The View From Here

“The word ‘meaningful’ when used today is nearly always meaningless.”

–Paul Johnson

Words and their meanings are something I have thought about at length and written about here as well.  It seems that the more a word is used the less weight it has.  They become commonplace and meaningless.  Why does this happen, you ask?  A good place to start looking is economics of all places.

Basic economic theory states that the more a commodity is available, the less it will be worth.  Why are diamonds worth so much?  They are a beautiful and desirable item but their worth comes from their rarity.  If the handful of companies that controlled diamond production in the world released their stock you would see the price of diamonds plummet.  Apply this to words and you have the same outcome.  The more a word is used, the less value it has.  It is not that the meaning has changed but that, many times, people don’t think about the meaning when using it because it is so readily available to them.  Wait for the new “in” word to hit the streets and in short while it will have lost some of it’s value because everyone is saying it often.

The reason I started thinking about this originally was because of common Christian words; words uncommon in their meaning but common in their usage.  We use words like sin, grace, repentance, and even the name of Jesus so often that we often don’t take the time to think about what they mean. 

I think we can apply this concept in more ways than just that.  Look at a society that is thriving and opulent.  Happiness abounds (at least temporary happiness).  Contentedness is expected and when it is not around people are dissatisfied.  What about all the happiness that they have that they are taking for granted?  Does that mean anything to them?  Not nearly as much as it does to a society that happiness is not the normal way of life.  When pain and grief are the norm, a respite from that or a small comfort is treasured beyond anything that the people in the first society can even dream about.

When something exists in excess it tends to be devalued.  Does any of this even matter?  What does this mean for you?  You go find the answers.

Brian

photo credit: Okko Pyykkö

“Daydreaming about something in order to do it properly is right, but daydreaming about it when we should be doing it is wrong.”

–Oswald Chambers

I believe that there are three basic categories of commands that we as Christians receive. They are explicit, implicit, and situational. The first two come from scripture and the last comes from our daily lives.  Let’s start at the end of the list and work our way to the beginning.

1.  Situational

Situational commands are the hardest to discern out of the three.  There are situations in our lives that come up where there is no prescribed correct way to handle them.  The Bible does not speak directly to these situations.  What are we supposed to do?  In this case we have to determine what God would have us do based on what we know of Him as revealed in scripture.  For example, we are told in scripture that is is good not to marry but that marriage does have a purpose.  Both ways of life are spoken of highly by God.  So, which is it?  And then on top of that, who, if anyone, are we supposed to marry?  Is it this person or that one?  How do we know?

This is a situation where we have to be in a close relationship with God and trust that He will lead us.  We have to take these situation by situation and it requires a daily walk with Him to do so.  As my pastor said it, “Obey what you know, and you will know what to obey.”  We know that we are supposed to have a deep and close relationship with out Lord and Savior and if we do that we will know what to do in situations like these.

2.  Implicit

Implicit commands are not directly spoken in scripture but they can be implied.  We are told in 1 Cor. 6:9 that people who practice homosexuality will not inherit the kingdom of God.  It is easy to imply from this scripture that we are commanded not to practice homosexuality. 

Another example of this can be found in 1 Cor. 10:31.  The only two explicit things we are told to do for God’s glory is eat and drink but then we are also told “…whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”  We have to take this and imply that it means that we have to watch movies to the glory of God, or discipline our children to the glory of God.  Implied commands can take some extensive study to understand.

3.  Explicit

Explicit commands are the most visible and easy to discern because they come very directly from scripture.  A great example of these can be found in the ten commandments.  Do not steal is pretty easy to understand.  The only way to interpret this is, don’t steal.  That’s it. There are no two ways about it.

This brings me to the explicit command that I want to talk about.  Jesus says in Mat 28:19-20 to:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

We are explicitly commanded to “make disciples”.  That means sharing the gospel with people.  Our witness before everyone is paramount.  Many times I find myself thinking too much on whether I should share with this person or that person.  There is no question in my mind that I should.  I am over-thinking whereby putting off what God has commanded of me.  There shouldn’t be a time in my life when I am not actively or passively pursuing people for God’s kingdom.  We cannot use the excuse that we don’t know if we should or not.  It is explicit in scripture that we share with everyone.  That is why we are here.

