Benefactors

The recent events with hurricane Katrina and Rita have gotten many people into the spirit of compassionate giving. People are clammering to help those in need. But the popular media reports these needs incessantly. The popular media reports news that is always negative and unrelenting. We are often motivated by more than compassion these days. From the perspective of Jesus, all this should cause us to pause and consider some important questions.

Luke 22:24-26

What does it mean to offer help to someone in need? Does it mean they owe a debt of gratitude for my magnanimous offer? Does it mean I deserve a certain level of respect from people? Does it mean that I am good? Does it mean that I genuinely love that person? Does it mean I just want to solve a problem to make life more enjoyable for me?

Do I become that person's master? Does it imply that I am a better person than they? Does it mean I am smarter? Does it imply that they need me? Does it mean there is something I need?

Is helping someone giving me something to do? Does my self-worth become enhanced? Does it help me feel better? Does it make me more spiritual? Does it reveal who I really am?

Can the action of helping be a magic charm? Does it cause God to be more on my side? Does it mean I'll receive more blessings? Does it mean I'll become richer? Does it mean I'll experience what it is to be poor?

Are my deepest needs fulfilled when I help a needy person? Does my anxiety for the future subside? Does it mean I'll be at peace? Does the person I help become fulfilled? Does it mean that the emptiness I feel can't be filled by anything on this earth?

What is the true path of love?

What I've Learned From Job

After reading Job I was given insights into my personal struggles and suffering in general.

1. Just because I am suffering doesn't mean it's because I sinned.
   
   
2. Although it seems God's promises to me have failed, they won't in time. If it seems that God has abandoned me, it doesn't mean I should abandon Him. I will hold to my integrity.
   
   
3. Being accused of doing evil or wrong, or if someone just feels I am wrong, doesn't mean I have to agree in order to keep the peace-- especially when I honestly believe I haven't done wrong. I will hold to my integrity.
   
   
4. If my conscience is clear, it doesn't make me innocent. If it is defiled, it doesn't make me guilty either. God is the one who justifies.
   
   
5. God doesn't always give men what they deserve, because His purposes are beyond our tracing out.
   

These are the situations where I know my integrity can be tested:

1. I lose a promotion, respect, or friendship because I refuse to participate in wickedness.
   
   
2. I am afraid to be honest about what I believe, because I may risk being abandoned.
   
   
3. I maintain my innocence even when every one around me confesses to a particular sin.
   
   
4. I maintain my guilt, when every one around me believes what I've done is okay.
   
   
5. I wait on God even when people, Satan, or bad thinking patterns try to convince me to feel shame when I go through suffering.
   
   
6. I try to trust that God loves me when I suffer or feel abandoned, and I can not perceive God's presence.
   
   
7. I chose the hard path even when I have the opportunity to use wicked means to achieve my ends; and while integrity, honesty and trust in God seems like it's not working or that it gets in the way.
   

Why Design is Important to God

The ultimate thought: God is the original designer. And if you think about it, His Son, Jesus, was a carpenter. Being God in the flesh, he represented an aspect of God in his profession. He is an artisan. He didn't simply chop wood. He was a craftsman, and a skilled artist like Bezalel.

The Bible begins with this notion in mind. God created everything. Therefore, a big aspect of God's character is His creativity. He invented design. In Jesus, he honored creativity and design in his original profession.

So what has happened with that realization? I don't mean the debate over evolution and intelligent design, or musical styles in the church. I am talking about people who should know better, Christians, and how they view art, design, and creativity from a worldview construct. Why do many believers often relegate creativity, aesthetics, and well-done design to an optional annoyance? Beauty is seen as less important than function, which is more a philosophy of utilitarian thought rather than Christian thought. What has happened?

Mind you, I know that there is a movement among a younger set of Christians and among so-called emergent churches. I am aware that many of my brothers and sisters in Christ take seriously the role of creativity in worship "services" and in worship music. There is even a movement towards a more market focused church, using market research, good brand strategy, and graphic design to reach people that the church has recently struggled to reach.

But I am concerned by the general lack of understanding about this aspect of God from a theological perspective. Just because a church decides that creativity is important, and they produce artwork or emotional services, doesn't mean that they understand creativity as an essential aspect of God's character and His will. Is it because it doesn't make sense that God gave us the ability to appreciate beauty, and He created everything to appeal to that aspect in our character? Is it because Satan was so successful in marring our God-like image that we simply don't value the less concrete aspects of ourselves? Maybe it is because we just don't value those things that we can't see, taste, touch, or hear? (After all, they don't make something happen like money or effort does.) Maybe we really are utilitarian thinkers.

But I have to admit that there are some who get it. They see aesthetics, design, and creativity in all aspects of their worship, career, and relationship with God. They see God as multifaceted and unpredictable. Yes, He is predictable in the way we need to understand Him; after all He is the Great Mystery. (He heals people, but He doesn't always heal someone the same way. He loves everyone, but we experience that love differently. He calls each of us to His side, but His call is different for different people. He doesn't change His mind, but He responds to our wills.) These people understand that creativity and the enjoyment of beauty is not an option, but a necessity.

I pray that we can all have this insight. (Eph. 3:14-21)