Dale Cresap's blog

Do people confide in you? Do you find it flattering when they do? Do they confide their own faults and shortcomings or those of others? This is a crucial distinction. In the first case it follows the Biblical concept of confessing your faults to one another that you may be healed. In the second case it follows the Biblical concept of gossip and tale bearing. Do you know intuitively who is a receptive audience for what information? It doesn’t take much discernment to figure this out, and it is just as easy for others to see it in you. So the harmful things that people are willing to confide in you about others may tell you something about yourself.

What comes to mind when you think of heaven? Great wealth? The descriptions you find in my word describe a magnificent place. What is the deepest longing of your heart right now? Is it for money? Or is it for belonging, connection, meaning, and purpose? I placed these within everyone and you see people using a wide variety of approaches to satisfy them. I know you need money, but doesn’t your soul have a greater hunger for these things? I do not promise that you will have money in heaven; you won’t need it there. But if heaven is a place where these deeper desires are satisfied, isn’t that better?

Have you ever heard the saying, it isn’t what you know but who you know? This is most commonly used as a cynical expression in the world of commerce where, for example, the most qualified applicant for a job was not hired because they didn’t have connections. Yet there is still an underlying transcendent truth in this concept. For your faith consists of relational truth. Doesn’t every believer describe the essence of their faith this way? In this case it isn’t enough to know about me, but eternal life is for those who know me. No amount of classroom or book study will get you there but it is readily available to children.

Are you familiar with the doctrine of the Trinity? Do you see it as a math problem? How can three be one? Other faith traditions reject this concept and Christians struggle to come up with metaphors to explain it. You may have heard many of these and perhaps used some of them yourself. I want you to understand the concept of the Trinity as an expression of relationship rather than a math problem. It is a mystery but not a riddle. This is important because you use the concept of relationship to describe the very essence of your faith in me, and one of my last acts on earth was to invite you to be a part of it.

I offer you the promise of transformation. What do you expect this to look like? Is this something you greatly desire, or do you think you are OK the way you are? Do you think that transformation would require the loss of your identity and leave you in a condition that is not uniquely you? You are fearfully and wonderfully made, and I created you with a purpose in mind. You are unique in all creation and this is my doing and I have no intention of changing that. Yet transformation is still the greatest promise I offer you. I want you to understand this and value it as the pathway to being the best version of yourself.

There is an important distinction between your faith and animism, but they are not as far apart as you may think. Animism is the default faith of primitive peoples and is based on the premise that everything has an indwelling spirit. You do not concur that all things are god, but can you see me in all things? I left my fingerprints on everything I made and you shouldn’t need a microscope to see them, but they are also visible with a microscope. I promised that if you would seek for me then you would find me, but also that you would not have to go to a special place to do it. If you have eyes to see you can see me everywhere.

I tell you to seek those things that are above and to seek first the Kingdom of God. How do you seek that which is not visible? Even this present world can be divided into things that are tangible and things that are intangible. Money and all that it can buy are tangible, but even in this world you can give up tangible things for intangible things, such as giving money to those in need and satisfying your impulse for generous benevolence. You can give of your time to assist others as well. You do not need to look very far to seek the Kingdom of God which is above. It is as near as the least of these.

Can you prove me to your skeptical and unbelieving friends? To whose satisfaction? In law courts not all evidence is admissible. That means that some facts may not be considered in the case. This is a legal construct, and when it is invoked the case is no longer about what really happened, but about what the court is willing to accept. In like manner skeptics have determined not to believe, and reject any supporting evidence. Those who are willing to believe see the supporting evidence everywhere they look. In pursuit of eternal truth outside a court room all evidence is admissible.

My word tells you to love your enemies. Who are your enemies and how do you love them? Any group you belong to has a defined membership. This divides the world into those within and those without. You may not consciously think of those outside your group as your enemies, but beyond matters of taste and preference you are prone to think that you are right and they are wrong. Do you know that there is truth outside your tradition? No one on this earth can make the claim to have all truth. If you can get to the point of realizing that your ‘enemies’ may know something beneficial to you then you can love your enemies by learning what they have to teach you.

Have you ever experienced tragedy in your life? Did you wrestle with the question of whether I caused it or whether I allowed it or whether I should have prevented it and did not? What did you decide? As much as you want an answer to this to make sense of your life these questions are ultimately unanswerable, but there is still an appropriate question. You can ask where I was in this situation. Ask in faith and ask as an honest question, not as an accusation. Do this and you will find that I was with you even in your darkest hour, and by seeking me you can find redemptive purpose in it even if you don’t resolve unanswerable questions.