Calling A Spade A Spade

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved. – Ezekiel 33:7-9

Today’s Reading: Ezekiel 33-34; 1 Peter 5

Dear God,

What is the difference between speaking the truth and judging others? What should we do when we know that something is wrong, that someone is representing something false as if it were truth but we cannot prove it?

We Cannot Silence the Truth

Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe’s knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire. The king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear, nor did they tear their clothes. Even though Elnathan, Delaiah and Gemariah urged the king not to burn the scroll, he would not listen to them. – Jeremiah 36:23-25

Today’s Reading: Jeremiah 34-36; Hebrews 2

The King in Jeremiah’s time received some bad news from Jeremiah. A scroll was presented to him that predicted that his regime would be overthrown by the Babylonians and the whole nation would be taken over. He decided to ignore it and burned the scroll bit by bit as the words were read to him.

The audacity!

Searching for Straight Answers

Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this. – 2 Timothy 2:3-7

Today’s Reading: Jeremiah 15-17; 2 Timothy 2

Have you ever sought out advice on something and received an answer that didn’t seem like an answer? Maybe the person answered your question with another question. Maybe they answered your question with a riddle or metaphor like Paul did above.

This may seem frustrating. You may have felt this frustration when you read Jesus parables for the first time. Why not just give me the instructions simple and plain instead of making me figure it out?

I know I have been in that place many times but there is a reason for the riddle. Truth cannot be reached through words alone. The best we can do is try to get as close as we can to the universal by tucking it away in a story that everyone can relate to.

Rarely is there ever a thing that we should do 100% of the time in every single situation. Sure, life by be simple but it is never without its nuance. It is up to each and every one of us to examine our lives and ourselves to determine the right course of action.

Only you, with the help of God, can chart out your path.

It seem easier to just follow the direction of someone that you admire but if you did so then you really wouldn’t be walking your path. You’d be walking the path that they have determined for you. 

Proverbs

Photo by Tim Graveson

The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

for gaining wisdom and instruction;
   for understanding words of insight;
for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,
   doing what is right and just and fair;
for giving prudence to those who are simple,
   knowledge and discretion to the young—
let the wise listen and add to their learning,
   and let the discerning get guidance—
for understanding proverbs and parables,
   the sayings and riddles of the wise.

 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
   but fools despise wisdom and instruction. – Proverbs 1: 1-7

Today’s Reading: Proverbs 1-2; 1 Corinthians 16

I love Proverbs.

It is definitely one of my favorite books in the Bible. Years ago when I was doing a lot of reading on human interaction I read through some of the classic texts on the subject. I read The Prince, The Art of War, The Book of Five Rings, 48 Laws of Power, the sayings of Confucius and many many more.

I found them all wildly intriguing. It was like I was putting myself through a Ph.D in what I though was how the world works. But then when I came back to the Bible again I became reacquainted with Proverbs.

Those other books don’t begin to approach the truth that lies within Proverbs.

I remember at this time getting into one of those deserted island conversations. The question was if you could bring only one book with you to a deserted island, which would you choose? I said that I would bring only the book of Proverbs. Sure I could bring an entire Bible, that might make more sense; but this is how important I think this book is. I believe that one could read a chapter a day (there are 31 chapters) and learn something new every single day for the rest of their life.

So if you have any questions about how you should live your life I’m willing to bet that you can find it in the 31 chapters of Proverbs. If you cannot find what you are looking for then I humbly submit that you may not be ready to find it.

Truth is too heavy for us to pick up sometimes, even if it is sitting right in front of us. 

Truthaholics Anonymous

Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind."

Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, "What? Are we blind too?"

Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. – John 9:39-41

Today’s Reading: 1 Chronicles 28-29; John 9:24-41

I was once like the Pharisees.

I thought that I could see everything, understand all the mysteries of the universe, solve any problem. I was addicted to pursuing truth. I was a truthaholic.

It’s amazing to look back and see how arrogant I was.

I know I have said this in the past but there really is so much we can learn when we accept that we know nothing at all.

Have you ever had to make a brochure, presentation, or document that would be seen by many important people? I’m sure that after your initial design effort you reviewed it over and over again to check for any stupid spelling errors or mistakes.

But what happened when you showed it to someone else?

They were probably able to quickly identify an area of improvement… something that you could not see.

Many times we look at life through stale eyes. Our eyes are made stale by our experiences, hopes, dreams, disappointments and accomplishments. The more we live and rely on what we think we know the more our vision is skewed by the prism of our experience.

We become blinded by subjectivity.

When you think about it, this is where judgment comes from. We look at others through the lens of our own experience and apply our rules and regulations to their conduct.

But this lens has a blind spot. Just like how you couldn’t see the glaring error in the project you were working on, we have a hard time seeing the glaring flaws in the lives we are living.

As Jesus suggested, we point out the splinters in another person’s eye but cannot see the planks in our own.

This is how I understand the passage above. We have a tendency to fall into the trap of worshiping our own minds by thinking that our own perspective is truth.

I believe that truth, like God, is a concept too great to comprehend. I used to seek it out but not any more.

That’s above my pay grade.

My name is Clarence Mitchell and am a truthaholic. Finally, I see that I know nothing.

Twitter Rant: 06-06-10

06-06-10 11:51 pm

I am starting to realize some things.

We tend to look at life through the prism of our own understanding, this is problematic.

Our individual perspectives are mere dots on the surface of single grains of sand on the vast shores of wisdom.

we assume that we know all and in this assumption we become blind to the truth.

it is only when we realize that we know nothing that our vision clears enough to reveal the truth.

and that truth is so impossibly grand that we can't help but to be humble before it.