Lent: Giving up or Filling Up?

     Christians worldwide are celebrating Lent.  In the historic church calendar this consumes the 40 days before Resurrection (Easter) Sunday.  Growing up, I viewed Lent as a big hypocrisy - one extreme to another:  Overindulgence to under indulgence.  Hedonism to asceticism in a night's day.  My thinking has changed.  What was the original intent and could this practice be redeemed, restored, or recreated to bring Glory to God?  As I strive to create Summum bonum I am trying to look at all aspects of my life.  Should Jesus not be Lord over my calendar too?

This year in our school's chapel program we are celebrating the historic church calendar.  It is not as Roman Catholic as many have thought it to be.  Our theme this year at school is "Life."  We took the passage from John 10:10 when Jesus tells us that he came to give life - life to the full, or "life in abundance" as some translations say.  The focus is that Jesus came to give us the good life NOW, not just in heaven.  We believe that the good life comes only through the Gospel - joining our story with God's Grand Story.  The historic church calendar takes us through the gospel  message from Advent (anticipation of the coming Messiah), Christmas (birth), Epiphany (Life and teachings of Christ), Lent (preparation of the believer's heart for the death of Christ), and Resurrection (Easter).

40 days has Biblical significance:  Noah and his family endured the ark for 40 days, the Israelites endured the desert for 40 days, and of course our Lord fasted for 40 days before he was tempted by Satan.  The 40 days represent a period of struggle that is intended by God for His followers to rely on Him.  The end result was (and is) a "closer walk with Thee" - 40 days of trial that results in increased faith, Glory to God, and joy for the believer.

 I saw a t-shirt the other day  that said, "I survived Lent."  This t-shirt slogan represents what has happened to most of the spiritual disciplines - they have been eaten up by our cultures God - indulgence and materialism.  It is interesting that though America is one of the most materially wealthy, entertained, and comfortable cultures in the world, we have some of the highest depression rates.  The reason is that we are eating the wrong bread.  We are eating spoiled bread.

Jesus calls himself the Bread of Life and says that if we eat of his bread we will never go hungry.  I'm beginning to think he meant more than taking the Lord's Supper.  I love this hymn:

Like the woman at the well I was seeking
    D7                         G
For things that could not satisfy;
    G7                     C
And then I heard my Savior speaking:
              D                         G
"Draw from My well that never shall run dry."

CHORUS:
G                                D
Fill my cup, Lord, I lift it up, Lord!
         Am          D               G
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul;
         G7                     C
Bread of heaven, feed me 'til I want no more-
        D                           G
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole!

VERSE 2:
There are millions in this world who are craving
The pleasure earthly things afford;
But none can match the wondrous treasure
That I find in Jesus Christ my Lord.

VERSE 3:
So, my brother, if the things this world gave you
Leave hungers that won't pass away,
My blessed Lord will come and save you,
If you kneel to Him and humbly pray:

Lent fills up!

The Best Things Corrupted

Corruptio Optima Pessima is a great latin phrase to help us understand the doctrines of Creation and Fall.  The term literally means, "the best things, when corrupted, become the worst."  All that God has created is good, yet tainted, because Satan is a Pervert.  He has no original Creative ability, however, he can confuse, distort, and pervert.

There is a common misconception both in our world and in the church that God and Satan are opposing forces with equal power battling it out until the end.  This worldview is referred to as dualism and is a popular worldview of many religions - the Eastern view of the Yin and Tang for example:  Good and Bad balance each other out in perfect harmony.  This view infiltrates our thinking and is seen in our culture in many ways.  Probably most pervasively and yet most subtly within the institution of marriage:  "Chet is a good mate - he balances me out."  "I am the disciplinarian and he is the softy."  We hear phrases like, "we need a balance of __________," or "everything in moderation."  Education institutions desire for students to be "balanced" and "whole."  They even say nice things like,  "we desire for our students to be balanced human beings:  Mind, Body, Soul, Family People, Citizens, etc., etc.."  This all sounds good, but my question is what or who is deciding (when all these things inevitably begin to compete with each other) what is Ultimate?  Our culture worships democracy (Monarchy is the preferred governmental institution in Scripture - more in a later post), but a democracy breaks down when there is a tie and nothing or no one to have the casting vote.  We say that we have three branches of Government for checks and balances, but in reality in all comes back to the Constitution - an Ultimate Authority.

We see dualism (The Pendulum Swing) in our cultures view of health, nutrition, and wellness.  Americans continually trade one form of idolatry (gluttony) for another (dieting).  When was the last time anyone chastised someone in our culture for being obsessed with fitness?  We see this in how we view the environment.  As much as I agree with Good Stewardship if you are not "going green" you are not righteous and you may be a redneck.  (Jeff Foxworthy analogy if you didn't get that)  Dualistic thinking has an appearance of harmony, but leads ultimately to division.

