Philosophy, and Transparency

I see the danger in waiting so long between posts, that I sit down to write and realize there's a number of things I have in queue on my mind. Well there's a heck of a lot that goes unsaid here, and I guess that fits in well to a topic that I'll touch on.

Journey Church recently went through a series titled Hungry... for what Matters Most. Have you ever been so hungry, that you stopped eating? That you prayed, without ceasing? The series talks about fasting, and it's amazing what fasting can help you do, not just for the über-spiritual as most think it's only for. I found it ironic that in this time my current church here in NY is touching on the same thing.

I haven't exactly stopped eating... but my hunger is unquenchable in another regard. There's many ways to pray... and it's now unceasing. There's wisdom to be found, and the search gives no rest.

I used to be big on Philosophy. There was even a time I considered it for my major. I realized a while back however, that if I had the time I would pretty much study EVERYTHING. Libraries would be a deathtrap if I didn't constantly fill up my time with responsibilities. But as a growing Christian, I'm coming to see that for myself it's purely academic to pursue studying such greats as Kierkegaard or Kant, in place of the Bible. If the Word of God had already been a priority in my life long ago, I might be more interested in fitting traditional philosophy in. But the bottom line is that of all the philo I've learned, the Bible either holds equivalent truth and far more, or the wisdom found therein is unshakable in contrast. I already revere Jesus as the greatest teacher who ever lived, and that goes without even mentioning the sacrifice he made for us, and the Father that made everything possible. I'm just discussing the pursuit of wisdom, and that wherever I go I am lead back to one source that never fails.

There's an article I'm basically pulling much of my thoughts on John from, here in a moment. I could give it due credit and just copy and paste, as the author is a much better writer than I. But I have my own perspective to mix in.

I find myself often asking why so many people feel the need to put up a facade... why sometimes people are so much better at portraying themselves as someone they're not, rather than just being themselves. I guess I'm confused partly because my philosophy is that if just being myself, and being completely truthful to others isn't good enough, then tough shiznit. I find it insanely easier to have nothing to hide, and let God take care of the rest. Ok so I realize that much of the world doesn't work that way and I would never survive as a used car salesman, but I can live with that.

We all know how hard it is to completely trust someone, especially when our past is marred by situations where trust has failed.

But as souls that were designed for companionship, we all need someone we can be completely vulnerable with. Someone we can fully trust to be exactly what they appear to be. We long to be completely transparent to someone else as well, someone that will be able to handle and understand our vulnerability, our weaknesses, and value them. The struggle between us finding this is a consequence of our sinful condition... the darkness and doubt we live in that keeps us from fully knowing ourselves, let alone others. Consider some verses from John:

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
-John 1:3-5

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
- 1 John 1:5-7

Wow. There's trusting God, and the path to trusting each other in a nutshell. The ignorance and sin apart from the truth, aka God, is darkness. It does not know anything but the lies... the facade.

The less we understand ourselves, the further we are from revealing our true nature to others. The further we are from God, the more toxic we can be to others as well.

The closer we actually walk with God, the greater His light shines on us and through us, and in turn the less darkness there is between us... so we may better be able to help each other grow, when we understand what the other needs.

We may never be able to trust one another as we do God... we can still learn to trust, just imperfectly. But the key here is that we can only have real fellowship with one another through Him, as he is the light of our lives and the light of our relationships with one another. Very recently in my life I have learned this the hard way, that we can not truly understand and find fellowship with one another except through God. I should have listened closer to John long ago, as when he continued this revelation with:

"i am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing... I have told you this so that my joy will be in you and that your joy may be complete."
~John 15:5-11

God can be counted on, completely. There is no "dark side" to God. Unlike those we might have unwisely trusted in our lives, He will not betray our confidence, He will not abandon us, He will not mislead us. Circumstances in life may make it seem like there is a dark side to God... lets not even get into the argument of how such an all-loving God would allow such evil in our lives... but John reminds us that God is life, and light. Evil is the work of Satan.

Speaking of evil, or great failures, Jesus is also known as the savior of great failures. The story of Peter is a story of deep repentance, and of victory over darkness. It's about the changing of a heart, of learning that NONE of us know more than God knows, to never fall into self-reliance. The easiest way Satan can win is to divide and conquer... pretty much what happens when we fail each other, isolate ourselves, and fail in fellowship... the time when it's easiest for us to fall into sin.

I admire Peter greatly in one regard... he let God be God to him. He didn't duck and run when he knew he failed, he took what was coming to him. And in turn he received grace instead. I'll leave the story to another post, as this one has gone on long enough ;-)