Author: Michael

Thinker. Lover of life, learning, and relationships. Unashamed follower of Jesus. Hoping to get to know you.

A Scent of Your Own

Michael8 Comments
CC BY-NC-ND, David Nutter, Flick
CC BY-NC-ND, David Nutter, Flickr

Today begins the first of a 3-day series I call “Making Sense of Your Scent”. I will draw comparisons between the spiritual graces in our lives and perfume. Also, make sure you watch the video; it’s very interesting.

While on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, I made sure to look for Sephora, the famous French cosmetic chain. I needed to visit because I was searching for cologne I couldn’t find in Japan; but I desired to go there to see their famous fragrance counter.

And there it was—an in-the-round, tiered, organ-like setup with hundreds of “essences.” A fragrance professional stood in the center eager to let shoppers try whatever scents they had in mind. She knew what each sent was, where to find it, and how best to use it.

Making One Smell Good

Perfumes are a combination of alcohol, water, and fragrant oils mixed at certain ratios. There are literally thousands of fragrances, and new ones are being made all the time. None are exactly the same; formulation is a painstaking science. Moreover, the final product is a specific, designed scent the perfumer originally had in mind.

But how a perfume smells on us individually depends on a host of things: skin chemistry, body heat, hormonal changes, diet, medication, stress level, and more. So not only is there a host of components for many different fragrances, there is also a host of conditions that make a particular scent blossom on one person and reek on another.

God’s Fragrance for You

Romans 12:6 explains that each of us possesses different God-given gifts according to the grace granted us to exercise those abilities. This set of gifts in Romans 12:6-8 have often been termed motivational gifts and serve as ministerial tools proceeding from aspects of our personality and character. Although these gifts deal with our temperament, God-given abilities are certainly not limited to those mentioned in scripture.

There are a few important points that should not be overlooked.

  • You have a gift. Call it a gift or talent—I don’t care; but God has placed a special ability, or abilities, in our lives that is our responsibility to strengthen and use for his glory.
  • You should be exercising that gift. We dishonor God by diminishing his graces in us. Let naysayers…neigh-h! But we need to be about God’s business. For when we scratch below the surface of that gift, we’ll discover a natural fitness for it and a personal enjoyment.
  • Never compare yourself to others. It is our responsibility to work the gift; it is God’s responsibility to make it effective. Only you know the level of grace given to you; so it’s not for you to tuck your tail when you perceive someone else with a greater measure of grace in that area. God gives increase and may desire to raise your gift to unimaginable heights. But don’t shortchange him because you feel inferior to someone else.

You see, the graces in our lives are the specific fragrance God has designed for us. It smells good on us because the formulation is suited for our particular makeup. But if you try to wear the fragrance that has been specially-made for me, it just might stink on you!

 

Wow! What a Head!

Michael3 Comments
CC BY, Thomas, Flickr
CC BY, Thomas, Flickr

“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” (Eph. 4:15)

Who has not admired a newborn or young child and thought, Look at the head on that one! I know I have and I know you have, too. It’s a fact of life: humans, from fetus to toddler, have big heads. And it’s by design.

Babies’ brains grow large in vivo and quickly develop to an advanced stage in order to accommodate the body’s further development. A child’s brain is one-half its adult size by nine months and two-thirds that size by two years of age. Of all species, the human brain is proportionately larger than other animals’. Studies suggest that the larger the brain, thus head, the more intelligent the child.

Interestingly, our brains would be bigger if they could be. The brain is the human organism’s administrative “ground zero,” certainly the most mysterious body part and a science with many vague areas still. Yet all that remarkable circuitry and undiscovered ability is packed into our craniums, its growth limited by one thing: the size of the birth canal.

An infant’s head is never larger than 25 percent of its size; strangely, some still sport a whopper of a noggin!

The Chief Thing

One of the Bible’s metaphors for Christ is “head of the body” (Col. 1:18), signifying his Lordship over the Church. We should think more broadly here. Scripture also refers to him as the “firstborn” of creation (Col. 1:15) and of the dead (1 Cor. 15:20). It all points to Christ’s preeminence, as Hebrews 1 so marvelously explains.

Our English word “capital” derives from a Latin root meaning “of the head.” You’ll recognize the concept in statistical parlance specifying something “per capita” or per person, literally meaning “by the head”. The idea of authority and supremacy are strongly affixed to “head”, which is obvious when “capital” is defined.