There are things that should take a lot of thought and preparation but this in not one of them.  Don’t think too much.  Obey God.  By doing this we show that we trust Him.

“(Contemplating) after God has spoken is an indication that we do not trust Him.”

–Oswald Chambers

 Brian

ove is in the air!  Valentine’s Day strikes again!  Since today is the day of love I figured I would do a little research about the day.  I would assume that most everyone know that we are celebrating the death of a Saint named Valentine.  That is completely true but what you probably don’t know is that the Catholic church (which started celebrating these Saint days) celebrated the deaths (they are really martyrs) of eleven Saint Valentines throughout the year up until 1969.  The Valentine’s Day we celebrate today is the day the Catholic church recognized two of the eleven (Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni).  The attachment of romantic love with the day didn’t come until the time when courtly love was idealized.  The first written statement linking love and the day came from Geoffery Chaucer in 1382 in Parlement of Foules and read as follows:

For this was on Seynt Volantynys day

Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese [choose] his make [mate].

The commercialization of Valentines Day started in the 1840s when the “valentines” cards were sold in a book and stationary store in Massachusetts.  As time went on men began to have to top what other men were giving the types and varieties of gifts given expanded to flowers and candy.  (I am not sure if that is true or not, but it does make sense)  Since we live in a world driven by money, companies will take any opportunity they can to make money, especially holidays.  Giving jewelry is associated with Valentines Day (even though we can’t all afford it) but this wasn’t the case until the 1980s when diamond companies began advertising the day as an opportunity to give it.

So, there you go.  That is a brief summary of how we came to celebrate this day.  I like history.

Brian

I am no poet by any stretch of the word.  If you have read much of what I have written here you probably find me fairly long winded and easily distracted.  I am just not very good at concise, meaningfull statements which is a must have if you are to write poetry.  That is the reason I have never been able to put lyrics to any of the music I am written on my guitar.  Lyrics are just poetry put to music.  Since I can’t write inspiring lyrics I present you with someone who can.  The song “I Repent” by Derek Webb has really spoken to me recently.  He really hits on some things in this song that we might not normally think of.  Please read and think on it.

I repent, I repent of my pursuit of America’s dream
I repent, I repent of living like I deserve anything
of my house, my fence, my kids, my wife
in our suburb where we’re safe and white
I am wrong and of these things I repent

I repent, I repent of parading my liberty
I repent. I repent of paying for what I get for free
and for the way I believe that I am living right
by trading sins for others that are easier to hide
I am wrong and of these things I repent

I repent judging by a law that even I can’t keep
of wearing righteousness like a disguise
to see through the planks in my own eyes

I repent, I repent of trading truth for false unity
I repent, I repent of confusing peace and idolatry
by caring more of what they think than what I know of what we need
by domesticating you until you look just like me
I am wrong and of these things I

Brian

 As of late I have been rather disconcerted with the way the world seems to be going.  The political atomosphere in the US is about as low as it can get and I don’t really like any of the choices we have in presidential candidates. Morality is on a steady decline.  Internationally, we have a war that is drawing out and most people are getting war weary, and we have nations with potential nuclear ability and other nations probably willing to back them.  It is easy to look at everything going on and feel helpless and hopeless.  What can I do to change things?  What will happen if the world blows up in war and life as we know it ceases?  Then the thought occurs that this must be the worst time in all of history.  When and if you start thinking like this the following quote and passage have been very helpful to me for putting things into a more God-centered, big picture perspective.

What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.

Ecc. 1:9

In times like these, it helps to remember that there have always been times like these.

Paul Harvey

 The world has already seen people and nations acting these ways and the world still exists, but more importantly, God has been there at every turn bringing about his perfect will no matter the choices that are made by man.  Be encouraged, God is in control!  This is not a promise of ease.  In fact, God promises that, as believers, we will experience trials in whatever form they take. Instead it is a promise of hope in our salvation and joy that can be found in those trials knowing that God is refining us.  The world may seem to be falling apart around us (and it may be) but the promises of God are not dependent on a perfect world.  They are only dependent on He who is our cornerstone, Jesus Christ.

 Brian