Tag: arrogance

There Is a Larger Perspective (Psalm 73:1-20)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Psalm 73, by Keli Hogsett. The artist states, “This piece is made entirely of wood ‘ends.’ The wood colored ends represent nearness to God, where the darker pieces represent the opposite. The darker ends can attract and manipulate the wooden ends, but the darker they get, they turn downward and are swallowed by the wooden ends.“

God is indeed good to Israel,
    to those who have pure hearts.
But I had nearly lost confidence;
    my faith was almost gone
because I was jealous of the proud
    when I saw that things go well for the wicked.

They do not suffer pain;
    they are strong and healthy.
They do not suffer as other people do;
    they do not have the troubles that others have.
And so they wear pride like a necklace
    and violence like a robe;
their hearts pour out evil,
    and their minds are busy with wicked schemes.
They laugh at other people and speak of evil things;
    they are proud and make plans to oppress others.
They speak evil of God in heaven
    and give arrogant orders to everyone on earth,
so that even God’s people turn to them
    and eagerly believe whatever they say.
They say, “God will not know;
    the Most High will not find out.”
That is what the wicked are like.
    They have plenty and are always getting more.

Is it for nothing, then, that I have kept myself pure
    and have not committed sin?
O God, you have made me suffer all day long;
    every morning you have punished me.

If I had said such things,
    I would not be acting as one of your people.
I tried to think this problem through,
    but it was too difficult for me
    until I went into your Temple.
Then I understood what will happen to the wicked.

You will put them in slippery places
    and make them fall to destruction!
They are instantly destroyed;
    they go down to a horrible end.
They are like a dream that goes away in the morning;
    when you rouse yourself, O Lord, they disappear. (Good News Translation)

The psalmist Asaph communicated his own experience, which is really the experience of all Israel, and of all who genuinely seek to follow God.

Everyone who is truly pure in heart will struggle, at times, to make sense of all the impurity and injustice in the world. Even a cursory observation of this old world clearly sees that it is a broken messed up place.

Those observations challenge the faithful with questions such as, “Is God really good?” and “Is maintaining my purity and faithfulness worth it?”

Most often, the response to those questions is “Yes, but…”

Arrogant people prosper. They get away with being jerks. And it isn’t fair. Good people continually face adversity and hardship. Nothing comes easy. And it doesn’t make sense.

Contemplating this reality for too long can lead to a spiritual crisis of faith. It can produce doubt. It is likely to either morph into anger and bitterness, or a passive “meh” to most things in life.

However, observational appearances can be deceiving. There is much more to seeing than with our two physical eyes. There is the kind of sight which God has:

“I do not judge as people judge. They look at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7

In truth, the real and actual power of arrogantly wicked people is their ability to create envy and jealousy in the righteous persons.

We need a different way of seeing, a reorientation of our limited understanding of life. Look at the world, containing both the wicked and the righteous, from an angle you haven’t seen before.

For Asaph, this breakthrough perspective happened in the sanctuary of his God. The psalmist began to see that the seeming wealth, health, and invincibility of the arrogant is merely a façade. Their true future is anything but prosperous.

Asaph also had a reorientation of himself. He began to understand and accept that his own heart had the shadows of bitterness and ignorance. He himself had too much vice hiding in his heart.

With the spiritual eyes of the heart, we can focus in on the presence of God. The Lord’s guidance is constant, even when it doesn’t seem like it. God’s handle on the future is secure.

The arrogant and the wicked will not last. There is a day coming when they will not rule over anything. Their end is a sure thing.

The wise heart discerns that not everything I see today will be the same tomorrow. Therefore, I can plan wisely for the future, and be patient that the goodness of God will ultimately prevail over it all. This orientation to life brings confidence and hope.

Wisdom also directs us to discern that our hope and confidence can wax and wane. Just because we may be full of faith, hope, and love today, does not mean that from here-on-out we will never have to struggle with these feelings of jealousy, envy, disappointment, and anger.

