When People Fall Down...

Do you ever feel as if aspects of your life have just been one disaster after another (e.g., relationships, jobs, etc.)? I have. I find that the natural first response is simply to blame others, and perhaps they are to blame sometimes; But when the same problems recur again and again with different people, perhaps the fundamental problem is with the common denominator: me.

Jeremiah, say to the people, ‘This is what the LORD says:
“‘When people fall down, don’t they get up again?
When they discover they’re on the wrong road, don’t they turn back?
Then why do these people stay on their self-destructive path?
Why do the people of Jerusalem refuse to turn back?
They cling tightly to their lies
and will not turn around.
I listen to their conversations
and don’t hear a word of truth.
Is anyone sorry for doing wrong?
Does anyone say, “What a terrible thing I have done”?
No! All are running down the path of sin
as swiftly as a horse galloping into battle!
Even the stork that flies across the sky
knows the time of her migration,
as do the turtledove, the swallow, and the crane.
They all return at the proper time each year.
But not my people!
They do not know the LORD’s laws.
“‘How can you say, “We are wise because we have the word of the LORD,”
when your teachers have twisted it by writing lies?
These wise teachers will fall
into the trap of their own foolishness,
for they have rejected the word of the LORD.
Are they so wise after all?

Jer. 8:4-9

If ever there was a community with a dysfunctional cycle, it was ancient Israel. One wonders how often the prophets must have felt like hopelessly broken records, repeating the same message to the same people over and over again, and repeatedly watching them ignore it. In this passage, God Himself addresses the people and diagnoses their fundamental problem.

God: Why do you continue down a self-destructive path? Because you don't know any better.
People's Response: But we have the word of the LORD!
God: You have it; But you don't know it. Much less follow it! You don't even know enough to realize when you're being lied to by your "teachers"--when they're telling you what you want to hear, rather than what you need to hear.

Are we in American Christianity really much different? I hope so...but I doubt it. At least in my own case, I know I'm not much different. Though I've slowly improved in my serious Bible reading habits over the years, for a long time most of what I "knew" about God and Christianity, I "knew" because I had always heard it, or because some delightfully engaging speaker with lots of funny stories and an inhumanly broad grin had told me so--which should have been a bright red flag! In short, I "knew" things about God, but I didn't know how I knew them.

In the interests of full disclosure, I'm not promising that a serious commitment to growing with God will make your life easier. It may be just the opposite. Often, those who are actively pushing the limits and trying to grow in their knowledge will (intentionally or otherwise) disomfit others by asking hard questions and eshewing simplistic answers. Expect to find--as Jeremiah did--that many people prefer words of soothing, peace, and comfort--regardless of whether they are true or not. (Jer. 5:3, 11-13, 20-21, 23, 30-31; 6:10, 16-17; 7:22-27, et al.)

PRACTICAL STEPS
If, after realizing the risk, you decide you still want to grow in your relationship w/God, I offer four practical steps to help. I'm sure there are many more (and better) steps that could be taken, but I must plead ignorance of how to be a great Christian. If any of you have things that have worked well for you, please share. Here's mine:

1. Give yourself a memory verse. If you can do nothing else, do this. It's simple, and everyone's got the time to recite one verse a day. The sooner you start, the better. We've already started with our children (ages 4,3, and 1) and they can all recite (for example) Isaiah 7:14 from memory.

2. Daily Bible reading. This is if you're ready to "step it up a notch" from simply memorizing one verse. This plan commits you to read at least a chapter a day (preferably more) from the Bible. There are tons of good reading schedules out there that you can get online.

3. Improve your Bible study. First and foremost, this means asking a lot of hard questions--of yourself, of the text, and of others. Don't settle for the first answer. Wrestle with questions like: "Why has God given this command?" "How do we know that Revelation is to be taken figuratively, but Matthew is not?" etc. Get some supplementary books, DVDs, etc. that delve more deeply into a given book, or ancient Near Eastern culture.

4. Find some equally-committed, Christ-hearted people to share your journey. This may be the most difficult, but is probably the most helpful of all four. Having these people join you, will help prevent you from becoming judgmental of others who aren't where you're at, and will also help you to sift and discern some of the stuff you encounter in step #3.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that you will never suffer because the Temple is here. It’s a lie! Do you really think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, and burn incense to Baal and all those other new gods of yours, and then come here and stand before Me in My Temple and chant, “We are safe!” – only to go right back to all those evils again? Don’t you yourselves admit that this Temple, which bears My Name, has become a den of thieves? (Jeremiah 7:8-11a)

This is part of a message God directed Jeremiah to speak to the people at the entrance of the Temple. Even as the worthies of Jerusalem gathered to “honor God with their lips” and to see—and be seen by—others, the prophet arrives to announce that for all their finery and showmanship, they are only deluding themselves. No amount of sacrifice…no solemnity of occasion…no gravity of countenance can make evil good, or good evil.

Speaking Truth to Power

The political and scientific worlds have been a flutter over the last few weeks after damning revelations that a premiere institute trumpeting the dangers of global warming (or global climate change, as the new vogue term) has suppressed contrary evidence, altered figures, and engaged in a coordinated conspiracy to deceive and defraud the public. Even more disturbing than the lies, has been the response by many in the face of their disclosure. We continue to push forward with the “necessity” to enact legislation that was rooted and justified on the basis of this now-discredited theory. Apparently, the truth is out…but many people do not care to hear it. This situation reminds me very much of what faced Jeremiah.

In Jeremiah 6:11 the prophet says: …I am filled with the LORD’s fury. Yes, I am tired of holding it in. It seems the prophet’s weariness can be explained by an all too common phenomenon: frustration with those who refuse to listen to his warnings. Consider this phrase in its immediate context:

Listen to this warning, Jerusalem, or I will turn you into a heap of ruins, a land where no one lives. This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Even the few who remain in Israel will be picked over again, as when a harvester checks each vine a second time to pick the grapes that were missed.

To whom can I give warning? Who will listen when I speak? Their ears are closed, and they cannot hear. They scorn the word of the LORD. They don’t want to listen at all. So now I am filled with the LORD’s fury. Yes, I am tired of holding it in! -- Jeremiah 6:8-11

Finally, as a consequence of their unwillingness to listen to real problems, the people of Jerusalem were unwilling to explore real solutions.

From the least to the greatest, their lives are ruled by greed. From prophets to priests, they are all frauds. They offer superficial treatments for My people’s mortal wound. They give assurances of peace when there is no peace. – Jeremiah 6:13-14

The unwillingness to listen to truth is a ubiquitous human problem. As we each face unpalatable truths today: the state and relative severity of our ecological, military, national and individual economic, and spiritual crises, we would do well to learn from the ministry of Jeremiah. I do not believe that God has left us without reliable witnesses to “speak truth to power.” The real question is the same as it has always been: Is the power willing to listen to the truth?