Men and Women on the Frontlines

Posted by David

Lenten Reflections

There lives a desire in each man and each woman to be a hero or a heroine. You’ve probably had the hero fantasy before where you “saved the day” for someone you love. When a friend of mine was a girl, she played wonder woman as an imaginary game. She even had a theme song:

Wonder Woman’s
Comin’ to town
Taking all the bad guys
And puttin’ them in ja-il.
Wonder Woman
Just wants to have…
Friends.

I expect that each of us have these sorts of fantasies or dreams at periods in life. But as we engage in life, events rarely play out with such boldness and excitement. The only time I ever acted out the superhero character was when I was about 27 and saved a dog that had fallen over a waterfall into a deep canyon that drained by waterfall into an even deeper canyon. I was asked by the owner if I had any rope, which I did. So I ended up I rappelling down to the rock where the dog was safely perched and harnessing the dog onto the rope. The owner was then able to pull the dog up the cliff to safety.

Of course, I’ve helped actual people out in the past, but never with such drama.

I remember being helped out twice by an unknown person with one glass eye. On two different occasions this person ‘saved my day’ while stranded on the road. Never did I see him again—a true masked man.

But heroic acts are rarely so straightforward and clear. Since this is Holy Week, in the Christian Church, I’m reflecting on Christ on the Cross and his humble heroism. Among other things that makes this heroic feat odd was that he entered into Jerusalem on a donkey, he washed his disciples feet, and he was hung and died on a tree. This is not your normal heroic act. It’s not one of the hero games that children play. But this is the model of true heroism and is the archetype toward which each of us should strive.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been studying 1 Timothy. It has a number of confusing passages that Paul writes to Timothy and the Ephesian Church in the First Century. Specifically, I was studying the roles of men and women in the Church.

I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

Apostle Paul, 1 Timothy 2: 8-15

This is clearly a difficult passage for Christians to understand today. Being that it is in the body of Scripture, we’re forced to grapple with it.

When we seek to understand Paul, we must always look to Jesus to understand him. He can’t be understood based on his own light. None of us can be understood on our own. We must all be understood through the light of Jesus, Christian or not.

For me, the key to this passage is the mysterious phrase: “Yet she will be saved through childbearing.” I believe Paul derives this bold statement through his understanding of Mary and her fiat to God when she said to the angel who had brought the news of her pregnancy, “Let it be done unto me according to Your Will.” All of God’s children are saved through the Jesus Christ that was born of the woman Mary.

Even today, women and men alike have the ability to give birth to the saving graces of God, but it means submitting to the will of God in faith, love and holiness, with self-control. In fact, this is the same way that Jesus outlines in his Gospel for us to be saved.  In submitting to God’s will in faith, love and holiness, with self-control we actually allow God to conceive through us Christ as the Holy Spirit to others. It is in our spiritual wombs that emerges the Holy Spirit of God. It is only through submission to God that we can truly be heros and heroines.

But why does Paul express so boldly that women should not be teachers and hold authority over men? In this day and age, that seems so passé. Might have Paul been exhorting this mandate to a particular problem that was occurring in Ephesus at the time? I expect that Paul was acting like a big brother to his sisters in Christ in all times and places.  Jesus and the New Testament writers all make it clear that the Kingdom of God is for the humble.

But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.

Parable of the Wedding Feast, Luke 14: 7-11

And James explains:

Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?

James 2:5

None of us should seek the position as teacher or authority over others—women or men alike. In doing so, we actually put ourselves in harms way.  Instead, we should place ourselves at the most humble servant-level and then if God wishes to move us into an authoritative position, he does so by his own will. Should we approach that position through our own personal desire? If we do so, we may be doing it out of lust for power.

As a man, I am called to take care of my sisters. Every brother knows that he must shelter his sister from the onslaught of vipers that are out there. Would you send your sister into the bloody onslaught of a battle? Clearly not.

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

James 3:1

As teachers in authority, we place ourselves in a position of greater judgment. Paul is protecting his sisters in Ephesus from God’s wrath. And today, I stand with Paul and wish to protect my sisters from the perils that lie on frontlines of battle. I suppose in a real sense there are frontlines everywhere, for God’s love is desperately needed everywhere. But there’s a special stench that exists in the places of authoritative power on Earth.

Part of the reason men and women desire authoritative position is due to our hero impulse. But the hero impulse has a deep, dark side: powerlust. As a husband and a father, I find that character trait lurking, like the serpent in the Garden, always trying to seek me out as prey. The only way to battle that urge, that instinct, is to seek forgiveness, to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with my God (Micah 6:8). Powerlust is ugly and is the dominant species in the upper echelon of society and probably of our churches. Never would I send my sister into that hostile, wormy, rotten confine of death. And I would only go there if my God demanded it of me.

Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

Luke 22:42

Hauntings and Holiness at Little River

Log with min-waterfall, Olympic National Park

Posted by David-

Lenten Reflections

I took a hike up the Little River Trail today. My back has been causing me problems over the past month and sometimes a stout hike puts all the muscles back in place, or so I like to think. 

The Little River Trail is certainly a gem nearby to Port Angeles. After passing through the park boundary the big trees and ancient canyon begins. Many people visit only to hike up toward an old mine, but by continuing upstream instead of veering off up toward the mine, the cozy, mossy veneer and fern-filled riverine forest compels me onward with each bend in the river.

Usually, when I take a hike alone, I spend much of the hike thinking. I try to spend my time soaking in the sights, sounds and external sensations, but that’s easier said than done. Mostly I spend time dwelling on some thought, on some undone task, or on some notion that plagues me. I expect that most of us are no different which may be why most people don’t go on hikes alone! They would rather occupy their senses with some preoccupation or addiction so they don’t think about those sorts of things. But we must encounter our true self and our indwellings if we are to transform and brokenness be healed.

