I’ve been thinking about what faith really is for over 20 years now. The other night, just being in bed, I received a revelation that furthered my understanding on this topic.
We have been told that faith is so many things. We have been told that it is a spiritual force. We have been told that it is a spiritual law, and that it works much like any physical, natural law. But I’ve never felt that those ideas were quite right. I fear they treat God as a kind of push-button God, who reflexively responds to faith on demand. Somehow, I don’t think that God is like a computer program, where if you punch in the right code, He does what you want Him to do. It reduces God to the status of a tool, and that just can’t be right.
Immediately, a few verses came to mind.
In Ephesians 2:8, the bible states that we are saved by faith, and that it is the “gift of God.” And in Romans 12:3, Paul indicates that a “measure” of faith is assigned to all believers. And in 1 Corinthians 12:9, faith is said to be a spiritual gifting.
Finally, we find that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
So, why? Why does faith come from hearing the bible?
I realized that faith comes by revelation, through an epiphany, that comes by meditating on the gospel or God’s ways.
Of course. Because the christian walk itself starts with a realization, that we need God and His ways in our lives, or that we are sinful, or that Christ is the messiah.
So, I realized that faith is not some ethereal force or some mechanical spiritual law or principle, but just a gifting of revealed knowledge. It comes through revelation.
And revelation is just a windfall of understanding. It is that “aha” moment of sudden and impactful realization. And it is always personal, always a moment of awakening.
That is why it is critical to hear the Word, to speak the Word, to be around the Word, to think on and meditate on the Word. The Word is your source of personal revelation, which really are just gifts of faith.
When God speaks to you, or reveals something to you, in His own voice and through His own Words, you come to recognize God. You come to develop faith in His voice and in His word by constantly encountering Him over and over. This is how relationships are built. This is how trust and confidence are gained. This is how faith works.
Category: revelation
Definition.
Victimhood: the condition of having been hurt, damaged, or made to suffer, especially when you want people to feel sorry for you because of this or use it as an excuse for something.
The truth is, victimology is a lazy play on morality. People think they can use it as a cheat-code to attain righteousness.
If the mantle of victimhood is granted to you gratis, you don’t feel like you have to be persecuted for telling the truth, or doing what is right. Persecution is often imagined, or cooked up. You imagine that you are just born into it. And so, no moral effort has to be made, because a coat of righteousness is already yours, and it was free to claim.
What is really appealing about this racial victimology that we see in play today is that you don’t have to DO ANYTHING in order to suffer persecution. Rather, you are crowned and initiated into a false sense of moral goodness by just being yourself, by just having the wrong skin color or the wrong last name.
Your goodness, and your special place in the moral hierarchy comes directly from something apart from your own moral choices and behaviors. It is almost as if goodness becomes a grace, something that does not have to be earned by actively BEING GOOD.
This is the danger of victimhood. You take the apple in hand, and it is shiny and it looks good for eating. But if you eat it, it becomes part of who you are, and you lose your moral status, exiled from the grace that you assumed was yours all along.
The victim has special rights.
You do not have to be charitable. You do not have to feed the poor.
You do not have to take care of the widowed. No. You are special and unique, and inherit your goodness based on forces you cannot control.
This is a false moral system, much like a religious meme, that is spreading widely in our culture. Victimhood is the lazy person’s path to righteousness. One does not need to be just, because everybody around you is unjust, and your victimhood is a kind of shield that protects and defends you from moral responsibility.
This is really about persecution, and you should know it.
Persecution that is earned by a commitment to goodness, rightness and truth is legitimate persecution. It is true persecution, because one knows in advance that in a world of liars, a truth-teller will never escape suffering. But in a world of liars, the lies we tell ourselves are just as important as the truths we should be committed to.
And we should distinguish one from the other. Too many groups and nationalities and cultures today are erecting worlds of persecution around themselves, in order to shield themselves from moral responsibility. And THAT is a big problem.
That is a moral failing.
