Tag Archives: Sophia (wisdom)

Of Compromise and Folly

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folly

folly (Photo credit: Leo Reynolds)

This is a personal testimony regarding compromise and folly.  The issue is large.  But I will strive to limit the words.

I had been a “leader” in a Church setting once.  This Church group had a social service outreach.  And as I administered its various functions I noticed that there were many compromises with truth within it.  It was in this setting that I came to understand that there was a whole lot of power and money to be made on the backs of those who have no money and no power.

Through the guise of helping man has made a violent mockery of charity.  And I am quite aware that this is a problem that will not be fixed in this place of testing.  We wait for the True Leader of True Charity to appear.  And under the singular rule of the Son of God we will see purity.

The source of corruption within all charities is compromise.  I was told I was far too black and white in my approach to leadership in that Church group.  And it was this aspect of my mind that caused me to resign.  I can’t say if it was wise to remove myself from the grip of such an endeavour.  For every dark room needs a light to see. (I am not praising myself here as you will see.)

I make full confession here that I am a fool.  Now the reason I say that is that I am not adept at the art of social compromise as most people are.  That is why I am also a loner, or perhaps better said a social isolationist.  I cannot compete in the games the world demands we play.  So I opt out of as many of those games as I possibly can.

There are wise men who can play the games with a bend toward righteousness.  But I am not one of them.  Because of my straight forward approach to what is true I often get into arguments with almost everyone.  I will say it again so that there is no misunderstanding, “I am not a righteous man because of my approach.”  There is no one righteous, not one.  And I am not writing this to make myself into something I am not.

With that forward I will now launch into what prompted me to write this in the first place.

Though I am often put to great sadness because of my lack of wisdom in the affairs of men.  And though I am bruised within my soul for the harm I do to my fellow man with such arguments, I have found something of great value that is worthy of mention.

Compromise is the oil which keeps this world from becoming a vast blood bath.  It is impossible to look at the world and not notice that.  And men praise the one who is the most adept at this art.  Needless to say, I don’t get much praise from men.

But it is the foolish of this world who will receive the praise from God.  It is those souls who are bent on rebellion against compromise that will receive the praise of the Father in the form of salvation.  How can I say this with certainty?

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5)  Those who compromise with the darkness of corruption in this world will be considered artful players here.  But what will be their case when they appear before the Most High God?  With what justification will they give account of what they have gleaned from the praise of men?

“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” (1 Corinthians 1: 27)  For the very reason I have mentioned above, God has been eternally wise to take those who are not willing or able to “play the game”.  And for this reason alone I will find reason to boast of my folly among men.  Though I do not boast for the sake of pride.  But I boast because this is the very instrument which has brought me to a saving knowledge of Jesus.

So if I own anything worthy of praise (Ownership is a very curious way of describing that which God Himself has gifted me in this manner.  For no man has anything good that wasn’t given to him from God.) I have my folly.

I am horribly saddened that this folly results in so very many arguments with my fellow man.  And to the point of sobbing I cannot repair that aspect of my life.  For truth will naturally contradict lies.  And as much as my fellow men rely on lies to compete against one another truth will cause hardship between us.

I cannot apologize for what God has called Good.  And I cannot rightfully praise lies.  So I am forced by the wisdom of God to remain black and white in my assessment of life.  I will always be the outcast.  But this is to my advantage.  I will always be the one least invited to social gatherings.  But I am forced to appreciate that this is to my advantage.

I’m done trying to explain this now.  It is my sincere desire that this post has helped anyone who marvels at my apparent verbal violence.  I do not desire to be the outcast.  But how shall it be avoided if I desire to please the Most High God?

By His Grace.

Isolation and Greed

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Isolation (2005 film)

Isolation (2005 film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Politics has to do with the things of man.  The meaning comes from the Greek word “Polis”, which means city.  For where there is a city there are people.  And where there are people there are the things of people.  Someone has to govern for the sake of survival.  And why do people need a governor?  We need a governor because of our greed.

As an example: We put governors on engines so that the user won’t exceed a certain use of the engine.  And this usually has to do with speed, though the governor on a lawn mower engine is to limit its rpm so that the materials used in building the engine won’t be caused harm from too much friction or vibration.

I hate politics, because I hate greed.  But what am I to do?   There is even politics between one man and God.  He is my governor, if you will.  He limits us all, individually, according to His wisdom so that we won’t destroy ourselves or others because of our greed.  He even limits the ungodly and the sinner, in full sight of God and man.

