Middle finger musings

Several times over the years I have witnessed someone cutting someone off with their car and receiving the reaction of a hand extended with only the middle finger pointing upwards. I have seen the same reaction when bikes cut off cars or when cars cut dangerously close to pedestrians. This gesture is used with the intention of causing great emotional stress in retaliation for the stress that someone else's actions have caused. 
What makes a person think that flipping someone off is going to elicit any sort of agitating feelings in the object of the gesture? Further what causes the person who is flipped off to take offense at the gesture? There is no animal that takes offense at the motions of other animals. If we are nothing more than higher animals you would think that we would surely have evolved past this silly self destructive behavior. Survival of the fittest would require it. But for some reason we seem offended by this waving of a limb in a mean spirited manner perhaps accompanied by an expletive or two. Why? I believe that this action and response is an assault on man's dignity. Which begs the question where does this dignity come from? It assumes that man has intrinsic value. But if he is just another animal why does he have intrinsic value? Why does the individual matter? I believe that without realizing it that every time man makes an assault on another persons dignity they are giving an acknowledgment that man has dignity and value. I believe that if you look hard you will be hard pressed to find a reference point for man's dignity and value in nature. Certainly the animals do not exhibit anything even close to this. So where does it come from except God. I believe that the fact that God created man in His own image is the answer and true reference point for man's dignity and why he has dignity at all. Ultimately when you see someone flipping someone off remember that unintentionally they are acknowledging that man has dignity derived from His creator that he can effectively assault. Once again we see that pagan man cannot get away from admitting he has a creator no matter how much he may want to. As we seek to live a God focused life things like this should strike us more and more with the constant reality that God truly is with us (Romans 1:20). Every day all men every where live before His face. Sometimes pagans end up pointing to God in a way that they never intended.

Longings to be part of something significant

There is an article in the New York Post today titled NYC's own superheros. The article is highlighting real people who are donning costumes and taking it to the streets just like the average joes in a new movie that recently came out. This whole super hero thing is fascinating. The rise in the number of super hero movies over the last ten years is also significant. Why are these movies successful? Why was the whole hero comic book industry successful? Why would someone don a costume and take to the streets of New York to help other people? All of these things are happening because they resonate with something inside of a lot of the population. First I believe that we all sense that things are not the way we would like for them to be. There is a longing almost an ache for the world to be better than what it is.
Romans 8:19-23 tells us, “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
Secondly there is a hunger for significance inside of man. Unfortunately this significance if found outside of Jesus Christ is usually a desire for significance in the eyes of man. This is usually driven by pride and really a capitulation to the desire born in the garden of eden to be like god (Genesis 3:1-6).
What's the answer? According to Romans 12:1-3 it starts with becoming a living sacrifice and not thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. It is really accomplished in Christ, because it is in Christ that we are made truly alive (1 Corinthians 15:22). You see Jesus truly is a real hero. He has conquered death and hell. He will rescue any that come to Him, repent of their rebellion and take Him as their Lord. So rather than feeding a usually man centered hunger for significance, I think I will instead seek to cultivate a Jesus focused life that I hope will glorify the only truly great hero that has ever lived. My Lord Jesus.

Happiness: SELF focused vs. God focused - Part 1

I usually scan the headline on my yahoo front page and see if anything strikes a nerve. Today Lucy Danziger published an article called, "4 Simple Secrets to Feeling Happier Every Day." Lucy is the Editor-in-Chief of SELF magazine. I plan on addressing the points of her article over several days. It is an interesting exercise to think through the man made solutions to happiness in the light of scripture. According to their research 40% of our happiness potential is entirely up to us. Her first key point is, "Too much of a good thing is a bad thing." Basically she is saying that people are too busy and have too many things in their lives. She may indeed be correct in pointing out a problem. But the solution is one that is centered on taking care of the inner self. I do not personally know how I could truly take good care of my own inner self with out Jesus Christ. In Matthew 19:13-14 Jesus rebukes the disciples for hindering children and then goes on to say that to such belong the kingdom of God. What does this have to do with taking care of your inner self? I'll answer that in a minute, but first lets look at Jesus comments in Matthew 11:27-30. In this passage Jesus talks about coming to Him all those who labor and are heavy laden and He will give you rest. This is out of verse 28 and is often taken out of the context of verse 27. The background of verse 27 is instructive here. Jesus says that all things have been given to Him by the Father. Then Jesus talks about knowing the Father and the Son and seems to put a premium on it ending with Him revealing the Father to those whom He chooses to reveal Him. If we look at verse 28 in light of verse 27 it would appear that coming to him is with the idea of knowing Him and the Father. Think about it, children come to their parents for comfort and to get aid or help with what they are trying to do. The younger they are the more dependent and needy they are. When we come to God are we dependent and needy? Do we have a desperate need to know Him? You see a Christian should be ordering their day around seeking God in multiple ways. We should be seeking Him to know Him not just to have Him meet our needs. Martin Luther once said, "I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer." That is the heart cry of a person who needs God. Are you too busy to spend time with God? When it comes to Jesus too much of a good thing is the best thing for us. Ordering your life around God will help to push out some of those extra and unimportant things that weigh us down.