Dale Cresap's blog

How do you view me? This is an important question because it influences everything you do. Do you view me as harsh and exacting? The servant who did hid his talent in the earth and led a life of inaction, paralyzed by fear. The other servants lived lives of full engagement without knowing if their efforts would be successful or not. They rejoiced to present their increase to me. The unprofitable servant accused me of being harsh and unfair. The profitable servants did not express their views of me in words, so you will have to infer them by their actions.

You get to choose your own spirituality. No one can impose it on you against your will. Yet is there any decision that is more consequential? Your spirituality is your life orientation toward ultimate meaning and purpose, so everything hinges on getting this right. Can you do this from scratch? In other areas of life you have the advantage of those who have gone before so you don’t have to derive the principles of physics and civics and medicine on your own from first principles. This same principle applies to your faith as well.

Do you have a methodical approach to evangelism? Does this make it easier to present my message? Do you study the interactions that I had with people, such as the woman at the well, to learn how I approached this task? What do you find? Did I ever use the same approach twice, or did I adapt the presentation to the unique situation in every case? If you agree with this does it make it difficult to develop a methodical approach? I was led by the Spirit to do the work of the Spirit, and you can be too.

You may recall the account of an event after my resurrection when I appeared in a closed room by walking through the wall. This is recorded as a miraculous event and evidence that a change had taken place in my physical being. I said that my followers would do even greater works than I did. Can you walk through walls? Your church has walls. Do they serve to confine you and separate you from those who are outside? Do they serve to keep you in or them out, or both? Can you go through the walls of your church to engage and connect with those outside, and see my image in them?

Are you a self-made person? How many people do you meet who claim that no one ever gave them anything, so they take credit for all of their success? No newborn child takes care of their own needs. An enormous amount of effort went into getting you to that point, and even more comes after before you are able to fend for yourself. Your parents put in this effort in advance with no idea of how you would turn out. So no one has a valid claim to their own success. This alone is the basis for a lifetime of humility and gratitude, giving back, and paying it forward. 

If you were interviewing applicants for a position, and the future of the world depended on getting the right person, who would you choose? If one applicant said, I had a dream and then I went out and did exactly as the dream directed without consulting anyone, and then I had another dream, and carried it out as before, and so on. Would you hire this person? I did. Joseph who stood in as my father on earth had to be able to accept divine direction apart from the religious establishment of his generation, for actions that were not explainable in any familiar context.

Do you want to change? If you have an ideal in mind and you do not meet it, the result is tension between the real and the ideal. Do you find that genuine, enduring improvement is rare in yourself and others? Confronting your problems head on can be ineffective and frustrating. Is there another way? The Bible speaks of beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, and describes this as the way we are changed from one degree of glory to another, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Changed by beholding? This is an unconventional approach by the wisdom of this world. Could it really work?

Has the Bible become familiar to you? Have the stories lost their impact because you grew up with them and have heard them so many times? Would you agree with the statement that if you are not shocked by what you read in the Bible then you don’t get it? Consider the impact that these stories had on the original audience. For instance, the story of the prodigal son. This story is really about the Father. Can you imagine a father giving in to the younger son’s request in the first place, knowing how it would end, and then welcoming him back with a celebration when it did?

Do you need an audience? Do you think that people who do are needy and self-absorbed? Is it an insult to say that someone is looking for attention? Some people are more secure than others, but everyone has a story to tell, and needs an audience to listen to it. Have you ever been in a one-way encounter where someone unburdened themselves to you and showed no interest in your situation? This cannot truly be considered a conversation. Did you feel violated and ignored? Be sensitive to others that you do not do this to them.

Do you sing? Do you look at the Psalms as something to read or something to sing? You can read them, but they were meant as a songbook. You can read the lyrics to any song, but would you agree that their true meaning and impact only comes to life expressed in melody? That is their purpose, and their essence is lacking if they are merely read. You can agree with this in principle, and acknowledge the benefit of singing the Psalms rather than reading them, but do you find that you have to overcome cultural resistance to break into song? Do it anyhow, and see how it affects you.