Perceptions.
Posted by Bill | Filed under Musings
I can’t remember ever having the emotion of hatred for anyone.
I’ve been angry at times. I’ve disliked some people. I’ve chosen to walk away from relationships I believed weren’t healthy. Or pushed them away. All without hatred.
Without judgment is a different story.
I’ve prayed that God would judge people harshly. Teach them a lesson. Show them just how wrong they were (and how right I was). I wanted them to feel regret – remorse.
After all, God is vengeful. My mother often said in her King James speak, “Vengeance is mine saith the Lord!”
In essence, my prayers were intended to remind God that He was vengeful. That He needed to take care of business. I wanted Him to know that I was on His side. I was looking for ways He could show up.
I was scouting the enemy for God. And proud of it.
Today my sister posted a quote by Anne Lamott, a progressive political activist. There was a time that I would’ve stopped at “progressive political activist” and found something else to read. But her quote grabbed me and took me further down the path of my journey.
“You can safely assume that you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.” (Traveling Mercies)
Now, truthfully, I don’t know much about Anne save what I read on wikipedia. But the quote itself got me thinking about my perception of God and how deeply it affects my perception of people. And ultimately how I treat people. Because when I see people through the colored lens of how I think God sees them, I’m wrong.
Jesus reminded me in Luke 6:31-36 that I don’t need special powers to love the lovable. The Message Bible puts it this way,
Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that’s charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that. I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.
In other words, I’m not supposed to love people because of what I’ll get in return. I’m supposed to love them in spite of what I’ll get in return.
Can I learn to love someone who doesn’t appreciate my sacrifice? Who takes me for granted? Who isn’t nearly as kind as I am.
If I can, it will give God glory. It’s what will help me appreciate His love for me, because God loves me in spite of what I’ll give in return.
I’m too busy. Yet He waits.
I accuse Him of not living up to his end of the bargain of vengeance. Yet He shows mercy.
God loves me anyway.
Encountering His love is a part of my journey.
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April 20, 2010 at 5:36 am
Bill… Would you please just LEAVE ME ALONE?!!? Haha! You’re hitting where it hurts. We get comfortable with God in the image we’ve created Him to be like. I wonder how often He looks at that image, and says, “But that’s just not Me!”
April 20, 2010 at 1:12 pm
Sorry Doug, but you subscribed to my thoughts, as scary as that might be. I love your concept of God saying, “Huh?” BTW, there is a book out from one of the Seacoast pastors. Something about pomegranates. Fill me in and whether its a good read.
April 20, 2010 at 9:30 am
I think this is one of the reasons “He’s still working on me.” The Word talks about being conformed {molded like play dough} into His image. It takes a lot of pushing and trimming and even pounding for me to be conformed to Him.
April 20, 2010 at 9:33 am
BTW…You might really enjoy reading “Travelling Mercies.” It is a very interesting journal of a young woman in San Francisco … non-churched seeker, who discovers God’s mercies in a variety of ways.
April 20, 2010 at 1:14 pm
I was debating whether to read this book. The excerpts that I read online definitely let me know that her writing style is something I would like. Now, if I can only get past that progressive political activist label.
April 20, 2010 at 7:26 pm
It is amazing to see how God works in all of us growing us in some of the same areas, I love the Blog keep writing Pastor Bill :>)
April 20, 2010 at 7:48 pm
so…i love reading your writings.
ALSO…i might have ALL of anne lamott and donald miller’s books. if you ever want to break down that wall, let me know…i’ve got a library full of them!!
April 20, 2010 at 8:09 pm
Thanks Kelli. I’ve read some of Miller’s writings. I periodically read his blog but don’t currently subscribe to it…maybe I should rethink that. As for Anne Lamott, if you have “Traveling Mercies” I would be interested in borrowing it to see if I should spend money on it for myself. I promise not to mark it up.
April 21, 2010 at 10:14 am
OK, now I am struggling to not hate and call down God’s vengeance on you because you got your blog online before me. lol Great job Bill! However keep in mind that somewhere someone probably views YOU as Politically Progressive.
April 21, 2010 at 11:10 am
Hmm. Good thought. I may have to blog about not just my perceptions of others but their perceptions of me. And why AREN’T you blogging? Or I could make you an admin on this site and we could blog together. After all, and hopefully this isn’t judgmental, you are probably a part of the Pharisee’s Anonymous group as well.
April 21, 2010 at 12:41 pm
I would have to confess to having Pharisee tendencies in my past but like you I’m walking in deliverance one day at a time. I have a blog site in progress as part of some website development that Brandon has been helping me with. Blog has been on the back burner of this process while adding other content. I plan to bring the blog to life in the next few weeks. First few are already written, funny thing, first one is on perspective.
September 8, 2010 at 12:40 pm
I have seen this with many people who have been raised in church, or have been saved for the majority of their life. I was not raised in the church. The Lord found me in my last year of high school. That being said my struggle with this issue and I will stay on this issue, is not with people per say but more so the church. I went to bible college after high school because I wanted to learn more about the Word. I crammed 4 years of school into 6 years. I know that people, all of them have faults. Myself more than most. So I have always left people to God. I pray for them and leave the judgment stuff to God. In my walk with the Lord I must learn to extend the same ideas toward the church. I have perceptions of what church is and what it should and should not be or do. I do the best I can to make sure that my views are inline with the word of God, and believe they are. In my mind I hold churches to a higher standard than the other organizations of the world. Maybe this is the source of my inner conflict. There is so much division among church ideas and theology. So many rules and regulations. I am not speaking of any one church, but churches in general. I find that when i read the word there is freedom, Churches seem to take this freedom and teach it as ,yes it is for us the people and this is how you must obtain it. What I mean is if you are in an AG church you speak in tongues when you receive the Holy Spirit(maybe you don’t have to but they want you to), not so if your baptist. Unless maybe southern baptist. Some churches teach that if you don’t tithe you are cursed. Others teach a new testament way of giving. The list could go on and on. What perceptions are our churches giving, not only to the world, but Christians as well. Should we hold the church to a higher standard? I don’t know. I know God is teaching me something, especially in the last few weeks. I don’t judge the church, but i do have expectations. Should we start to look at churches the way we do other organizations? Sometimes I ask God if churches still have the same mission he gave them. I wonder, do i have expectations. Or am I just another pharisee passing judgment? In the end I do my best, I pray for my pastors and I know God will lead us all in the right direction. I just have many questions.