Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Baby, It's Cold Outside
Transformed Daily makes a grossly extended metaphor
The two most apt metaphors for the experience that I know are in Hind's Feet In High Places in which the protagonist has her heart literally ripped from her chest by a confrontation with God. The other is dragon Eustace's classic confrontation with Aslan in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. In both cases, truly opening oneself up to the Holy Spirit allows the Holy Spirit to commit actual, but blessed, violence. It is not a question of feeling sensitive, a genuine confrontation with the Holy Spirit is dangerous and painful.
And it is beyond "feeling." In the Hind's Feet story, the protagonist's heart is depicted as having roots that extend throughout her body By the time God is done with her He has reached into places she did not even know existed.
We work very hard to stay out of contact with the deepest parts of ourselves. Use whatever terminology you like, spirit, soul, whatever it is. We don't go there because it is the place in us that makes us fallen - it is ugly and scarred and terrifying. We rasie our hands and sing our songs and "feel" good about God, but inside, deeper than emotion, lies that rotten, fetid garbage scow of a soul. We use our feelings as a shield to protect ourselves from seeing it.
But God is staring right at it. "Taking off our parka" is a start, but God is not going to be satisfied with being a cool breeze on naked skin. He is going to be the lion, ripping flesh.
The Holy Spirit became real and active when my flesh began to die. Again, Paul makes a very clear correlation: more flesh (sinful nature) means less Spirit; less flesh (sinful nature) means more Spirit. Kill the flesh, die to self, and live by the Spirit!I like the idea, but have a problem wtih those closing sentences. When you truly open up to the Holy Spirit, you are not just feeling sensitive, you are ripped to shreds.
Try this on for size:
The Holy Spirit is a light breeze that blows into our lives the very breath of God. However, many can’t ever feel or experience his presence because they are decked out in a parka that insulates them. In fact, we have the hood over our head and have pulled the drawstrings tight. The parka represents the flesh, sin, and unrepentance. We begin to feel the Spirit only when we start removing layers of sin from our lives. When we take off the parka we feel a little bit of the Spirit’s presence. We then take off the turtle neck and feel a little more of the Spirit. However, where we all need to be is at that place where we can feel even the slightest breeze. You know what I’m talking about. Like when you have just gotten out of the pool and are still wet; there is a little breeze blowing and you actually feel cold; even when it is 115 degrees outside. You are so stripped down and sensitive that you feel everything. That is where we need to be; may we all be stripped of our flesh and sensitive to every move of the Holy Spirit.
The two most apt metaphors for the experience that I know are in Hind's Feet In High Places in which the protagonist has her heart literally ripped from her chest by a confrontation with God. The other is dragon Eustace's classic confrontation with Aslan in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. In both cases, truly opening oneself up to the Holy Spirit allows the Holy Spirit to commit actual, but blessed, violence. It is not a question of feeling sensitive, a genuine confrontation with the Holy Spirit is dangerous and painful.
And it is beyond "feeling." In the Hind's Feet story, the protagonist's heart is depicted as having roots that extend throughout her body By the time God is done with her He has reached into places she did not even know existed.
We work very hard to stay out of contact with the deepest parts of ourselves. Use whatever terminology you like, spirit, soul, whatever it is. We don't go there because it is the place in us that makes us fallen - it is ugly and scarred and terrifying. We rasie our hands and sing our songs and "feel" good about God, but inside, deeper than emotion, lies that rotten, fetid garbage scow of a soul. We use our feelings as a shield to protect ourselves from seeing it.
But God is staring right at it. "Taking off our parka" is a start, but God is not going to be satisfied with being a cool breeze on naked skin. He is going to be the lion, ripping flesh.
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