Having just passed the Valentine's Day observance last week, we have just seen plenty of heart-related paraphernalia, whether in material goods purchased at a store, in the abstract "feelings" category, or in words spoken or heard. We view hearts as good, loving, full of truth, and a sort of "warm and fuzzy" icon of love.
We also look at polar bears and think, "Cute and cuddly."
How many times do we judge something because of how it looks and how we think it should or could feel, based on our own hopes and desires? How many times are we wrong? I have felt the sting of wrongly judging someone's character, personality, or potential to care/show love/give of himself many times in life. I never fail to feel sorry for it, and to feel a certain sense of loss. When I have held onto such a perception of a person I don't see his true self. Instead, my perception puts him in a cloud of judgment and his true self stands, involuntarily, behind a facade I have built -- like one of those propped-up boards you find at a carnival. You stand behind it, poke your face through the hole and show up as a caricature of a German barmaid or of a muscle-bound man. I put this perception in my heart and continue to build it around him, unless I find a way to stop:
- making assumptions
- judging appearances
- assuming motives
- assessing cultural differences
- comparing educational differences
- rejecting negative personality traits
- judging another's faith
- assessing values
- judging that person's own human failings
You see, the truth is, the heart is deceitful. These judgments/assumptions/comparisons happen automatically, as if we humans have a Template of Perfection with which we measure every other human.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
Jeremiah 17:9
Add to that, For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. Matthew 15:19
The Bible has told us these things for centuries, and "modern man" insists on whispering or shouting modern philosophies like,"You are only going to be as good as the people you surround yourself with, so be brave enough to let go of those who keep weighing you down," and a personal favorite,
"Follow your heart. It will never lead you astray."
Reread the verse from Matthew 15, again. None of those activities sound "found", do they? To me, they sound very "astray." Totally on the wrong side of the law, do you agree?
Consider those manmade philosophical phrases again (in italics). In a nutshell, they support judgement, assumption, assessment, comparison, and rejection of anyone who doesn't measure up to our Template of Perfection.
These philosophies suggest we cut out of our lives those who fail to uplift us, those who don't make us feel good about ourselves every minute.
Huh. We should get rid of those who don't fit the mold we think they should fit? That kind of thinking not only screams "shallow", it flies in the face of right. Those same people we label as "weighing us down" might very well be those who are surrounding themselves with us ... in order to improve themselves in what they believe a Christlike example.
The only worthy measure? Christ, the man who surrounded himself with the poor, the beggars, the sick, the lost, the sinners and the persecuted. He sought not to be like them, but to give hope to them, to teach and to uplift and to find them when they were most lost. He did not esteem himself, but focused on them in the present time, giving to them from his own reserves, and not thinking about benefits to himself. I like to think he looked at people in terms of, "He ain't heavy, he's my brother." People did not weigh down Christ, they felt buoyed by him. Lifted from the dregs of their daily lives and shown new life. Attainable, possible and on the path toward perfection.
I think a good twist on "modern philosophies" makes sense in this case. When faced with someone who seems willing to hang on to the "woe is me" rung of the ladder, it comes into our realm to help him find a better foothold or rise to a new level of esteem and of faith -- and finding new hope and a reason to keep moving along. Quite possibly, he may find someone who has "weighed him down" to lift up and bring along, too.
Choose the world's philosophies and cut people out of your circle while chasing and clinging to other humans as your example of perfection. Or, chase after and cling to Christ and choose to look on others through his eyes in way and you will expand your circle of friends and provide a support structure for all of you.
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4:23
Share your thoughts.
What experiences have you had in this heart matter?
Do you disagree with this assessment of modern philosophy?
I want to know!
No comments:
Post a Comment