Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Needed Maturity
Milt Stanley links to J.D. Hatfield and quotes (emphasis added):
And yet God commands us in the Decalogue to "Honor your father and mother." This command has no age limitation attached to it. It would seem that we are, in some sense, "stuck" with the authority of our parents for our lives.
Even before he died last year, my father had begun to show his age. He no longer spoke with the authority of a man in total control of all that was around him. More and more he asked me what to do instead of offered me advise. I would still ask, but my requests were more and more frequently met with a shrug. Since his death in many questions concerning my business, I have no place to even ask, and it is uncomfortable.
I am not at all sure we are built to be in control of our lives. I look around me and I see people so often flailing about to attempt to take control; however, the result is anything but control. The people I know that seem to most "have it together" are people that worry least about control.
Submission starts with not being in charge. Like the addict that must first realize they have a problem, we need to realize that we are not in control. Once we realize that, we will turn to someone, that is to say we will submit, and who better than Jesus?
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It would seem that there is no end to people [who] use the Bible as a tool but instead of being instructed in righteousness, they are looking to lessons in self-satisfaction. When a teacher consistently tries to back up their points by appealing to scripture, it can be difficult for the undiscerning to realize what is going on. However, if we understand the scope and sweep of scripture, we can learn to discern a counterfeit when we see it. . . .Milt titled his post "Maturing in the Word," thus drawing a equation between maturity and submission. Is that not counter-intuitive? As children we struggle to mature so that we no longer submit to our parent's will.
We cannot learn to discern if we cannot learn to submit, and for someone who is a Christian, submitting to God happens at the basic level of scripture. If we cannot do that, we are only fooling ourselves. We need to heed what the Word says about submission to God and worshipping through the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1-2). Then we can begin to grow in the knowledge of God and not submit to every fad and fraud that comes to us in the guise of the godly. Our “powers of discernment” need the power of the Word of God.
And yet God commands us in the Decalogue to "Honor your father and mother." This command has no age limitation attached to it. It would seem that we are, in some sense, "stuck" with the authority of our parents for our lives.
Even before he died last year, my father had begun to show his age. He no longer spoke with the authority of a man in total control of all that was around him. More and more he asked me what to do instead of offered me advise. I would still ask, but my requests were more and more frequently met with a shrug. Since his death in many questions concerning my business, I have no place to even ask, and it is uncomfortable.
I am not at all sure we are built to be in control of our lives. I look around me and I see people so often flailing about to attempt to take control; however, the result is anything but control. The people I know that seem to most "have it together" are people that worry least about control.
Submission starts with not being in charge. Like the addict that must first realize they have a problem, we need to realize that we are not in control. Once we realize that, we will turn to someone, that is to say we will submit, and who better than Jesus?
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