[CS-FSLUG] give God room

[Ed Hurst]

An Active God


It's not that simple. If it were, everyone would be on the same sheet of
music. The Kingdom is filled with good servants of God who don't see
through your eyes, nor mine. It would take only minutes to find one with
more intelligence, more education, and more commitment and faith than
you or I -- and would agree completely with neither you nor I. If you
are able to write off everyone's dispute with you as bad faith, don't
read this; it will only infuriate you. For those able to laugh at the
face in the mirror, read on.

I can learn some things. I can learn that computers have never risen
above the basic 8-bit byte in many ways. I can learn algebra and
physics, though I tend to forget any formulae I don't use. My natural
intellectual endowment puts these things within my reach. However, they
don't grip my fascination at the deepest level. Thus, I never pursued a
degree in either field.

I can learn psychology, too. Not the theoretical kind, but the clinical
kind. I've read the theories, of course. Most of it comes off as out of
touch with reality, and seems to be asking the wrong questions. Clinical
psychology really grabbed me. Knowing and understanding what is common
in the human experience remains a fascination for me. I find it very
gratifying that I can articulate in detail what most folks
subconsciously regard as common sense. It's fascinating, if for no other
reason, to understand myself. It's nice to be able to explain that's my
interest because I am thoroughly introspective. Without introspection,
human behavior would not be a study, but just one more annoyance, or a
source for comedy.

That interest is a powerful component of my general interest in biblical
faith. My degree of interest in faith and Word are indicated by my
commitment to vocational Christian ministry. You would rightly find it
disconcerting if my ordination did not stand on such a powerful sense of
calling. Too often have I known those regarding Christian vocation as
yet another profession. I am willing to admit they may have their place
in this world, but that place is not working alongside me. The radical
difference should be obvious. They have material prosperity, job
security, etc. I've spent precious few of my days employed in ministry
jobs, but have never once thought of myself as anything else. That I am
called is a conviction, not a decision. As I've said before in other
places: *Opinions and beliefs you hold; convictions hold you.*

My interest in clinical psychology only goes so far. It is subservient
to my calling. It's only purpose is to inform my calling, my faith, my
understanding of Scripture. My earliest exposure to clinical psychology
made me a devotee of the Rosemead School (Bruce Narramore and company),
which makes all things, especially psychology, the servant of Scripture.
The Bible speaks of faith as a certainty not subject to the limits of
human knowledge (Hebrews 11). In the same context it describes how
Abraham got to know Jehovah. Not because Jehovah sat down and described
the nature of His personality to Abraham, but Abraham came to certain
unshakable conclusions about Him because of how God worked in his life.
By the time he was called upon to sacrifice Isaac on the altar
(11:17-19) he is said to have suffered none of the inner turmoil
popularly portrayed, but went in faith that God would simply raise Isaac
from the dead. From a clinical psychology point of view, this makes
perfect sense.

We know the human psyche is partly inherited and partly formed by
circumstances. Nature sets boundaries; nurture builds character within
them. Trauma can radically change what nurture has done, but only God
can change nature. In spiritual re-birth, we note it is clearly the hand
of God working the miracle all mankind theoretically could have. It is
an inexplicable change of nature, though it brings also a host of
predictable changes which are but the other side of one's inherited
character framework. A critical element of faith is we learn to accept
certain things in our lives as the hand of God at work. A process of
character formation that is natural to all human life takes on wholly
different connotations when Christ is on the throne. This is as it
should be. We look to Our Lord for all things, but especially for the
things we cannot control. A very basic valid assumption is that life now
has a purpose.

Each of us walks our own path with Christ. It is not possible for any
two of us to experience Him exactly the same, though it is possible to
arrive at the same convictions. Without that, no church could exist. We
could probably make ourselves work with just about anybody for a limited
time, but sharing hearts with a complete alien is not possible.
Something has to bridge the distance, first, making them less alien. It
is well known that under the best circumstances, with the best
intentions, that distance cannot be closed for some. Fellow Christians
do not sin for declining to work with my quirky personality. The nature
of church is that we share our lives in Christ so that our cumulative
knowledge improves our understanding of Him. It matters not that we all
read the same Bible, in the same language, even if we could approximate
our respective levels and types of education. I will seize upon one
passage as particularly meaningful, and you another. That is how the
Word comes to life for us. By my talents and calling I may be able to
bring to life for you my experience, and you can absorb a certain amount
of it. You may do the same for me. Just as the Word did not arise from a
cultural-historical vacuum, nor can it live in a spiritual vacuum. That
is, ink on paper does nothing; meaning in the heart bursts aflame with
the power of the God who left it for us. Satan quoting the Word, even in
context, is mere noise. A nobody living the Word can change anything God
desires. That one's life is a quotation of the Word.

It would be easy to make a false faith of mere experience. Including the
whole of Christian history serves only to make that false faith
ponderous. It's also easy to make a false faith by legalism, making the
Book a weapon of oppression. The Sword of the Spirit cuts first the
heart of him who would wield it. Swords do not swing themselves; they
must be handled, and no two handles them precisely the same. As faith
cannot be separated from works, so the Bible cannot be separated from
experience. The Word of God -- Christ -- lives on earth only in those
who follow Him, as is His plan. That the experience of so many varies,
making things rather muddy, has no bearing on that. Indeed, it is surely
intentional. Were it simply a matter of reading the Good Book, we would
all be clones. There would also be no need of faith. If there is nothing
in the whole to make the human mind harbor some vestige of doubt, then
salvation would not be from the miracle hand of God. Nor would the
working of His people in loving fellowship be the miracle it now is.
With no barriers to cross, what need is there of love? Only human
religion demands uniformity of expression, or expects none at all.

The Word must become flesh to be knowable. That knowledge cannot be
absolute so long as we live in this fallen world. Fortunate we are that
so very much of it is easily agreed upon. When a common understanding of
something in the Word is defied by a very real experience of God's
power, we must each decide for ourselves whether to give weight to
either side of the conflict, or even to let it remain conflicted. Peter
struggled with the vision of non-kosher food from Heaven. We cannot
decide the answer for others. God is sovereign, and none of is Him.

Ed Hurst
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