Dare to Deconstruct?

 

Have you come across people who hold on to traditional and conventional ideologies which have taken them nowhere? They run around in circles never feeling the need to review and make a change. The reason behind is simple. People are so afraid of the truth that they wish to live in the old belief system in which they have become comfortable. The last thing one seriously questions is his/her own belief systems. Have you heard about ‘Moralistic Therapeutic Deism’ (MTD)?  It is the default American religion which says, God simply wants you to live a decent life, not be sad, and he doesn’t intrude on your life. And most of the creed directly or indirectly supports this ideology.

It is time you need to deconstruct the dead belief system. As you deconstruct, you’ll likely encounter the world of religion. You’ll be told that God is a vague mystery, not something we can truly know. You’ll hear that, instead of trying to have all the right answers like those staunch fundamentalists, you should embrace the mystery and strive to touch the divine. Don’t buy that false dichotomy. There is more than enough room in the historic Christian tradition and biblical witness for the mystery of God.

In this life, we see through a dim glass as said in the Bible. We’ll never have all the answers. There are things we will get wrong. And yet God will still love us even if we miss the mark. But don’t let this truth blind you another glorious truth that this mysterious, transcendent God has made Himself known. His heart has always been—from the first page of the Bible to the last—to dwell with His people in never-ending joy. While God is high and above all things, He’s also intimately involved in our lives and our world. And while you’ll never know everything or find answers to every single question, you can still know Him. Not in an impersonal “God is in all things so just be aware of him” kind of way. But as a friend, comforter, co-worker, shepherd, and even Father.

Yes, God is a mystery. But He can also be known. He is known in Jesus. He is known in the pages of Scripture. And when we seek Him with all our heart, we will find him. Everyone’s faith journey is winding and complex. But God is God, and He lays out a path so we can find Him, even when we’ve wandered from what’s familiar. There are more paths than ever before in today’s world—more options for spiritual “enlightenment” or custom faith. But no path leads to true happiness and everlasting life except “Jesus alone” (who claimed “I am the way, the truth and the life...”) which is narrower than we might like, but more satisfying than we can imagine.

 

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Are you a protector?

  

The biggest problem in the world today is when man with all his effort is trying to protect the God in whom He believes. Sadly, incidents of riot, killing one another for this cause has happened in the past and continues to happen around the globe. People are desperate to protect god, religious buildings, monuments, shrines, and religion by all means. Logically, it can be justified because man has erected the religious building, monuments, and shrines hence he thinks it’s his duty to protect the structure. Religious monuments and shrines are considered as the dwelling place of god, therefore religious sentiments overtake the actual faith in God.

It looks like man, (the created being) has allotted a place for god (who is the creator of the universe) and wants him to confine to that particular property. I don’t know how this is making sense but somewhere our passion and our faith on God is misplaced or rather wrongly positioned. The Bible clarifies this when referring to Jesus, “the God who made the world and everything in it -he is Lord of heaven and earth-does not live in shrines made by hands.”. It further claims this, “from one man he has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live. He did this so that they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.”. It is so profound when it says, He has determined our appointed times as to what time-period we should appear on this earth and our exact boundaries, in other words where we should inhabit. And therefore, how could we allot a place and name a city after a god. Does this even sound logical?

Jesus never wanted His followers to fight for Him nor make a shrine and make it big. Unlike the many other religious stories, Jesus never waged war, captured kingdom nor commanded His followers to promote Him. It was Constantine after legalizing Christianity in 313 A.D introduced a place of worship and magnified the building and brought in Greek rituals and idol worship. His hidden intentions, as commented by historians, had political connotation. However, Bible strictly condemns idol worship and the worship of shrines. He is a God who indwells human heart. In fact, He condemned the religious leaders of His times by saying this, “woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, you clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.”. Unlike today’s demands for external purification, Jesus wanted people to cleanse their heart and ensure their sins are forgiven and they are accepted by Him. He is perfect in that sense to forgive us for all the dirty things that exist in our heart and make a dwelling place within our heart. We can make a commitment to accept this offer and be His child forever.

 

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Disappointment or Appointment!

 

Who on earth is not once disappointed? I don’t think there is any human being who can boldly claim not been disappointed at all. Even the Stories of gods and religious leaders in the mythologies and in history show that they were disappointed. For example, Buddha was disappointed over the pain and suffering in this world. He went in search for truth. Take for example the story of Ram (though it may have many version) who had to go through disappointment when his wife was kidnapped made all attempt to bring her back. Disappointment cannot be eliminated till we exist on this earth.

When hopes are dashed with disappointment we are devastated and feel lost. Needless to say, all hopes may not fit into the moral framework but still every individual wants his/her expectation to be fulfilled. What did you long for which you have not received? What are you lately expecting? Who do you put your hope upon? The problem is that we tend to put our hope in our education, skills, people, position, money, political leaders, government and so on. But none of the factors or position can guarantee what we long for. And then we finally use religious places and shrines to have our wishes fulfilled. All for what we want. We want what we want and want all factors including religion to grant our wants.

