4-2-8 Ghandi and Rob Bell
A couple months ago I was reading Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. Some of the things in that book I really like – so it will probably come up again, but tonight I want to talk about a section where he gave voice to some thoughts I had had for a long time and hadn’t had the clarity to phrase them so well (thanks Rob!). He was talking about truth. I love the topic of truth so he had me hook, line and sinker from the beginning, but the crux of what he had to say was that there is goodness all around us (I know there’s bad too, but stay with me) and that that goodness is God’s. Furthermore he asserts, and I agree, that we need to claim the goodness we see around us as God’s. It may not be fully being expressed as God intended it, it may not even be associated with anything else Godly at all, but the goodness, the true goodness in the world comes from God and we Christians are way too timid about the awesomeness and wonder of our God. The truth is, we need to see the good around us and understand that it is a gift from God, distorted as it sometimes is, nevertheless originating from God. Use the example of the birth of a child. This is a wonderful example of God given wonder. It may happen in ungodly circumstances, or into downright evil family situations (believe me, I’ve seen both), but it is still, in its rawest form, an amazing thing, full of God’s goodness. There are things like this all over the place and we don’t give God credit for it, nor do we celebrate the greatness of our God in ALL the earth.
Well, I have been thinking about this from time to time, and then over the last week I have been watching, for the first time (I know I am so behind the times) the movie Ghandhi as I exercise in the evening. Well, the more I watched, the more I was at first intrigued by this little man in his loin cloth, then as the story continued to unfold, I became almost enthralled by him and perplexed at how this man was Hindu. Then, as I watched and thought, I began to realize that Rob Bell and Ghandhi were coming together in my brain (I know it can be a very confusing place!). I began to see that all the goodness of Ghandhi was not non-Christian per se, even though it was acted out by a non-Christian person. Follow me here, Ghandhi was actually following Jesus’ example of life. The amazing power that this little Indian man in a loin cloth unfolded on the British Empire was the very power of Jesus’ philosophy. This is remarkable! Do you get the fact that even without the worship of Jesus, even without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit which comes with the relationship we have with the risen Christ, even without the blessing of the one and true Sovereign God, the very truths and practices of Jesus, acted out in a nation, brought justice and peace and independence! That is just so cool! Imagine how much more power we have, armed with the ideas, philosophies, and truths of Christ and plus having His indwelling Spirit, and the blessing of His Father, the almighty God of all! There is nothing that we cannot overcome!
` The kicker is that Ghandhi really believed the philosophies and the truths of Christ. He believed in living a life of love so much that he advocated sending the British out of India not to jeers and pain, but to love and respect, even after it was clear his cause would triumph. He believed in humility and caring for the “least of these” so much that he disavowed all wealth and lived in relative poverty (the Son of Man has no where to lay his head). He believed in turning the other cheek so much that he really did. If only our denominations, our leaders, our churches, our people, our Christians could believe like that and have the relationship of Christ too, the results could be astounding.
The Faithful Prayer
Lord, pound me with the message, over and over and over that
1)You are faithful
2)You will always be with us
3) You will always take care of us
4) You will provide for us
5) You will give us fun
6)None of life’s struggles matters in the light of who You are and Your love and sacrifice for us
7) In Your eyes, I am worthy
8)In Your eyes, I have nothing to prove
9) In Your eyes, I do not need to have money, or success, or control, or even any idea of what will come next to be loveable
10) In You, there will always be enough
money…fun…joy…satisfaction…wonder…peace.
I can trust…completely!
Please help me, in my moments of weakness, to remember.
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1 comment:
Thank you Jason. I don't know what else to say, but thank you. I too have been consumed at times with status, money, respect, authority, etc. All that time, I felt like I was destined for something great, and that meant in my personal life. Then, I went through a phase of feeling like a failure for not having achieved 'it' and therefore not worthy of something great. Well, I have since learned that desiring to be great is not wrong, but that it can cause us to focus on the wrong goals. True greatness comes through service, at least the greatness that matters. I want to kneel in front of God someday, and say that I trusted Him and served, and let him take care of the rest. He doesn't care about our status, job title, bank accounts, or our possessions. I wish I realized this a long time ago. I can thank More than More for helping to bring me back to God. I feel so fortunate in the same situation that I felt miserable in 6 months ago.
Thank you Lord for all the blessings I take for granted daily. Keep me humble and ready to serve.
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