed upon me; it is not an identity I assigned to myself. It summons me to humility and unity with my brothers and sisters, and it requires all of us identified with Him to bear the cross as we bear His Name.
So, who are you? However you might have answered that earlier, it is nothing compared to the calling that is in Christ Jesus.
from 1 Corinthians 1:
26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”
posted on Sunday, September 3
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The Good Kind of Proud?
Puffed Up.
© 2006 Jupiterimages Corporation
We all yearn for approval and acceptance in some way or another. Ever since we were children, the defining expression of appreciation has been: "I'm proud of you."
And ever since then we've feasted on the glow of this affirmation and cultivated an unquenchable thirst for hearing it again. And again.
Of course, early on we may have read or heard from Scripture:
Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall. -Proverbs 16:18
Though the LORD is on high,Yet He regards the lowly; But the proud He knows from afar. -Psalm 138:6
When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom. -Proverbs 11:2
And we would ask, "Can't someone be proud of me? Can't I be proud of the work I do?"
Well, our questions were easily addressed, and our consciences assuaged. Not to worry: we've got the "good kind of proud".
But is there a "good kind of proud"?
Searching the Scriptures some more, I don't see a single instance of there being a good kind. It's all regarded as something evil or foolish. Why would that be? Why wouldn't there be the slightest allowance for benevolent pride?
Because there isn't a "good kind of proud." There isn't any benevolent pride in the eyes of God.
Why not? Because our works are not our own; it is God who works great things through us.
...it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. -Philippians 2:13
...and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship. -Exodus 35:31
Therefore, all glory belongs to God.
Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, But to Your name give glory, Because of Your mercy, Because of Your truth. -Psalm 115:1
Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. - I Corinthians 10:13
And something to consider:
...I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God. -Exodus 20:5
When we pride ourselves on our own goodness or on that of others, we divert the flow of the glory that rightly belongs to God and channel it to ourselves. There is nothing "good" about this sort of pride.
We've been wrong all this time. We've whitewashed a sinful response and tried to reconcile our pride to the words of Scripture by offering this as an easy excuse.
So what is the righteous response? Turning the Scriptures, this is what I find:
The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear Him, In those who hope in His mercy. -Psalm 147:11
For whom the LORD loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights. -Proverbs 3:12
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. -III John 1:4
Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” -Mark 1:11
There is much beauty in finding delight, joy, and pleasure in those we love. Our ability to experience joy is, unlike pride, sanctioned by God and even granted as a gift through His Spirit.
By communicating our joy and delight, we bestow a blessing on others and on God. By communicating our pride, we seize some of the glory for ourselves. So let's refrain from teaching our children that there's a good kind of pride, and let's reorient our thoughts towards taking pleasure in glorifying God through our works.
from Matthew 5:
14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
posted on Sunday, August 20
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A Clash of Cultures
A Day at Play. August 2005.
The longer I live in this inner city multi-ethnic setting, the more strongly I believe that there are only two true cultures in this world. Beyond the color of skin, aside from the sound of speech, despite the style of dress, beneath the lines of melody, and above the piquant aroma from the sidewalk of someone else's supper on the stove, there remain only these two: the godly culture and the sinful culture.
It's a godly culture that prompts little girls to "play babies" together in the parkway. It is a sinful culture that divides them against each other when another girl comes along.
It's a godly culture that celebrates family and hosts festive backyard gatherings. It is a sinful culture that imposes mariachi on the neighborhood at 11:00 at night.
It's a godly culture that tries to keep the backyard tidy and hospitable. It is a sinful culture that gets defensive and annoyed because the neighbor's towel is hanging over the fence.
It's a godly culture that accomodates the neighbor's need to enter the homeowner's yard at any given time to make repairs on his house. It's a sinful culture that presumes to stretch a security alarm cable across someone else's backyard while the he is out of the country.
These two cultures manifest themselves in many different ways, and they co-exist within every community, every Christian family, and every Christian himself. Conquering the sinful culture to establish a godly culture is a daily struggle, no matter where a person resides.
So even though I dream of living in place where our closest neighbor is a mile away, I realize that even then I won't escape this clash of cultures. Rather, I fear that the apparent peace will cause complacency, a rather fertile soil for the cultivation of sin.
In the meantime, our lives are a living picture of the Christian's deep longing for Eden in the midst of the thorny wilderness. And we must not be fooled: no matter how beautiful the setting, it is still worlds away from The Garden. Only the final fulfillment of our salvation will realize such peace for us.
Lord, hasten that day.
Psalm 15:
1 LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle?
Who may dwell in Your holy hill?
2 He who walks uprightly,
And works righteousness,
And speaks the truth in his heart;
3 He who does not backbite with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend;
4 In whose eyes a vile person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the LORD;
He who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
5 He who does not put out his money at usury,
Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be moved.
posted on Friday, July 28
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Supporting My Missionary
A daddy's day is never done.
(Notice the short-lived Abe Lincoln look)
How many times have we women heard influential Christian men praise their wives for the support that makes his mission possible? And what is usually our response to that?
Here's one: "Yeah, that's easy for him to say: he gets the glory while she gets the scraps."
That used to be my cynical response, but that was when I lived in competition with my husband: "You get to go to California, while I stay here in snowy Chicago, in a two-bedroom apartment with a little baby who cries at me if I don't do everything just right?!" "You get nominated for an award for excellence while all my talent is wasted on changing diapers?!"
Oh, but that was also before I realized that nurturing children is a higher calling than planning church music, and I praise God that most of you women know what I'm talking about.
But now here's another response to that praise from the pulpit: "Well, when my husband gets around to doing great things, then the world will finally recognize what a great biblical woman I am."
So really now (I ask my self with a knowing laugh), how is he supposed to be empowered to do those great things?
Well, obviously that's our job. It's our role to support the mission, just as surely as a cross-cultural missionary needs financial, prayer, and moral support on the field. Ask any missionary, and they'll tell you how intregal to their work is the support of people back home. It's a partnership between the sender and the sent.
I'm not too bad at giving moral support. I could do better with the prayer support. The financial support (or to contextualize, the physical support of healthy food and a tidy home) needs a little work.
When something needs work, usually it's because I lack the vision. Perhaps this will elevate my perspective on keeping up with menu preparation and piles of laundry.
from Proverbs 31:
10 Who can find a virtuous wife?
For her worth is far above rubies.
11 The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
So he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.
posted on Thursday, March 23
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In the "Lime" of Life?
Guatemala Limes, 2003
(I doubt that the fruit on the Tree of Life were anything like limes. But how we live for fresh-squeezed limeade in the summertime.)
It would seem that Adam and Eve, while not created as immortal beings, were created with the potential for everlasting life...as long as they lived obediently within God's government and received His blessing through the Tree of Life.
However, when Adam and Eve dishonored God, they forfeited their access to the Tree of Life; they were cast from Eden, and God placed a flaming sword to guard the way back. The covenant had been broken.
They began to die that day, and their life eventually ran out after 900 some years.
Yet God resurrects this covenant in part when He gives the fifth commandment: "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you."
I believe the principle is the same, and that it turns our gaze back to the garden: by honoring our Father's authoritative representatives on earth, we honor Him, and He chooses to grant us life.
Even so, this is still but a cropped and resized picture of the life that once was, the life that we now have in Jesus, and the life that is yet to be. World without end. Amen.
from Isaiah 66:
22 “ For as the new heavens and the new earth
Which I will make shall remain before Me,” says the LORD,
“So shall your descendants and your name remain.
23 And it shall come to pass
That from one New Moon to another,
And from one Sabbath to another,
All flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the LORD.
posted on Monday, March 13