In order to see your honest noble expectation to be granted you need to encounter a god who was never once disappointed. Yes, there is a story of a person in Human history which is recorded in the Bible. It talks about Jesus who was God incarnated in human form came to this earth to die through a gruesome murder for the remission for the sins of entire mankind. He predicted the nature of his death and prepared his disciples when He narrated how He will be assaulted, tortured and killed. Jesus’ words as recorded states, “…The son of man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death. They will hand him over to the gentiles to be mocked flogged, and crucified and on the third day he will be raised.”. This is the one story where being a God, He could have had a moment to destroy all his enemies like the many stories of god that exist today and established the victory. But his highness depended upon his willful sacrifice for all of us. In his choosing to undergo the pain there was a victory and He said about himself, “on the third day he will be raised.”

Now you know if this person in entire human history had revolutionized not by revolting because He was disappointed what is going to happen to Him, but by his submission and victory through his resurrection therefore,, there is definitely a hope for you. Your disappointment is well calculated one by this sovereign God. All that it needs is to give your problem and trouble unto Him. Your disappointment can be turned to an appointment for fulfilling your purpose in your life. Encounter Him by asking in prayer to help you. As Lysa TerKeurst states,  "What if disappointment is really the exact appointment your soul needs to radically encounter God?"

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When leisure overweighs!

 

Digital world today is readily available to fulfil the deep longings and wishes of individuals, at an affordable price. It is like telling you, “You will never be lonely, coz I am following you like a shadow.”. How true, technically sounding!  We are surrounded heavily with different social networks, OTT platforms that have seeped into our daily busy schedule. True, that you don’t need anyone.

The usual saying goes like this, “thinkers became scientists and philosophers”. Take for example the famous scientists and the people who invented things, they were forced to be alone yet not idle. Probably thinking long, doing manual research and trying things till they came up with the findings and invention that is worthwhile for lifetime. Their leisure was productive and full of findings. Those times were not supported by digital platforms, which is not the case today. We don’t have the privilege of thinking for ourselves at all. Digital world and media are ready with suggestions, even customized suggestions based on what we want.

Today, one can decide to buy based on digital suggestions, choose destinations based on the advertisements and offers, and even to an extent to choose religion based on what is portrayed largely on the digital media world. Gods are made famous through the digital & media world too. Newer gurus and babas are popularized and worshipped as gods. The digital world has made all the work easy for us. Our dependence has profited the digital world more than we can imagine.

Too much of content, too many suggestions and entertainment has burdened humans. Studies reveal Gen Z (between 8-23 yrs) is the least religious-overly entertained generation in history. People of all age groups are restless and tired. In order to beat tiredness, we try to integrate leisure but to only later realize that it is sneakily adding its burden on us and causing pain. Our leisure engagements have an impact on our emotions, feelings, and perspective. With everything at our fingertips, we are living lives with no meaning and purpose. Children and young people are addicted to leisure to the point of shaping their lifestyle.

G.K Chesterton puts it beautifully, “Meaninglessness does not come from being weary of pain. Meaninglessness come from being weary of pleasure.”. Pleasure heavily depends on leisure and thrives with no moral boundaries. It can stretch so far till it can over-burden a person with too many cares of life. It eventually robs us of our peace and true joy. Joy is the state of the heart, irrespective of external factors. And true joy is the result of a pure and tranquil heart. Jesus words as recorded in the Bible states, “I will see you again. Your hearts will rejoice and no one will take away your joy from you.”. These words were uttered just before His crucifixion and resurrection. His peace and joy were never temporary. When we truly trust Him, we are filled with joy, peace and clear focus in life. Your leisure is God-focused all the time. The biggest blessing is that He changes your priorities to do good and worthwhile activities.

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Fooled by oneself!

 

No one enjoys being fooled and cheated by others, yet we are fooled by someone or the other in our lifetime. Technically we shouldn’t be easily fooled because we are the most informed generation today. We have the access to verify almost all information, yet we fall prey to being fooled and cheated in our day-to-day life. Being fooled is always complimented by lies. When someone tells a lie for his/her own benefit and when we tend to believe the same, we are fooled and cheated.

I have written about lies in one my blog, titled “Why Lie?” (Click HERE to check). Liespotting by Pamela Meyer is one of the top 20 most popular TED Talks on YouTube. She claims that on any given day we are lied to from 10 to 200 times depending on our encounter with various people based on our context and need. The proverb from the Bible puts the nature of such people so beautifully, and it says, ‘Like a madman who throws flaming darts and deadly arrows, so is the person who deceives his neighbour and says, “I was only joking.”’.

