mediator
These thoughts are still ongoing but I have been thinking and studying and having conversations about this for the last couple of months. It keeps coming up, and not just for me so I believe it’s a timely thought so I’m putting it out here before it’s fully formed. But maybe that’s the point… maybe if these thoughts are true, I can’t have it all “fully formed” because it’s a process of dependence on the Lord and not a nice neat step by step…
Friends, there is one mediator between God and humankind (1 Timothy 2:5).
One Who, for the sake of peace and friendship, intervenes and forms an understanding and relationship between God and me.
One Who is the means of communication, who is my Advocate, who brings wholeness and reconciliation.
You don’t need someone controlling you to tell you what God wants for you.
Yes, there is wisdom and even more success and victory in our lives when we get counsel. But even in that, the ideas presented in Proverbs 11:14, 15:22 and 24:6 is that it’s with “many”… not just one person or one voice (even if it’s coming from more than one person).
The idea in Proverbs 15:22 is even that of a collaborative group deliberating together or that of advisors to a king offering consulting for him. This does not have the connotation of an authoritarian presence. And in fact, in the case of advisors to a king, the authority and responsibility of the final decision lies with the king. He seeks and values and listen to his advisors. But they are not controlling him.
There is value in the “many” in our lives walking with and advising us not being parrots of each other. If our “many” are all in one echo chamber, siloed from interacting with other ideas and experiences, we would do well to reconsider our “many”.
We can indeed hold fast to truth and convictions without being threatened by nuance and complexity. And honestly, I believe that a greater confidence in truth and convictions actually leads us to be less threatened and fearful of other ideas because we are secure and we can engage the hearts of others to understand better where they’re coming from and where they’re going. And from that place of security, if we are concerned for them, we can have conversations that are dignifying and empowering not demeaning or belittling.
There is a foundation, a bedrock of truth that is absolute and unchanging that we can build our life on. But each life is on a unique path, with a unique set of experiences, callings and gifts. Just in looking at Jesus’ disciples, they came from such amazingly diverse backgrounds. Outside of being with Jesus, some of them might have even thought they had nothing in common at best or hated each other at worst. And yet, Jesus brought them together. Walked with them. Spoke with them. Taught them. And then sent them out… unique but beautifully interwoven into one grand story. And even in this, He told them not to worry about and compare what the others were called to.
Maybe it’s not so much about getting “it” (whatever “it” is) “right” (however that’s defined in your microcosm). And more about learning to lean in and listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd, to walk with Him, and walk with others.
If you’re His sheep, you know His voice.
And God is not confused nor is He the author of confusion. We all have moments of brain fog or confusion… if we’re stressed, grieving, tired, hangry, etc. But a persistent or consistent confusion after speaking with those claiming to advise us on God’s will because it contradicts what we thought God was speaking to us is quite concerning. If you are asking, seeking and knocking, He will come in and dine with you. Even when unbelief is present, we can cry out and even that is an act of faith.
There’s not a formula for what the life of a child of God must look like. Again, there are black and white bedrock, essential, absolute truths. But there is no formula for how it plays out. Look at how people came to life in Christ and how people were healed physically in the New Testament. These things didn’t happen exactly the same way each time, because otherwise, we would have tried to bottle and sell it. And what I’m afraid of, is that we’ve grown far too comfortable peddling our own versions in the church. That instead of fostering a growing dependence on the Lord and a healthy interdependence with others, we’ve created systems of rank and file where we think we can mass manage people’s morality and maturity meanwhile we’re just manipulating them. God have mercy.
Yes, there are times when our privilege to make certain choices for ourselves gets taken away… an extreme example would be incarceration. And yes, there are times we are not ready to make certain choices… a mild example, would be that of a toddler not being allowed to walk into the road. And with those who are in active addiction or crisis, intervention can be needed. But even then, that should not be the longterm goal. Intervention can be done in a way that is dignifying and empowering or in a way that is demeaning and dismissive. And if we feel like ongoing intervention is needed in someone’s life, I would push back and ask why. And maybe that “why” is because we have created a dependence on ourselves (codependence) and external control instead of a dependence on the Lord and the control of the Holy Spirit and self-discipline.
And it scares me, because if all we do is intervene and control, then the roots and heart are not healed. So the only way to maintain, is to keep the intervention and control. Because if we don’t, it all falls apart. And at best, the church looks like they’ve made a bunch of good Christians who check off the right boxes on the morality list. At worst, the church has just “Christianized” behavior modification through “submission” to “authority”… and I use quotes because I do not see from Scripture how that is Christ-like or a picture of what submission or authority actually are.
God’s authority fills. It’s His kindness that leads us to repentance. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Child of God, you do know your Shepherd’s voice. He is not the author of confusion.
Please be careful about being comfortable with and quick to tell others what to do. And please be wary about those who are comfortable with and quick to tell you what to do.