Taking control of one's life situations

Welcome to the world of a frustrated problem solver.  That's been my strength for years, from mathematics to a myriad of other specific situations.  Consequently, it is also one of my biggest frustrations with other people, when they won't seek to solve their own problems once it has been indicated that they have a problem.

Now, this does not mean one should not ask for help. Asking for help is a trait that is practiced too little by many in case they should appear to be weak.  No, this is the result when one has asked for help, been given help and assistance, but a new problem arises that the prior source for help can not address.

Scenario 1: I never have any "free time".  This situation is common in my work environment. By "free time" an individual means, time to do what I want to do when I want to do something. As a "problem-solver" I can sit down with them and assess their "required time" when others expect them to be somewhere and help them understand that their "free time" is any time not required by others.  The problem they sense is due to their misuse of the "free time" that they already have and not managing their free time.  However, rather than use this information and take control of their life, they continue allowing others to schedule their free time and they continue to complain.  They need to solve their own problem now.

Scenario 2: I just don't have enough money.  The person has money to eat out, to drive randomly around town, to stop for a 'coffee' or soda several times a day, but can't accumulate enough money to pay for a repair or buy a book!  I can sit down and identify their money leaks, but I can not change their actions. They have to make the changes personally.

You may be wondering what this has to do with the Bible.  It has a lot to do with the biblical teaching of Jesus. The problems listed all have at the center of the issue the capital letter "I".  All the excuses, all the scenarios, all the complaining begins with "I".  The problem is that due to the impact of sin, the effect of sin and how sin affects (one is a noun, the other a verb!) our selfhood. The Bible teaches in several different ways that the "old I must die" and a new I be raised from the dead.  Because our culture so dramatically separates the 'spiritual' from the 'physical' we don't see how they have anything to do with one another. But they do!

The transformation process Paul addresses in Romans 12.1-15.13 is not limited to some non-physical or non-material realm.  It does not just have to do with our thoughts and attitudes.  In fact very little has to do with our thoughts and attitudes.  It is not that these are not important, they are.  However, the transformation has to do with more than the mind.  Rom 12.3 discusses how we think, but then 6-8 all deal with actions. Rom 12.16 deals with the mind, but the remainder of the chapter is what we  do.  Romans 13.13 says (NASB95) "Let us behave properly".

Transformation encompasses our entire life, just as death encompasses our entire life. We don't just die with Christ in our thoughts so that we can be raised to new life in our thoughts.  We die to Christ so that we can be raised to new life!  No one else can solve our problem. We have to address it and take control of our new life, control that comes by giving up control-not to others-but the the Lord Jesus Christ.

Personal Growth vs Spiritual Transformation

This week's Tuesday morning meeting with my pastor, David Gibbs, focused on the seemingly plethora of Personal Growth materials available.  The EntreLeadership podcast has guest interviewees on each episode, many of whom have written on the area of personal growth.  The question comes about, how does personal growth interact with spiritual transformation?

Rather than merely raise more questions, I would actually like to answer some.

Are PG and ST identical? NO
Are PG and ST similar? Yes
Are PG and ST compatible? Yes
Are PG and ST biblical? That is a good question.
Are PG and ST both necessary? Yes
Can one substitute for the other? See question 1 above, and NO.

So how do these two relate? Definitions are in order.  Personal Growth is a human initiated change of action/behavior/perception/knowledge that creates a more competent human in some selected area, finances, leadership, sales, oration, etc.  Spiritual Transformation is a divinely initiated change of spiritual character in an often time, undesired area. In other words, Personal Growth is a fleshly activity while Spiritual Transformation is a, need I say it, spiritual activity.

Whoa. I just lost some of you.  Personal Growth is not by definition, sinful. Flesh can have two connotations: physical and finite, or else self-centered.  By claiming that Personal Growth is fleshly, the only statement I am making is that Personal Growth has limits and takes place in our physical existence.

Is PG therefore not spiritual? NO

This question can be answered in the affirmative if one holds that the spiritual dominion of God is separate from and does not contain the physical dominion of humanity, in other words, heaven and earth are separate and unrelated spheres of existence. That position, to return to question 4 above, is definitely unbiblical, if not even abiblical.

Personal Growth in all its variations is therefore not sinful, the sinfulness enters the picture when humans begin to idolize the fleshly behavior and ignore the Creator. Spiritual Transformation is in the same fashion not always righteous. When Spiritual Transformation becomes the all encompassing ideal, and one forgets it is a process by which God makes us more useful within his kingdom, then it has become finite and limited and is now subject to all the problems that PG can face.

God has not created us to remain stagnant! God has not redeemed us through the demonstration of his love for us to fall again into idolatry! Rather God has brought us into his dominion in order that we might submit ourselves to him and to one another (Eph 5) so that his will might be accomplished on earth as it is in heaven.

Our Identity

Who are we as a nation? The recent 2010 election will redefine us in part, but doesn't necessarily solve the question. Does the action of Washington DC define us through legislative actions, or are we more precisely defined by the events recorded in newspapers and reporting services across this vast land? The question of identity is frequently responded to by a series of questions that we ponder from time to time.

Romans 8 is a segment of the Bible that focuses on identity. How should believers in Jesus as Messiah view themselves? It is sufficient to say that Paul does not consider the race card an appropriate means of identity! He processes through the chapter with statement after statement: not in the flesh but in the spirit, not slaves but children, not merely children but heirs. These descriptions of identity ultimately lead to several questions at the end of the chapter and perhaps further clarification in chapters 9-11. But what is interesting about these questions is how Paul wants us to regard them.

Paul introduces the questions with a question, "what shall we say?" and proceeds to ask specific questions and give somewhat loosely related answers. However, the thrill of understanding Romans is when one recognizes that this is not the first time that Paul has asked this question. On several occasions Paul has asked the "what shall we say?" question and followed it up with one or more questions. In 3.3-4, and 3.5-6 he begins his rhetoric. This is followed in 6 and 7 with a series of 4 repetitions, 6.1, 6.15, 7.7 and 7.13. Thus on six prior occasions the auditor has heard Paul ask a question and known his reply, me genoito.

Now Paul asks, one more time, "what shall we say?" and the anticipated answer is me genoito! But Paul himself does not provide the elicited response. He proceeds to ask several questions about our identity. The kind of questions we ponder with no real answers, culminating with "who could separate us from the love of Christ?"

Understanding our identity leads us to live in certain ways and discuss issues with a certain background. On the basis of Romans, "who can separate us from the love of Christ?" when we are in the spirit, children of God and jointheirs with Christ?