Normally, those two words would never go together. But they come together in an incredible woman I know: Cindy Hornamann.
"Line upon line, precept upon precept, I have to snort my Bible and be in God's presence every day—and sometimes several times a day—or I will return to my old addict ways," says Cindy.
She said this to a group of staid, white Lutherans while speaking at an educational outreach/fundraiser for one of the women's groups I worked with in Atlanta. Now, I come from a large and racially mixed church where 20% gave 80% of the tithes. (This is pretty normal for a non-Lutheran or non-Anglican church.) So, not affluent. And pretty pentacostal-leaning. It's was common enough for a move of God to hit with some pretty strange results.
So, when I say that Cindy was sometimes a bit radical for my church then you know what I mean when I say my immediate thought was: "This is going to be interesting."
She had asked me to accompany her and to dance to a worship song prior to her speaking. I knew it was going to be a tough crowd. I figured these people—as a whole—had probably never felt the presence of the Holy Spirit or it had been a very, very long time. I was right...when I finished dancing a dance for which I had no pre-planned choreography (God told me to dance like I did for Him in my devotional times instead of something pre-planned—scarier than scary!), we heard some of them say to each other "It feels like a river moving up my legs!" I don't think they had been in His river before.
When she opened with these lines, I felt a crackle of electricity that broke through hypocrisy and any hardness of heart.
Her message is simple: We must overcome the passions of the world with a greater passion for Christ.
Her message was heard, loud and clear, by those in attendance.
I know I'm being tough on them, but I'm relaying what many said later, so our assessment was exactly right. When any entity (organization, church, business, personality, music program, etc.) buys into the ungodly system of making and showing money or power, it's asking for trouble. It's asking to exist without the consistent presence of God.
As we've seen from a few recent examples, this includes touring Christian "celebrities," worship leaders, teachers in the Body of Christ, authors, speakers, pastors, etc. Everyone is susceptible.
Trouble usually comes in the form of affairs, adrenaline-seeking behavior, addictions, lusts of the flesh, doubt, heresy, and discouragement.
I have recently heard that a number of women on the speaking-circuit make a point to travel with their entire family when they travel. This is SMART. Expensive maybe, but less expensive than an affair, broken marriage, and who knows what else! Seriously, everyone needs to set boundaries in this area.
When I traveled for business I rarely ate with a man alone (he had to be well-known to my husband and generally over 60+), rarely if ever rode in a car alone with a man, and if alone in an office, left the door open. (I learned this one from my father.) Now, I did this mostly to make sure my husband had nothing to worry about (safety or otherwise) because I cared for him. It is not an old-fashioned male-dominated thing to do—it's wisdom and useful for crafting a good life.
When the media made fun of Vice-President Pence for his caution in this area, I applauded him. It's wise. And, in a world that would devour him if they found him in a compromised position, it's beyond wise!
When I see Christian "celebrities" like John Christ fall into temptations and Marty Sampson express doubt in the faith, it brings up a couple of red flags:
1) More than likely, doubts and sin failings have been expressed to others around them and were not dealt with properly. We need to know how to help our fellow Christians when they express doubt or temptations, in love and actively until they are rooted out.
2) Before we see an act of a hardened heart, the sin was already present, hardening the heart. As Christians, we are far too complacent about sin in our lives. Sin always grows, always spreads, and always requires more from us than we are willing to give. (A wise response to anyone failing or falling in the faith is to check our own hearts, then actively remove the sins we uncover.)
3) Before we hear a dire doubt or distressing heresy expressed, we know that the niggling foundational doubt expressed by the serpent and passed from Eve and her progeny has not been rooted out: "Is God really good?" I am appalled at how BAD we Christians are at explaining this one. There are numerous apologetes (those who are adept at defending the faith) who have answered the deep questions thoroughly and yet they persist because we do not discuss them!
4) Before sin grows and doubt infects, I find a period of apathy has been allowed to flourish. Dear God save us from apathy! The truly alarming symptom of sin is not when it finally wreaks havoc (in a Christian, that's when you are closest to God, if you call out for Him, He is already there!)...it's in that space in between when God's presence has been absent, no new words from God have been heard, and compromise has dulled our senses. THIS is when we should be COMPELLED to action. We must be convinced (and convincing) of the need for a deep passion for Christ at all times.
4) Before a doubt takes root, wounds are present. I have found that whenever someone is ready to deal with their sin-habits, we uncover the root, which is almost always rooted in a wound. The wound can come in many forms, but until it is healed, it is fertile ground for mischief of all sorts. We need to be better at listening for wounds and adept at healing them.
Grace fuels passion for Christ that overcomes the passions of the world.
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