Faith Filled Rebellion part 1

I tried to add a page to my blog entitled Mini Sermons... for devotions and writings that are not necessarily personal but that I have written in the past.  Blogger doesn't let you do that so I guess they will be all on one page.  

This was written for a workshop I gave a couple years ago and I wanted to share its concept. I picked this concept to start with because we all deal with and have been brainwashed that if you do A B or C you can not be a Christian, I have come to know this is not true.   I have edited it for easier reading since it was written to be presented with audience participation… answer the questions for yourself and feel free to share with friends and comment…  It  will be posted in several successive blogs because it was written for a 45 min presentation.  Hope you enjoy it.
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I know you are wondering, what is faith-filled rebellion.  As I have been preparing to come to this conference many people asked me what I was going to talk about.  When I told them the name of the workshop they would laugh and say how can that be?  It is impossible to have faith-filled rebellion.  We all have a preconceived notion as to what rebellion is….  

When you hear the word Rebellion what come to mind?                                                             

The dictionary.com says:

Rebellion is a refusal of obedience or order ^[1]. It may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors from civil disobedience and mass nonviolent resistance, to violent and organized attempts to destroy an established authority such as the government.

A lot of us equate rebellion with sin….  We are rebelling against God when we sin. We are disobeying rules... but who's rules

What do you think of when you think of sin?  When you list sins do you think they are all inclusive?  Example….That _____ is a sin for everyone?  If it is a sin for you it is wrong for everyone else? 

I believe that some of the things that we consider sin are not really sins.... but some of them might not be beneficial to us.

Some things lead to sin for us or another that are not necessarily sin, so it is better for us to stay away from them… 1 Cor. 6:12 and 10:23

(1cor 6:12)            “Everything is permissible for me- but not everything is beneficial.  Everything is permissible for me- but I will not be mastered.”

(1 cor 10:23)       “Everything is permissible – but not everything is beneficial.  Everything is permissible-but not everything is constructive.  Nobody should seek his own good but the good of others.”

 Also, sin can be something we fail to do….

 (James 4:17)       “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins”

Most things we call sins today are ways to keep civil obedience in the church and in our societies.  They are man made laws based on our culture and what we believe is right or wrong.  In The God You Never Knew Marcus Borg writes “There is an enculturated sense of sin and guilt that has little or nothing to do with God.  The messages of our socialization (religious and secular) get internalized within our psyches as the critical voice of the superego, the police officer and judge in our head.”  We may have heard them from our parents, on TV, in church, or in school but they were designed by men to keep order.

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We take these messages out to the world and judge others based on our own sense of sin and guilt.  One thing I know is that I can not judge a person based on any outward appearance.  Many people appear to be something they are not. 

More on Revenge

It has been a while since my last post but life issues sometimes take precedence and when you have teenagers there seems to be life issues…. Some of the things going on are far to sensitive to talk about at this point in time but stay tuned…

My last post spoke of hurt…. Revenge… vulnerability…. These seem to be some of life’s constants.  Really it is what we do with them that counts.  We are not responsible for what others do or say but we are responsible for ourselves.  We can take the things people do and feel like a victim or we can stand up and see the truth of the matter.

My personality is, like many others, very sensitive.  I have a low self esteem; I often feel less than others, I wonder why anyone would like me.  I often take what people say personally even if they are not speaking of me. (That comes from years of dealing with passive aggressive people… you know the ones who try to make a point or be mean by using examples)  I have learned to deal with that insecurity by knowing the truth.  It has taken a long time for me to learn the truth about myself because I always believed what others said or what I thought they were trying to say. 

In truth, when people are being mean and hurtful, seeking revenge, they are saying more about what kind of person they are; Very unhappy, vulnerable people, trying to make themselves feel better by hurting another. 

  

We have all been hurt and we have all hurt others, it makes us who we are today. 

If you are seeking revenge I beg you to see that you are just perpetuating hurt not healing.  Stop and look at the hurt within and learn from it.  Move on.  Forgiveness is much more freeing than revenge.

 If you are the victim of revenge, know that the person is acting out of hurt, wanting you to hurt as much as they do…..don’t be a victim… know the truth.

“Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down. Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody.

 Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it."

Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good”.  The message 14-21