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Sophomore Spirituality – Gary Henry

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Sophomore Spirituality – Gary Henry

Second-Stage Spirituality 

From Gary Henry’s WordPoints – read more at http://wordpoints.com/blog/second-stage-spirituality-august-3/

“And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know” (1 Corinthians 8:2).

WHEN WE’VE JUST GOTTEN PAST THE BEGINNING STAGE OF SPIRITUAL LIFE, THERE IS A PARTICULAR DANGER THAT WE FACE. It is the danger always encountered in the second stage of any endeavor: THE DANGER OF THINKING THAT WE KNOW MORE THAN WE DO. If we don’t deal with this danger in the proper way, we will find ourselves blocked from any further progress.

The greatest barrier to gaining greater knowledge is the illusion of knowledge, the mistaken notion that we already know much, when in reality we know very little. This barrier is often met by the “sophomore” in any field of learning. This is the individual, hardly more than a beginner himself, who looks down on others who are just starting out. The sophomore has gone far enough to have just a little wisdom (sophos, wise), but he’s a fool (moros, foolish) for failing to see how far he has yet to go.

One measure of our attitude with respect to knowledge is the amount of listening we do compared to the amount of talking. If those who know us best observe that we’re more eager to talk than to listen, then we’ve probably overestimated how much we know. It’s good to have learned a thing or two, but it’s not good to see every person we meet as a potential audience. Solomon said, “A fool has no delight in understanding, but in expressing his own heart” (Proverbs 18:2). And James advised, “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak . . .” (James 1:19).

There is so much more of God than any of us have ever experienced, even in our moments of greatest maturity. His bounty is beyond what any of us have ever sought from Him. Let us not be so proud of what we know that we keep ourselves from learning what we still need to know. If the truth be told, most of us are not yet even in the second stage of spiritual understanding. There are many leagues yet to travel before we leave the first! Let us be humbled at the thought of our ignorance. And having been humbled, let us have a grander vision of what there is yet to know about our great God. The half has not yet been told.

“If you have lived far from God, you may think you are very near him when you finally start a life with him. The peasant thinks he has been to court because he saw the king pass by one day” (Francois de Fenelon).

Gary Henry – WordPoints.com

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This is a fabulous site, chock-full of excellent nuggets on a variety of spiritual topics — visit often!

A Weary World – Gary Henry – WordPoints.com

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A Weary World – Gary Henry – WordPoints.com

A Weary World – Gary Henry – WordPoints.com

“All things are full of labor; man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing” (Ecclesiastes 1:8).

TO BEINGS MADE FOR FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD, THE WORLD OF TEMPORAL THINGS BY ITSELF CAN NEVER BE WHOLLY SATISFYING. What we find is that the world, even at its best, exhausts us and leaves us longing for Something More. “O God! O God! How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world” (Shakespeare).

It is a frustrating, disappointing task to try to hold forever things that are essentially impermanent. We may spend many of our years grasping for the wind, but at some point most of us come to see that temporal things simply can’t fill eternal longings. When we try to make them do so, we place upon the things of this world a greater burden than they can bear. “It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams, and look — he eats; but he awakes, and his soul is still empty; or as when a thirsty man dreams, and look — he drinks; but he awakes, and indeed he is faint, and his soul still craves” (Isaiah 29:8).

We would get more real joy from this world if we would pay more attention to the world to come. Our problem is not asking too much of the world, but too little of God. C. S. Lewis said, “Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures . . . We are far too easily pleased.” To seek the greater things of God is to get more from this world, not less. “He sins against this life who slights the next” (Edward Young).

The tiresomeness of temporal life by itself ought to be a clue to the fact that we were meant for more. There are many good things here to enjoy, but if we pretend that this world is all we need, we cheat ourselves. We “satisfy” ourselves with so pitifully little, when our hearts were made for so much greater joy. But even so, God keeps enticing us to be TRULY refreshed!

“For when we approach God and seek to live according to his purpose, he knows and we know whence we have come: from the restlessness of the world, from the tribulation of human events, from the feeling of discouragement, from the lack of faith, from the failure to hear the message, from the twilight of moral and spiritual exhaustion” (Paul Ciholas).

Gary Henry – WordPoints.com

Nostalgia: Handle With Care – WordPoints

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Nostalgia: Handle With Care – WordPoints

Nostalgia: Handle with Care

“Do not say, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’ For you do not inquire wisely concerning this” (Ecclesiastes 7:10).

IT’S HARD TO REACH FORWARD AND BACKWARD AT THE SAME TIME. Yet I fear that’s the very thing we often try to do. We say we’re reaching forward, but the pull of nostalgia can tug at our hearts so strongly that we catch ourselves trying to make the world like it USED to be rather than the way it OUGHT to be, as if “used to be” and “ought to be” were exactly synonymous. The net effect of our exertions in life is often more backward than forward.

Nostalgia is a wonderful thing, and not many folks love it any more than I do. But nostalgia must be handled with care. If we don’t watch out, it can hinder us in our journey toward God. So here are a few tips on enjoying the past in a helpful, healthful way.