This is one of those sayings that is really hard to get a personal revelation of, to actually appreciate in a deep way. I had heard it preached over and over, but just didn’t want to agree with it. I resisted it. I fought it. I argued and wrestled with this premise for months and months.
But I think I am starting to turn toward it with an attitude of acceptance.
Here’s why.
Jesus died for the world. For everybody.
“For God so loved THE WORLD,” and all of that.
He didn’t just die for you, or for me, or the church, or his disciples. He died for the world.
Yes. That same world whose influence we are commanded to protect our souls against. That world.
To make the point more emphatic, in that famous verse in the third chapter of the gospel of John, it goes on to say that “whosoever believeth in him has eternal life.”
Whosoever. Which means that person who dogged us, who betrayed us, who screwed us over. Yes. That whosoever.
But let’s switch this up. Let’s imagine that God hates a man.
Let’s imagine that God thinks of this man and it just burns him up to do so. Just the thought of this man makes him irate, causes him to lose sleep, and will ruin his whole day.
Sounds absolutely ridiculous, right?
God does not respect any man enough to hate on him.
If he did, we would certainly look suspiciously on God.
And yet, as followers of God and His ways, we instinctively assume it is okay to hate people. We automatically assume that it is okay to hate ANYONE.
But, this is probably not so. It is not okay.
So, if you hate just one, you have no love in your heart for anybody.
The idea is not so crazy.
I had a realization many years ago that all of us were like branches on the same genetic tree. It is said that we share 99.8% of the same genetic material.
From a scientific perspective, we are all clones.
The physical differences between two people are marginal.
In some ways, to hate someone else is to hate yourself. You hate someone who is almost genetically identical to you.
Think about that for a second.
Let me add one more point.
Jesus didn’t just teach that we were all sinners. Jesus didn’t just teach that we were all imperfect.
Jesus taught that we were all pretty much in open rebellion against God and His ways.
Jesus taught that if you looked upon a woman with lust in your heart, you already committed adultery. You are an adulterer, worthy of death.
If you look at a person with violent hatred in your heart, you have already committed murder. You are a murderer.
Paul went as far as to say that it is not our job to judge those outside of the church, at all.
Finally, we have all heard the phrase: “hate the sin, but not the sinner.“
Probably better to hate your own sin, I say.
You cannot hate another’s sin and not hate your own.
You cannot hate one sinner without hating them all.
Hatred for one’s neighbor is as good as hating yourself. Scientifically. Biologically. And spiritually.
That’s why Jesus commanded us to not only love our neighbor, but our enemies, as well. Because, as we all know, our greatest enemy is always ourselves.
Laying in bed the other night, my mind was swirling. I was thinking about a verse that has served as a lens through which I am now filtering reality in some way:
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. – Ephesians 6:12
I thought of the current political environment in America, how the lines are clearly drawn between left and right, christian and godless, Northerner and Southerner.
I wondered if there was a hidden determinant to all of this conflict, if the sides were equally drawn on the spiritual plane, as it were.
What if, since 65% of the citizenry identifies as Christian, the opposition to church outreach services and charities, is really just an anti-church movement in disguise? What if their unyielding promotion of state and government services for the poor is all about taking social influence away from the church and moving it over to themselves?
What if the idea that the government must take care of its citizenry like a parent does a young child is just the design of a godless institution competing vigorously against the influence of the church for the souls of men?
What if the movement to tax the middle and upper classes is likewise an anti-christian movement, as most millionaires identify as Christian? What if it designed to defund and defang the church by stressing its main funding sources to the point of breaking? What if it is akin to a religious tax that targets a protected minority, much like some Muslim-majority countries institute an abusive Jyzya tax on Christians living in their lands?
What if faith is the most important ingredient in the recipe for the making and maintaining of a free nation? What if the willingness to die for what is right and moral and just in the face of tyranny is the one thing that the authoritarian state must overcome in order to emasculate its citizenry, making them fearful, robotic conformists–impotent and flinching at its immense authority?
