The Gospel of Shame.

"But though I cannot make you see sin, yet I can leave this truth with you,—you will one day feel what sin means, unless you repent of it, for he that spared not his own Son will not spare you. If the Judge upon the throne smote Christ, who had no sin of his own,—smote him so sternly for other men’s sins,—what will he do with you? If he spared not his beloved Son, what will he do with his enemies?"

"But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called “Today,” that none of you may become hardened by sin’s deception. For we have become partners with Christ, if in fact we hold our initial confidence firm until the end. As it says, “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” (Hebrews 3:13-15 NET)

"At times you were publicly exposed to abuse and afflictions, and at other times you came to share with others who were treated in that way. For in fact you shared the sufferings of those in prison, and you accepted the confiscation of your belongings with joy, because you knew that you certainly had a better and lasting possession. So do not throw away your confidence, because it has great reward. For you need endurance in order to do God’s will and so receive what is promised." (Hebrews 10:33-36)

There is much to this entry. The honest reality of this is I have spent more time reflecting on this very topic than any I have in such time. For the land I once knew as home is in udder disarray, as the conflict rages between the loveless and the lost.

Shame is a curious affliction that is borne both as an effect of unrighteousness actions, more so often now realized as chain draped over the accused. Under the old covenant, shame was often a mark that kingdoms would carry as a mark of failure to obey the word. Ezekiel 36 states "They polluted the land with murder and the worship of idols, so I poured out my fury on them. I scattered them to many lands to punish them for the evil way they had lived. But when they were scattered among the nations, they brought shame on my holy name. For the nations said, ‘These are the people of the LORD, but he couldn’t keep them safe in his own land!’ Then I was concerned for my holy name, on which my people brought shame among the nations. (Ezekiel 36:18-21 NLT)

Shame has become a new Gospel in the modern world, though the false idol of shame masquerading as justice is not one new to this world. The world identifies those who lie within those church walls as legalistic, concerned with righting those who err and correcting their missteps.

I've often wonders why the skeptics continue to walk though the church doors when their more rational natures would reason otherwise.

Who among us is righteous enough I assign shame? For those men who assign shame rarely do so with an underpinning of love. Our prisons are not designed to hold those who we hope for redemption. The world will deliver justice to the blind, but you, oh believer, are not of that world. Your eyes have been opened, your justice is now that of your King. Your enduring confidence will cast out shame and replace it with hope.

So the strident wonder, "Well, what about justice? Who will administer right justice to the world?" have you yet to awaken, o believer? Justice in men is fleeting, righteousness abides on the tribunal of God. That who is tried and tested will be judged under his gavel, and those who wrong will reach their due uppance. Even more, we make for poor authenticators of sacred pardons, and worse agents in abiding in the supremacy of grace.

For us, he gave us not a truth that would please or placate us, but rather the intensity, the agony of the blood of Calvary. The reality of his sacrifice is not meant to be hidden within the catacombs of our courts, rather it should permeate our decisions, rumination and actions. Indeed, those who our courts corral are not confined that they may someday be savable. For the saving was already done. So strong must a man's sense of justice be that he be able to overcome the whole of his prejudices and be sprinkled with the blood of the lamb.

We have so often allowed ourselves to confuse the moxie of man-made justice with a holy chivalry. But Paul forewarns us against such a fallacy. The confounding misapplication of our might and passion has allowed vehement vigilantism that is antithetical to the redemption. Jesus does not confuse the application.

"But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. (Matthew 5:39-41 NLT).

He speaks to those specifically who seek to carry revenge under the vise of justice and redemption. These vises lead to more sin, and as believers, must not be out foundation. In Isaiah 1:18-20, Isaiah specifically does not emphasize seeking justice as an isolated act, but as action intertwined with Love, Hope and Mercy.

Better to see the whole of your innocence though the judge of all judges than upon the obstructed eye of men.

It's Firefight.

