I want to make a case for fidelity. Most people don't really use this word in common speech, so it might not even register with clear definition for many people. Simply put, it is the state of being faithful. It doesn't necessarily refer to marriage, though that kind of fidelity is probably what comes to mind if anything at all. It can also mean close reproduction, as in video or sound...remember the old hifi's? It just means being true to whatever you have committed to. If you translate a book, it should be done faithfully. If you deliver a message, if you offer assistance, if you give your word. In all of these things we should have a high degree of fidelity.
Sadly, it seems this is grossly lacking in our society. I know far too many people who shift and blow with trends and whims and emotions. As I believe grace to be the central concept of Christianity, I don't condemn anyone for it. I know we all have our issues and that God works with us wherever we are.
But I for one, take fidelity very seriously. I value it. I can't be happy when a husband or wife or mother or father leave. I can't be happy when they find someone new. I can't just shrug when someone leaves their faith. I have to root for the white knight. Give me the Princess Bride, not Dear John. The Four Feathers, not the Watchmen. I know life happens and we all have to muddle through. I know good that has worked out after all kinds of bad faith cases. Like I said, I'm not judging anyone or setting up some sort of system. But I also can't pretend it doesn't bother me.
I want my words to be true; I don't use them loosely. I want my commitments to be real; I don't make them lightly. In this broken world, there are virtuous people who mean what they say and do what they commit to. They still exist today. But we don't value it. We barely speak of it. Fidelity is a virtue we need to reclaim.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
As You're Told
I think I have come to a conclusion. These things don't happen lightly for me. It takes time and lots of consideration before I can really decide that something is strong enough to rest on. I used to be much more impetuous about these things, but after seeing so many of my constructs torn apart, I sort of naturally fell into a pattern of reserving judgement. So I'm talking several years of consideration on this one.
Even then, it could turn out to be false, so I defer always to the truth (dictionary) and the Truth (philosophical), as the case may be. So ask me in 10 years and I may have walked away from this one. But I am starting to think it's a sound idea.
This idea is that we each only have to do what God tells us to do. I know that sounds stupidly simple. But I mean each of us has only to do what God individually tells each of us personally to do. Now I'll caveat that God speaks in different ways. Always revealing in the way that we can best understand. So, obviously we have to look circumspectly and evaluate and not be foolish about it. But seriously, I'm not you, nor any one else. As Jack said, we each only get our part of the story. So why should we expect them to all match up?
Ok, I can hear the various religious archetypes screaming about it already, so I'll elaborate.
One might argue that we need to rely on the Bible. We can't just strike out on our own whims! Yes. I agree totally. So you and I can read the same verse and it will mean different things to us. Who's right? This argument is too often used to justify a proof-texted agenda. And of course, everyone knows that your interpretation is actually plain and clear. I'm talking about everyone else's. In this case, I can only take what I am hearing from it. You might get something else. So my point is made in that you can assume your interpretation is for you and mine is for me.
Well that's just universalism! No one's wrong, so no one's right! No, it isn't. I didn't say everyone would be right. Just that we are where we are and that God will deal with us individually. At times we might agree. Sometimes people might all come together with a similar notion and accomplish some collective goodness. At times we might not. At times most of you might be on one page and one of you won't be. So is that person supposed to defer what's on his heart because the majority, or the "authority" know better? Or is this a Daniel, Elijah, John the Baptist moment where this one man is to stand against the majority and the powerful? How could you tell? If we are each free to act as God tells us, then this will never be a problem.
Well what if we are wrong? Don't we need the covering? If we're relying on God to guide us how deceived do you think we can get? Is God so weak that he'll sit by while any liar corrupts His name and leads those who genuinely seek him astray? You called on Him because he's able to do what you can't. Well, time for him to make good, yeah? Or is he so vindictive that he will point in a direction, leave us to get there on our own, and smite us if we get lost? Not so!
