To not long for and strive to be what Jesus calls us to be is to choose hypocrisy in the name of grace and cheapen the cost of that grace. -Phil Ware
Phil has been writing about obedience on his Heartlight and on his blog. Obedience is a hard word for me. I'm fine saying it to my children but applying to myself "feels" icky. I'm a child of the 70's. I remember Women's Lib, the fall of Saigon, and disco. That entire time was about rebellion. It was hip to be against the establishment. Establishment = uncool. These were media lessons. These were the messages that surrounded us daily. My home and church lessons were definitely about obedience and rule following. I was cool - I rebelled.
True obedience is not driven by a frantic fear of being lost, but is an obedience propelled by our love for what the Lord has done for us and rooted in our confidence in our relationship with him. - Phil Ware
I'm grown up now and know the truth about God's grace and love. I respond to that grace and love with obedience to His word. It's not about rule following to be "allowed" into heaven - it's about thankfulness. It's about bringing glory to Him though our actions. It's the same way with our kids. We all long for the day that our kids obey us because they love us. So is my knee-jerk answer to obedience my "real" belief system? Is part of being real and authentic, obedience?
Maybe I do need a Harley.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
She's A Rebel
Posted by AbbieCRAZY at 5:23 PM
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4 comments:
We talked about this SAME thing last night in our Beth Moore class. I don't mind BEING obedient -- but I do mind calling it 'obedience'. I, too, have learned that there is nothing better than obedience and the blessings it brings -- but the word grates on my spine. I don't think it has to do with my generation so much as my rebellious nature. I call it submission (which some people marveled that 'submission' doesn't bother me) b/c submission sounds (to me) better! don't know why! Maybe I need to pray about my obedience and calling it such!
I find it easy to be obedient when it is already in MY plan to do whatever it is asked. But to be obedient because that is what He said to do is hard for me. I totally agree with Sarah about the rebelious part more than the generation thing.
"Obedience"...that is a hard word for me too, and I am not sure why. I was a very obedient teenager, so much so that I was boring, and still am. No exciting stories to tell because I followed all the rules. (With the exception of back-talking my parents:))
Now, as I am experiencing life and all it has brought, I have felt at times like rebelling in some big way. Why have I had these thoughts about rebelling? What is it that makes me want to not just cross the line, but leap accross it? I think part of it has been that during certain periods of life, I felt like obedience got me nowhere. "Being Good" was not allowing me any benefits, and the pain still came...so why not. Maybe that is it, I don't know? What do you think?
I know I need to pray and seek to be obedient...with a heart full of Thanks!
Well, my dear friend the Rebel, I finally got to a computer to share some input since you quoted me.
I grew up in the 60's, so rebellion was the norm — so what do you call conformity when it is rebellion, humm?
Our problem as Christians has been to think that obedience to Jesus is conformity, caving in to an outside source, rather than seeing the Jesus follower as the ultimate rebel.
Rebels get kicked out of stuff — families, clubs, schools, and churches/synagogues. So, guess who got kicked out in Jesus' day — those who chose his way of the world's way. There was no obvious pay off for them. They were considered freaky and wierd and somewhat wild.
So why not let that rebel spirit become Spirit propelled and see the Jesus-life as the rebel's true home for the heart that hungers for more than just being another lemming following the crowd, ruled by the fashion trends, enslaved to the latest fad, and in lock step with "conformist rebels" who simply cave in to the boring sameness that gobles up so many around us?
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