Pleasure Bestowed

We want what makes us feel good. We are willing to endure pain if the result is pleasurable. We will wait years for fulfillment if it's worth it. If the cost is more than the reward, we walk away.

This simple concept is really what drives us. It even drives our relationship with God. We give ourselves to Him as long as it feels good, and we get an easily measurable benefit from Him. When it gets tough, or the benefits aren't easily seen, our doubts build and we are tempted to walk away. Sadly, this happens all the time. In fact, I just saw a friends post about Anne Rice, who famously accepted Christ after years of...well, definitely not living for Christ. She has renounced her Christianity. The story said she was upset with the views held by Christians on issues like homosexuality. Her story is not very different from thousands, maybe millions, of Christians who once followed, but have now walked away.

Sometimes this is because the teachings of Christ lose their appeal to them. For others, like Miss Rice, it seems to be that the actions of Christians have soured them. Whatever the case, utlimately, the pleasure bestowed by a relationship with God is less than or equal to the pleasures bestowed by other things.

Let's be honest- we have all sought pleasure from lesser things over the pleasure of God. And we do it often. Don't get me wrong- I'm not saying don't enjoy the lesser things, but I am saying don't let them take precedent over God.

"OK, Chad, how can I pursue these 'lesser things' and still honor God?" I'm so glad you asked, Random Made Up Reader. The answer, I believe, lies in Psalm 37:4.

"Delight yourself in the LORD
and he will give you the desires of your heart."

Think about that word, "delight." It's not a common word today, so I think a definition is key. Per Dictionary.Com, "to give great pleasure, satisfaction, or enjoyment to; please highly." We are to take great- I daresay, ultimate- pleasure in God. We are to be consumed by Him and our pursuit of Him. This is the easy to grasp part, for me. Not easy to apply, necessarily, but easy to understand.

The second part is, well, muddy. One reading's emphasis seems to suggest that if the have gotten satisfaction from God, He gives us whatever we desire. Sounds awesome. Except, God is not, nor has He ever been, a genie in a bottle. Delighting in God does not open the door to a new Camaro or big screen TV.

I choose to understand this second half like this: If we are satisfied by God, He begins to shape the desires of our life. The lesser things we thought we needed- he shows us that no, we didn't need them. Instead, we need this. For example: My desire is to own a mountain ranch in Colorado. I pursue this desire all out, but in the meantime, I begin a deep relationship with God. I get lost in Him, and suddenly, while a Colorado ranch would be nice, the deep desire of my heart has become to pursue a missionary project in God's name. God changes our heart to be more like His, not unlike how the person we most love subtley and slowly brings about changes in our lives, even as we are changing theirs. And maybe that ranch in Colorado is still a part of that desire- there are people who don't know Christ in the mountains of Colorado just like there are in Africa.

The issue of pleasure bestowed is that we must first seek our pleasure from God with first importance. Being satisfied by Him- He will subtly and slowly begin molding our desires so that what He finds pleasure in, we find pleasure in.

And really, thats probably much better than a Camaro, in the long run.

Pleasure Seekers

I love skiing downhill, powder flying from beneath my skis. I love getting lost in a good book and watching worlds spring to life in my imagination. I take great pleasure in hiking through mountains and watching thunderstorms roll in across the plains. I enjoy the company of my family and friends. I, like most every other American, am a pleasure seeker.

Millions- maybe billions- are spent every year on our pursuit of pleasure. Maybe its a vacation, or an item we desire. We are collectors of everything from art, to antiques, to toys. We also spend a good deal of time and money in pursuit of a good relationship. We seek the right appearance in our clothes and our physique so we can attract the right friend or potential mate.

I think we are hard wired to seek pleasure. Therefore, I don't think pursuit of pleasure is, in and of itself, bad. Sure, sometimes the thing that gives us pleasure may be illegal or bad for us- or other people- and these pleasures are not something we should seek. But a great vacation, a nice car, a glass of wine or bottle of beer (if you're of legal age, mind you), a good book and so on are things we can and should seek. We are to get enjoyment out of life.

And why is that? For a lot of people, the answer of "human nature" will suffice. I agree, to a point. We don't do things that make us miserable unless it is a means to a pleasurable end. We want to make life easier and more enjoyable.

