Category: Wildman Journey (Page 73 of 87)

Richard Rohr is his men’s work has a ritual entitled “discharging your loyal soldier.”  It is based on the experience of Japanese soldiers after world war II.  Many soldiers were not fit or prepared to reenter civilian life.  So Japanese communities created a communal ritual in which the soldiers were honored for their service to the country and then told, “The war is now over!  The community needs you to let go of what has served you and served us well up to now.  The community needs you to return as a man, a citizen and something beyond a solider.”  This helped them transition from soldier to civilian.

The point of this ritual for men is to help them make transitions at major times in their lives.  One such transition is navigating the midlife crisis.  We each have a loyal soldier that has served us well in the first half of life, but usually a crisis will call into question the life of the loyal soldier for the second half of life.  Rohr says that in the first half of our life we build a “container,” which includes our loyal solider.  The containers give us ego strength for the first half of our journey.  It has served us well as we go out into the world.  But there will come a time when men realize that ego strength has come at the expense of “”soul strength.”  The container, while outwardly seems strong, is empty on the inside.  There is a prompting during midlife to do the “inner work” of the soul.  It must be done so the second half of life can be lived well. 

At this point a man has to face the fact that he is being called to die, that is, to discharge his loyal soldier.   There now is the awareness of needing to let go.  The container has been built, but it needs to be emptied and refilled. It can be very frightening.  Who want to die to that which is familiar.  Rohr puts it this way. “When you first discharge your loyal soldier, it will feel like a loss of faith, or loss of self.  But it is only the death of the false self, and is often the very birth of the soul.  Instead of being ego driven, you will begin to be soul drawn.”  Men, if we listen to the voice of our soul, we know there is more.  Our container is hallow and needs new life.  It needs living water and the bread of life.

I promise you, based on personal experience, that if you are willing to discharge your loyal soldier, that is,  your image of you think you are and what you want to be, your true self, who you were meant to be from the beginning will come forth.  It will be a process.  With it come greater freedom and authencity.   Jesus spoke of this transition often. For example, in John 12:24-25, “Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat.  But if is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over.  In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life.  But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.” (The Message).  

One more thought about the discharging of the loyal solider.  In our Western culture, we do not have the rituals of transition to help men move into the second half of life.  My suggestion for any struggling with the difficulty of this transition, is to find a group of men who adhere to the principles of the 12 Steps of AA.  If you can’t find a group, memorize the 12 steps and read some devotional material based on the 12 steps.  The 12 steps, if embraced, will help with the letting go of the loyal soldier, so that you can go on into the new.  Life “has become unmangeable…….make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God……entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character” (Steps 1,3,6).  That’s the way you discharge the loyal soldier.

Yes, this is another Blog that is inspired by Tim Tebow.  I don’t think I will do another blog on this remarkable young man for awhile.  So bear with me for just this one more time.  I know there will be a lot more said about this young man, so it will be tempting on my part to reflect again with you on the influence he is having on our culture.  Right now a poll from ESPN says he is the most popular athletic in America.  So in my opinion we need to make the most of this season.

As all you sports fans know, the Broncos lost last Sunday to the Patriots and Tom Brady.  Tebow completed just 9 of 26 passes for 136 yards, with no touchdowns, and his attempts to run – his greatest strength – were thwarted as he gained just 13 yards.  He was sacked five times and lost a fumble as the Broncos were over matched from the start by the Patriots.  They lost 45-10.  So last Sunday could have been a very down time for Tebow.  But that was not the case.  

Listen to what Tim Tebow had to say after the game. “It still wasn’t a bad day.  It still was a good day, because I got to spend some time before the game with Zack McLeod ( a 20 year-old Cambridge native who suffered a traumatic brain injury playing football) and make him smile, and overall when you get to do that, it’s still a positive day. Sometimes that’s hard to see, but it depends what lens you’re looking through.  I choose to look through those lenses, and I got to make a kid’s day, that’s more important than winning the game.  So, I am proud of that.”  Wow!  Did you hear what that young man said.  There is something more important than football.  Football for Tim Tebow is “a platform” for serving God.  That is the secret to his public life.

