Stumped
man...it's been so long i forgot how to log in here...
sorry about that...
i was on vacation...and then we took the teenagers camping and to soulfest...then i needed another vacation...lol.
but, i suppose, i'm back...
but, to be honest, i was "stumped". i could have spouted off an answer to the question about what it means to be "unspotted by the world". the answer would have been "right", too. but i really wanted to think deeply about it and not just give an answer that was given to me...i wanted to really think it thru.
i used to think that this verse meant not to do the things the world does. so, very simply it meant living by the old statement "don't drink, smoke or chew and don't hang around with those who do". while i don't recommend drinking or smoking or chewing...i don't think that this is what this verse is saying.
the words used in various xlations are: undefiled; uncorrupted; not soiled or dirty; uncontaminated; unspotted; unstained; not polluted; keep yourself free from the world's evil influence...
what is the world's evil influence? what pollutes us? what corrupts us? what is contaminating and defiling? what gives us spots and blemishes and stains?
is it just "drinking, smoking, and chewing? is it other things we do?? i know...the things we do are important. but i think the NT tells us there is something more important.
it's the way we think. Jesus said it Himself...if we think about a person sexually, we sinned. if we've hated in our hearts we've sinned. if we lingered too long looking in the bakery window, we've sinned (He said that, right?). that's why paul writes "take every thought captive unto Christ" and "be xformed by the renewing of your mind"...
we have to change our way of thinking...to paraphrase bob dylan.
and as i distill everything wrong i've ever experienced in life...whether it's wrong done to me, wrong i've seen done to others, or the wrong i've committed myself...and regardless if it was an act or just a thought...
the bottom line has always been selfishness.
pick a sin...any sin...in the end it's about selfishness.
and so, if we are going to remain unsoiled and unspotted and uninfluenced by the evil in the world...we hve to learn to live selflessly.
thanks for waiting.
sorry about that...
i was on vacation...and then we took the teenagers camping and to soulfest...then i needed another vacation...lol.
but, i suppose, i'm back...
but, to be honest, i was "stumped". i could have spouted off an answer to the question about what it means to be "unspotted by the world". the answer would have been "right", too. but i really wanted to think deeply about it and not just give an answer that was given to me...i wanted to really think it thru.
i used to think that this verse meant not to do the things the world does. so, very simply it meant living by the old statement "don't drink, smoke or chew and don't hang around with those who do". while i don't recommend drinking or smoking or chewing...i don't think that this is what this verse is saying.
the words used in various xlations are: undefiled; uncorrupted; not soiled or dirty; uncontaminated; unspotted; unstained; not polluted; keep yourself free from the world's evil influence...
what is the world's evil influence? what pollutes us? what corrupts us? what is contaminating and defiling? what gives us spots and blemishes and stains?
is it just "drinking, smoking, and chewing? is it other things we do?? i know...the things we do are important. but i think the NT tells us there is something more important.
it's the way we think. Jesus said it Himself...if we think about a person sexually, we sinned. if we've hated in our hearts we've sinned. if we lingered too long looking in the bakery window, we've sinned (He said that, right?). that's why paul writes "take every thought captive unto Christ" and "be xformed by the renewing of your mind"...
we have to change our way of thinking...to paraphrase bob dylan.
and as i distill everything wrong i've ever experienced in life...whether it's wrong done to me, wrong i've seen done to others, or the wrong i've committed myself...and regardless if it was an act or just a thought...
the bottom line has always been selfishness.
pick a sin...any sin...in the end it's about selfishness.
and so, if we are going to remain unsoiled and unspotted and uninfluenced by the evil in the world...we hve to learn to live selflessly.
thanks for waiting.
posted by PMike. | 11:47
3 Comments:
there is a an interesting discussion on the subject here:
http://andywhitman.blogspot.com/
"take every thought captive unto Christ" ? How? How often? "...Be transformed by the renewing of the mind." Sounds like a full time job in this world. We are bombarded continually from those around us, that within us t.v., radio, work, play, with the negative anti God even anti good. How do we triumph?
we cannot control our immediate thoughts...but we can "take captive" our secondary thoughts. it should become a habit to us... whether it's lust, or envy, or anger, or hatred, or self pity or anything else...they are our's to grab ahold of and, then, reject.
full time job? yes, it is. it is a life style choice...maybe that life style choice means limiting tv or other media...i don't think that's a bad thing...we'd probably all be better off doing it.
but it certainly means some sort of regular bible based input. whether it is the scripture itself, or good music, or bible based reading...we have to pour some good stuff into our minds if we are ever going to renew them.
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