SPARE PARTS?

A few years ago, I attended a National Leadership Conference.  The speakers consisted of Clergy, Business Leaders and Authors.   The purpose was to encourage people to engage in leadership in their churches and their personal lives. 

Throughout the conference, I observed the difference between the pastors that talked and the businesspeople.  It bothered me that I was more moved by the later than the former. 

After the conference, I reflected on the reasons I felt that way.  I observed that the Spiritual speakers referred to scripture to make their points.  The business-men searched for solutions seeking present factors and taking notice of the unnoticed.  They looked for elements in the present that could make things better.

One viewed the future from the past, and the other searched the now to formulate future solutions. 

The divide within myself startled me.  The spiritual leaders seemed like those trying to make a spaceship out of spare parts lying around as opposed to those who were willing to invent new devices to successfully build a craft. 

I recall a story of two men who met daily to discuss the news.  These men played A game with each other.  They would take a stand opposite of each other and debate for argument sake.  After a long period, a third man joined them and immediately questioned where they stood on specific subjects.  These two men in debating, began believing what they argued to the extent that they no longer recognized themselves. Their game destroyed their identity and character. 

The Bible is a living document and relevant today as it was throughout history.  Why then do not more people rely on it? 

I think that people have been led to believe so many things about the Bible by others that they have forgotten who they are.  More importantly, they have forgotten what they need. 

Spiritual matters clash with the material world.   The spiritual tends to be viewed as ethereal and something that is not relevant in our lives.  It is an old story that is retold repeatedly until it became true.  It is lie that we have come to believe.

Humans have a great capacity to rationalize.  They make up excuses for their behavior and then end up believing their own made up versions of themselves. 

John Milton in 1667 wrote Paradise Lost.   He wrote, “Satan God’s highest Angel, goes most spectacularly wrong.  Reasoning takes him to believe; ‘All I know is all that needs to be known.’”  Pride over powered thinking and reality. 

Some in our society have presented themselves as, “All knowing.”  It is not overt, but rather subtle.  Suggestions on how to raise children, finance your house, invest in the future, and the list goes on and on.

I love the quote, “Trust the person who is seeking, doubt the person that has the answers.”

This depicts a truth, no one knows.  One may know more, but no one knows. 

Milton indicates that this was exactly Satan’s belief.  He knew all that needed to be known. 

If we look at the landscape of media, it is evident that there are many who come across this way.  It is pure, and simply deception.

There are leaders everywhere that pontificate in these manners.  In everyone field, and that includes the spiritual community. 

One may seek answers categorically, but global spiritual pontification can rattle our souls.  Why?  Because, what God says and what man says is often different.  God is truth, man has a high propensity to deceive. 

Saying no when “no” needs to be said and saying yes when “yes” needs to be said is the start of understanding spiritual matters.  This is the first step toward undoing man’s corrupt interpretation of what God spoke. 

It is not the words that corrupt, but rather the attitude of the one pontificating.  We are all flawed, and hiding those flaws tempts us to deceive others about ourselves as well as deceiving ourselves.   

This is where the division takes place between the spiritual and material.  The material is safe, it is tangible and consistent.   Spiritual takes you into yourself, the good and bad.  We do not like to see the bad.

Carl Jung stated, “No tree can grow to Heaven, unless its roots reach from Hell.”

For Fruit to grow in our lives, for good fruit; we must deal with the ugliness that is in us.  We must recognize our deepest darkness to produce the fruit God intended us to bear. 

The lies around us corrupts our sensitivities to living in truth.

We all need spiritual help and guidance.  However, we reject the exact thing we need through fear of being deceived.  It is not God that is deceiving, it is man.  Man’s inability to admit that there is so much more for him to learn and understand, is the root of deception.  Admitting this rejects the pride and arrogance that obstructs being authentic. 

A question that is begged to be asked, “Do you authentically believe in God or are you manipulating us by your deceit to gather control over us?   

In the authentic state we have an opportunity to learn and grow. 

Living in truth is seeing past other’s deceptions, self-administered lies, and the lies perpetrated on them.

For example: The insidiousness of “Political Correctness” is that it forces you to hold your own tongue for fear of retribution.  This is the exact environment to harbor dictatorship; groups forcing you to believe in a lie.  You are saying “yes” to something that needs a “no.”

Søren Kierkegaard framed this behavior as, “inauthentic” – it is not you, so your abiding to it is a lie.

There are no Atheist, just people who admit that they hate being deceived by those claiming to know it all.  Let’s let God do the talking not those who claim to know what he is says. 

This journey is challenging primarily because, you will need to investigate your own Hell before your tree can reach for Heaven.  In the end, God will bless you for it.

Attila B. Horvath, Author