I believe in God. So, for me, "human nature" is an OK explanation, but it's lacking. I believe in a first cause, and I believe we are made in the image of the God I serve. So, God is also a pleasure seeker.

Now, I don't know if God takes great pleasure in skiing down mountains or reading the latest Stephen King novel. But He definitely takes pleasure in relationships. Specifically, the one He has/wants with you. He works hard to reach out to us, to win our hearts to Him. He has shed blood, sweat and tears- quite literally- for us. And the pleasure He achieves is when you turn to Him, be it the first time or the millionth. And because we are like Him, I believe a relationship with Him is our ultimate source of pleasure. Read the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant," with the understanding that it is God saying that to us as we look upon Him for the first time. As much as we receive pleasure from words of affirmation from a parent or friend, imagine the joy when our Creator offers those words.

But until then, seek the pleasure of His company as best as you can now. Read, listen, sit quietly. Heck, go skiing, hiking, find that ultimate wave, ride in a sports car with the top down, read a good book or watch a great movie.

God, being the pleasure seeker He is, might just be waiting to meet you there.

Choosing Destiny

I do still believe there is black and white in the world. I believe God is good and the devil isn't. I believe it's best to love rather than hate. I believe murder is wrong, no matter the culture. I believe taking care of others is good, no matter the circumstances.

But as I get older, I realize there is more gray in this world. And occasionally, the world is technicolor. The ideas of predestination and free will are usually discussed as black and white. They are, to me, at least gray if not technicolor.

I believe God is in total control. I believe I can freely choose, moment by moment, whether or not to show Him love and respect. I don't believe my choice is strong enough to fully divorce myself from God- if I did believe that, I would trust in a God whose salvation is weak and dependant more on me that Him. I do not beleive that God forces Himself on me in such a way that removes my free choice and though process.

Destiny and Choice are involved in a give and take in my view. Destiny gives us choices, and we take the one that we deem best. Sometimes, we choose a destiny that is lesser- I believe that God is ever working for us to once again- or for the first time- find the better destiny.

I believe God can and does sometimes step in when we go too far from His plan. But sometimes He lets us thwart His plan. God may want me to be a cancer curing scientist, but laziness at studying throws a wrench in there. God may want me to be a humble janitor, but my ambition for power leads me to politics.

So it comes to this. We must believe in destiny. That God does have a plan for us, and that it is the best possible plan for us. Since we rarely, if ever, hear God's direct words on our destiny, we must make wise and faithful choices as we pursue His calling toward us. But we do not get even a glimpse of our true destiny until we first trust that there is a God, and He did die for us, and He did rise from the dead so that our lives might have eternity AND meaning in the here and now. Destiny begins with meeting Jesus. It is learned through the choices we make on whether to trust Jesus, or trust someone or something else.

Essentially, we choose destiny. We choose to beleive we were made for more than this. More than paychecks and bills, more that toys and gadgets, more than even friends and family. Our ultimate destiny- whether we follow God or not- is to worship Him. Whether that destiny is to worship for eternity or for a moment before eternal punishment is the choice. Whether we are meeting our destiny here on earth is the many choices we make daily.

Will you choose destiny?

Choice

Everyday begins with a choice. Get up or sleep in. That choice leads to another and another and another until the last choice of the day- go to sleep or stay up a while longer.

Choice characterizes our existence, but how free to choose are we? I mean, if God is mapping out our destiny, do we really have free will?

Where the Destiny view of things gives us comfort that God is in control, it lacks the idea that we do things out of love or concern, rather than being forced. I mean, I really don't think God wants us to love Him because we have to. If that were the case, there would be no sin, but there would also be no benevolence.

So, looking at choice, we see that we are free. Free to choose what we do, when we do it, and how we do it. We sit in the driver seat. I do as God says because I love Him, and I choose to give Him my devotion.

Do you choose to love your spouse or significant other- or is it out of obligation? Sometimes the obligation part might seem the way it is, but people have a choice of who they love- at least in most cultures.

The problem with this view is just how much choice do we have? Can we, through our choices, overthrow the will of God? The scary thought that then comes on the heels of that question is- are we more powerful than God?

Choice is no doubt one of the most powerful forces known to man. Choices can effect an individual or an entire planet. Jesus chose to accept His call to cross- but He did ask the Father if there was any other way. I believe it was possible for Jesus to choose to run. To escape that terrible death. But He chose to stay and face it. If He couldn't have chosen to avoid the cross- there was no sacrifice, it was just a thing that had to be done. But He agonized that night in the Garden, we sweat blood. He knew the decision He made would change the world. Accept or Reject God's will.

