Dale Cresap's blog

Do you like my promise that with every temptation you face that I will also provide a means of escape, that you may be able to endure it? Would you like it better if it referred only to escaping and not enduring? Does it seem like a contradiction to you the way it is written? It is if you look only at the temporal, material world, but this passage points to something beyond that. For I always offer you refuge in a transcendent place. I said that my Kingdom is not of this world, and comes not with observation, but it is within you. It is as close as shifting your awareness, and you can go there any time you like.

I tell you not to judge others that you may not be judged, for you shall be judged by the same standard by which you judge others. Does this mean that you must go through life oblivious and unaware? Yet I also commended awareness in that I wanted my followers to have eyes to see and ears to hear. How can these things be reconciled? I want you to be discerning in that you comprehend reality both visible and invisible. Can you do this and stop short of invoking the condemnation that is involved in being judgmental? Then I can give you discernment for my redemptive purposes in the lives of those you meet.

Do you give money to support my work? In some cases you are given the choice to give to support a particular need, or you can choose to let those who receive the money apply it where it is needed most. If you trust someone enough to send them money, can you also trust them enough to do the right thing with it? This is your choice, but consider the parallel. I lavish blessings upon you in material resources and in many other ways. Not all of them are for you to consume directly, but provide the means for you to pass on and bless others.

Freely you have received, freely give. This is such a basic simple principle that it is hard to argue with, but have you ever encountered someone who has an obvious gift from me that they are stingy with? Or someone with a powerful gift from me that expects money, or recognition or power in exchange for exercising it? This is not to criticize the practice of freewill offerings, and if those are handled graciously it is clear that they are to be freely given so the giver can be cheerful. If you recognize that everything you have is a gift from me, then I have set a precedent by which you can pass it on without charge.

You know that your body cannot live without food. Do you know that your soul cannot live without meaning? You know when your body is hungry. Do you know when your soul is hungry? You can live your life doing the same activities that others do, but if you do not have a sense of purpose and meaning then you are just going through the motions and your soul will wither and die. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. It is no accident that the language of appetites is used in this passage. Blessed are those who recognize the hunger in their soul and know how it may be satisfied in me.

Why do you go to church? Do you go to meet with me? Do you go to socialize with your friends? Do you assume that these are contradictory goals and that one is high and lofty and the other one shallow and superficial? It doesn’t have to be such a stark choice. I promised that where 2 or 3 were gathered in my name I was in the midst of them. You can find my presence in a faith community and there are aspects of your spiritual formation that cannot be completed apart from one. Life in community is more than socializing, even as I have referred to my church as a body with many members.