Positive Faith in Scripture: God Protects

Don’t fear, because I am with you;

don’t be afraid, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you,

I will surely help you;

I will hold you

with my righteous strong hand.

Isaiah 41:10, CEB

Yesterday we started unpacking some of God’s positive attributes (compassion, mercy, patience, love)- knowing these things is really going to inform and shape our ability to have a “positive faith.”

Another of these traits is God’s protection and his desire to help. In a culture that has talked way too much about the bad things God wants to do to you (not true, by the way), it’s hard to imagine that God’s desire, truly, is to be helpful.

Time and again scripture speaks to God’s desire to strengthen his people, to work through them when they’re too exhausted to do the work themselves, to hold them up when they can’t stand.

He is not a God who desires to harm- nor is he distant. His desire is to give his people everything they need to keep moving in the direction of compassion, mercy, patience, and love.

Positive Faith in Scripture: Born Blind

“Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?”

Jesus said, “You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do.”

John 9:1-4, Message

In John 9 we find a theological conflict Jesus attempted to squash several times during his ministry that still continues today. Jesus and his crew stumble upon a man born without sight and they ask him, “Is this his fault, or is he being punished for the sins of his parents?”

The connection between misfortune and spiritual performance is one many still attempt to draw today. John Piper famously delivered sermons blaming the LGBTQ+ community for Hurricane Katrina.

But, we ask the wrong question. Or, in Piper’s case, we offer the wrong explanation.

No one is to blame. There is no such cause and effect here. Look instead for what God can do.

We do not always need to spend an excruciating amount of time analyzing the past and continuing to rake ourselves, or others, over coals in order to live as faithful people. In many cases we are far better served to consider what God can do moving forward.

This is the spiritual and theological backbone of positive faith- and a thoroughly ancient Christian message:

“Your past is behind you- let’s see what God has in store as you move forward.”

DO Something!

I learned helplessness with regards to gender discrimination in a big way in college. I did not deal with it. It fueled and fed my eating disorder. The worst part of the problem was that when I shared my experiences, other females who had not experienced my issue often gave me poor advice. They suggested I survived, or that it was 'boys being boys' or other nonsense, which is called gaslighting - by the way.

The truth is, we learn helplessness from actually being helpless. And there are so many opportunities to learn. Here are a few examples: when a family is devastated by a death by suicide, when someone loves a person with a substance use disorder, gender inequality, racial inequality, learning disabilities, physical disabilities, abuse, neglect, economic deprivation, and more more more.

I began to unlearn some of my helplessness when I read an article written by a woman who was a classmate at UVA with me. Her experiences mirrored my own. I had begun to believe the "others," those who did not understand this particular brand of helplessness, and had doubted my own memories. (An indicator that perhaps I have ignored other experiences that were traumatic or dehumanizing.)

The answer? DO something. Here is what I am doing. I am launching a new program that helps participants re-remember. The details are unimportant, but the DOING is the thing. I am DOING my part to help all humans find their virtue and fight for its reality. I cannot change the world. But I can get to know people and give them information that might support their own recovery. I'm pumped. And a lot happier than I was last year this time.

What do you need to DO? It can be anything that gets you moving. It is the first step to getting out of that cage you are stuck in.

Who Are You Gonna Be?

One of the issues folks often have with Jesus' teaching to "turn the other cheek" is the fear that this phrase means, "Keep taking it on the chin." Healthy people do not keep taking abuse or disrespect. They move away from that kind of behavior and move toward people who can treat them with dignity, respect and positive regard. So what do we do if we have "turned the other cheek" and realize that we do indeed have two different perspectives.

Do I have to let others decide for me what I think in order to follow Jesus? No, that would mean I am being passive. Should I decide for others? No, that would mean I am too aggressive. Should I find a sneaky way to prevent others from deciding for themselves? No, that is passive-aggressive behavior and it really annoys people, fyi.

So what do we do? We learn how to speak in statements consistent with our beliefs. This is learning how to be assertive. For years I wanted to pursue some professional development work, but I was not assertive about it. I mentioned the option to folks, I prevaricated about pulling the trigger on applying to the program, I made a lot of excuses for NOT doing what I really, really wanted to try. I doubted my ability to be a good wife, Meme, mom and pastor if I tried this new thing. Then we had a pandemic.

My children taught me early on in the pandemic process that I am old. They held meetings among themselves and then reported back their concerns about the welfare of their father and me. They urged compliance - and spelled out how that might look. They even were willing to express in a lovely, vulnerable way, their long held experiences of us - that sometimes we made choices to be present for others without always taking into account the impact it had on our family. They were quite clear. And Pete and I respected that and I think did a good job of responding to their wishes.

But it made me think. What would I regret doing if I died tomorrow? What did I regret doing that in hindsight, I wish I had done differently? I decided two things: 1. I would regret not pursuing a subject I was passionate about and 2. I regret making some of the decisions I have made over the years that I thought were following Jesus - but really were not.

So I said, "I want to pursue this new thing." And everyone said, "Ok. Cool. Whatever." No one batted an eye. I told Pete how much it would cost and he said, "Where do I send the check?"

So here is my post-pandemic-almost inspirational thought for you: What statements about yourself do you need to assert? What do you need to simply state and execute - stop fretting over, stop waiting for permission, stop wondering about the cost. What is it that you will absolutely regret if you do not get moving forward - today?

A Path Forward…

Yesterday I talked about my grandson’s “mirror moment” when he saw his beloved cousin Norah imitating his best tantrum moves. Mirrors can be extremely helpful in the gym for improving our form. Metaphorical mirrors like the experience Christian had can also be helpful. They assist us in seeing how we are behaving in ways that, for whatever reason, we might want to change. This helps us see what we don’t like, but then what? We need a path forward.

I am a fan of self-reflection and taking stock. But I also need guidance and good coaching. Otherwise, my self-reflection is more likely to result in rationalizations and justifications for my actions with a side order of denial thrown in for good measure. The prayer of St. Francis provides a suggested path forward. Today, let’s look toward the horizon… and pray:

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace -

That where there is hatred, I may bring love -

That where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness -

Where there is discord, I may bring harmony -

Where there is error, I may bring truth -

Where there is doubt, I may bring faith -

Where there is despair, I may bring hope -

Where there are shadows, I may bring light -

Where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted -

To understand than to be understood -

To love, than to be loved.

For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.

It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.

It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Live.

The St. Francis Prayer