(1) WHATEVER GOOD MAY HAVE BEEN DONE PREVIOUSLY, TODAY IS THE ONLY DAY ANY NEW ACTIVITY CAN BE DONE. We can enjoy the past, and we can certainly learn from it. But yesterday’s work is already done, and that work won’t suffice for today. Thinking about the past (or anything else, for that matter) can’t be a substitute for today’s action.

(2) WE MUST LEARN TO BE GRATEFUL FOR THE PAST WITHOUT WORSHIPING IT. Having the right attitude toward past, present, and future is a matter of BALANCE. If there are good things about the days gone by, we must love those things neither too little nor too much. Maintaining that balance requires making frequent adjustments.

(3) EVEN IF THE PAST WAS BETTER THAN THE PRESENT IN SOME WAYS, IT IS FRUITLESS TO WONDER WHY. None of us — not even the philosophers — have enough information to answer the question, “Why is the world changing as it is?” The farmer must stick to seed-sowing and not worry too much why the weather’s not what it used to be.

When we get to wondering “Why were the former days better than these?” we need to understand that THE PAST WASN’T REALLY AS WONDERFUL AS WE REMEMBER IT. After all, our memories are quite selective, remembering a few pleasant things and forgetting others that weren’t so pleasant. So while the good old days may do our hearts good to ponder, they don’t serve very well as a goal for the future.

“Through the centuries the people have dreamed of a Golden Age and longed for its return, unconscious that they dream of a day that has never been” (Guy E. Shipler).

Gary Henry – WordPoints.com

Do You WANT To Be Lost?

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Do You WANT To Be Lost?

Being Lost Takes Persistence, Too – Gary Henry (WordPoints.com)

“But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:40).

IN THE END, THOSE WHO WILL BE LOST WILL BE THOSE WHO HAVE INSISTED ON BEING LOST. God has gone to great lengths to provide for our redemption from sin, and He waits for a long time for us to turn around and come back to Him. He pleads with us, imploring us to accept the reconciliation that He has made possible (2 Corinthians 5:20). If we end up refusing to let Him save us, it will be despite everything He could do to win our hearts. The truth is, it takes a lot of “persistence” to keep saying no to God.

C. S. Lewis once observed that the unbeliever is always in danger of having his faith overthrown. As long as he lives in this world, the unbeliever is surrounded by the tokens of God’s grace and many other powerful evidences of His reality. And so an atheistic parent who wanted his children to follow in his footsteps would always need to be worried about the “corrupting” influences they would be encountering every day. Given the many ways that God tries to get our attention, it would take an extraordinarily DETERMINED child to resist all of that and stay an unbeliever.

But sometimes, determined is exactly what we are in the matter of disobedience. Isaiah spoke with more than a little irony when he condemned those who were “mighty” and “valiant” in the pursuit of dissipation: “Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink” (Isaiah 5:22).

In the Book of Proverbs, one of the leading characteristics of the fool is that he INSISTS on doing evil, despite many opportunities to change his mind. “A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished” (Proverbs 22:3). Sadly, it’s the fool’s “steadfastness” that keeps him in trouble.

God’s plea is for us to turn around and come back in His direction. If we’ll do that, we’ll live, but if we won’t, then we’ll die (Ezekiel 18:27-28). So in a sense, there’s only one sin that will kill us, and that’s the sin we refuse to repent of and seek God’s forgiveness for. If we end up being lost eternally, it won’t be because we made mistakes — it’ll be because we PERSISTED in our mistakes.

“No man is condemned for anything he has done: he is condemned for continuing to do wrong. He is condemned for not coming out of the darkness, for not coming to the light” (George MacDonald).

Gary Henry – WordPoints.com

Professed Beliefs vs. Practical Beliefs

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Professed Beliefs vs. Practical Beliefs

From Gary Henry’s WordPoints:

Professed Beliefs vs. Practical Beliefs (April 23)

“They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him” (Titus 1:16).

WHAT WE REALLY BELIEVE ABOUT GOD IS OFTEN SOMETHING OTHER THAN WHAT WE PROFESS TO BELIEVE. We may say we believe He exists, for example, but if our actions are inconsistent with that belief, time after time, it would be fair to question whether we really believe what we say. Even in the affairs of this life, our real “master” is the one whom we actually “serve,” and when it comes to God, Paul asked the obvious question: “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” (Romans 6:16).

But please don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying that we deliberately lie about our faith, claiming to believe one thing when we know that our real belief is something else. I’m simply suggesting that our words usually reflect what we know is RIGHT to believe, what we WANT to believe, and so forth, while our actions may indicate that — FOR ALL PRACTICAL PURPOSES — our REAL beliefs run in another direction. We don’t always have the thing Paul said we should be aiming for: a “faith unfeigned” (1 Timothy 1:5 KJV).

If there is a discrepancy between what we profess and what we practice, how should we go about removing it? We could, of course, get rid of the gap by lowering our profession to the level of our practice, but that would amount to giving up and selling out to the devil. But there are better things that we can do, surely.