"In every believer's heart there is a constant struggle between the old nature and the new. The old nature is very active, and loses no opportunity of plying all the weapons of its deadly armoury against newborn grace; while on the other hand, the new nature is ever on the watch to resist and destroy its enemy. Grace within us will employ prayer, and faith, and hope, and love, to cast out the evil; it takes unto it the "whole armour of God," and wrestles earnestly. These two opposing natures will never cease to struggle so long as we are in this world."

The nature of grace as purposed to us is very alike to a  set of ill-fitting vice grips, while their use can still be served, the execution of such task is often arduous and awkward. For in order to allow grace into our employ we must not simply understand the concept, rather we must know ourselves and be accepting and mindful of out present condition. Besieged as our souls must often be, the resonance of the conflict between old and new nature must manifest in our sounds and minds. For what we find in the old nature is very active, it rarely ceases in the activity of separation and dissuasion from the enclave of truth. It is indeed deadly to those not armed with the truth, as little resistance can be found from those who can not adequately defend. Our new nature, though, is like the sniper from  a crow's nest, always watchful, cautious and ready. Our new nature resists the slings and arrows that foment destruction, rather, is realized though the slings of peace and hope. And in the constant conflict between the light and dark of our natures, we realize the wholeness and victory through Christ. Those who claim the name of Christ kneel on the bow of his throne, carried through the devastation of the world with a keen eye and patient souls.

And so it is with our two natures. Spurgeon speaks of wrestling earnestly with our old nature, the self-evident subjection that the conflict with out nature is unavoidable, however, the earnestness of our conflict is both actuated and observable. Our consistency in walking in the Word and talking with God is a bane to our old nature. It supersedes the presence of what is broken and replaces that with what is new.

"What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever. But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!" (1 Corinthians 15:50, 51)

And so it is with what inhabits our souls. We were bought from the wrests of the earth, but though that purchase we must be transformed Into what is new and complete.

 

Seasons.

"Have you nothing to pray for? Let us suggest the Church, the ministry, your own soul, your children, your relations, your neighbours, your country, and the cause of God and truth throughout the world. Let us examine ourselves on this important matter. Do we engage with lukewarmness in private devotion? Is the fire of devotion burning dimly in our hearts? Do the chariot wheels drag heavily? If so, let us be alarmed at this sign of decay. Let us go with weeping, and ask for the Spirit of grace and of supplications. Let us set apart special seasons for extraordinary prayer. For if this fire should be smothered beneath the ashes of a worldly conformity, it will dim the fire on the family altar, and lessen our influence both in the Church and in the world."

It's wedding season, indeed. Wedding season is always a perplexing one for me. One where efforts put forth are at their most ardent, while it often seems that such a season is the most tiresome for my soul.

Weddings are intended to represent the pinnacle of human love. The moment in which two souls are binded together by the promises they offer to another. They are celebrations of the people we have come to know as friends and compatriots. Somewhere apart from all the regalia of what to bring, proper manners and ediquitte is the connection that is unseen, a deeper underpinning and sense we have for another to see joy be realized into the people that we have come to love. Our outpourings for our beloved friends always seem to include, tears, hugs, and assorted expressions of live. These expressions are not manifestations of the actions themselves, rather, they are borne from a joy and love into which our souls simply can no longer contain.

Do we ever feel that sort of joy in our private devotions? Are our outpourings of joy ever analogous to what we pray for and receive from God? Or do our purposes and our rules for conduct obscure the present Joy that constantly exist in the revelations of the Holy Spirit.

The incompleteness of our nature maintains that when we are far from the spirit and far from his presence, that indeed we should weep. But it is not only brokenness that should cause us to weep, rather, the joy of being near Christ must produce the same. So in so much as we have a season of joy for the newness of love, we must have the same season for the birth of new prayers. You must not let the macinisims of worldly conformity falsify and confirm our flesh to it's ends, rather, we must recognize the joy that is ever present in the spirit.