Afraid to be Dependent

Living outside the US, we don’t get to see a lot of American advertising. But it often appeals to individualism. Supposedly, if you get this hair product, jeans, gadget, vehicle, etc, you’ll be different from everyone else (regardless of the fact that they want as many people as possible to buy it).

One thing that most people want is the power to “be my own person.” We have a lot of sayings that reflect our obsession with our individuality:

• Be true to yourself
• Follow your heart
• All I want is for you to be happy
• Make your own road
• It’s nobody’s business how I live my life
• It’s my life/body & I’ll do with it what I want

Even in cultures where people get their identity from the group, there is a strong impulse to “look out for #1.” It comes out in a lot of ways, such as anger or resentment at having to fulfill the requirements that the family has put on you.

In spite of what you have read so far, I have what may be an epiphany for you – God doesn’t want to destroy your individuality. Just the opposite is true. He actually wants you to know that He has a special plan, one that is tailor-made just for you. The key to knowing & experiencing your true distinctiveness is to allow Him to guide you in the fulfillment of that plan, which He has had since before the world began.

 

Here’s my challenge to you:

Get over the fear of letting God call the shots in your life.

Stop hiding & trying to protect yourself with a perverted individualism that kicks God out of the picture.

When we become the final authority we inevitably destroy ourselves because we’re not qualified to know what is best.

But, like the old TV show says, “Father Knows Best.”

THINKING ABOUT HEAVEN

There are a few things that can motivate you to think seriously about heaven: realizing that Christ has saved you from eternal punishment in hell; reaching a point in life where the natural abilities & potentials that have always been on the increase in your life are now beginning to level off or even decrease.

There are also many things that make heaven seem irrelevant:

• The naïve, even self-righteous youthful idealism & energy that believes it can change the world just by trying hard enough; 
• Utopian ideas of secular socialism (even “Christian” socialism) that promise heaven on earth; 
• Some kinds of hyper-faith that see the hope of heaven as an escapist mentality; 
• Religions whose cyclical view of existence makes it impossible for the average person to ever attain anything beyond the drudgery of meaningless repetition.

Even just the busy-ness of life can do that.

I think of heaven as completion, fulfillment. Whatever we see, hear, experience, feel, etc. here that brings genuine life will be ours in heaven. The difference is that it will not be in part as we now know it. People sometimes wonder, “Will heaven be like…?” My answer is, “I don’t know, but it will be infinitely better. There is no way to comprehend it now.”

How can a flea imagine nuclear physics? I’m trying to describe the indescribable. There are no earthly words or concepts to explain it. 

If there were, it would not be heaven. There are only analogies.

I will see our first baby, Elizabeth Irene, who went to be with Jesus before she was even born.

I will see my grandmother Rachel Higgins, who prayed me into the Kingdom. She lived nearly long enough to see me graduate from Bible school in 1980.

I will see my pastor Mark Woodbury who was a wonderful encourager; he taught me about leadership & in many ways shaped my ministry here in the Philippines.

I love the old hymn by Fanny Crosby, Draw me Nearer. There’s a verse that says:

There are depths of love that I cannot know till I cross the narrow sea;

There are heights of joy that I may not reach till I rest in peace with Thee.

But the real completion will be when I see Jesus.

MAKING FUN OF GOD

It’s almost a cliché  - when confronted by something or someone we don’t know or like, or by an idea that is new or threatening to us, we look for ways to dismiss it or make it irrelevant. We even ridicule it. It’s unfortunate (at least, most of the time) when this happens on a relational or intellectual level.

I say “most of the time” because sometimes there are good reasons for dismissing a person or idea. For example, parents have the right to step in when their child is developing an unhealthy relationship. On the intellectual or cultural level, some ideas are not as clever, original, or beneficial as their advocates claim.

However, there is one case in which we should never reject out-of-hand. Too often we dismiss God & make Him irrelevant. We make fun of Him.

Maybe it’s in our words, & maybe it’s in our actions (or lack of them). Sometimes it’s in heart attitudes that He alone can see.