Far too often we think emotions can be easily replaced, the negative ones for the positive, envy for happiness, or jealousy for satisfaction.

However, we are more complex creatures than that, having the capacity to hold multiple emotions at the same time. Sometimes, the best thing is to recognize that I can be happy, even though I am sad, without ignoring or stuffing the sadness.

Consider this: At the same time, all the time, God is both terribly sad, as well as quite exuberant. The Lord both grieves and celebrates continually. That’s because God sees it all.

And if I were to see the entire scope of your life, I am sure there are aspects of that life which are joyous, and elements which are despondent, with great longing for change.

Asaph got a much fuller picture of how things actually are in this world. And with that more expansive perspective he discovered a sense of settled hope, despite the fact that nothing in his world had changed at all.

Indeed, I myself am to be the change that I long for in this world. And it starts with gaining a perspective of wisdom, and seeing the angle of immateriality.

Arrogant pride, hoarding of wealth, and injustice will not last forever. They are temporary. But there are permanent things in this universe, and none of them have to do with money or stuff.

When all is said and done, Love survives and thrives. God hasn’t gone anywhere. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The Spirit is still alongside us.

And the wicked are no more.

So, may righteousness, justice, and peace surround you today and everyday like a warm security blanket of hope. And may you know that you are seen and loved by a God who cares. Amen.

Dealing with Injustice (1 Kings 1:28-48)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Bathsheba appeals to David, by Arent de Gelder, c.1685

Then King David said, “Call in Bathsheba.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before him.

The king then took an oath: “As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble, I will surely carry out this very day what I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel: Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne in my place.”

Then Bathsheba bowed down with her face to the ground, prostrating herself before the king, and said, “May my lord King David live forever!”

King David said, “Call in Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” When they came before the king, he said to them: “Take your lord’s servants with you and have Solomon my son mount my own mule and take him down to Gihon. There have Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel. Blow the trumpet and shout, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ Then you are to go up with him, and he is to come and sit on my throne and reign in my place. I have appointed him ruler over Israel and Judah.”

Benaiah son of Jehoiada answered the king, “Amen! May the Lord, the God of my lord the king, so declare it. As the Lord was with my lord the king, so may he be with Solomon to make his throne even greater than the throne of my lord King David!”

So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon mount King David’s mule, and they escorted him to Gihon. Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the sacred tent and anointed Solomon. Then they sounded the trumpet and all the people shouted, “Long live King Solomon!” And all the people went up after him, playing pipes and rejoicing greatly, so that the ground shook with the sound.

Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they were finishing their feast. On hearing the sound of the trumpet, Joab asked, “What’s the meaning of all the noise in the city?”

Even as he was speaking, Jonathan son of Abiathar the priest arrived. Adonijah said, “Come in. A worthy man like you must be bringing good news.”

“Not at all!” Jonathan answered. “Our lord King David has made Solomon king. The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, the Kerethites and the Pelethites, and they have put him on the king’s mule, and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon. From there they have gone up cheering, and the city resounds with it. That’s the noise you hear. Moreover, Solomon has taken his seat on the royal throne. Also, the royal officials have come to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make Solomon’s name more famous than yours and his throne greater than yours!’ And the king bowed in worship on his bed and said, ‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has allowed my eyes to see a successor on my throne today.’” (New International Version)

Solomon at the deathbed of King David, by Giulio Romano (1499-1546)

One of King David’s sons, Adonijah, was a stinker. He tried to pull a fast one on his aging father, in order to try and take the throne. But some of the people caught wind of what was afoot.

Even Nathan the prophet got involved and gave some sage instructions to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, so that the king’s wishes could come to fruition – namely, that Solomon would succeed David.

As a result, despite King David’s struggles toward the end of life, he had enough wherewithal to attempt some decisive leadership. He confirmed Solomon as his royal successor.

Despite Adonijah’s attempt to take advantage of his father’s failing capacity and execute a coup d’état, the king immediately took action by anointing and enthroning Solomon without any delay.

