Dale Cresap's blog

Do you come into frequent contact with bureaucrats or other people who serve in menial functional tasks? Has this ever been an unpleasant experience for you? Is it easy to criticize them or the system they are involved in? Don’t forget that they are first of all people, who are created in my image just as you are. This modern world has produced some jobs that are dehumanizing, but they are still performed by humans. Look beyond the functional exchange and learn to see these interactions as encounters.

Do you see sin in yourself? Is it easier to see it in others? Sin is something that everyone can see, but generally by looking outside themselves and their group. Republicans can see it in Democrats and Democrats can see it in Republicans. The rich can see it in the poor and the poor can see it in the rich. You can repent for your own sins and even for those of groups you identify with but you can only offer judgment and condemnation for those whom you consider entirely different from you.

Have you been to college? Higher education is expensive, and not everyone can afford it. Yet everyone has experiences in life that can serve as learning opportunities. Everyone at some point makes bad choices. This has been called the ‘school of hard knocks’ and you don’t need a trust fund to be able to pay the tuition, but if you look at the costs of bad decisions you realize that this education comes at a very high price. Do you maximize the potential of these occasions as learning opportunities? They will come and you will pay the price whether you do or not.

Do you experience miracles in your life? What is your criterion for considering something a miracle? By one narrow definition the only things that qualify are those that defy logical explanation. Have you ever experienced the convergence of independent unlikely events that all worked together in your favor? This may not qualify as a miracle by the narrowest definitions, but it can if you can accept an argument based on probability, which you do routinely in other areas of your life. If you suspect that I am intervening in your life on your behalf you are right.

Do you live in a Christian nation? That concept invites some questions about just what that means. The Christian faith was understood to be outside of both the political and theological power structures when it was founded, and those who embraced this way knew that they were not of this world. The commandment to come out from among them and be separate was meant for my followers for all generations. How can you come out from them if you are of them? How can you be a peculiar people and strangers and sojourners in this world from the position of the majority?

You are called to judge yourself. Not everyone does this, and some who take this seriously do it poorly. It is possible to judge yourself too harshly, or too leniently, or to ignore important things and give too much attention to unimportant things. As much as you should be willing to judge yourself, can you judge yourself by yourself? Do you recognize your dependency on me even in this? I gave you a comforter to be within you always and lead you into all truth.

The eternal life I offer you includes the promise of transformation. Do you regard this as necessary and desirable, or are you fairly satisfied the way you are? What do you think transformation consists of? Would you like to be taller, younger, and slimmer? Have supernatural powers? Do you think those would be popular? Consider the promise in my word that you may be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Does a new way of thinking seem mundane in comparison to the alternatives listed above?

In the story of the sheep and the goats, those who provided for the poor and visited those in prison or sick were commended. Do you suppose this was meant to be an exhaustive list? Do you think the list could be expanded to include any form of ministry to those in need? What about the elderly who were not called out specifically in the original story? You don’t have to look very far to find those who are in need of assistance or even just companionship, and everyone is going there someday, including you.

In the beginning I created man in my image. Depending on how you read the account you could conclude that women were not created in my image, but you would be wrong about that. Male and female I created them. This has been a contentious point and a source of friction pitting one half of humanity against the other ever since. It doesn’t have to be this way. You can start by accepting the fact that my image is equally present in men and women. Then you can let go of your defensive positions about which one is better.

Do you refer to the meeting room of a church as a sanctuary? Do you use the same term for a wildlife refuge? These are similar enough that the same term is used and this refers to a safe place. Do you have a sanctuary of your own? Do you have a place where you can meet with me and feel safe, undisturbed by the cares of the world? If you do you should go there often. But I understand the demands on your time and your duties and responsibilities. Yet I am still with you even if you don’t have a place to go.