I pose this Question Du Jour, at the risk of being a crank [although this minor concern has never stopped me before].
Well, first, I will establish the contexts.
- None of these statements originated with me
- All belong to the "public domain", by which I mean, none was communicated individually or specifically to me, and all are intended for general consumption
- The sources of all three statements represent themselves as speaking from a Christian Perspective which, as should be obvious and is underscored by this post, is an increasingly large and vaguely defined intellectual landscape
Here they are:
1- "A prayer is a wish turned heavenward"; this was observed about an hour ago, on a church "marquee" as I drove through town.
2- "And while I still loved God and followed him, the thrill was gone." This is a statement from a current online article posted on a website aimed at Christian women. To be fair, the writer does go on to make a helpful observation or two, but the hook and tag line of this copy, summed up in the above quote, gave me pause.
3- "We take the Bible seriously, not literally"; observed on the back of a public transportation system bus, i.e. paid advertising for a local church.
OK, then.
I do not sit in judgment on the originators of these statements. I am neither assigned nor equipped for that task, which is reserved for Christ Himself. But Christ-followers are to know Christ and make Him known; if this is no longer the case, I missed the memo.
I can only conclude that we have woefully lost sight of the priority to think Biblically, and the importance of distinguishing between Biblical thinking and worldly thinking. As has been noted many times before, words mean something.
1- When did a prayer become a "wish"? Prayer is talking to God. Maybe my interpretation is too narrow, but I associate a wish with a hopeful, if not necessarily serious, roll of the cosmic dice. And, by the way, there aren't any cosmic dice. Not there. Jiminy Cricket musically enjoined Pinocchio to "wish upon a star". A star is not a person and does not communicate with humans...not even the stars set in pavement on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And the entertainment celebrities whose names appear on those stars are no more able to make "wishes" come true than they can ensure themselves Emmys or Oscars.
And what's going on "heavenward" that would cause one to turn his wishes in that direction? Get real. Heaven is where God is, and the eternal place from whence Jesus came to earth, to which He has returned, and from whence He will come again. It's inhabited. By Someone who doesn't traffic in "wishes." He inexplicably desires authentic relationship with us and has paid an incomprehensible price to make that possible. Equating wishes with conversation between us and our Creator, Redeemer, and Counselor is misleading and disrespectful at best, and actually much more sinister.
2- I have a long, long, long way to go in my intimacy, obedience, and surrender to God. But I find it confusing and unhelpful to read that a self-identified ministry leader has found, while following God [her words], that "the thrill is gone." We must not be referring to the same "God." Meaning no disrespect to B.B. King's classic ballad, it don't think the thrill can really be gone when it comes to relating with the God of the universe....not if we're clearly keeping in mind Who He is, and who we are.
I'm not peevishly
parsing words here...I'm pointing out that, over and over again, we seem to
begin from the wrong side of the relational equation. Too many of us begin
and end with ourselves. I’m not sensing
the “thrill” anymore, so what gives? I
suggest that it’s a simple matter of losing sight of Who we’re talking
about. Get our eyes off of
ourselves. God sits enthroned above the
circle of the earth [Isaiah 40:22]. This same passage in Isaiah likens us to "grasshoppers" from God's perspective...but He calls us His friends [John 15:15]...what's not thrilling about that?
3- And finally, we may find
ourselves in traffic behind a bus with the provocative but wholly unhelpful
claim that the Bible should be taken “seriously” but not “literally.” Again,
whose lead are we following here? On
what basis does a church find it is their prerogative to decide what to do with
the revealed Word of God? Take careful
note that this view diverges from that of Jesus, Whose references to the Law
and the Prophets were unalloyed by doubt or skepticism. Viewing the Bible as anything other than, not
to mention less than, Christ does is treacherous terrain that leads to no good destination.
We are accountable for the
spiritual light we are given; those who choose to turn away from or not receive
spiritual light, and yet purport to be a source of it anyway, are blind guides
and speak without knowledge.
There’s no smorgasbord
of spiritual truth. There’s just one,
full-strength, pure, unadulterated, and unspeakably expensive choice. Menus that suggest otherwise are evil
fiction.
