Dale Cresap's blog

Do you think there is anything more important than your spiritual practices, such as Bible study, church attendance, and prayer? You also affirm the ministry of assistance to other people in need, so which of these is more important? How would you assign priorities to these tasks? I have already given you direction in this matter. I said that if you bring your gift to the altar and recall that your brother has an issue with you to leave your gift at the altar and go and be reconciled with your brother before returning to offer your gift.

Do you have many friends? Do you see them as a form of wealth that is greater than money? You have heard references to a friend of a friend that is often used in a comical sense, but friends of friends can become friends. Do you have a better source of friends than that? Do you think of friendship in a spiritual sense? I do. My disciples had been with me for years but it wasn’t until the end that I told them that I called them no longer servants but friends, and that greater love had no man than that he lay down his life for his friends.

Do you lead a charmed life in an enchanted world? Are you aware of divine intent and favor in your life? If you have never been without it would you know the difference? What would you use as a standard of comparison? If I were not present what sort of world would you expect? Can you make a credible argument for anything other than random chaos? Yet how many times have you experienced events that could not be explained by randomness; and convergences of events that worked together in your favor? Does reality have a shape and direction and evidence of benevolence?

Do you think that I am unchanging? That is a point of Christian doctrine. Has your perception of me changed? I hope so. The alternative is to think that your first impression of me was correct and complete. That is a strong assumption. Have you already seen your understanding of me change as you grow and learn? It is normal for your understanding of me to change as you change, based on the scriptures, your life experiences and your encounters with others. Be teachable and prepared to let go of old concepts when they no longer serve you.

Are you a Pharisee? You don’t have to read very far in the gospels to realize that I had a low opinion of them, and warned my followers not to be like them. On this basis would you expect them to be a dominant enduring force throughout history? But they were a fairly short-lived Jewish sect in the span of history. Why are they given so much emphasis in the Bible? The underlying principles are present in every generation even if they are called by another name. The Bible was written for you.

Have you ever done the right thing for the wrong reason? Or done the right thing in the wrong way? For instance, you can help the poor in a way that is self-righteous and judgmental toward them and toward those who are not as diligent in charity as you are. Is this moral? If it is, it is ugly morality, and you have seen how distasteful this can be. I told my followers not to let one hand know what the other was doing when they made donations. Have you also seen people do the right thing in a way that was humble and gracious and attractive? You could think of this as beautiful morality.

Do you drink when you are thirsty and eat when you are hungry? Those would be biological cues to satisfy biological needs. But aren’t you subject to social and cultural cues for eating as well? You eat at social functions whether you are hungry or not, and your food intake is usually on a fixed schedule. It is considered anti-social to decline dinner claiming you are not hungry even if that is true. Do you have spiritual hunger and thirst as well? When do you satisfy those? Are you on a fixed schedule for that as well?

Believers consider baptism to be of profound importance and the Bible gives it great emphasis. Do you find that people who have been baptized with water are characteristically different from those who have not? If you encounter a group of people can you discern which have and which have not? What about those who have been baptized in fire? Have you found that they are transformed by the experience? Do they carry an essential quality afterwards that cannot be hidden, even though they make no claims about what they have suffered? How long does it take you to discern this in someone?

Do you like to travel? Do you prefer to have a plan, or do you like to wander, making it up as you go? Most people at least have a destination in mind even if they are willing to leave some of the details open. But when I called Abraham to get up and get moving to a place that I would show him. This was literally a walk of faith; more than is required of most people. How much of the picture are you willing to leave open before you act? If you need to have every detail worked out in advance would it be more accurate to describe it as a walk of faith or the execution of a plan?

Do you care about how your faith and how the Christian faith as a whole is perceived by those outside of it? Do you think only internal perceptions matter since you are in the light and those outside are in darkness? Do you think admiration and respect for believers is constant or trending upward or downward? A Biblical requirement is that those seeking positions of leadership have a good reputation with those outside the faith. This also matters because those outside the faith are your pool of potential converts and their perception of the character of believers matters.