Dale Cresap's blog

Can failure ever be a success? Have you ever built your own redemption project by your own initiative end effort? You may know better than to call it this, but if it fits this functional description and you depend on it then you have done so. How did that work out for you? This cannot be a success. When it fails it is time to admit that you can’t engineer your own redemption project. What then? If this causes you to realize that your own resources are not sufficient and to look outside of yourself and come to me for your redemption then your failure will have become a success.

Do you believe in redemption? Do you practice it? Do you think it was an event that I did once and for all on the cross? There is a sense in which that is true, but in another sense you can take part in it. Do you want to? Consider John the Baptist who proclaimed prepare ye the way of the Lord. Consider those who do and teach my commandments. Consider those who are kind to the least of these, and give a drink of cold water as a disciple. Consider those who lay down their lives for their friends. Anything you do to proclaim or demonstrate the Kingdom of God is a redemptive act.

Do you get to choose your own faith? There are a multitude of options and in a secular culture that has a strong bias for freedom and personal choice it should be easy to find something you like. But what would be the criteria for selection? With no limitations could you end up with something that you just made up? Is your faith something that you choose, or that chooses you? If it is entirely your project, then who is God? Where is the striving for self-transcendence if it is all of your own making?

I said that except your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees you would not enter the Kingdom of God. Do you know enough about the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees to know how shocking this statement was? By their own standards they excelled and they applied spiritual principles to every aspect of life as an expression of total commitment. Many of their practices have direct equivalents among Christians today. So it was a strong statement for me to say that you had to do better than that. Does this imply a different standard for righteousness?

Do you ever feel that you are subject to constant correction? Do you find this discouraging? You provide constant correction when you drive a car and don’t think twice about it. You know that driving a car is a dynamic act that requires diligence. You can’t leave the wheel in a constant position in the direction of your destination. You steer to follow the road and don’t feel judged or condemned for doing so. Can you apply this same principle to your spiritual life? If you cease to be corrected you cease to grow. Can you welcome the process knowing it is for your benefit?

Do you think of honor and humility as opposites? You look at those who grasp for honor for themselves and see no humility in them. Yet what about those who are honored even though they did not pursue it? Do they seem humbled to be recognized? Has this ever happened to you? I spoke of those who gave alms and did other good deeds before men to be seen of them, and said that they already had their reward. But I told my followers to do their good deeds in a way that would not draw attention to them, and that their Father in heaven would take notice and reward them openly.

Do you have a grand narrative for life? Your faith includes one at no extra charge, but grand narratives are falling out of favor in the culture at large. This is the post-modern view, and it looks inviting for those who have found the grand narratives available to them to be stifling. But be careful what you throw away. The conclusion of this approach is that life is a series of random disconnected events. This goes against the nature of all people to classify and categorize things, to fit them into a coherent structure.

Have you noticed that some people change the atmosphere of a room just by walking in? Even before they say anything their presence is felt, for better or for worse. Focusing on the positive, can you see that these are gifts of God? You think of the Word as being living and powerful, but do you see that these attributes apply to everything pertaining to God? God’s gifts are living and dynamic even as they reside in the people who receive them, so they may let their light shine before men to the glory of God. You too are an epistle read by all men. What gifts enter a room with you?

Are you a good citizen? Does your faith make you a better citizen, or worse? Believers have a duty to obey the law of the land, and to love their enemies, and should have a world view that supports community, even beyond the walls of their church. Is it possible to be in a conflict between obeying the civil authority and obeying God? Yes, but how often does this happen? Have you ever experienced it personally? I have a special measure of grace for those in such a conflict.

Have you heard of fighting fire with fire? This implies that you can do unto others as they do unto you, but fire is more commonly fought with water, and this alone should cause you to question this proverb. Have you also heard it said that all is fair in love and war? This goes beyond the previous idea to say that there are no limits on behavior. Do you see how these both go against the teaching of the Bible; that you should act with character and integrity, doing what is right by internal motivations rather than allowing others to set your standards, or doing without any.