So, why does this all matter?  It matters in the sense that we embrace Ultimate Reality.  The Scriptures are clear that God is Sovereign over all.  Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other."  God created all things, and when they are under His Lordship they are the best, the sweetest, but when corrupted by Satan they become the worst.  The Lordship of Jesus is our only Saving Grace.

Can we sin in our dreams?

I was hit with this question from an inquisitive 8th grade young man.  Great question!  I had to think about it for a moment, and then lay a little groundwork.  I think what the young man wanted to know (the question that really matters) is whether he was responsible for the sins in his dreams?

Both of these questions have inherent flaws about the nature of sin.  We often view sin as individual acts, but this is not Biblical.  Sin is a condition, a state, or nature rather than things we do/do not do.  The individual acts are a result of our nature as either a slave to sin or a slave to righteousness.   (Romans 5 and 6)  "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.  For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.  They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law." (Galatians 5:16-18)

Dreams are a result of our subconscious which many psychologists would say we cannot control.  Our culture, on the heals of these psychologists, would be quick to say that we are not "responsible" for our dreams.  Of course, in our pluralistic society, there is no ultimate standard and thus nothing or noone to be responsible to anyway.  Just the same, this view is not wholistic.  Firstly, although our dreams happen in a subconscious state and some of the content, structure, backdrop etc. may be apart of our subconscious (a conglomerate of all that we see and process) - our actions within our dreams still reflect our Will.  Although we may not control all the content in our dreams our Will is never stripped from us.  We are still the Actor in our dreams.  Secondly, as stated previously, the content (setting, etc.) come from our life and thus how we are viewing the world, interpreting, and judging it.  We dream on those things we meditate and "stew over."  In this sense, when people say they are not responsible for their dreams it is like when people say, "I was so drunk, I don't even remember!"  What they really mean of course is that they don't think themselves fully responsible.  As if their drunk state acquits them of all guilt.  Even if they are not responsible what they do when they are "waisted" (they are) they were responsible for getting drunk in the first place - or that which they brought into themselves.  So, even if we are not "responsible" (we are) for the happenings within our dreams, we are responsible for what we meditate on and these are what our dreams consist of.  We must take captive every thought for Christ.  This, of course, is for those who have a healthy psychological state.  The answer becomes much more complex for the mentally ill, the abused,and traumatized.

There is a song by Switchfoot in which Jon Forman tells the story of one of his bad dreams.  The song, titled Faust, Midas, and Myself ( http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/switchfoot/faustmidasandmyself.html ) speaks of how his dream woke him up into the beauty of his real life.  Though the content of the dream may have been evil, his heart is revealed in his reaction to the dream.

Dreams can be a revealing and warning about where our heart is.  I'm not sure if God still speaks to us directly in the same prophetic sense as our brother's Daniel and Joseph (I would like to think so), but the Bible does seem to instruct - "Pay attention to your dreams!"

My students were quick to say that we are not responsible for our dreams.  This is of greater concern to me than the sin they may commit in their dreams.  Our sinful nature is quick to excuse our guilt.  Again, sin is less about individual acts, but more about a nature that reveals itself in a rebellious heart.  I want us to say, "Yes, I sin in my dreams, I am responsible and guilty, but thanks be to God for forgiveness in Jesus Christ."

Transform our minds and our dreams are transformed.  I often pray over my son's cribe:  "Lord, let him dream of your goodness and holiness, let him bask in your love.  Like Lucy in Aslan's main, let him swim in your beautiful being."

Why "Creating Summum Bonum"?

I started this blog out of jealousy for my student's - they were having all the fun! :)  Week after week my students write what is called a Summa - a short essay in response to a universal question that we have studied in history, theology, or literature.  The class is titled Omnibus:  Biblical & Classical Civilizations.  Omnibus is Latin for "everything" and focuses on the greatest questions of all time from all the metaphysical fields of study:  Theology & Philosophy, History and Literature.

The goal of the course as is any real humanities course is to investigate the Summum Bonum or "greatest good."  My aim in Creating Summum Bonum is to ask the question we must continually ask -  "What is the Greatest Good and how can I Create it?"  God is in the Redemption business and as believers we join him in that mission to Recreate and Restore.  This blog will look at different topics from theology to entertainment and education to family and everything in between.  Since there is nothing off God's radar, I must assume there is nothing off mine.  Many of my posts will come from questions asked by my students, questions posed from the Omnibus course, and cultural commentary as I seek the Greatest Good and create in His name wherever the Spirit allows.