The installation of Solomon as king was accomplished so quickly that it caught the conniving Adonijah and his cohorts off guard. King David may have lost several steps in his old age, but he was still someone to be reckoned with. That underestimation would cost the connivers dearly.

To be honest, I don’t like Adonijah. And that’s what the storyteller wants us to feel. We are meant to read the narrative and walk away saying to ourselves that we don’t want to be like Adonijah; we don’t want injustice to have the day; instead, we want King David’s wishes honored, and to see a just and right Ruler ensconced as king.

The Lord is a just God. And since we are people created in God’s image and likeness, we have an inherent sense of justice down deep inside us. So, it drives people nuts whenever there are things happening which are not right nor good.

Everyone faces injustice, and things that are not right, in this life. The trick is to deal with it, without becoming unjust ourselves. It’s not an easy thing to do. It’s tough. So, how do we maintain being just while handling injustice?

The feeling of helplessness is rather uncomfortable, even painful. It doesn’t feel good to think that your efforts at doing right and being just don’t accomplish much of anything, and are only a drop in the bucket of what’s needed. It also doesn’t feel right whenever we see others going through injustice, and we have little to no way in helping the situation.

The first step in dealing with the world’s injustice is to acknowledge it. Don’t purposely ignore it, avoid it, or pretend that it isn’t there. Everything in life must be acknowledged before anything can be done about it – whether it’s dealing with an event, or your own emotions.

So, it is imperative that your care for yourself. And it’s the most important thing in being of service and help to others. Attend to the whole self – body, mind, emotions, and spirit – because it is necessary in order to move through unjust circumstances with health, confidence, and sobriety.

When facing injustice and dealing with it, no matter whether it concerns yourself or another, it’s good to keep in mind that our brains tend to gravitate toward the negative, to the detriment of seeing good and positive things.

Therefore, we must work at keeping our “compassion quotient” high, and not let our compassion turn to fatigue, then burn-out.

It seems that King David continually worked on maintaining a robust spirit and healthy self, so that, even when he was old, his compassionate and wise instincts kicked in – the ones he had spent a lifetime developing.

In contrast, Adonijah appears to have nurtured a self-centered and bitter spirit. He did not attend well to his spiritual and emotional health. His mind turned to the dark thoughts of intrigue and rebellion. Arrogance clouded his right mind. This would not end well for him.

Dealing with injustice is never easy. And it very much requires us to be healthy and just ourselves, so that when we are faced with issues of justice, we can deal with them in a good and right manner.

Almighty God, you have given all peoples one common origin.
It is your will that they be gathered together
as one family in yourself.
Fill the hearts of humanity with the fire of your love
and with the desire to ensure justice for all.
By sharing the good things you give us,
may we secure an equality for all
our brothers and sisters throughout the world.
May there be an end to division, strife and war.
May there be a dawning of a truly human society
built on love and peace. Amen.

The “Fool’s” Speech (2 Corinthians 11:16-33)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment

I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then tolerate me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool. Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast. You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face. To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that!

Whatever anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 

Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?

If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands. (New International Version)

Paul escaped the city of Damascus by being lowered in a basket at night (Acts 9: 23-25)

At this point in the Apostle Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian Church, he levels a direct and devastating attack on his proud, arrogant, and boastful opponents in the church. He points out the foolishness of their boasting, by means of playing the fool himself.

The gist of Paul’s argument was to boast of his humiliating experiences. In truth, Paul had plenty of glorious accomplishments he could have droned on about. Instead, he sought to expose the wide gulf that separated his understanding of apostolic ministry, and theirs.

With some rather hefty sarcasm behind his words, Paul offered some foolish boasting according to the human standards of his opponents. The Corinthians believed themselves to have superior strength and wisdom. Surely, they’re able to put up with these pathetic apostolic weaklings!

In reality, it is Paul’s weakness – and not humanly contrived understandings of strength – which establish his credibility and superiority as a minister of Christ’s gospel. The evidence is his hardships and trials – not his many triumphs. Paul intended for this irony to be felt by the Corinthians.

