Thursday, June 3, 2010
End Of The Year Thoughts...
11:42 AM | 
Posted by
Kris
My end of the year thought is this:
One of the questions that came up recently at Bible Study was the following: if the Spirit reveals truth to us, or "leads us into truth" then why or how could devout, prayerful people be led into believing that slavery, or the exploitation/marginalization of women and children, was "o.k."? In other words, how is it that we end up with such divergent and varied understandings of what is acceptable to God and what isn't?
Fabulous question.
In meditating on this and seeking the Spirit's wisdom, an answer (i.e., there are other answers as well) that has come to me, in terms of looking at our Holy Scripture, is that the Spirit does not seem to impart to us understanding or information that we are not capable of hearing or grasping. In other words, the Spirit, it appears, does not generallycorrect bias, misguided cultural assumptions, or scientific misconceptions. That is why we can find passages in scripture that refer to wives as nothing more than the "property" of their husbands, and others that presume that God believes the earth to be flat (see the 38th chapter of Job, for example).
There is no hard and fast, black and white rule here, which is why I am couching my "answer." Prophets have certainly been led, through the Spirit's wisdom, to push the envelope in terms of opening the door to new and deeper understandings (which is precisely why prophecy is so often met with resistance). Viewed in this light, Galileo, Luther, MLK, Jr., and Rosa Parks, were all prophets, as they were open to the Spirit and they lived in a time and place where they were capable of hearing what the Spirit was saying and going where the Spirit was leading.
I believe that when we ask the Spirit for deeper understanding on a certain issue, we always receive what we are capable of hearing. Whether we grasp it or not, and whether it is the insight for which we were hoping, are separate matters....
The extent of the Spirit's power in all this remains a mystery. In other words, if the Spirit could correct all misconceptions, but doesn't, is that problematic? Similarly, if the Spirit cannot correct all misconceptions, then can the Spirit be said to be all-powerful? This is similar to the questions surrounding the issue of "if God is all-powerful, then why does evil exist in the world?"
In a campus ministry context, I am reminded of the student from another ministry who approached us and said that the Spirit had "put it in his heart" to organize a prayer group where "everyone" would pray together, presumably to help us overcome our differences, and asked if we would like to be a part of that. I asked him whether this would truly be a prayer group to include "everyone" or whether it was going to be limited to Christian groups. The student replied that he hadn't thought about it, but he "wasn't interested in praying with people who didn't pray to Jesus."
I wondered then: how is it that the Spirit could put that in his heart? Was it really the Spirit putting that in his heart?
If we consider the above answer, it would seem that the Spirit could certainly been involved in this student's prayer life and request, but also that the student was not in a place where he was capable of asking for or receiving/discerning the kind of response from the Spirit that might have opened him up to inviting people of other faith traditions to pray with him.
That's all for now. Hopefully, this discussion can continue. If it prompts any new insight or questions, please feel free to share.
Peace and blessings. Please know I am available (the Chaplain is "in") if you need me.
Berkeley
One of the questions that came up recently at Bible Study was the following: if the Spirit reveals truth to us, or "leads us into truth" then why or how could devout, prayerful people be led into believing that slavery, or the exploitation/marginalization of women and children, was "o.k."? In other words, how is it that we end up with such divergent and varied understandings of what is acceptable to God and what isn't?
Fabulous question.
In meditating on this and seeking the Spirit's wisdom, an answer (i.e., there are other answers as well) that has come to me, in terms of looking at our Holy Scripture, is that the Spirit does not seem to impart to us understanding or information that we are not capable of hearing or grasping. In other words, the Spirit, it appears, does not generallycorrect bias, misguided cultural assumptions, or scientific misconceptions. That is why we can find passages in scripture that refer to wives as nothing more than the "property" of their husbands, and others that presume that God believes the earth to be flat (see the 38th chapter of Job, for example).
There is no hard and fast, black and white rule here, which is why I am couching my "answer." Prophets have certainly been led, through the Spirit's wisdom, to push the envelope in terms of opening the door to new and deeper understandings (which is precisely why prophecy is so often met with resistance). Viewed in this light, Galileo, Luther, MLK, Jr., and Rosa Parks, were all prophets, as they were open to the Spirit and they lived in a time and place where they were capable of hearing what the Spirit was saying and going where the Spirit was leading.
I believe that when we ask the Spirit for deeper understanding on a certain issue, we always receive what we are capable of hearing. Whether we grasp it or not, and whether it is the insight for which we were hoping, are separate matters....
The extent of the Spirit's power in all this remains a mystery. In other words, if the Spirit could correct all misconceptions, but doesn't, is that problematic? Similarly, if the Spirit cannot correct all misconceptions, then can the Spirit be said to be all-powerful? This is similar to the questions surrounding the issue of "if God is all-powerful, then why does evil exist in the world?"
In a campus ministry context, I am reminded of the student from another ministry who approached us and said that the Spirit had "put it in his heart" to organize a prayer group where "everyone" would pray together, presumably to help us overcome our differences, and asked if we would like to be a part of that. I asked him whether this would truly be a prayer group to include "everyone" or whether it was going to be limited to Christian groups. The student replied that he hadn't thought about it, but he "wasn't interested in praying with people who didn't pray to Jesus."
I wondered then: how is it that the Spirit could put that in his heart? Was it really the Spirit putting that in his heart?
If we consider the above answer, it would seem that the Spirit could certainly been involved in this student's prayer life and request, but also that the student was not in a place where he was capable of asking for or receiving/discerning the kind of response from the Spirit that might have opened him up to inviting people of other faith traditions to pray with him.
That's all for now. Hopefully, this discussion can continue. If it prompts any new insight or questions, please feel free to share.
Peace and blessings. Please know I am available (the Chaplain is "in") if you need me.
Berkeley
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