First, we can be more honest about the gap between our profession and our practice. We can pray more frankly and openly to God about that. Second, we can elevate our practice to the level of our profession, always seeking God’s help in doing so. He wants us to obey what we say we believe, and He will help us to do so if we let Him. But third, we can accept the fact that we are going to be judged on the basis of our practice, not our profession. In the end, it’s our DEEDS that God will judge (2 Corinthians 5:10) — not what we said we believed, not what we wanted to believe, and not what we were planning to believe someday. Whether we admit it or not, it’s a fact: WHAT WE ACTUALLY DO IS WHAT WE REALLY BELIEVE.

“Can a faith that does nothing be called sincere?” (Jean Racine).

Gary Henry – WordPoints.com

Graciousness

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Graciousness

From Gary Henry’s Wordpoints

Graciousness (April 8)

“Amazing grace! How sweet the sound!” (John Newton).

FEW THINGS IN LIFE ARE FINER THAN THE DAILY DEMONSTRATION OF GRACIOUSNESS. When the things that are done are not only correct from a legal or technical viewpoint but they’re also warmed with the goodness of grace, that’s a beauty that makes us glad we’re alive! A friend COMPASSIONATELY notices that we’re struggling. A coworker KINDLY covers a task for us. A neighbor BEAUTIFULLY remembers our birthday. A child CHARMINGLY says thank you. A spouse TACTFULLY helps us with a weakness. AMAZING GRACE! HOW SWEET THE SOUND!

ATTENTIVENESS AND THOUGHTFULNESS. The most basic element of graciousness is that it pays careful attention to another person. It’s considerate in the literal sense of the term, that is, it CONSIDERS the other person. When we act graciously, we’re saying that we’ve taken thought for someone else and that their needs are important to us.

KINDNESS AND COURTESY. To be gracious, however, we must not only take thought for others; we must do so with a desire to be merciful. The essence of kindness is that it is compassionate; it desires to deal gently with other people, even when they’ve not done their best. And that’s why the help that gracious people offer actually does HELP.

CHARM AND BEAUTY. Good manners are not a waste of time, nor are they finicky or pretentious. To endow our deeds with a bit of charm — and even ELEGANCE once in a while! — is to say to those around us that we think enough of them to act graciously for their sake. The beauty of gracious conduct is one of life’s happiest pleasures.

Many people have the RESOURCES to be gracious but lack the CHARACTER to carry it out. On any given day, most of the opportunities for people to act graciously toward other people are probably lost. So when we encounter that rare person who cares enough to have acquired the qualities of kindness, courtesy, and beauty, we are deeply refreshed by them. Thank goodness for the gracious ones! Like daffodils peeking out from a spring snow, they strike us with hope and happiness. Our days would be dreary indeed if it weren’t for their gift of graciousness.

“Riches may enable us to confer favours, but to confer them with propriety and grace requires a something that riches cannot give” (Charles Caleb Colton).

Gary Henry – WordPoints.com

Playfulness – from Wordpoints – Gary Henry

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Playfulness (April 1)

“It is a happy talent to know how to play” (Ralph Waldo Emerson).

PLAYFULNESS MAY NOT BE ONE OF THE CARDINAL VIRTUES THAT WE NEED TO STRIVE FOR, BUT IT’S STILL SOMETHING WE NEED TO PAY ATTENTION TO. It’s a part of good character, and those who know only how to work and not how to play are not only missing out on much of the joy of life; they’re missing one of the qualities that enable us to make a contribution to the lives of others.

Traditionally, this date on the calendar is marked as a day when we give a little freer rein to the playful spirit than we do at other times. Personally, I think it says something good about our civilization that we have such a day. It says that we understand the need for some lightheartedness and laughter — and even a little mischief!

How will you respond today if someone plays you for an “April Fool”? I hope it won’t be with irritation or impatience. I hope you won’t look down on the “immaturity” of the jokers. I hope, instead, that you’ll laugh with those who’re having an innocent laugh at your expense. A moderate application of embarrassment is good for us now and then, because it breaks up the ruts that we tend to fall into. It humbles us and frees us to respond to life in a more flexible way.

Actually, it’s a compliment when someone thinks enough of us to play a joke on us or invite us to join them in joking with someone else. When we were children, those with whom we played were usually those who were our friends, and it’s much the same way with us as adults. When people show us their playful side, they’re saying they want to be friends, and more often than not, we need to say yes.

When we’re playful, we tend to be more honest. At play, we let down our defenses and relate to people more transparently. And while sometimes that freedom can get out of hand and be abused, normally it’s a good thing. If we think we don’t have time for play, that’s probably an indication that some playfulness is overdue. And if, in all honesty, we have personalities that shy away from play, we probably have a greater need than the next person to get out and do some playing. Life in this world is serious business, it’s true, but those who’re prepared to deal with it the best are those who’re a little mischievous!

“In our play we reveal what kind of people we are” (Ovid).

Gary Henry – WordPoints.com