What if democratic, secular leftism is really, actually anti-christian sentiment and bias wrapped up in a political sophistry, much like the bible says of the devil, that he comes disguised as an angel of light? What if the road to hell truly is paved with good intentions? What if the road to hell is really paved with our own, all-so-human intentions?
What if the political lines, having been drawn, and then apprehended, really show a clear dividing line between good and evil, with no in between, no wriggle room.
It is a hard place to go, difficult to digest, distasteful in the mouth, even. Even the most fallible of Christians might find themselves rebuking these thoughts as too extreme, just all too much.
Even worse than all of that, speaking as a protestant Christian, what if the breakaway protestant church has been the main contributor to this societal divide, allowing disparate doctrine to be taught from one church to another, genetically distinct from traditional and authoritative christian ideologies? What if you lived in a country where, if you wished, you could easily find a church that is pro-choice, supports censorship of their neighbors in their community, and where its members hold no political or moral beliefs that distinguish themselves from the godless masses?
Isn’t Protestant America such a place?
What if the church’s ‘anti-gay’ beliefs are really pro-gay, pro-mental-health, pro-human, and like Jesus said: ‘the sabbath day of rest was made FOR MAN’S own good.’ What if modern-day views about racism and hate speech are not sins, and never were, because they are not consistent moral constructions? What if they are just secular, counterfeit euphemisms for evil? What if this alternative moral code being taught to our children is just a ruse to get them to take their eyes off of the time-tested dichotomy of good and evil and instead take the shiny, appealing apple of their own moral fruits to their mouths?
What if school lock downs are anti-christian in nature, as most people having children and having large families are Christian, and lock downs only serve to financially devastate the nuclear Christian family?
What if this is truly a spiritual war, a struggle against dark principalities and evil forces?
These are questions that I don’t think any Christian should sleep on.
There was a discussion at the kitchen table the other night about social services and government help programs. Food stamps was up for grabs and on the docket on this cold, snowy night.
The republican thought that too many were taking advantage of the system. The Democrat said that “SOMEBODY has to help these people.”
And just after he finished saying that, an epiphany struck me, about why both of them were deceived, and how the problem isn’t about who we should tax, or who we should distribute government and State funds to, but rather, the real issue was much deeper, more critical, and struck at the heart of what it means to be an American.
Immediately I thought of a verse in the Bible that states that we don’t fight a physical struggle, but that the battle is spiritual, against spirits, powers, principalities and dark forces.
So, what would happen if, tomorrow morning, food stamps across the country were cut off, completely, nationwide?
I know what the average liberal or democrat would say. I heard the implications of what they believe last night during our political dialogue.
They would say that people would go starving, that children would go hungry, that within weeks, looting and rioting would occur, and social chaos would ensue.
It would be a net negative. It would be cruel and coldblooded for such a major transformation to occur. It would be heartless, gutless and evil.
But I realized that it just isn’t so.
The democrat is wrong, dead wrong.
Not only that, but it is an anti-Christian sentiment.
Instead, what would happen is that you would see the greatest charitable mobilization ever seen in the history of mankind. You would see Christian, middle-class America come together and fill every food pantry from coast to coast. They would donate money, time and their physical presence to fill that sudden need.
Not one child would go hungry. Not one person would be hospitalized for malnutrition. Not a chance in hell.
And the social ripples that would spread out from this event would lead to a precipitous drop in crime, a major drop in out-of-wedlock childbirth and abortion, and would ultimately be the precursor to a major leap toward societal and political unity like never seen before in this country.
Here’s how.
Democrats have been fostering class warfare for years. It is their bread and butter, and antagonism between economic classes is necessary in order for their brand of political philosophy to flourish. People must be taught that their neighbor is their enemy, not to be trusted, and that they are only out for themselves, and not for you.
This only works today because the church has been replaced by a government-printed check. The church is just a building to most, dotting the roadways with steeples and over-large parking lots.
