Wednesday, August 1, 2012

If We'd Only Seek To Follow Christ...

then maybe we wouldn't need all these movements and such...

All these movements and what-not. All this talk of  'Godly Womanhood' and 'keepers at home' and all the other fancy words we use to describe what REALLY all boils down to one thing:  a growing, intimate, personal, unique, intentional, maturing relationship with God.

People write all these books and have all these opinions and do all these differnt things in the name of  'educating' others and 'encouraging' their peers and such. And in and of itself, that is a GREAT thing - a beautiful ministry. But it seems that we lose sight as Believers of the fact that any position that we endorse or espouse should not be a 'movement', but should be as a result of a Holy Spirit guided conviction in our hearts that God would have us move in xyz way...

I  really have a hard time with this one ya'll... I dunno. I just think that we pigeon-hole eachother and we lose sight of the marvelously unique way God has created each of us and the intensely  pesonal journey He desires that we each take to discover His truth and His unique plan for our lives.

When I think of the way we critique and judge others' lives by things that may or may NOT be indicators of truth, it disheartens me. Scripture says that God does not look at the things we do, but at the heart of a man. We really should do the same...

We look at so many things that make us 'obviously' set apart - physically. But I believe that what REALLY matters to God is whether or not we are set apart in our hearts, in our thoughts, in our conduct. I believe that He cares far more WHY we live as we live than that we APPEAR to be seeking Him or proclaiming Him before men.

Are we searching our heart for truth as we embrace the 'movements' of Christianity or are we simply following a path that makes us FEEL righteous and holy and somehow more Godly than our brothers or sisters who choose - or have been called - to walk a different path?

Especially for women, all this can be so misleading. So confusing. And really. So demeaning. God created us in such an amazing way, with various different gifts and talents and many many personal quirks and idiocyncrasies. Where, exactly, do we get off setting ourselves up to be the  moral compass of others? How, exactly, do we justify making fellow Christ-followers feel inadequate in their journeys?

Conformity as Believers should not be our goal. A passionate ever-evolving,maturing relationship with Yah should what we seek.

That and that alone should be the heart from which we study, internalize, espouse and otherwise exhort ourselves and others in the Faith.  Because really. If we will make a relationship - a genuine, true, authentic relationship with Him who sits on the Throne - our focus and our mission in life, if that becomes our goal, we can rest assured that He will reveal to us the truths of His word that He desires us to embrace and live before men. And that includes whether or not women should wear pants or whether or not the cutting of one's hair is acceptable. Whether we should cover our heads or homeschool our children. Whether we should wear jewelry or make-up. All the details. Right down to what is an acceptable dietary standard.

If we ask Him, He'll show us. It's His pleasure to do so.

It is not our job to be the conscious or God to another sister. It is our job to live our lives in such a way that no matter how we 'Christiany' we look (or not), there is SOMETHING about us that shines from the inside out.

Our societal constructs and rigid boxes are more often than not, not a result of God driving us, but a result of us being too afraid to let God have free reign. Whether we want to admit it or not, we LIKE the boxes and societal constructs. Because we can control them, we can explain them, and we can understand them in our finite way of processing data.

Passionate pursuit of Christ almost always calls us to give up all three of those safety nets in large part, if not in full.

We dishonor God when we ascribe to Him ways of life driven by our finite minds instead of seeking Him for supernatural understanding of the way of life He desires to train us to internalize and live out as aliens in this foreign land.

If we'd all simply embrace righteousness and pursue it, if we'd just embark on the journey to live the unique plan of our personal Savior for our individual lives, we'd be better off and we'd be far better equipped to encourage and exhort. Becaue then we'd understand that what God has called ME to do may not be what He will EVER ask of another sister. We would know that the way God works is not boxable or pigeon-holeable. We would be humble enough to recognize that we've no right to judge as 'wrong' what is not in any way a 'sin', except in our own estimation.

It is pride pure and simple that leads us to speak what MUST NOT be God, because that not how He's led us. Or what can't be right, because it doesn't make sense.

No Believer needs a movement to discover God. What we need is a BIBLE and a relationship.

When we choose to exhort and encourage eachother in that pursuit, then we will be living life worthy of the call...


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