The Apostle’s litany of woes and adversities wasn’t meant to one-up the Corinthians. Rather, it was intended to be a parody of the Corinthians’ claims to superior wisdom and spiritual power.

While the church boasted of all the things that showed their strength, Paul boasted of his weaknesses – because it’s truly in weakness that the transcendent power of God is made known and manifested in this world.

Paul’s experience in Damascus not only illustrated the extreme danger he was in, but it served as an example of his weakness in contrast to the mighty strength of the Roman Empire.

In the Roman army, the soldier with the greatest strength and valor was the one who scaled the enemy wall first. The courageous ascent of the Roman soldier is viewed alongside the inglorious descent of Paul along the wall in escaping.

Christianity grew, flourished, and thrived not because of superior earthly strength, but because of humiliating weakness which allowed the power of heaven to work through it.

In light of Paul’s view of leadership and ministry, I find that many contemporary leadership theories are woefully lacking in an understanding of how people tick.

For example, some philosophies treat humans as if they were machines, and treat workers as cogs or parts in a larger mechanistic worldview, as if they could be replaceable.

Yet, leadership that relies on the factory system will inevitably demean a person’s basic humanity and see nothing of their inherent uniqueness and deserving of respect.

Instead, a more biblical, compassionate, and practical leadership style discerns that relationships are key; and that individual persons bring something special to their work, even if they are doing the same job as others.

In this understanding of leadership, every single person does their work or ministry in a way that isn’t fully reproducible by others. Our individual human uniqueness ensures that our place in the world is needed, and that what we bring to every endeavor we do is a special one-of-a-kind offering that no one else can do.

What’s more, in this view of leadership, there’s no room for boasting, at all. And no place for arrogant pride, because boasting is based upon comparison.

If every person is a unique creation of God, and everyone brings something individually special to their efforts, then comparison is a foolish waste of time, and boasting is nothing more than a fool’s game.

You can always tell the fool by how they keep talking and cannot keep their mouth shut about all of their accomplishments and everything they know. If they believe they’re right, and try and prove it with their comparative superiority to others, then you can bet that what you have in front of you is a card-carrying honest-to-goodness genuine Fool, with a capital “F.”

We can do better. And we can be better leaders and offer better leadership philosophies which are based in humility, the value of each person, sound relationships, and effective peacemaking.

Anything less than that will likely get a sarcastic comment from the Apostle Paul in heaven.

Give us, O God,
leaders whose hearts are large enough
to match the breadth of our own souls;
and give us souls strong enough
to follow leaders of vision and wisdom. Amen.

Addressing the Divisions Amongst Us (1 Corinthians 4:8-13)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment

Are you already satisfied? Are you now rich? Have you become kings while we are still nobodies? I wish you were kings. Then we could have a share in your kingdom.

It seems to me that God has put us apostles in the worst possible place. We are like prisoners on their way to death. Angels and the people of this world just laugh at us. Because of Christ we are thought of as fools, but Christ has made you wise. We are weak and hated, but you are powerful and respected. 

Even today we go hungry and thirsty and don’t have anything to wear except rags. We are mistreated and don’t have a place to live. We work hard with our own hands, and when people abuse us, we wish them well. When we suffer, we are patient. When someone curses us, we answer with kind words. Until now we are thought of as nothing more than the trash and garbage of this world. (Contemporary English Version)

On this particular July 4 in the USA, there is perhaps no more pertinent biblical passage than today’s in addressing the current American political and emotional climate. Yet, before this is specifically addressed, let’s understand what was going on with the Apostle Paul and the Corinthian Church…

The Corinthian Divisions

Special interest groups had formed within the church. Each was following a specific person – some Paul, some Apollos, and some other leaders and teachers. The groups began to harden into political church factions. And Paul wanted nothing to do with this way of being Christian, because it is antithetical to the gospel itself.

