Hemingway's Symbolism

It may be apocryphal: the exact quote is verified nowhere that I've looked for it: but it rings true with Hemingway's rejection of the "symbolism" critics found in his writing. Supposedly he once disgustedly told an earnest student who asked how he knew what symbols to put in his writing, and where: "If you write it right, the symbols put themselves in."

That's probably true of how any person perceives life/the world/reality, whether or not we go so far as to set it down in writing: if we perceive accurately, the "symbolism" is simply there to be found.

I don't much care for Hemingway's writing: but I share his disgust for the mentality that believes it must formulate and superadd its symbolism to reality. That seems to be a core feature of the "religious" mentality: as if God's creation were incomplete until humans' critical faculty had interpreted it.

That seems part of the problem with "Christian media." Even when the "symbols" it chooses are God's, and truly present in His creation: morality, Jesus, righteousness: being extraneously inserted there comes across as artificial. It's a false endeavor, and perceived so even though its falseness is worked by manipulation of what's true.

God's thoughts and God's Ways

“ 'For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
'For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.' "

Isaiah 55:8-9


It's no secret that the white American evangelical Church marches in lock-step with our country's (falsely so-called) "conservative" political faction. Every "conservative" thought and way is faithfully parroted by white American evangelicals. On every "issue" of the day, white American evangelicals will take the same "position," and adduce the same reasoning for it, as their political manipulators: social issues, foreign policy, legislation, military affairs.

It's a simple question: are human politics God's thoughts and ways, or man's ? If the latter, the white American evangelical Church has forsaken God, His thoughts, and His ways.

Religious People Are SO Full of Crap

It's not the way Jesus chose to express it: but "religious people are SO full of crap" lines up with His reviling the religious leaders and people of His time as "hypocrites," spiritual fakers.

It's a message (surprise, surprise) we seldom hear from the religious leaders and people of our time: at least, not as applicable TO our time. But it is.

Religious people are SO full of crap.

Jesus had God's Own authority to judge the deep motives of men's hearts. I don't. And I know that even well-intentioned Christians, whose honest desire is to follow and glorify Jesus, can do morally foolish deeds; because God gives me glimpses of my OWN moral foolishness. Only He Who is without sin can judge sinful men.

But scripture teaches that "as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." From our heart-ruling spirit flow the "springs of life:" and what we do shows what we truly, deeply, ARE. Jesus Alone has God's Own wisdom to see, and authority to judge, what people are. But in the Body of Christ, we have His wisdom and and His authority to judge men's deeds: to be "fruit-inspectors."

The observation that "religious people are SO full of crap" fills the bill. It speaks God's Own disgust at the false and foul "religious" works of men...even Christian men. And speaking God's disgust surgically lays bare the diseased heart: no one takes offence at the words except those who, in their deepest being, believe they ARE "religious people."

I love to speak God's message: religious people are SO full of crap.

Like Swatting Flies

Swatting flies, I'm always amazed that (despite their well-known multiple eyes) they let me get within swatting range without taking flight. I find I can get into swatting stance over them, and they take no notice. Even when I raise the fly-swatter above them, they blithely ignore me. It's advantageous to me that they don't take alarm, or try to flee, until the last instant before destruction: I'm able to kill most of those I target.

If I were satan, I would look at today's American Christians the same way.

Vance Havner

A generation ago, the preacher of righteousness Vance Havner said, "The devil's not fighting churches today, he's joining churches."

That was 40 years ago. After a generation of church-membership, the enemy has worked his way into leadership.

How else can it be that the Church eagerly follows politicians after satan's own heart ?:

a rebel who denies Romans 13, proclaiming to the nation that "government IS the problem;"

a blasphemer who perverts John 1, telling a world-wide audience that America is the light of the world;

the priest of a demonic "other Christ" and his other "bible."

For readers whose spiritual eyes have been blinded by the political gospel subverting our country and its Christians, I'm referring to Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Mitt Romney, "conservative" Republicans all.

Who do you follow, Christian ? If you follow the enemy's men and message, how do you call yourself "Christian" ?

Simplified theology

Everyone has a theology, operative ideas about God. As the old bluesman said about the kind of music he preferred, there are only two kinds of theology: good theology and bad theology.

Bad theology is false ideas of God. Good theology is true ideas about God. The only One who knows the truth of God IS God. And the only way we can learn good theology is to hear Him.

For many years, the touchstone of my operative theology has been to hear Jesus, and follow Him. It's what He said His people would do. The fact that He is "the truth" (John 14:6) grounds that theology in everyday experience, as He Himself IS: hearing truth, loving truth, and following truth is what it means to be Jesus' disciple.

God' been opening a second point of operative theology to my understanding. That all our purpose and love is bound up in seeking His Presence. Anything less than His Presence is mere religion, pointless and worthless.

His Presence is everything we need, for there His limitless power, love, protection and wisdom IS. His Presence is His Kingdom and His Glory manifest, for where He IS He IS sovereign. The Spirit He has given us vouchsafes His Presence, and His Rule is enacted by The Spirit in our hearts.

A complete true idea of God is doubtless beyond my limited capacity. But these are the operative understandings God's given me to walk in thus far. Knowing the Teacher, I know I can take each as fully truth.

Different Than Christian

I've written about it here before: that when you really set out to think as God thinks, it sets you apart from the world . . . and from other Christians. I know how it has happened. There are specific Spiritual choices I've made, and I can see that they make the difference.