For me it raises the question about the kind of “lens” I see through.  It like the old saying, “Either the cup is half full or it is half empty.”  It depends on how you view what is right in front of you.  We each have a lens that we look through.  The apostle Paul writing from prison in Philippi was a very joyful person.  The whole letter is one of joy. He saw through lenses of “contentment.”  He says this about himself, towards the end of his letter. “I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances.  I”m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little.  I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty.  Whatever I have, whatever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am” (Phil 4:12-13  – The Message)

I would like to challenge us men, with those words from Paul when he says, “I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances.”  My take away from the witness of Tim Tebow is this.  Being content in the present moment, that is, in my present circumstances, has a lot to do with being “other-centered.”  That is why losing a big game can be put in perspective.  Can you image a 24 year young man, with all the pressure on him before the big game, giving his undivided attention to someone who is less fortunate.  In my book, that is maturity far beyond Tim Tebow’s years.  So I ask each of you men, what kind of lens are you looking through today.  When you look into your circumstances are you first of all, centered in Jesus and then on others.  Think about this  – “All you have is the present moment.”  How do you see it – with want kind of lens.  Is it about you or about God and others.  That is the choice we have to make.

Quantum physicist, Stephan Hawking, who is considered by many to be the greatest living scientist, has just celebrated his 70thbirthday.  At the age of 21 he was diagnosed withLou Gehrig’s disease.  That disease usually leads to death within three years, but Hawking has lived nearly a half-century, which is trulyremarkable.  No longer able to speak, he has communicated for several years through a special computer device that allows him to choose words as the machine follows his cues. In an interview with New Scientist to mark his 70th birthday, he revealed a softer side of his brilliant mind.  What caught my attention was his comment regarding women.  When asked what occupied his thoughts for most of his waking hours, he answered: “Women.  They are a complete mystery.”  So there you have it men.  The answer from one of the most brilliant scientific minds of our times; women are a mystery.  With his scientific mind, he has not been able to figure out women.  Why?  The mystery ofwomen has to do withrelationships.  Intimacy with a woman gets us into the mystery of relating to “the other.”

Even though Hawking is an atheist, his thoughts about women are confirmed by scripture.  Paul implies something of this mystery in Eph5:31-32, “And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife.  No longer two, they become ‘one flesh.’  This is a huge mystery, and I don’t pretend to understand it all” (The Message). Paul seems to be saying that when a man enters marriage he is entering into something that is a mystery.  To become “one flesh” with someone who is opposite of you can be very threatening and unsettling since our basic stance in relationship as men is to find solutions and a fix.  Believe me when I say you will never be able to “fix” or “figure out” how your wife relates to you.  It is not a matter of the mind but of the heart.      

So my exhortation to you men, is to embrace the mystery of the woman to who you are married.  Never begin to let yourself think and then suggest to your wife that you fully understand her.  Remember God gave you your opposite in your wife. As opposite she is meant to complement you rather then fitting your expectation of her.  You need her to be who God has created her to be as a female.  How could you as the opposite ever presume to fully understanding her. “God said, ‘It’s not good for the Man to be alone.  I’ll make him a helper, a companion.” (Gen 2:18 – The Message).  Your wife relates best to you when she is your help mate, not someone who you try to figure out.  Yes, she is a mystery.  Praise God

I have been humbled more times then I would like to admit, when I stand before the mystery of my wife. Not understanding her responses to me have often made me unsettled and insecure.  When I come around to see my “silliness” I realize she is meant to be my help mate not someone who complies to my wishes.  Some years ago, Judy and I had the privilege of have lunch with the man I consider my mentor, Dr. James Houston.  After our conversation, I ask if he had any advice for me.  At that time I was in my early 50’s.  He surprised me, but delighted Judy when he said, “cherish your wife.”  I never forgot those words.  To cherish, means among other things, “to hold dear.”  This implies the celebration of the woman who is the wonderful opposite of me 

As I have learned to cherish my wife, God has revealed to me more of the beauty and wonder of who my wife really is as my help mate.  It is one of the joys of marriage to be able to see your wife come forth in all that she is meant to be in her feminine self.  It is the role of the husband to cherish his wife to such a degree, that his wife is secure enough to express who she is meant to be in the eyes of her heavenly Father.  The more I cherish Judy as my opposite the more I will have glimpses of the mystery of who she in our relationship as man and wife.