In considering this today, I came to a startling understanding.  You could punish me by putting me in a crowd of people for 30 years.  Others would be punished by isolation.  But I fear I would thrive there.  Interactions with others, are always filled with greed, no matter how much each of us desires to be rid of it.  One wants this, another wants that.   And, before they are even aware, a friction is born between them.  Greed is going to be a given as long as we have things to own.  And this is why I hate crowds.  The more people gathering in one spot the more possibility for friction between them.

The only way this friction of greed can be limited is if there is no end to the resources and each person has exactly what they want.  Greed cannot exist if there is no desire.  But where, on earth, will you find such a place?  The only place on earth where greed can be killed is by loving isolation and poverty of the things that others desire.  This is why I have come to love isolation. And this is the reason I own very few things.  The more isolation the less friction. The less isolation there is, more is the potential for friction.  In a crowd the potential for friction between people grows exponentially with the number in the crowd.  Why do the police learn riot control?

Most people will read this and think to themselves, “Poor man, he doesn’t know the value of friends and loved ones.”  I will tell you, that’s simply not true.  I do know the value of friends and loved ones.  But the greed born in us, all too often, outweighs the positive potential.  So I have learned that being alone is more to be desired than fame, popularity, or an embrace by those who only love me on the surface.

Is isolation the only answer?  Absolutely not!  Deliverance from greed is the answer.  What we desire is the key.  Do you want to kill greed?  Then allow the Lord to govern your desires.  That’s the ticket out of this mess of a humanity starving for ownership.  Remember what James said about this?

 

“1 Where do the conflicts and where do the quarrels among you come from? Is it not from this, from your passions that battle inside you? 2 You desire and you do not have; you murder and envy and you cannot obtain; you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask; 3 you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, so you can spend it on your passions.”   (James 4)

 

Even with me, greed enters in.  For I want isolation from the greed of others.  But this is not pure Christianity.  For the message of the Gospel is delivered to everyone.  And isolation does the purpose of the Gospel no good at all.  So I am compelled to endure the greed of myself, and that of others, for the sake of the Lord who calls us all to unity.  Is this plight of humanity uncomfortable?  Absolutely!  But what shall we do?  The fix is not to gain anything and everything  we want.  The fix is to stop wanting what is “best” for ourselves.  In this we end up desiring what is truly best.

 

But to achieve this we need (without question) the wisdom of God.  What man can know what is truly best for everyone he meets?  Remember what James said about Godly wisdom?  “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.  But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.”  (James 1: 5-8)  So I endure the nearness of others for the sake of the Lord who calls to me and for the sake of the others the Lord is also calling.

 

Now, surely there is one or two who will desire to help me over come this problem with humanity.  Perhaps they will desire to come along side me and show me what love is all about.  No thanks.  If you want to help me in this, help yourself.  Lay down your desires and turn to the Lord out of a pure heart.  Then you can be of great help to every person you come into contact with.  That is exactly what I am trying to do every day.  And it is exactly this the Lord commands all men to learn so that they do it.

Consider this:  I’m a truck driver.  All day long I witness people shove their desires in the face of others.  And all this is for the simple sake of getting where they want to be.  If where they find themselves were their only desire, there would be no need for their greedy ways on the highway.  I see it the worst in other truckers.  They are compelled to be in a certain place by a certain time or they might lose their job.  And even when they are not compelled by time constraints, they have taught themselves to react to speed and position on the road with an aggressive attitude.

I have learned (or perhaps I should say, “am learning”) to take my place according to what is best for all.  Some need to be taught to wait.  Some need more room because they will actually become enraged if you block them in.  And some simply aren’t paying attention to their surroundings.  Others are in a sincere hurry but are at the top of their game in controlling their desire, reaction to delay, and attitude. The latter few will receive respect from me.  And they are not hard to notice.  People behind the wheel of steel are a curious lot.  If their actions were done in a steelless environment, blood would flow from fists that fly.  And all this is because of greed.  How utterly foolish!

Perhaps a man thinks that he will rise up in the morning, ask God for wisdom, inhabit that wisdom all the rest of his days, and never again come to the place where he flounders in his desires (the point of this man’s mind is that he thinks he will never again have to talk to God for what he thinks he needs; selfishness).  This is not the case.  For the wisdom of God is given to man as man encounters a need for it.

