Jack Pelham

Never in a thousand years would Billy tell you
That he thinks there’s any person in this world
Who is always right about everything.

Yet when it comes to people being mad at Billy,
Never in a thousand years will he think
That they could ever be wrong about that!

There are some things in the Bible that a great many churchers refuse to believe. Among them is this:

The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, And His soul hates one who loves violence.

Psalm 11:5. NASB.

They are so conditioned that “God loves everybody” that they simply have to ignore passages like this―or worse, write them off as the unenlightened Old-Covenant ramblings of people who lived before Jesus came, and just didn’t know any better about what God is really like.

Scalpel in hand, the surgeon presumes
To exact from the body of human Reality
Only those parts she likes the best―
As if Unity and Goodwill and Pleasantness
Might be of some use, resected and laid out
In a stainless steel dish.

How long can she live with the liar
Without ever adopting one of
His blameshifting lies into
Her own self-view―
Fouling her own
Being with his
Soul-ruining
Falsehood?

If having been wronged
Gives one a moral excuse
To mistreat others,
Then shouldn’t one’s every offense
Rightly provide his victims the same excuse?

Let’s see how I can say this with utter brevity, though much more needs to be said about it.

Much ado is made of the power of God and his ability to influence and guide people, and even his ability to supersede the laws of nature. But I think that a sizable portion of God’s power is overlooked by a great many people, who give very little consideration to things like:

1. The teaching power of the way that reality itself is set up and operates in this world. That is, things like cause-and-effect, consequences of actions, and trial and error. This is part of God’s wise design for this life, yet so few Christians seem to talk about it as such. And I’d venture to say that the value of what alert humans can learn from the reality of daily life may well exceed the teaching/maturing power than all the Sunday Schools combined.
2. The fact that truth exists. Similar to the first point is that truth even exists, and is often (even if not always) discernible. The people who look for truth the most are likely the ones who find the most of it―even if we haven’t got it all figured out yet. And again, I’d venture to say that the person who is always going about, looking for the truth of things is much more likely to mature in Christ than the one who’s just looking for a preacher to listen to.
3. The power of prayer. Now, understand me EXACTLY here: You may think you know what I mean, because “the power of prayer” is such a commonly-used saying. But actually, it’s quite a misnomer almost all the time, because those who say it are almost always referring to the power of God to answer prayer; they don’t mean that the praying itself has power. But I mean to say this: regardless of whatever God might do in response to a prayer, there’s something separate going on in it. That is, that the believer’s mind is focused on the (hopefully-good) thing, and is processing/imagining/seeking some improvement. And I submit that, apart from whatever God himself may or may not do in response, these mental/emotional/spiritual processes have their own value—their own power—and that God knows this, and that it’s part of his plan. And not terribly dissimilar from this is the power of (good) conversation with (wise) friends and confidants. (Watch out, because there’s plenty of bad conversation to be had with unwise people, too!)
4. The sting of failure, and the timeout of necessity. A parent might spank a child, or put him in timeout, but we all see that God does no such literal thing for us. Many will think such things metaphorically, however, as they try to imagine God behind the scenes, working out what goes on, and what doesn’t go on in their lives. But again, apart from what God does or doesn’t do, there is also the power of life’s ability to “sting “punish” us and delay us and disappoint us and frustrate us. It all tests our resolve and convictions and plans, and our understanding of things. It tests our priorities and values. And if we’re inclined to be wise about it, it gives us a great many opportunities to grow and to improve ourselves.
5. The fifth item below. There’s a fifth item below, separate from these. And you’ll see why later.

Yes, much of what I’ve listed above is really the same thing—or is consisted merely by different angles from which to understand it. But it focuses more on the mere design of this world, and of how human societies tend to function. That is, the way God designed it, life itself has much power to test us and to show us opportunity (if we have our eyes and minds open to it) to learn better and to improve ourselves.

Sadly, though, many don’t think of all that as something that really counts when it comes to spirituality. Rather, they seem to have in mind scenarios in which God himself comes and touches their heart somehow, or changes them somehow—or sends someone else to do it—or a dream, perhaps, or something mysterious and hard to explain. That’s their idea of intervention, and the mundane matters I’ve been describing are largely overlooked. And I think that a lot of Christians are short-sighted in this way. They won’t see it as interaction with God if it doesn’t involve prayer or worship or Bible work, but I see it as interaction with the very world and the very reality and the very truth that God himself designed, and that he put us in to live out our lives.

Somehow, we’re hyper-spiritualized our idea of proper religion, so as to ignore the value of such things.

The Fifth Item

Another very powerful thing that’s overlooked is story. That is, how things go. How they turn out. What happens. What works out. Good and bad. Right and wrong. Wise and foolish. Successful and failing. Just and unjust. Win and lose.

Stories can be real-life events, or can be completely made up, and can still deal quite truly with how life goes. The Bible is packed with what I believer are some of the best stories ever told. (And yes, people debate whether they all happened historically or not—even sometimes missing the treasure of truth regarding “how things go” that’s written into the stories. And there are lots of other amazing stories, beyond the Bible—some of them obviously fiction, and still quite telling the truth of what life is like.

And these can have quite some power over the reader—power to influence and enlighten and encourage to goodness and to warn from badness. Even so, there’s plenty of bad story out there—just as there is plenty of good story, poorly told. It’s not entirely unlike the caveat I gave before how about powerful and instructive talking with friends can be, though not all are good advisors.

But to story itself, I cringe to see so many write off good story—even the ones in the Bible—in favor of things more church-official, like creeds and doctrinal bullet-points, and such. I’d trade you every creed and sermon and book from the mind of man for what we already have buried in the scriptures and waiting to be mined out from them by way of a lifetime of thoughtful and curious and eager reading.

So many want influence from God by way of feelings and dreams and inspiring pep-talks from church leaders who have some particular “vision” for them—but whether those things are available or not, we have so many other valuable things built into our life experience here. And I think they’re part of God’s general design for this Earth, and that most neglect them considerably, not counting them of “spiritual” value. Yet in my estimation, I’d say that if they knew the Spirit better, they’d see the spiritual value in them right away.

Among those who claim Jesus, there are myriad millions who will not obey this one teaching:

If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.

Jesus. Matthew 18:15. NIV.

They would rather 1) be wronged, and 2) let the offender go on offending God and man alike, than to confront him or her in order to help them overcome it.

But just imagine a Christian fellowship―or even a single friendship―in which all parties embraced and practiced this teaching of Jesus, with everybody pulling the same direction, toward righteousness and love!

This is why, I’m convinced, that the churches are so dysfunctional; their idea of love does not match with Jesus’ idea. Theirs is more of a feeling, where Jesus’ love is more of a doing and a helping―a love for changing and growing.

One can wish a thing in but a moment’s time,
And count it among his wants―
Telling himself, and everybody else,
That it is his ardent dream and plan.

But deep down inside, we all know―
For experience has taught us already―
That he’ll never become what he is not willing
To work for habitually.

It’s disturbing
How many will
Call themselves Christians
Before they even
Agree with God
As to what is
And is not
A sin.

Many think that
Because of God’s grace
And his amazing forgiveness,
Believers don’t have to repent and grow
And learn and change and overcome ,
And that God adamantly chooses
To see them as if they had
Already done all of that―
After which gratitude
Might actually prod
Them to grow a
Little bit here
And there.