Sometimes it’s when we think we as a culture know more or better better than what He has revealed in the Bible. This is now happening with moral standards.

Sometimes it’s when we think we have to “do something” in order to earn God’s favor. We’re actually saying that somehow Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is insufficient for us.

We make fun of God; we trivialize Him. He threatens our personal autonomy. We can’t have that now, can we? 

After all, who’s really in charge of the “real world?”

ANOTHER LOOK AT LIBERTARIANISM

Governments operate based on assumptions about human nature, the purpose of government, & what the relationship between citizens & government should be. Here are 2 examples of assumptions that are sometimes made: 

• Government is more able, wise, resourceful, & competent than the average person. This idea is reflected in the nearly innumerable bureaucracies, often with contradictory & competitive regulations which control more & more of life in America. This is all supposedly to make life better.
• The group or class is more important than the individual or community. This is seen in attempts to define & appeal to various voting groups like women, Hispanics, Asians, homosexuals, etc.

These kinds of assumptions can’t be found in the founding documents of the US.

The Founders were most concerned about balancing the one main issue – the relationship between the individual & his government – that has challenged those who have tried to define the proper role of government. This issue is authority – who ultimately determines how a person is to live.

One on end of the spectrum are those who feel that government should have minimal authority in the individual’s life. Those who believe this are called libertarians. (I write this post because of a very dishonest picture which I have put below, which deliberately muddies the waters on what libertarians believe.)

Others feel that government has the best resources, the most intelligent people, the best motivation, etc. This group also has many shades of belief. But over the last several generations the view at the extreme end of this side of the spectrum have prevailed, & we see today the results of such beliefs.

Our Founders sought a realistic middle ground between authoritarianism & radical individualism. The government must have power to deal effectively with those who do harm to others, but it must also (because of man’s fallen nature) be restrained from doing harm to those who haven’t wronged others.

One charge made by the President & other radicals is that the Constitution doesn’t authorize the Federal Government to do certain things on behalf of various classes of people. This claim is factually true, but these radicals’ view of government directly contradicts the intentions of the Founders. The Founders did NOT want to include that kind of authority; they had personally experienced & seen the results of raw, centralized, unaccountable government power. They were actually doing their best to prevent the very things that are being done to our people today.

I believe that the Founders envisioned a nation of citizens, the majority of whom could be called Theistic Libertarians. While not necessarily Evangelical in experience or understanding, they would have a general biblical world view & value system that would inform & motivate them to do right. They would recognize & embrace the need to pass on this heritage to future generations & immigrants, so that the theistic libertarian values that distinguished the new nation would be perpetuated.

From these observations, I draw 4 conclusions:

1. Libertarianism doesn’t deny the need for government; it acknowledges man’s tendency to do wrong to others & at the same time places clear limits on the power of government.
2. Absolute libertarianism was not the Founders’ intent; it leads to anarchy & national/cultural destruction.
3. Libertarianism based on secular values will never work because it based on changing views & often mutually contradictory individual self-interests.
4. Libertarianism must have a moral foundation that considers the good of others (like the Golden Rule). This is the key to self-government & the avoidance of both despotism & anarchy.

FORM VERSUS SUBSTANCE

I’m not trying to impress or confuse you with some complicated philosophical subject. But if we fail to understand the difference between what someone appears to be (or wants us to think that he is) & what he actually is, that mistake can do a lot of damage.

How many families suffer today because of someone who “seemed like a nice guy” when he was dating a girl? How many churches suffer because their “successful” ministers had unresolved moral or ethical issues that came home to roost? How many nations suffer needlessly because political candidates were presented as being more “professorial” or “wise” than others who would have served the people more conscientiously?

Sometimes people have even considered actors or actresses to be credible experts on something, simply because they were in a movie about that topic. If that weren’t so sad, it would be funny.

But the most serious implication of form versus substance is that one day many people will be confronted by a Judge who is never fooled by appearances. 

Matthew 7:21-23 tells us,

Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”

Substance is important – eternity depends on it.