Like I’ve said so many times before, what we spin in our head, what we think about, all of those thing on which we dwell, affect the reality into which we tread. They are our hauntings. Our inner hauntings are outwardly manefest. It’s the fallen human condition. Our simple task is to allow God to transform our hauntings to holiness. It can’t be done by therapy. It can’t be done by trying to focus on the positive or on nothing at all. It can only be done through the blood of Christ.

I’ve found that when I go on hikes alone, it’s essential that I go with a clean conscious. If I don’t, I’m plagued by various thoughts that inhibit my ability to enjoy the beauty of the wilderness and they can even create worse problems. And this principle applies to everything in life, not just pleasure hikes: relationships, meals, working, relaxing, sleeping and dreaming. What is a clean conscious anyway? Is it really possible to feel that free? I say, yes, but only through Jesus Christ. On my own, I can’t. I’ve tried. Not even the super-Buddhist could do it.

By being in Christ, our conscious is interminably cleansed. But we have a role here. We must actively participate in his washing. First, we must allow him to wash us. Secondly, we must not participate in those things that cause our conscious to be marred. For me this means: cut those things that are addicting in my life, follow the law of the land, love those who are difficult to love, be steadfast and upright in my commitments and engagements, and many more practical daily actions that become habitual.

On today’s walk, I ended up going about 2 miles upriver. Until that point, I was dwelling mostly on Jesus and his work in my life and on the beauty of the valley. I was amazed at the softness of one particular red huckleberry plant and its new bell-shaped flowers that hung like tiny white ornaments on the thin evergreen branches. The rush of the river and the sparkle of sunlight were other delights. It wasn’t until I started spinning a work-related compulsion that I stopped my upward ascent and turned around.

Even on the return hike, I was able to enjoy my surroundings a bit. For one, cold water always seems to pull me out of my hauntings, whether I swim, drink or just wade in it. But today I just splashed through it at the river crossings. My recommendation for any temperate forest hiker is to always wear sandals. It makes river crossing easier and a fresh, cold foot washing is certainly a joy.

Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean.

John 13: 8-11

Atomic Weapons—a Drop in the Bucket

Posted by David –

Maroon Bells - Snowmass Wilderness Area

Lenten Reflections

As the popular song goes, “I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross…” But how much did it really cost for Jesus to go to the cross? There have certainly been many people throughout the ages who have died horrible deaths for the sake of others. What was so different about Jesus?

To answer this, I find myself remembering the warbling chatter of a flock of pine siskins in the top of a tall stand of ancient Douglas-firs. I step back and watch my family and friends enjoying each other’s company. I remember the bright quarter moon on a clear winter evening with stars speckling the deep blue sky. I close my eyes and think about the reality of the most distant galaxy.

In John’s gospel he begins, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

But when Jesus died, mustn’t everything that was made through him die also? And not only that, but Jesus was also said to have descended to hell (Acts 2:31, 1 Peter 3:19). What does that mean for all of the universe that was made through him?

The sad truth is that, in our pride and jealousy, we executed the author of our beloved universe. We sent all of nature to hell—including ourselves. Nothing we ever do will compare to the damage we’ve already done by sending Jesus to the cross. We think our atomic weapons are destructive. They are nothing.

Our only hope is to be raised again with Jesus. Proclaim it from the rooftops. It is that real.

“In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake the nations, and the best of all will come, and I will fill this house with glory. The silver is mine and the gold is mine. The glory of the present house will be greater than the glory of the former. And in this place I will grant peace,” declared the LORD of all Creation.

Haggai 2:6-9

The First Step to Counseling Others

Posted by David

When someone comes to me with a problem, I’m finding that the most important step in providing good counsel is to understand that I have ownership in their problem. You may ask, “What ownership do I have with so and so’s problem?”

We all are connected. In many ways we are all a part of the human organism. We affect each other in ways that we don’t understand. The frustrations that I provide one person affect another person and so on. Even the things that I don’t do or even hesitate to do that I know I should do affect others in ways that are damaging. What I’m saying is that on the grand scale, I have ownership in Mankind’s problem, even the ones occurring on the other side of the planet. We are all connected. The anger I spill out in a simple look of my eyes can spread like wildfire. It’s imperative that I know this simple fact when faced with a position to counsel another. If I say to myself, “His problem is his problem—I’m a neutral party,” then I’m missing the big picture and I’m missing the biggest part of reconciliation: repentance. In repentance, water is sprayed on the wildfire. I must repent for my part before I can do any good. In fact, the act of my repentance is part of what does some good. When we are faced with another person’s problem, we must seek forgiveness for ourselves first as part owners of the problem. Then we can become true intercessors.

Naturally, this becomes a burden for us, if done with the fullness of our heart. We are in a sense, shouldering the judgment owed to the other, which if truly felt and truly accepted will cause us suffering. However, this burden does not need to be heavy for us. Because the ultimate intercessor of Mankind is Christ, so our burden is on his shoulders and nailed to his cross. This is my recent Lenten discovery.

On the macro-scale, this is what Christ did for the world. He shouldered the judgment owed to mankind and allowed for reconciliation between God and man. But Jesus passed this role on to his church. We are to go throughout the earth and consume the wildfire of man’s sin, through our repentance first. We do this through interaction, intercession, and counsel with others. But we first do this through acceptance of our involvement. Even if I think I’m remote, distant, disconnected and neutral, I’m not. Your problems are my problems. The only important distinction is in choice. I can choose to ask for forgiveness. This happens within my will. We each have domain over our own wills.

Forgive us for our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us.