Last Sunday, I was in the car taking a snooze in the car while my “bride” was shopping in WalMart in Brainerd.  I also was catching up on the post game chat about the Vikings’ season ending lose.  An advertising came on about Miller Lite beer.  The gist of the ad was that real men drink Miller Lite.  Men were asked to “Man Up.”  Now I am a sports fan and I pay attention to the beer ads, because they tell us a lot about the state of the male in our culture.  This was the first time I heard about “man up.” Remember the ads want men to drink beer, so they will do what is necessary to appeal the present state of men in America, especially young men.  Have you ever seen an ad for beer appealing to older guys like me (70).  So I got to thinking about what I could say about “man up” in blog.  So here you have it.

As followers of Jesus there is no place for the idea of “man up.”  We are to walk humbly and loving with Jesus.  The way of Jesus is following him, allowing his Spirit within us to bring about transformation.  We are changed from the inside out.  The result will be less of us and more of him.  Henri Nouwen calls this “downward mobility.” In order for this to happen, the single most important act of faith that we exercise is that of humbling ourselves before the Lord in dependence and surrender to him.  The idea of “man up” appeals to the self-centered pride in the men of our culture.  Exalted pride is dangerous to the spiritual life. “For those who exalt themselves, will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Matt 23:12).  The Message put it this way, “Do you want to stand out?  Then step down.  Be a servant.  If you puff yourself up, you’ll get the wind knocked out of you.  But if you’re content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty.”

The phrase  “If you puff yourself up, you’ll get the wind knocked out of you” is very descriptive.  Be assured men, there will times when the wind will be knocked out of you.  If you have an inflated ego, that is, if you “man up”  God will see to it that you get the wind knocked out of you.  It is important that you recognize this process taking place in your walk as an expression of God’s grace and mercy.  God will humble you.  It is one of the ways to get our attention.  James tells us, “It’s common knowledge that ‘God goes against the willful proud; God give grace to the willing humble.’  So let God work his will in you.” (James 4:6-7 – The Message).  In accepting the humbling in our life we receive grace.  Peter warns us, “God has had it with the proud, but takes delight in just plain people.  So be content with who you are, and don’t put on airs.  God’s strong hand is on you; he’ll promote you at the right time.  Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.” (I Peter 5:5-7  – The Message).  God hand on your life is for your own good. 

In closing I would like to suggest an alternate phrase to that of “man up.”  I suggest “man kneeling.”  What does this suggest?  First it gives the description of a man who is humble before the Lord.  Actually it is a good posture to practice in your devotional life.  Kneel before the Lord and cry out to him for mercy.  He hears the cries of a desperate man.  Secondly, kneeling suggests a reverent posture of worship.  A man on his knees worshipping the Lord.  Ps 95:6 exhorts us to kneel before God. “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.”  Thirdly, a man who is kneeling before the Lord, is in a posture the is conducive to letting go of his ego.  With hand lifted up a man is giving expression of surrender, sometimes in desperation.   As I write this blog,  I sense in my Spirit a man or even several, who are caught in a circumstance where they are being humbled.  I suggest that you spend time kneeling before God, pouring your heart out to him, and saying to him that you let go.  Don’t try to figure out the next steps of your journey.  Let God lovingly and gently lead you as you humble yourself before him.

 I am writing this blog on the 23rd of Dec.  Tomorrow is Christiams Eve.  We just got word that  Judy’s Dad, Stan Seburg, who was 100 years old,  just passed away. This means that Christmas will be a time of planning for and having the funeral for Stan.  I have had to hold and comfort my wife at this “joyful time of year.”  I loved my father-in-law.  He gave me a wonderful daughter who has been my “soulmate” for 46 years.  I respected my father-in-law.  I have asked and received much good counsel over the years.  Stan Seburg was one of the most generous and kind men I have had the joy of knowing.  Now we all have to face the reality that he is gone.  The last of our four parents.

Now I mention the dilemma of my Christmas  because I got to thinking about pain and suffering and its relationship to Christmas.  Charles Colson had a very interesting blog in which he talks about how we almost force upon ourselves and one another the idea of Christmas being a time to be “joyful.”  He references Michael Knox Beran (unknown to me) regarding  the modern “dream of a painless world.”  Beran calls it the “great illusion…which regards suffering not as something inherent in the very nature of life but as an anomaly to be eradicated by reason and science and social legislation.”  “There is” says Beran a utopian delusion which “appeals to our inner egotism and self-conceit.  When something painful happens, one’s instinct is to be outraged, as though the universe has made a mistake…But there has been no mistake; we have been created to know joy, and also to know misery.”  