That's where now find ourselves daily.

"Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do!"

The immortal words of John Locke, yelled at a Walkabout guide as the man walked toward a waiting bus. Locke is left sitting in his wheelchair, denied his "destiny." See, Locke believed his purpose, the greater plan of his life, was to go on Walkabout. No one else could see it happening, since he was, you know, paralyzed.

I think believing in destiny (or the more religious sounding 'predestination') takes equal parts faith and stubborness. You have to believe deeply in it, and you can't ever let doubt tear it down. In the irony of ironies- Destiny is a choice.

Locke chose to believe the unbelievable was his destiny. And, he got it, by way of crash landing on a mystical island that gave him back his legs. Which brings the question- did Locke have the right destiny in mind- a Walkabout- but just had the wrong island destination?

If we as Christians beleive in destiny as designed by God, how often do we get the broad strokes of what our destiny is right, while landing in the wrong destination? Is getting it wrong a few times part of that destiny, so we appreciate it all the more when we reach it? Of course, that supposes that our destiny we're pursuing is the end all be all of our existence.

How does God know and plan our our lives? Does He see all possible choices we make, and therefore know what all possible outcomes are? That doesn't really seem like God is all that in control to me. We are dictating His response.

Does God actively guide our lives, ever steering us toward His plan? If so, what about God's talk of freedom? Where is that? This idea makes it seem we have no choice whether or not to love God- we are simply automatons following, without conviction or devotion, our orders.

The irony of "Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do!" is that John Locke was choosing which destiny to believe. Had something told him what his destiny was, or was he just choosing a destiny that would make him feel whole? If our destiny was to be trapped in a wheelchair, or a bad job, or in a boring day-to-day, wouldn't we want a destiny that called out "You are more than this!"

That's really the hope of believing in destiny- that we are more than this current state. That there is a great calling on our lives. Just the other day, my friend Jeff posted this on Facebook: "If we are not shooting for the ideal, we are settling for mediocrity." Belief in destiny is our crying out, in the midst of mediocrity, for the ideal. To believe in destiny is to believe that there is a greater option out there.

To believe in destiny is to believe in the possibility of a better you.

Smokey

I walked into a Barbecue place today, and the smell of 60 plus years of smoke hit me like a wall. It was a pleasing, mesquite tinged smell, but overpowering, as if the smoke had managed to embed itself in the panel lined walls and refused to move. It was choking me.

I managed to escape this smoky locale, but many of the castaways from flight 815 never escaped the clutches of Smokey, aka The Monster. He too seemed to be ingrained in the fabric of the island, he too had a (literal) choking effect on those he encountered. But he was also sentient. No amount of time was going to allow the smoke in the BBQ place to suddenly become self aware.

Smokey pursued people, he watched them, he unraveled the mystery of who they were. Some he let go, others he crushed the life from them. But make no mistake, everyone was playing by his rules.

As the series developed, so did the Monster. He began to offer promises, make deals with, and basically tempt people. He would appear in a pleasing form, a form that would put his target at ease. But it was not for the benefit of the target- it was only for Smokey.

We have smokeys in our world as well. They draw us off the path with the promise of adventure or shortcut, they pull us into situations that are in fact not for our best. They themselves have more in common with the BBQ joints smoke that the Smokey of the Island. They are neither benevolent or malevolent, they just draw us in with their pleasing aroma then choke the life out of us.

But behind these temptations, we have the living Smokey. AKA Lucifer. AKA Beelzebub. AKA Satan. He uses these baits to lure us in. He appears to be that which we desire the most- money, fame, power, sex, religion. He watches us for our weakness, plans counters to our strengths, sets a trap. He is, as 1 Peter tells us, a roaring lion stalking us like prey.

Smokey, and for us, Satan, is the ultimate Other. While the other Others are human, Smkoey/Satan is not. We don't really understand him, we are afraid of him, and truthfully, we would rather dismiss him as a fairy tale, a bogey man designed by the Church to keep us honest.