The more I think about it, the only people who stand to lose from this mentality are the ones who build their lives around getting others to do what they want them to do. I'm not slamming churches here. If God told someone to go start a big church and to do it in a certain way, then I'm not going to stand in his way. God will send the support and workers he needs to do it. He won't need to coerce anyone. Just make the need known, share the vision, and do what God's telling him to do. But just because God told that guy to do what he is doing doesn't mean he's telling me to do it the same way. And if I am not on the same page no good can come from forcing me. I'll either do it for the wrong reasons or neglect what I'm being told to do. This will only harm both causes since someone who doesn't get it can't possibly further your cause, and if I do get it, but am supposed to be doing something else, your cause has become a stumbling block for me.
Any way I look at it, I'm safe if I am responsible only for what God tells me in my heart to do. He might say it through someone else. He might split the sky with a debilitating vision. He might whisper it in the depths of my soul. He might make it known in a thousand ways. But if I follow what I am being told to do, how can anyone ask me to do otherwise? Our role should not be to guard and control people, but to teach them how to hear for themselves. My problem with authority isn't that I don't want to follow it when I should, it's that you keep trying to be it when you aren't, bro.
Even then, it could turn out to be false, so I defer always to the truth (dictionary) and the Truth (philosophical), as the case may be. So ask me in 10 years and I may have walked away from this one. But I am starting to think it's a sound idea.
This idea is that we each only have to do what God tells us to do. I know that sounds stupidly simple. But I mean each of us has only to do what God individually tells each of us personally to do. Now I'll caveat that God speaks in different ways. Always revealing in the way that we can best understand. So, obviously we have to look circumspectly and evaluate and not be foolish about it. But seriously, I'm not you, nor any one else. As Jack said, we each only get our part of the story. So why should we expect them to all match up?
Ok, I can hear the various religious archetypes screaming about it already, so I'll elaborate.
One might argue that we need to rely on the Bible. We can't just strike out on our own whims! Yes. I agree totally. So you and I can read the same verse and it will mean different things to us. Who's right? This argument is too often used to justify a proof-texted agenda. And of course, everyone knows that your interpretation is actually plain and clear. I'm talking about everyone else's. In this case, I can only take what I am hearing from it. You might get something else. So my point is made in that you can assume your interpretation is for you and mine is for me.
Well that's just universalism! No one's wrong, so no one's right! No, it isn't. I didn't say everyone would be right. Just that we are where we are and that God will deal with us individually. At times we might agree. Sometimes people might all come together with a similar notion and accomplish some collective goodness. At times we might not. At times most of you might be on one page and one of you won't be. So is that person supposed to defer what's on his heart because the majority, or the "authority" know better? Or is this a Daniel, Elijah, John the Baptist moment where this one man is to stand against the majority and the powerful? How could you tell? If we are each free to act as God tells us, then this will never be a problem.
Well what if we are wrong? Don't we need the covering? If we're relying on God to guide us how deceived do you think we can get? Is God so weak that he'll sit by while any liar corrupts His name and leads those who genuinely seek him astray? You called on Him because he's able to do what you can't. Well, time for him to make good, yeah? Or is he so vindictive that he will point in a direction, leave us to get there on our own, and smite us if we get lost? Not so!
The more I think about it, the only people who stand to lose from this mentality are the ones who build their lives around getting others to do what they want them to do. I'm not slamming churches here. If God told someone to go start a big church and to do it in a certain way, then I'm not going to stand in his way. God will send the support and workers he needs to do it. He won't need to coerce anyone. Just make the need known, share the vision, and do what God's telling him to do. But just because God told that guy to do what he is doing doesn't mean he's telling me to do it the same way. And if I am not on the same page no good can come from forcing me. I'll either do it for the wrong reasons or neglect what I'm being told to do. This will only harm both causes since someone who doesn't get it can't possibly further your cause, and if I do get it, but am supposed to be doing something else, your cause has become a stumbling block for me.
Any way I look at it, I'm safe if I am responsible only for what God tells me in my heart to do. He might say it through someone else. He might split the sky with a debilitating vision. He might whisper it in the depths of my soul. He might make it known in a thousand ways. But if I follow what I am being told to do, how can anyone ask me to do otherwise? Our role should not be to guard and control people, but to teach them how to hear for themselves. My problem with authority isn't that I don't want to follow it when I should, it's that you keep trying to be it when you aren't, bro.
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