The older I get the more I have, by the grace of God, been able to hold together the tension between joy and suffering.  There is paradox and mystery to suffering.  But the more that I have been able to come to rest in “the arms of love” the more grace I have to accept what is before me.  Right now it is the reality that this Christmas my wife’s family is going to have to prepare for and take part in a funeral right after Christmas.  Recently, I have had to face some personal grieving, but by God’s grace have also found joy in the midst of the trial.  Peter’s word help me in this process. “Since Jesus went through everything you’re going through and more, learn to think like him.  Think of your suffering as a weaning from the old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way.  Then you’ll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want.” (I Peter 4:1-2 – The Message).  I don’t know about you, but I don’t like the “weaning” process.  The weaning for me has been learning to  “let it be.”  This is what I am doing at this moment.

Remember men, Jesus came to suffer.  It is a modern illusion of a false hope that somehow we are going to get a “handle of evil.”  It will be with us till the end.  You and I will be touched by suffering and pain.  But our hope is that someday it will be taken care of.  Not by illusionary post-modern thinking, but through the victory of Jesus who came to die on a cross. “He used his servant body to carry our sins to the Cross so we could be rid of sin, free to live the right way.” ( I Peter 2:24 – The Message).  Listen to Paul. “That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times.  The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next.  Everything in creation is being more or less held back.  God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead.  Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.” (Romans 8:18-21 – The Message).  Stan Seburg is dancing with his bride, Doris in heaven.  Meanwhile, Judy and I live in joyful anticipation of better things to come.

Men, did you know that a recent article in the Atlantic Monthly listed Tim Tebow as on the the “15 Most Divisive Athletes in Recent History.”  He was listed along with Michael Vick, Barry Bonds, Dennis Rodman, Pete Rose and O.J. Simpson.  The actions of these athletes include conviction for animal cruelty, obstruction of justice, tax evasion and  being banned from baseball for betting on games, someone who probably killed his ex-wife, and book signing wearing a dress.  So what is it about Tim Tebow that makes his so divisive?  Charles Colson in his comments on this article says, “what makes Tebow ‘divisive’  and ‘controversial’ has little, if anything, to do with what he does on the field.   It’s all about our increasing intolerance of faith in public life.  Tebow isn’t trying to ‘impose’ anything on anyone besides himself.”  I agree.  

Jen Engel, a sports writer for Fox made an interesting point about “Tebowing.”  If Tebow were an Islamic quarterback, who was making religious gesture and got ridiculed all hell would break loose.   So why is the faith gestures of Tim Tebow open game to all the ridicule from fans, players and especially the media.  It seems sports writers and commentators don’t quite know what to do about a young man who seems to so moral upright with a faith that determines how he will live not only privately but also publicly.  So for you men who read this blog, I have to make the confession that I am an out and out fan of Tim Tebow. I deeply admire him for his “spiritual guts.”  He is a blessing to the male sports subculture, which I am a part of.  Why?  Because he gets men to think about not just religious ideas and habits, but about faith in Jesus.  There is a “spiritual jab” that men are receiving through “Tebowing.”  It opens the door to the possibility of some good conversation.

So here is what I am going to do.  I challenge you men to do the same thing.  I am going to bring up the name of Tim Tebow with men both inside and outside of a church setting.  I want to hear what they have to say about this young man.  I want to know what they really feel in their souls – a kind of gut reaction.  I don’t want them repeating the opinions of the critics and synics.  I want to know how they feel about a young man who has a deep faith in Jesus.  I personally believe that it is convicting to a lot of “church” guys. I know Tim Tebow convicts me about my public posture as a follower of Jesus. I am going to challenge them to think about their own relationship to Jesus.  As a humble and loving follower of Jesus, I am going to use “Tebowing” as a God ordained opportunity to gently challenge men about their relationship with Jesus.

