Dale Cresap's blog

Good military commanders and good business managers care about the morale of their people. Do you think I care about yours? You are familiar with the passages about rejoicing. Is it enough to be given a command to rejoice? This isn’t a command that can be given arbitrarily. Isn’t it also necessary to be given conditions favorable for rejoicing? How hard do you have to look for reasons? You live in the same world as everyone else, and I make the sun to shine and the rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike.

How much progress have you made in growth in the practice of your faith? Do you see spiritual progress more in terms of things you acquire or things you release? Both are valid aspects of spiritual growth but only one is usually emphasized. How do you view the things you have acquired? Do they facilitate your onward journey or impede it? The heavier the burden you carry, the slower you walk. Do you see your spiritual life as a journey? Do you see the parallel with carrying burdens? When you travel do you normally only take those things necessary for the journey?

When my disciples wanted me to take a more aggressive public stance I told them that my time had not yet come, but that their time was always ready. Do you see this as a universal principle for my followers, including you, that you are always on duty? Have your most effective opportunities to serve me been those that you have staged and arranged, or have they happened in a moment when you least expected them? And so you are charged to be instant in season and out of season. You don’t know when you will cross paths with someone who is receptive to your message of life.

Do you require proof for everything? This is a modern concept also described by those who adhere to it as being evidence based. This seems like a reasonable requirement, but is it? Is there anything you accept as true without proof? And this raises the further question, proof to whose satisfaction and what is admissible evidence, for these vary from one person to another. If truth is a larger concept than provability, then what criteria do you use to establish truth? Have you ever had something resonate with you and considered it to be true on that basis? Truth can be self-validating.

How do you deal with the concerns of others? Do you evaluate them by your own criteria and let them know if you think it is a trivial concern? It may be to you, but they wouldn’t bring it up if it was trivial to them. Other people don’t like being dismissed any more than you do. If you can truly alleviate their concern by insight and wisdom then you have released them from fear. Would you expect to have the opportunity to do this without showing the empathy and compassion of taking their concern seriously?

What does the Christian faith consist of? Do you see it as the affirmation of a list of essential doctrines, and diligence in preserving and conforming to the structures of your faith tradition? Don’t you describe your faith as a relationship with me? Does the above description sound relational? Have you noticed that the less that believers have a direct encounter with me the more they are committed to doctrine and structure and hierarchy and authority and titles and offices? Which do you think is of greater value?

Do you believe that I am a God of justice? This phrase is so commonplace among believers that it could be treated as one word, but it isn’t obvious at first glance what it means. Do you think of justice as retributive; consisting of punishment for the evildoers? Is there another version of justice? What about restorative justice which looks forward to redemption rather than backward to offenses? Would you be offended if others received restoration rather than punishment? What version of my justice do you see operating in your own life?

Have you ever seen anything that is disguised or camouflaged? The purpose of these practices, whether for animals or people, is to make them difficult to identify, so doing so requires careful observation and discernment. Can this concept be applied more broadly? You know that fear and hatred are bad. No one will admit to practicing them. Does that make them go away or just become invisible? Have you ever seen hatred and fear masquerade as religion and morality? Even Satan is able to present himself as an angel of light. Is it possible to deceive the elect?

Do you believe that I am a God of justice? Do you see my justice as being active or passive? Active justice would involve a system for apprehending perpetrators and a means for imposing penalties on them. You are familiar with this from your own civil justice system. A passive system would involve providing you with some guidelines to inform you of the most beneficial way for you to conduct yourself, lest you should go down a self-destructive path unawares. What is your perception of reality on this issue? I have given you a moral code to follow. Do you see me enforcing my own rules?

Do you believe in the laying on of hands? This is a Christian doctrine practiced both for conferring authority and for healing. Are there any other applications? Have you ever had anyone confide in you an experience of trauma and felt an instinctual urge to put your hand on their shoulder, or take their hand? Have you ever felt the longing for contact for yourself in a similar situation? The need for touch is deeply embedded. Your culture has rules you must follow about propriety and consent.