Saturday, March 23, 2013

His, Higher than Mine

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are My ways your ways," says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the eart, and naje ut bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall proster in the thing for which I sent it." - Isaiah 55:8-11

Well that's cool.

I have been reading and re-reading Isaiah 55 ever since I heard it in a Bible study this summer while I was in East Asia. We were asked, partway through the study, to tell everyone what parts stood out to us, and this section is mine. How many times do we see things in the world and question God's motive for things?

"God, why am I single?"
"God, I don't get why I didn't get that job. You knew I really needed it."
"Lord. What is up with the Batman screening shootings? Why does that happen?"

Sometimes He just does stuff. Sometimes that stuff doesn't make any sense to us. Sometimes we suffer a lot and it seems like God doesn't do the stuff He could do to make it better. Sometimes His decisions seems crazy or heartless or aloof, and we wonder what He is doing and why it happens to us?
But I think when we question Him we forget that above all, God is God. God is not our personal genie. He doesn't do us favors all the time. He blesses us when He wants to, and we rejoice when He does, but when He decides to let us go through something, we fall to pieces and doubt His providence. Are we fair-weather Christians? I hope I am not.
Because this section of verses explains a lot about His character. His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways.

It's Not the Do's and Don'ts, It's the Why and Why Not

I've been stewing on this idea for a while here.

It all started with a really neat couple of conversations with two different people - new friends - who maybe don't have the same view on life and God that I do. They were both really cool for a few different reasons. One was that out of the majority of "religious" conversations that I have with people who don't have my same views, many are kind of awkward because I don't really want to step on people's toes or because I know that they don't want to hear what I have to say. But these two were genuine, and I appreciated that.

The second reason is that most of the religious conversations that I have are with my friends who are Christians and have the same views that I do. Questions aren't necessarily raised that make me think about the things that I believe in an objective way; it reinforces my beliefs without forcing me to consider why I have them. The conversations are fantastic, don't get me wrong; I think everybody needs that kind of affirmation about the things that they believe.

But I really do think that a lot of very truthful thoughts come out when you are questioned by someone with the intent of maybe ousting views that that they find incorrect or morally distasteful. These two conversations that I had were closer to the second kind.

It was actually really great to have conversations where I had to think about my specific reasonings for believing what I do. For those of you who don't know me that well, I grew up in a Christian home, complete with all the Sunday School, VBS, summer camps and youth group meetings that I could ever want. I know my Christian stuff as well as any 20-year-old can at this point, but it's honestly only been in the past three years that I've made the effort to understand what I believe.

For years I took it for granted that to be a "good Christian," I had to follow the do's and don'ts of the faith. These do's and don'ts go pretty much as follows (you'll probably recognize them):
DO pray and read your Bible/Devotional/Verse of the Day app every day
DO follow the 10 Commandments
DO be nice to everybody (turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, be the best doormat you can be, etc.)
DON'T drink or smoke or do drugs
DON'T have sex before marriage
DON'T wear immodest clothing
DON'T hang around the wrong crowd
DON'T watch movies with bad stuff

Right? Everyone can pretty much assume that that's about the kind of life you are expected to lead when you are a Christian, otherwise you are considered to be backsliding, and everyone talks about praying for you with everyone else.

I say that in maybe a harsher tone than is necessary, but really though, that's what everyone else sees, right? That's what your friends in class or at work see, that's what your relatives see when they read your blog posts and Facebook statuses that have verses in them, and that's ultimately what we strive for if we don't actually have the heart to follow God in the way He was meant to be followed.

So the thing that I took away from those conversations is this vital bit of information that I have been missing for the 12 cognitive years that I've been calling myself a Christian.

Here it is: it's not the Do's and Don'ts that are going to reach the people you're talking to. Seriously. Who cares what this God of your says about what they're wearing and how they're acting? If they don't want to know God, Do's and Don'ts are the nagging aunt at Christmas, telling you to pull up your pants and stop posting weird pictures of your food. Nobody at our age cares, or they would have agreed with you a long time ago.

No, what matters is the Why. Why shouldn't we be living life like we want to? Why are we told to protect our purity? What is the point of being good if good looks kind of boring?

If you don't believe what I believe - that's up to you. But I want to challenge you to look past the Do's and Don'ts of what I believe. Yeah, your parents were probably too strict on one end of scale, or were entirely lenient on the beliefs they wanted you to have on the other end, and that's turned you off to the idea of rules and allegiance to this magical Super-Being called God.

My epiphany comes from the question, "why do you believe what you believe?" What truths am I basing my beliefs on that can give me a leg to stand on? What verses am I using to back up assertions like "Jesus is the only way to Heaven?" ("I am the way, the truth and life, and no one can get to the Father except through Me." - John 14:6).

Honestly - believe what you will, but know enough about it to stand by it when it's in question. Otherwise what is the point in believing it in the first place?