Christ died to bring unity, not division. Paul established egalitarian churches that showed no favoritism. The Corinthians were called to a way of being that breaks down barriers between rich and poor, Jew and Greek. This business of groups and factions only fostered the division which Christ died to do away with.

By the time the Apostle wrote his letter to the Corinthian Christians, they had devolved a way of being with each other that was judgmental. They were pointing out unhealthy and demeaning comparisons, and boasting about how their group was more spiritual and wise than the others.

The Apostle Tackles the Divisions

So Paul, never one to shy away from initiative and justice, went on the offensive. Admittedly, in today’s New Testament lesson, Paul is quite sarcastic. He was actually mocking the Corinthians for their sinful arrogance and pride; and he used their own ways of being together against them to demonstrate how utterly foolish and ridiculous they were being.

The Apostle Paul countered with some comparisons of his own, using the example of the apostles themselves. Through his sarcastic comparison, he essentially argued that God used the very real oppression and suffering of the apostles toward good and positive ends.

Paul contrasted the apostles and the Corinthians to show the injustice that was happening in their factional wars with each other. By drawing attention away from the Corinthians and putting it on the apostles, Paul upheld a Christian ministry of weakness, not strength.

The apostles endured much suffering and opposition in their ministry. Paul viewed himself as a sort of dishrag that was used to clean the dirty dishes of the world. And he was okay with that, because it had a redemptive purpose. But he was not at all okay with the dirty business of factions and divisions within the church.

George Washington Addresses the Divisions

In our own day, it’s as if we have not learned the lessons of the past. And that is most likely because we have such little historical knowledge and awareness. I know of few people who realize George Washington was very much against a party system of government – and argued against it for similar reasons to the Apostle Paul.

Washington considered parties to be the bane of republican government. Parties were factions that threatened to divide the electorate into competing groups who might use violence to advance their interests.

He argued that political parties might also disrupt the separation of powers, especially in the case of unified government where loyalty to a party could interfere with the system of checks and balances.

What’s more, Washington said that parties threatened to stand in the way of effective representation, with elected officials tempted to represent only fellow party members and to leave opposition groups without a voice in government.

George Washington was mostly unique among the founders in never reconciling himself with political parties and never acknowledging the positive things that parties can bring to republican government.

Although it’s likely that Washington understood that parties were inevitable, he argued for keeping them under restraint and limiting their interference in the political process as much as possible.

Obviously, the party system won out, and rather quickly. In a healthy state of being, political parties can mobilize voters and encourage voter participation. They help build support for officeholders and serve as conduits of communication to the people. Political parties allow minorities to form coalitions to create majority rule.

Stick with the Evidence

Yet, what we seem to continually experience nowadays is the unhealthy aspect of the party system. People are hardened and reified into established positions and refuse to listen to the other. In such a position, evidence-based practices take a back seat.

For example, although there is not a shred of evidence that the former U.S. President experienced a hung jury and a corrupt judge in being convicted on 34 felony counts, a sizable chunk of Americans believe the corruption to be true – seemingly only because the former President said so, and without any objective, reasonable, and serviceable evidence to offer in backing up that claim.

And that prideful hardened spirit is the very thing that was happening in the ancient Corinthian Church. They wanted what they wanted, and they didn’t care what the other group thought. Each group believed (without evidence) they were wise and right. Yet, all of them were, in reality, foolish and unjust.

If we want a better public political climate; the freedom to be who we are; and confidence for the future; then, we had better begin with examining ourselves and listening well to the other first, before we assume that our own group is in the right and should be in control.

The privileges of freedom can only be enjoyed by embracing the responsibilities of freedom. And those responsibilities include a unified concern for the common good of all citizens, and not just the ones I like and who agree with me.

O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, and the Prince of Peace; Give us grace to lay aside our unhappy divisions. Take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatsoever else may hinder us from godly union and concord. Help us to build bridges, not walls, and live into the unity you provided for us in Christ, through the Spirit. Amen.