I was meditating on Jesus' revelation Who He IS, "...the way, and the truth, and the life." God impressed on me that if you love Jesus, you must love truth. He's worked that into to my thinking as a fierce and absolute criteria. It's been a key spiritual gift: above anything else, love-of-truth has kept me from the political snares by which the enemy has deceived and defiled very many American Christians.

Even before that, James' words had hit me hard; "if any lacks wisdom," he only has to ask God in faith. I knew I lacked wisdom, so I asked God for it in faith. In faith, I know God stands by His promise. (Indeed, "wisdom" would be a good summation of what it means to operate by God's thoughts and God's ways; Isaiah 55:8)

I remember being impressed when I read that Solomon himself, the wisest man ever, asked God for for understanding, and that his prayer pleased God. I wanted to please God too, so I prayed for understanding.

Probably because these things were already at work, a few years ago I felt a great need to press closer to God. I desperately felt a need for comfort and protection, as I watched more and more Christians turning away after deceivers. He said that I should discipline myself to spend time with Him regularly. I did what He said, and He has blessed that obedience by letting me come into His Presence.

Most recently, He's impressed on me a similar word about fasting, so I've also begun fasting unto Him regularly.

I look at it all as an increasing experience of God. Like prayer and the desire to hear what He says, they aren't even particular things to do, anymore. It just feels like life, continual and pervasive.

I'm satisfied it's God's Spirit working and growing in me. None of these are things my flesh would have ever desired or sought.

I find myself at odds with the world, and with many other Christians. I've whined about that here in the past: but I'm coming to see it as no cause for whining. It's hard evidence that God is Faithful to His promises, and able to perform them...even in this heart I know (better than I know any other) to be weak, and foolish, and desperately wicked.

Praise to our Father, Who reigns in power even in our own weakness !

Culture War Christianity

The root-problem of "culture-war" Christianity is that culture is a human construct.

We live amidst human culture continually in this world. We cannot but grieve at its utter godlessness. But we only recognize its abject darkness by contrast, if we ourselves walk in the light.

Jesus, The Light, has told us that His Kingdom is not of this world, and so His followers do not fight there (John 18:36). His word to us is that our war is not against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12), and that we do not war according to the flesh (II Corinthians 10:3-5).

"Culture-war" fights exactly where and how God has told us not to. The Church of culture-war necessarily takes up the kinds of weapons appropriate to that war (in the current American Church, political weapons): and worse, takes up the mindset and attitudes of those who war against flesh and blood. That mindset is well exemplified by Galatians 5:20's list of the "deeds of the flesh" ("...enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions..."). And in disobeying God, the "culture war" Church forfeits His Spiritual power: the only force on earth that can ever change men's hearts.

Like its methods, culture war Christianity operates on assumptions, and to purposes, contrary to God's. Its purpose is to veneer our nation and culture with what the Supreme Court perceptively termed "civic deism"...through politics, that most unGodly of all man's ways. But where did God say He came into the world to save, patch-up, or improve man's works and kingdoms ?

We know the immediate origin of "culture-war" teaching is from the self-interested political faction foolish Christians have chosen to follow. And it's not hard to see who is the spiritual author of any doctrine that misleads the Church and teaches it disobedience. But the enemy's chief purpose in "culture-war" is to demean God's sovereignty. And indeed, the God of"culture-war" Christianity is a mere adjunct to human acts, human works, and human purposes.

The sovereign King Who gives Himself as the only Alternative to the works of man and satan despises "culture war" Christianity and all its ways. Nothing of it glorifies Him, to whom alone glory belongs. His word to "culture warriors" is "Repent !!"

Divider

It becomes increasingly clear to me that how a Christian reacts to my "non-standard" views tells me what's in their heart.

Those whose operative thinking is political convince themselves I cry out against the Church following Republican lies, rebellion, blasphemy and apostacy because I'm a Democrat.

Those whose operative thinking is governed by the Spirit understand it's a cry against the Church being led in the enemy's spirit.

"He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Jesus said it, and so it is. People show what their hearts are set on, by what they hear.

Do We Preach the Gospel ?

If the Church in America looks at itself honestly...as we're commanded to do...I think we have to have to ask ourselves if we are preaching the gospel, as we are commanded to do ?

That question hinges on another: does the Church in America know what the gospel IS ? How can we preach what we ourselves don't know ?

To my subjective experience, what we preach is some variation of salvationism: that we can be forgiven our sins if we accept Jesus as Lord, and we'll go to heaven when we die. In the meantime, we can know we're saved if we do right things.

That's a vast simplification of what we preach, of course. And none of the message is false in itself.

But what increasingly seems lacking in the Church' gospel is the good news that we can walk with our Father experientially. "Heaven" and "right things" miss the point: neither has any reality separate from God's Own Presence. The good news is His Presence: even in this dark world, and even in us.

And where His Presence is, God reigns. The good news is that (in the words of Luther's hymn) "His Kingdom is forever:" and "now" is a part of "forever." When God is Present with us, we are not struggling through, doing right things in this life until we "get there" by dying. Living in God's Presence, our hearts are not set on doing "right things" at all: we desire to do what pleases our Father. Our purpose isn't to "get there:" we are there.

If we struggle, it's against our human weakness to set our hearts on some other purpose than doing His will. But it's not that great a struggle. No one in His Presence wants any lesser thing. And our hearts deeply desire to please Him because His Presence only rests with those who do.

God's living Presence seems vastly different from the gospel the Church preaches.

God's Presence seems vastly different from the good news the Church itself knows.