Remember Jesus did not call us to follow him when life is a “beach” and all is going well.  Men, we live in a day when all religious options are on the table.  This is not bad.  This can be good, if we know how to appeal to men.  Men need to be challenged to get off of “dead center” and truly decide if they want to follow Jesus.  But I must warn you it is not going to be a “Sunday School picnic.”  Listen to Jesus words from The Message. “If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me.  If you lived on the world’s terms, the world would love you as one of its own.  But since I picked you to live on God’s terms and no longer on the world’s terms, the world is going to hate you.” (John 15:16-19)   Those are strong words from Jesus.  This is what Tim Tebow faces every day.  How about you?  Are you willing to take some opposition as a humble, loving follower of Jesus?  It could be that if you are, you too will be called “divisive.”

Yes, men that is what it has come to during this Christmas Holiday.  A display of a skeleton in a Santa Claus suit was placed on a cross that was then erected on the courthouse in Leesburg, Va.  A spokesperson for the county explained, “The board of Supervisors currently has a policy in place to allow display on the courthouse lawn.  There are only 9 display sites that are filled on a first-come, first-serve basis.  This applicants (for the crucifed Santa) choose the third week period” to show their display.  The display was submitted by a high school student named Jeff Heflin, whose mother belongs to NOVA Atheists.  The pupose of the display was to convey that the spirit of the holiday was killed off by commercialism.  Rick Wingrove, of the NOVA Atheists said, “It was an art piece reflecting on the death of the true spirit of the holiday by greed and commercialism.  It was anything but an attack on religion.  It was, ironically, in line with a common complaint in the religious community about the hijacking of the holiday by big box retail interests.” 

I ask you men, how can we get more confused about this time of year.  It goes from bad to worse.  If it gets any worse next year, we might be able to get the attention of the culture regarding the fact that “Jesus is the reason for the season.”  That is the simple, underlying theme of the Christmas season.  But here we have a group of Atheists protesting the greed and commercialization of Christmas.  They contend that “the spirit of of the holiday” has been “killed off by commercialism.”  We can say a hardy Amen to that observation.  But what does an Atheist group say about the real meaning of the season?  What to them is the real spirit of the season?  Again I contend that the message of the season has so been “erased” from the public square, that we are left with a “naked square” in which the symbols of transcedent belief in God have been lost.  

Image the confusion that is created when people drive by and see a Santa crucified on a cross.  These are two powerful symbols of belief, “Santa” and “a cross.”  I seriously question Mr. Wingrove when he says that the display was not an attack on religion.  Image this display being erected in heart of Bejing, China, for example. Some might make the connection with the religious themes.  But most people would dismiss it as some kind of joke.  But not here in America, especially at this time of the season.  Why!  Both Santa and the cross are loaded with religious  and also cultural meaning.  After all, we have celebrated Christmas in peace for many years.  But not anymore.  Why?  Because we have lost touch with the symbols.

Men, I implore you to think through what you believe and why you believe it.  Again, at the ripe, old age of 70, I have come to the place that I simply want to be “a humble, loving follower of Jesus.”  I know what I believe about Christimas.  Christmas is very, very special and significant for me.  God became flesh – He became a man – a human being – someone who was both God and man.  This is the story.  Take time this season to think through the implications of Jesus becoming a man for you.  In our day, it is no use getting all worked up about the demise of the season.  Our job is to simply tell our story.  People still need to hear.  But they need to hear it in a new way – by simple story-telling – not just Jesus’ coming but also his death  and  resurrection.  You need to tell the rest of the story. 

I close with the words of Paul when he tells the story in I Cor 15.  He is getting to the rest of the story. “The first thing I did was place before you what was placed so emphatically before me: that the Messiah died for our sins, exactly as Scripture tells it; that he was buried; that he was raised from death on the third day, again exactly as Scripture says; that he presented himself alive to Peter, then to his closest follwers, and later to more than five hundred of his followers, all at the same time, most of them still around (although a few have since died); that he then spent time with James and the rest of those he commissioned to represent him;  and that he finally presented himsef alive to me.” (I Cor 15:3-9 – The Message).  Men put your self at the end of this list.  He appears among us alive today through the presence of His Holy Spirit.  He comes to live in our heart – yes, the risen Lord who was born a man like you and me.