In Good Proportion

Paul’s concern in Ephesians 4 is the growth and maturity of the church at Ephesus. You may recall that he spent three years there on his third journey. In his farewell to the elders, Paul offers us a glimpse of the conditions vexing the Ephesian Christians:

“I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:29-31)

So from prison in Rome, Paul writes to them and, in Ephesians 4, highlights the rich diversity, complexity, instinct, and acumen of the spiritual gifts that flow from Christ, the Head, to the Church, his Body.

And what is the intended result? “Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (v. 13)—or until this body catches up with its head; and “no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people” (vs. 14)—or until we gain the strength and coordination to stand and walk and do so against all resistance.

When we look back at the early church, we see a baby with a mighty big head, wouldn’t you say? Hopefully, today we’re a mature and fit body that matches.

More on this topic: A Survey of Ephesus, Paul and Timothy’s Field

Uri, the Elder Brother

Michael9 Comments
CC BY-NC, Jonathan Cohen, Flickr
CC BY-NC, Jonathan Cohen, Flickr

Among the best known parables is the story of the lost son. Here I only care to deal with the elder brother. And since that’s how we’ve only known him, let’s personalize the story a little and give both him and his younger brother a name. Uri will be the elder brother and Zev will be the younger one.

The Good Son

The entirety of Luke 15 is Jesus’s response to the Pharisees’ murmuring about his associating with the rotten apples of society. This is important to remember because he implies many things about the Pharisees in the lost son illustration.

As stories go, Uri’s is a little complex and sad. As for any scripture, we cannot make arguments or assumptions from silence, especially with parables; but I wonder some things about Uri. And since parables demand that we think contextually, follow along for a moment.

I am probably correct to assume that Uri loved Zev most of his life. I think he rallied to his father’s side when Zev started rebelling. Uri must have pleaded with his brother to not do something stupid by leaving; he knew Zev possessed a wild streak. Overall, I think Uri was a good son and a good brother.

Still, nobody was able to stop Zev; and for all anyone knew of him in the interim, he very well could have resurfaced with a caravan of riches. But when this wasn’t the case, indeed far from it, the moment revealed the character of Uri’s heart.

A Profile of Uri, the Elder Brother  

Uri was juridical, rule-oriented, and contractual. He colored inside the lines and had learned to do so very well. He deeply appreciated the reason for those lines. They were order and civility and justice that made the world turn.

But he was unyielding about compliance, his own and everyone else’s. Uri colored only in black and white, and he bore little tolerance for transgressors. He believed in swift and immediate reprimand. For him, love was defined in legal terms and breaking the law made one unlovable.

“It’s All Yours, Uri.”

In Uri’s mind, Zev’s departure was an unforgivable split Zev had created. His request for his inheritance was tantamount to wishing his father dead. So now that he’s back after having been beaten by life within an inch of his own, Uri can hardly control his contempt and disowns Zev. His father cannot convince him to join the party he should be co-hosting, not even with the sobering reminder that his brother hasn’t returned dead. But by Uri’s convictions, that would have served Zev right for what he had done.

(Ever met people like this?)

Further, Uri is beside himself that his dad should go to such lengths to welcome Zev back. It cuts him deeply: no hoopla was ever made over him. And he has worked his butt off for his dad. But Uri didn’t understand that he was the only one caring about his performance. His father loved him and owned a proud heart because all he possessed was under Uri’s management and discretion.

The question is how well Uri knows his father; the answer is not well at all.

Uri’s problem in the parable is that he doesn’t have his father’s heart and had never properly assessed his father’s character. Relationally, although he was the elder son, he lived more like a servant, even a foundling or an orphan. He worked for love that was already his. Nothing stopped him from having already hosted several of his own events, but his heart harbored incorrect assumptions about his father that limited his freedom.

The Father: Get to Know Him

Uri’s problem is the same lofty piousness that makes us no longer resemble our Father. Erroneous views about God that have been pushed on us and our own wrong theological conclusions all conflict us and burden what should be a vibrant father-son bond with duty and fear and resentment.

What’s really peculiar is that we’ll go on unaware of our problem until we encounter others in need of God’s love. Our relational deficiency will show itself for what it is: our prepotent need. And like a sputtering car, coughing and choking, we will spew a black smoke of toxins in the faces of those finally ready for fresh air.

Hopefully the Spirit will get us to see how we’ve made it our job to zealously defend and protect God from those who need him most; that we’ve too often forgotten all about the people we should love and opted instead for gracelessness and sanctimony, proving our lack of true religion more than anything.

In the end, let it not be that we have glamorized Jesus and his ministry to outcasts and cared little about following his example. Let it not be that we are all church and no Christ. Let it not be that our churches are Bible-themed social clubs. And worst, let us not affirm what outsiders and antagonists already think about us, that the church is irrelevant and outmoded.