What if I say, most of the time we fool ourselves. In fact, we know this to be true. Professor Feynman states, “We must be careful not to believe things simply because we want them to be true. No one can fool you as easily as you can fool yourself.”. We choose to believe in things that look profitable. Scammers prey on the trust of the people, abuse their helplessness and vulnerability. People in their pursuit of independence hurry to build their security at all costs, in the process exposing themselves to risk. People don't mind cheating and being cheated, sporadically, if they make a profit. God-factor is totally absent in their lives. 

Let us not forget that our lives are not independent of God. All those who thrive by fooling and cheating people are not only guilty before people but also before God.   We all must face judgement and inherit our share as the Bible says, “…it is appointed for people to die once- and after this judgement.”.  

Possession, wealth, commodities, and luxuries are not always the blessings you truly need, but to find the true Saviour in your life. Only then can you become a person God intended you to be. Jesus offers total forgiveness and assurance of eternity. You can ask Him to transform you and follow Him as the Lord of your life. He will direct your path to godliness and security. Stop being fooled and fooling yourselves by your version of truth and morality!

  

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Packed Schedule-No time!

 

Do you know we are all packed with default life activities that drain our quality time? The life expectancy for an average Indian is 70 years. Every country’s life expectancy is around the same number. Here is the little math's calculation on how it is spent. Life has 600,000 hours is usually spent this way:

 ~ 230,000 spent sleeping,

~ 140,000 spent entertained,

~ 120,000 spent working,

~ 40,000 spent eating,

~ 20,000 spent getting educated,

~ 10,000 spent exercising,

Leaves with ~ 40,000 hours.

Most of the scheduled activities are fixed and nothing much can be done about it. So, what are we actually living for? Do we even have a purpose? Mark Twain states, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”. We seldom try to find our purpose for our existence. At the end of the day, we make arrangements to ensure our basic needs are taken care of today, tomorrow, day-after and for years, and then there is no end to chasing luxury throughout our lifetime. Sometimes our religious activities come under the bracket of entertainment, enjoyment, merry making and it is gone.  Do you see those 40,000 hours? What are you going to spend them on?

As Richard Bach states, “we design our lives through the power of choices.”. And those choices will only make sense when aligned with the true purpose of our lives.  To bring clarity and meaning you need to find your creator and savior of your souls. Today, we are busy creating gods out of our imaginations, with our hands and design our own rituals to satisfy a god we have made. But the reality of God is entirely different. Most of the time we don’t want to know the truth about Him, because we are scared, we will be convinced.

God is not a strange, weird character expecting weird things from you, but He was incarnated in the human form born of a virgin and made a provision to liberate man from the sinful nature. That is Jesus who died on the cross and remembered in history because of His resurrection from death.  The question is not a comparison of who the big God is but who is the God who conquered death. And if He made it, then we have a hope to make it too, to live in eternity with Him. He made a strong statement about eternity by these words, “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God: Believe also in me. I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you. If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also.”. Try to know Him and have fellowship with Him. Your purpose in life will give you hope and enlighten others too. The question is not about religion but about knowing and establishing a relationship with your creator and savior. 

 

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Popular Cliché- “it’s okay to not be okay”!

There’s a popular cliché constantly shared with young people: “it’s okay to not be okay”. It is usually referred to the state of mind. Some of the examples are a bad mood, fluctuating emotions, wanting to be alone, taking the anger on someone and being grumpy due to personal reasons. But then such clichés (expressions), like “it’s okay to not be okay”, try to normalize the state of mind. Normalizing such emotions can hurt more and turn out to be harmful.

We all face challenges and crises in some form, and that can constantly affect our state of mind. To manage our emotions, we use alternative approaches hoping it would make things better only to find that it further messed up the situation or hurt someone in the process. Emotions are the result of one’s state of heart. When the heart is calm and at peace our behavior shows it because we are usually at peace with everyone. 

Your heart and its state matters. People can be deceived by thinking they are righteous and in the right state of mind when they are not. The problem of the human heart is tricky and needs supernatural intervention to be at peace permanently. Even an evil man can convince himself of his own righteousness, and from there reject God’s call to repent. When we sin we disturb the rhythm of the heart. We hurt God and hurt ourselves too. Temporary solutions can further trigger disharmony.

It is said, if you have inner peace, external events can’t disturb you. If you don’t, nothing in this world can soothe you. The Bible says, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up a bone.”  It's okay not to be okay, but it’s definitely not okay to stay that way. God has provided another way - Jesus is the way! He has provided a solution and promised us perfect peace. The solution is total unconditional forgiveness from our sin and guilt which will allow our heart to operate in peace and harmony. And He promised perfect peace when He said, “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful.”. If you are not okay, address it in the light of God’s call to restore you. He will help you.

 

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