The title of my blog this week comes from the slogan on a McDonld’s McCafe coffee cup.  On the back of the cup are these words, “My moment to unwind.  It’s time to indulge myself.”  I like coffee.  When Judy and I travel we always stop in Mcdonald’s for coffee.  I also like to stop at Carbou for coffee.  I like Caribou’s coffee.  On their coffee cup it says “make it merry.”  Now I ask you men, what does “Celebrate Season’s craving” or “Make it Merry” have to do with the meaning of Christmas.  I realize the church has almost lost the cultural war of trying to bring back “Christmas.”   But I have to say, these two slogans show how far we have strayed.  We are now trying to invent ways of making the season meaningful.  

As believers we know that “Jesus is the reason for the season.”  However, these two titles tell me something about the culture. Remember big money is spent coming up with these slogans.  Adversting firms spend lot of money to hire pyschologists, so that McDonld’s and Caribou can get you to buy their coffee instead of driving up to Starbuck’s or another coffee place.  So what is going on with these slogans.  The first thing the strikes me is the fact that we have to create a desire and meaning for the season.  One asks you to indulge your craving.  This is the season to do it.  The other outright asks you to find a reason to be merry.  Men, the season has come to be whatever you want it to be.  If you can’t find a way to make it merry, at least use the season to indulge yourself.

So I have two “take-aways” from these slogans.  The first deals with our cravings.  There is something about the holiday season that stirs up positive sentiment  like no other time of the year.  But could it be that there is less sentiment being experienced since Christmas has lost its meaning.  The old sentiment made one feel good about life, by being in a giving, joyful mood.  At least that is the way it used to be.  But today we are not sure about those sentiments we hear in the Christmas carols. They seem almost out of place.   So with the old sentiments sponged out of the way, we have to create new sentiments.  McDonald’s says we ought to celebrate the season’s cravings.  I just ask –  what are the cravings?  How do we celebrate them? The coffee cup puts the responsibility upon me to find a way indulge.   Men, you want to get stirred and all energized.  Just take a few minutes and ponder the magnitude of what God did when He became one of us.  John tells us, “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.  We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son.”  (John 1:14 – The Message).   God came to live in your neighborhood and he came to stay.  Wow!  That should get you “juiced.”

The second “take-away” has to do with the idea that we are to create the sentiment of being “merry.”  That show how far we have gotten away from the celebration of God becoming flesh.  For me the implication of the caribou slogan is that we still should be merry.  We are not sure why we are still supposed to be merry.  But this used to be the season for being merry.  So make it merry.  But I ask –  How do you make it merry?  We aren’t told what it is.  Why should we be merry?  The biggest question is for me is, “Why are we being asked to be merry during Nov – Dec.  Something got lost.  Maybe we are being asked to find it again.  Where are people looking?

With that in mind, let me quote from I John 1:1-4 about finding it. “From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in – we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands.  The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen!  And now we’re telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly this: the infinite Life of God himself took shape before us.  We saw it, we heard it, andnow we’re telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ.  Our motive for writing is simply this: We want yoiu to enjoy this, too.  Your joy will double our joy!  (The Message).   So there you have it.  The reason to truly be merry.

Did you know that you are already holy as a believer, while being made holy.  Scripture calls us saints. A Christian is holy, because they are filled with the Holy Spirit and belong to God.  They are conscerated for God’s will.  We read in Ephesians 1:4, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight”.  The Message in I Peter 1:16 exhorts us to, “let yourself be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness.  God said, ‘I am holy, you be holy.'”  Holiness is a part of who we are as believers.   “But when this priest (Jesus) has offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.  For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy (Hebrews 10:12-14).  Here we learn that we are also in the process of being made holy.  So while we are holy, there is also a process of becoming what we are in God.  This is a life long process.

With this short introduction I want to introduce a very helpful definition I ran across in a book by Father Albert Hasse in his book “This Sacred Moment.”  He is helpful in understanding the process of being made holy.  Holiness is, “a selfless openness and response to God’s call in this sacred moment.”  The call of God comes when there is an unmet need or something that needs to be done in the present moment.  It is a call to selfless openness.  “Holiness” says Haase, “is the lifelong journey out of slavery to the ego and its consuming preoccupation with self-concern, self-image, self-gratification, and self-preservation.”   Holiness calls us to selflessness.  An attitude of selfless openness attacks the ego head-on.  The ego desires to control and manipulate everything and everyone it confronts.  “But,” says Haase, “a selfless openness and response to whatever the present moment is asking of me, rooted in the desire to imitate the self-emptying of Jesus, incapacitates the ego and renders it powerless.” 