That disassociation would be broken forever, however, in our hypothetical event.
Because the people in need, who have been taught all of their life that the nameless, faceless government is their best hope in life, would suddenly find themselves face-to-face with their neighbors, as it were. That little old curly-haired middle-class caucasion woman would be handing them a bag bursting with comestibles, that she contributed to, personally. The effects of this would be dramatic and long-lasting.
No longer would poor inner-city citizens be able to carry antagonism and anger in their hearts toward the middle class. No longer would neighbor hate neighbor, steal from neighbor, carjack their neighbor’s car or steal a package off of their porch. Because they would, for the first time, have the scales of socialism fall from their eyes, being able to see clearly that their more-statused neighbors care, and have a Christian love inside of them.
Here is what those who worship at the altar of big government cannot see, that even though it is true that people cannot be trusted to do the right thing, Christian America can.
65% of Americans identify as Christian. That makes this a majority-Christian country.
Despite the hundreds of charity hospitals started by Christians, the thousands of food pantries in churches all over the country, the Saint Judes’ and Saint Agathas’ and so on and so forth, somehow most people are blinded to this Christian infrastructure, though it swamps them, hems them in, cannot be escaped from. Because it is a spiritual war we are fighting, and not a struggle against flesh and blood. They are spiritually blind to the answer to all societal ills in this country, though they are surrounded by the answer, and cannot escape it no matter which way they look.
The fact is, Christian American can be counted on, could always be counted on. It is like a sleeping giant waiting to be roused from its slumber. The country would unify, and the political grifters would be desperate for animosity and hatred to return; desperate to make them believe again that their neighbor should be distrusted, is unreliable, in unchristian, is a hypocrite, is a racist, is a misogynist, and is only out for themselves.
The lie, the false belief that their neighbors must be forced toward social positives in a nation full of Christians would be shattered once and for all. The blinders would be broken from their eyes and the citizenry would gain again a renewed optimism in America, God and country.
The fact is, the government is a natural competitor to the church. The bigger the influence of the state in people’s lives, the lesser the influence of the church in people’s lives, and the more people lose an essential ingredient for social cohesion, being face-to-face interaction with priests, with saints, with everyday Christians.
There has been, throughout history, no government allowed to grow to unparalleled power and moral authority, in which the church has survived and thrived.
Therefore, with every new and over-sized government-sponsored social program, another chip is taken off of the church’s sphere of influence.
The answer to all of America’s social ills lies in its Christian citizenry. They are yet dormant, having been suppressed by the opposing and contradictory reach of the state and government.
In all, the real difference between the republican and the democrat boils down to faith: one has faith in his church, in his neighbors, in his community, in his fellow Christians and countrymen. The other believes, without cause, unblinkingly, as a matter of rote, that people cannot be relied on to do the right thing, to lift up his neighbor when they need it, and that they must be forced to do so, under threat of violence, if need be.
One spreads fear and pessimism about his neighbor, while the other spreads optimism and faith about his neighbor.
Finally, while observing the conversation in the kitchen the other night, the democrat interjected a strange statement, seemingly out of nowhere, about how the church should be paying taxes, should have taxation forced upon them. I’ve noticed this trend when in conversation with liberals, that anti-christian rhetoric somehow, some way, finds itself injected, as a matter of course, into the conversation. Nobody usually takes note of it.
It makes you wonder about it, that if one were inclined to believe such a thing, one might think that the ones who worship government know all of the aforementioned beforehand, and are deeply conscious of the fact that their programs and systems and infrastructures are truly unnecessary in a Christian country, one full of believers, but instead, perhaps they are fully aware that they are fighting an ideological war, a spiritual war, just as the bible tells us.
To take it even a natural step farther, if the majority of a citizenry in a country are Christian, and a political party or faction spreads fear, insinuation, hate and misinformation about the people, who are majority-Christian, it is not crazy to assume that this sentiment is, at heart, anti-christian in nature.
Yes.
Anti-Christian.
Mull that one over.