I'm glad to agree with Pastor Tom that the rescue workers who sacrificed their lives in the mines attempting to save others showed Christ-like love. I simply would expand the consideration to a reflection on our own lives. Look deep inside and ask yourself if you have what it takes to be this kind of hero. As followers of Christ we are called upon to take up our crosses and follow Christ. That implies a willingness to show the greatest love, to lay down our lives for another.
Following Christ is a lofty as well as a demanding calling. May we all be inspired by these heroes to more fully realize our faith. And I'm sure you join me in offering a prayer for their families and friends.
Blog you later,
Pastor Ian
Friday, August 17, 2007
Would You Go?
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9 comments:
Hello Ian,
While I alone may not have the courage to extend myself to such selfless sacrifice, In Christ and empowered with the Holy Spirit by the Will of God I am called by Faith to do just that. John 15:13
May God grant we all who Believe to walk by Faith rather than by sight.
This was a great post and a thoughtful challenge.
mkz, that is a good point. While we may not feel that we have it in us, we are indeed call to do it. I'm about to read a book called the Lucifer Effect. It is about the forces that make good people turn evil. I've heard the author interviewed and so I know a bit of the content. What really intrigues me is his response to the problem being that we need heroes and his last chapter explains what it takes to do that. In part it takes communities that nurture beliefs that people act on. I'll be looking for applications for church life and will definitely be blogging on it later and likely preaching on it as well.
Scripture is full of all the best of heroes, all true, once living people, and One who still lives today. I think placing faith in human heroes is tenuously Hollywood at least, and at best a rare occurrence among men of both weak character and extraordinary ethical and moral fiber acting out the Will of God, even if they do not believe He exists. Praise our Lord that He works today both in widely publicized events giving the bravery of the steel of the Holy Spirit to the spines of ordinary men, and in small personal ways to the least among us from day to day in our own neighborhoods.
I am only assuming, that as Discover Magazine covered much of Philip Zimbardo's theories in an April '07 article titled 'Mind & Brain, Memory, Emotion, and decision.' That He is unlikely a Believer. I am not implying he is a man of inferior ideas, ethics, or intelligence. Stanford rarely employs the intellectually deficient.
Were I to read his book though, I would be looking to compare his last chapter with Ephesians, and how his ideas compare with Paul's, in relation to what makes a hero in human culture, and it's application in church life.
What I am looking forward to in Zimbrano's work is what characteristics mark those who have taken heroic action. I hope that that will be helpful to organizing how we tell the faith story in our churches so as to encourage the formation of heroes who act out their faith. I may find nothing there, but the idea intrigues me and I'll comment on it after I read the book (which I hope to do this week while on vacation, so please excuse my cyber-absence).
Fair enough Ian. Although I think you will find the characteristics you are seeking are those of Christ which are readily available in Scripture, although Mr Zimbrano's book may never even allude to Him through which all things were made, intentionally or otherwise. I will wait on your review and commentary to extrapolate further.
mkz, I understand your always wanting to point to God and Scripture as this is your security and sufficiency. But there are other sciences for which God has bestowed on us. In college I found psychology fascinating. There are reasons and circumstances that drive us to certain things. I am also looking forward to Ian's review.
Hello David,
I will agree psychology is interesting, having been found psychologically disabled by the state, institutionalized and sedated with Thorazine, drugged with Adderall,counseled,psychoanalyzed for bi-polar disorder, childhood sexual abuse, depression, anxiety, stress, and post traumatic stress disorder, and spent a week in solitary confinement in jail on suicide watch.
This was only after 24 years of self medication with street drugs, alcohol and copious sexual experimentation.
I have spent 5 years under psychiatric care (before the last two, when Christ did for me what men and medicine could not) and several years between the ages of 9 to 12 in child psychology evaluation for what was thought to be a learning disorder.( I never told anyone I was being sexually abused from age 8 to 15 by a close family member, and none of the doctors figured it out)
Now because of the inflammatory effects of stress, anxiety, and depression brought on by PTSD that are destroying my intestines due to Ulcerative Colitis attacks that last for weeks to years that is triggered by all of the above, my physicians feel I need to be back on medication and in therapy. I am sure we will have some interesting points to exchange on the subject in future posts. The reason I have disclosed these things is so you know the background I have in psychology first hand. Granted,in this field as in others,there are competent, caring, psychologists and psychiatrists out there who care about their patients. More than drug trials, and the latest published papers on how to deal with the newest diagnosis for the latest fad in mental disease quick fix bandages.
I am seeing a therapist now who actually respects my faith, and is making an effort to understand Jesus and how he works in my life, and how to correlate treatment for my diagnosis. Thursday I meet a new psychiatrist for drug proscription evaluation, I hope he or she is as open minded as the therapist. Keep in mind it took a month to get an appointment and I am patiently hemorrhaging physically and mentally daily, praying in hopes the drugs they will assign to keep my keel even will not land me back in jail, institutionalized, or worse.
please take this with a small grain of salt. I do, because I have to as my hope is in Christ. But that hope does not free me from the physical or mental pain I suffer almost daily, yet gladly, as Christ has found use for even me as a witness of His saving grace.
Remember this is my history and situation, not an assault David, so use your heart if you feel the need to comment. Awaiting your review Ian, maybe we can learn something from Mr. Zimbardo we did not know before.
This has been a revealing conversation. Thank you for your honesty Mike. I have worked in the mental health field in the past and I know that far too much of what psychologists and especially psychiatrists do is nothing more than guesswork. On one level I don't hold this against them since there is a lot that is unknown. On the other hand, I have seen some so-called professionals who seemed not even to try, let alone care.
As for what I hope to get out of the book, it is about a study of human behavior not about psychological practice. I'll let you know what I think about it once I finish it.
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