The Bulletin
of the
Church of Christ at
New Georgia
Tim Johnson, editor
December 4, 2005
In
This Issue:
Opening
Ourselves Up To God
by
Steve Klein
The
Sin-Sick Soul
by
Robert Turner
Opening Ourselves Up to God
Have you ever felt that your relationship with God lacks depth -- that you really don't know Him well or that you are not close to Him? Individuals who share together in close personal relationships must be willing to open themselves up to one another. They must be willing to allow the other person to see what is in their heart, what concerns them, and how they behave in everyday life. They also must allow themselves to be influenced and changed by the other person.
David concludes the 139th Psalm by inviting God into his life. He says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23-24). There are four things in this text that David invites God to do with him. Each of these things is a key to having a close relationship with God.
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"Search me and know my heart." God doesn't need an invitation to be able to see what's in our hearts. Hebrews 4:13 states that "there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." But if we want to be close to Him, we must be willing for Him to see everything that is in us. There can be nothing that we want to keep to ourselves -- nothing that we don't want Him to see. To invite God to know our hearts is to invite Him to know who we really are, for "as in water face reflects face, so a man's heart reveals the man" (Proverbs 27:19).
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"Try me, and know my anxieties." The things that we are anxious about reveal what we really care about. If we worry about finances, we care about money. If we worry about our appearance, we care what others think about us on the outside. If we worry about peoples' souls, we care about eternity. You see the point. To let God know our anxieties is to let Him know what we really care about.
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"See if there is any wicked way in me." To allow another to examine you for faults requires trust. Trust is a fundamental building block in any close relationship. To allow another to see your faults also requires humility. There can be no pretense of perfection or superiority with someone who knows about all of your mess-ups and failures. David had this kind, humble, trusting relationship with the Lord. In Psalm 69:5 he says, "O God, You know my foolishness; and my sins are not hidden from You."
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"Lead me in the way everlasting." The people who are closest to you will influence you. You will listen to their advice, ask for their direction, and seek their counsel. If we are close to God, we will hear and heed His word. And as we do, we'll draw even closer to Him with each step.
The Psalmist said, "It is good for me to draw near to God" (Psalm 73:28). It is good for you too. Won't you open yourself to Him?
--Steve Klein
I had occasion recently to visit a modern State prison, and had an interesting visit with the Chief Warden. Unlike the old time jailer, this man was a doctor of psychology, with graduate work and much experience in penology. He studied the behavior patterns of criminals and miscreants; analyzing, differentiating, seeking for causes and cures.
One of his statements struck me with great force. "We can deal with the psychotic with drugs-- put the mind in a state of neutrality - analyze - block out undesirable traumas; but, with the sociopath, we can only apply a combination of matters (religion, a job - to give self- respect, and the like) and maybe we can move the patient in the right direction."
I'll try to translate this into Plain Talk - but make allowance for my non-professional, layman concepts. He was saying that we can work on the mind, like an IBM machine. Mechanically we block off a section, repair the "short" or remove cross-purpose elements; but the moral character - shall I say, the soul - is different. We can only set desirable goals before the soul - be patient; seek to motivate, move in the right direction.
The mind of man is sometimes closely associated with his "spirit" or the "inner man" (Rom. 7:18-f) though complicated and intricate, yet has certain measurable and predictable functions. A "sick" mind can, in many respects, be treated mechanically. We may discover a "traumatic" (wounding) experience in the patient's past, and lead the patient in a rational detour of this injury. Or by drugs, and some suggest by surgery, we may remove or seal off the scar. But there is more to the inner man than a "natural" IBM machine. What can be done for a man whose conscience is seared? Who has lost, or destroyed, his sense of moral right? An impenitent sinner??
The doctor calls this man "sociopath" and defines this as "inferior for undetermined reasons." The doctor is a sociologist and tends to think of the man only as he relates to mankind, or society. But I could not forget the man's relation to his Maker. I saw the patient as not only out of touch with his fellow man, but also (and more important) out of touch with God. And, to me, God is not a social development, but Eternal Deity - existing prior to man, creating man even as the potter works with clay. (Read carefully Rom. 1:18-32; 9:16-23)
When man fails to "glorify" God, mindful of His constant august presence, and is not "thankful," recognizing his dependence upon God, then he is cut free to drift upon purely human (social) standards. "God also gave them up to uncleanness... unto vile affections... over to a reprobate mind." (Rom. 1:24, 26, 28) (See Vol. 5, No. 4, p 5 Plain Talk)
I was happy to hear that the Warden recognized "religion" as a motivating force for good. But, if this "religion" is nothing more than a facet of society, it is doomed as a cure. The soul that is sick will respond to nothing short of the Great Physician. We must recognize SIN as SIN, and get forgiveness in Jesus Christ.
-- Robert Turner
Via Plain Talk, Vol. 5, No. 7, September 1968