So what does this have to do with men becoming holy?  Why would a man even want to grow in holiness?  Because it frees a man from dark prison of self-enclosure so he can walk out into the open spaces of God’s acceptance  and experience the light of God’s presence.  It is like breathing fresh air each moment of the day.  The prison of self is place of fear, shame and guilt.  Choices need to be made, not just occasionally but in every moment as to whether we are going to grow in holiness.  The choice is to respond to the ego or the spirit of Jesus in our lives.  “The belief that the need of the present moment is an invitation from God to forget myself and enrich the life of another is the motivating force and insight behind selfless openness.  Indeed, the present moment as it unfolds before me is an expression of God’s will for me.”  This is a call to live outside the enclosed confines of our ego, with its constricting and exploitative obsession with what we have, what we do and what people think of us.

So the take away for me in this short discourse on holiness, is the realization that we are continually making choices throughout our day.  Holiness can be seen as choosing to reject the ego’s desires and to listen to the voice of the Spirit.  Now this is not easy. That is why we are a work in progress when it comes to holiness.  But we have a choice.  To choose the way of Jesus, is to come humbling and pententially to him asking for his grace and help.  We can’t do it.  It has to be Jesus in us.   But every moment we choice the life of the Spirit in us, the more we will be growing in holiness.  Remember holiness is freedom from the restrictions of the ego.  Holiness is learning to become who we were always meant to be in Christ.

Charles Colson discusses in a recent blog on an experiment that shows how easy it is to make people go against what they believe to be true.  This is how he described the experiments.  “One of the experiments involved wine-tasting, in which participants evaluate both the wine and one another’s wine-tasting skills.  The participants were given three samples of wine.  In reality, all three samples were from the same bottle.  One had even been tainted with vinger.  Before they delivered their evaluation, they listened to other participants, who were plants, who praised the vinegar-laced wine as the best.  Half of the participants went against their own taste buds and joined in praising the vinegary concoction.”

Colson goes on, “Even more interesting is what happened next.  Another participant, who was also a plant, told the truth about the wines.  But when it came time for the participants to evaluate each other, some of them were permitted to do so confidentially, and the others had to do so publicly.  The ones who gave their evaluations confidentially praised the truth-teller.  But those who had to evaluate the truth-teller publicly actually turned on him and gave him low marks.”  The researchers described this as “false enforcement”   – “The public enforcement of a norm that is not privately endorsed.” 

The norm was upheld not by popularity nor its validity.  It was upheld by their desire to “avoid a negative social judgment from one’s peers.”  Wanting to avoid “a negative social judgment” has been called the “spiral of silence.”  Colson’s conclusion: “….out of a desire to avoid reprisal or isolation, people go along with what they think is the popular opinion – even if they object to that opinion personally.  Instead of voicing their objections, they remain silent.”

I thought it was important enough to quote Charles Colson rather extensively on the blog.  I personally have a great deal of respect for what Colson does in helping followers of Jesus to think through the profound social issues we face in post-modern and post-Christian America.  Living in a pluralistic culture can be challenging for us men.  I was convicted reading his post, when I reflected on the times that I have remained silent about what I really believe, for fear of being in the minority or not being accepted. Listen to Peter’s exhortation to us in I Peter 3:15-16 from The Message. “Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master.  Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy.  Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick.”

I find that asking for discernment in knowing when to speak up and what to say is important.  I don’t want to be offensive and pushy, but I also want to be true to my convictions.  Men, in our day there is significant voices that are trying to quiet a clear witness of the gospel.  It is actually intimidation.  The present cultural climate will continue to militate against a clear witness of the truth.   But the darker the conditions, the more that the light of the gospel is needed.  Here is some encouragement from our Lord. “When people realize it is the living God you are presenting and not some idol that makes them feel good, they are going to turn on you, even people in your own family.  There is a great irony here: proclaiming so much love, experiencing so much hate!  But don’t quit.  Don’t cave in.  It is all well worth it in the end.  Before you’ve run out of options, the Son of Man will have arrived.”