We eat when we are hungry so that we can continue to do the things necessary.  And we do not eat the same food over and over.  A new plate of food is required for each eating moment.  How is it that we don’t perceive this in the way of God’s gift of wisdom?  Instead, most men will ask for wisdom and consider that what they have just been given is sufficient for every purpose.  That man is like one who sits at breakfast and considers that his plate of eggs, bacon, toast, and milk will last him until the next morning.  And from my experience, you don’t drink milk in the same way as you ingest a piece of bacon.  God has designed us to require what is good on a moment by moment basis.  And it will not be taken out-of-the-way as long as we inhabit this bag of blood, that bag which is so very full of all kinds of greed.

God has granted us eternity.  Eternity is not yesterday.  And eternity is not tomorrow.  Eternity is now.  The very moment your eyes read this next word is eternity.  Eternity is where God IS.  He has been there for eternity and will be in that same place forever.  He demands that we learn to live in that eternity which belongs to Him.  And in living that eternal present, we learn to overcome the desires of the future as well as the regrets of the past.  Understand this.  Because it is in this very understanding that we find release from desire.  Jesus promises to forgive the past and lead us as the future becomes the now.  Our response to that truth becomes our religion.

Fruit Trees of God

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I look at my life and see the fruit appear.  It’s not something I can reach out and hold.  The fruit is more like a receding tide.  Chaos begins to recede or move out of my life, while stability, love, righteous acts, and a determination to continue appear.

Many do not see this kind of fruit in their Christian life.  They pray for help to become godly.  Then they find themselves looking for something rather tangible.  But the fruit of God’s intervention in our lives is not something we can perceive.  Now, I’ll admit that there are times when He moves in and does something that is clearly different and not from this world.  But stopping a bullet in flight toward our heart is not His normal way of doing things.

Look at your life.  You have prayed.  You have developed a mind to know the difference between sin and righteousness.   People have begun to notice that you love God more than the world.  There are certain people you have been praying for that now

English: folio 150 recto of the codex, with th...

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exhibit a difference in their life.  There is a measurable lack of chaos caused by sin.  And there is a marked increase in stability caused by your devotion to the Lord.

20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. (1 Corinthians: 1)

So then, let us not be of those who look for signs and what is called wisdom.  But let us take His promises as if they belong to us.  Let us gather confidence because God cannot lie.  And, above all, let us look to what is, not sitting waiting for a sign from God or a certain thought pattern that will cause men to stand in awe.  We are a people just like those released from bondage in Egypt.  They did not trust God or remember that they had once lived as slaves.  It was for this reason that God said, “They have not known my ways.”  And it was because they did not combine their understanding with faith that God swore on oath that they would never enter His rest.

I am prompted to open my eyes and see what He is doing, as opposed to looking for something I can hold in my hand.  I hope this post has helped to remind my friends of the same thing.  We are urged to remember that life is what is happening while we’re looking for it to happen.

Romans 12: 18

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Wisdom

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“If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men.”

Ok.  I hear the meaning of this passage loud and clear.  Some passages in the Bible are not easily divided in their meaning.  But this is certainly not the case here.  Or is it?

Men are corrupt by their very nature.  We can’t know all things, so we often get involved with things we don’t understand.  On top of that, there are millions of men who plot to gain the upper hand every moment of every day.  Then we have those who decide to refrain from fighting all together.  Somehow we are expected to make sense of these things and learn to live at peace with everyone?  Not really.

There are moments of clarity we all receive.  There are situations which demand that we take a stand against the desires of another.  I’m not talking about judging others here.  But we all have faced a situation or thousand, in which, we were expected to simply cow tow and shut up, take it on the chin….. and other weird responses to evil.

I could go into detail about our responses to such things.  I could use a million examples to help any reader come to an understanding about how to live at peace with others.  But who would read it?  And even if they would read forty billion words typed, who could live it?  Any situation encountered would surely have a subtle difference from any example I could come up with.  So I will use common sense here and simply say that, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”  (James 1: 5)

Who can navigate the morass of human expectations?  And the more people involved, the worse it gets (if that is possible).  And what shall we say if the world begins to take on “good deeds” without Christ Jesus at the helm?  How do we hope to please all men?  We simply can’t.  That is why we are given the perfect wisdom of God; so that we can maneuver through this world without getting caught in the stupidity of the world’s perplexing puzzles.

If you want to please everyone, you’re welcome to try.  But you’ll quickly become nothing more than a stick in the path.  And someone will surely come along and kick you out of the way.  We are compelled to stand strong for certain things.  The answer to all this ends up where it starts:  God.

By His Grace.