That's the disservice, the smoke-screen, if you will, that Satan has allowed us to put up. The world may put up with us believing in an unseen God, but the Devil? Please, that's ludicrous. Because if there is a devil, then there is real evil. If there is real evil, man can commit it, and that make us uncomfortable. I've heard people say that those who beleive in demons and possession are not in their right mind, or that they are morons. Why is it so hard to believe that there is an evil supernatural force in this world?

"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." was made popular in the Usual Suspects and was a paraphrase from a poem by Baudelaire (do I get artsy points for that?). It is being lived out today. To deny that Satan exists and is actively seeking the destruction of what God calls good is to hand him victory. Conversely, to see Satan hiding behind every misdeed is to reject personal responsibility. There must be an acknowledgemnet that we have an enemy, but also a realization that that enemy is sometimes ourselves. The Losties did just as much or more damage to each other than Smokey did, even when Smokey had not interfered. Sometimes we are just jerks.

I beleive that there is a war in spiritual realms unseen. I believe there is a war over the souls of those uncommitted to God, and a war over the souls of those committed to God as well. We need not live in fear of our Smokey- we can't. That lets him win as well. Instead we must live in the shadow of God- fancy church talk for trusting in God to see us through. We will be attacked by Satan- we will be tested by him. When this happens, we must let our response come not from us, but from God. When Jesus was tempted by Satan, he quoted scripture. We need to know what the Book says. We need to pray when we feel tempted. We need to band together in prayer, and worship.

And we need to be aware that the noises coming from jungle of our life are not to be trifled with.

The Others

From the first time Crazy French Lady Rousseau eerily called them "The Others" we knew they were bad news. And as soon as saw Ethan kick Jack's butt, it was confirmed: The Others were not to be trifled with. Then they took Walt and it got worse. Lost had created the latest entry in the time honored tradition of a story about 'us vs them.'

Their very name, 'The Others,' spoke to just why they were bad news. They were not like the castaways we were used to. They dressed different, behaved differently- there was something almost ghost-like in their sudden appearences. The fact that they were not like 'us' made them the enemy.

You and I have our own Others. They may be Muslim or Hindi, black or white, educated or not, rich or poor, popular or geek. Others simply are that- other than us. And in the narrative of our life, it's often easier to simply label the Others as the bad guys. Their ways are, after all, contrary to our ways. They don't look or dress like us. They don't think like us. And since we can't be the villain in our own story, they must be.

Lost did something else great. The more we got to see of the Others, the less we were able to simply dismiss them as typical bad guys. Their motivations- murky as they were- seem to come from genuine concern about being 'the good guys.' Sure, there were bad apples- revenge driven widowers, Machiavellian plotters, cold-blooded killers- but given a simple twist of fate, our castaways could have been them. Heck, our castaways were torturers, killers and con men. And they were the 'good guys?'

Do our real life Others have to be the bad guy? Does the fact that they are not Christians make them evil? It would be easy to say that if you are not with me, you are against me and therefore evil. But it would not be right. Nor would it be Christian. Christianity is not about being right. It is about being like Christ, living for Him as we imitate Him. And what did Christ say about the Others in His life- the ones actively killing Him on the Cross? "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Is it wrong to reject God? Absolutely. And as hard as it is to admit- that alone makes one deserving of Hell, no matter how much philanthropy and good work one does. But how can people not following Christ be expected to abide by the rules of a King they do not know or whose authority they do not recognize? Who will show them? It won't be us if we view them as an enemy, rather than as a fellow human struggling along a road to redemption and life.

I believe most people on earth are searching for validation- that their life ahs meaning. Some find it in Christianity or Islam, others in science or art, still others in various forms of relationship. In this, none of us are Others. All of us are in pursuit of meaning. If we believe that Christ is the validation- the redemption- of our lives, should we not desire to appeal to the 'Others' in love and respect instead of judgment and from a position of moral rightness?

It is not my job or yours to convert someone to a way of thinking, especially when it comes to faith in Christ. When we argue a person into submission for Christ, we are saying we don't really trust in the working grace of God to speak into that person's life. This does not negate apologetics, or give us liscense to say "Well, if God wants them, he can talk to them." Our role is to be present in the person's life, be available for the Spirit to use us as He sees fit. There will be times where we have to defend why we believe what we do- we must be ready and compassionate.

The thing about Lost is that it allowed us chance to see a story as told from the persepective of the Others- and it turns out that they, like the real life Others we know of- were not so other after all.