We’ve gotta get this right. Uri’s problem is the most major point of the whole New Testament. His issue was never Zev; it was in the mirror. And the answer was in the father’s heart.

11 Questions for Michael

Michael22 Comments

Well this is convenient! There was no “10 Questions” post for today because neither of the two interviews that are forthcoming was ready. But my buddy Chef Ted Luoma of the blog cateritforward pulled a fast one on me.

Ted was nominated for a Liebster Award and, in-turn, nominated me; however, I’m already a recipient. I decided to respond to the questions he asked anyway, and that nicely satisfies this week’s “10 Questions” feature. Also, make sure you stop by Ted’s blog. I know you’ll enjoy it. I read it daily.

CC BY-NC, Zeyang, Flickr
CC BY-NC, Zeyang Flickr

Is there anything you hope to accomplish with your blog?

I hope readers leave The ‘Mike’ provoked to think deeply about God and the scriptures. I’m a thinker and I often stress the importance of thinking about life “with and through” the scriptures; so that characterizes my writing. I also use my blog as ritual writing practice. I spend an unspeakable amount of time on each article.

What is your current occupation? What do you wish it was?

I’m unemployed right now and it’s been a vicious and life-changing experience. What I wish it was? Pastor or writer, or both.

What is the stupidest thing you have ever done?

When I was a young boy, I told my teen sister who was ironing clothes that I was going to put the iron to my face. I didn’t believe it was hot. So when she walked out of the room, I kept my promise. I still have a faint scar. Does this count for stupid?

What is your favorite 70’s sitcom?

That’s tough. But one of my favorites has always been The Jeffersons. I could sit and watch George, Weezie, and Florence all day.

Are there any obstacles in your life that make you not want to get out of bed in the morning?

None. There have been tough times that were relatively nothing compared to what others experience. Further, when I’ve been down, my persistence just won’t die. Have you ever been in a place where you wanted to give up but the Lord stirs you and won’t let you quit? That’s been me many times.

If you could put one band on a bus that careens off a cliff, which band would it be and why? (Not that I advocate violence, but there has got to be a band that annoys you.)

Honestly, I don’t know only because if they annoy me, I don’t listen to them. But I would put most rap music on that bus—with a bomb—and send it on its merry way. I feel that Rap is an incredibly destructive music. Still, I couldn’t tell you a particular artist or band.

If you could live in any time period, which would it be and why?

I’m not sure…for different reasons. Many appeal to me with their various pros and cons; however, the present one is probably best for me.

Do you talk to your neighbors? Why or why not?

I do when the chance comes. We just shoot the breeze or talk about jobs or yard work. I’m a big neighbor guy, the kind who enjoys welcoming new neighbors and who helps out shoveling snow or cleaning up storm debris. Being a neighbor is a good thing.

CC BY-NC-ND, Michael Verhoef, Flickr
CC BY-NC-ND, Michael Verhoef Flickr

What is your favorite and least favorite food?

My favorite food is homemade macaroni-and-cheese—always has been and always will be. My least favorite is probably liver. My mom used to try to trick my brother and me with it, calling it beef; it never worked.

If you had to choose between phantom pain from an amputated pinky finger or a hip replacement, which would you choose and why?

Gosh! I’d want all my digits, so let’s go with the hip replacement. My mom just had one of those last year, and she’s trucking along nicely again. Most folk I’ve talked to who’ve had a replacement have said it was the best decision of their lives. I’ll keep my fingers.

What is your number one priority in life?

Enjoying it until it’s time to leave. By that I mean understanding that human life is a gift to us (humans) and every part of it should be explored and cherished. This honors God who gave it all to us.

Acting Against Your Better Judgment

Michael10 Comments
Peter's Vision by Henry Davenport Northrop, 1894 (Domain) Wikimedia Commons
Peter’s Vision by Henry Davenport Northrop
Wikimedia Commons (Domain)

I enjoy provocative dialogue. The topic and interlocutor don’t matter; if it’s exploring theory and ideas, I’m in. What I like even more is leading those conversations and debates and challenging people to consider various aspects of the subject regardless of their stance on it. It forces people to think more broadly and engage where they otherwise would not.

That’s how our minds grow. For instance, most people don’t like reading dictionaries and encyclopedias, something I enjoy doing. But they would be hard-pressed to take away nothing from doing so; learning is the point of those books. Further, building vocabulary and adding new information extends one’s range with language, knowledge, and, importantly, concepts and boosts intelligence. Yet what we’re not exposed to can never be understood.

“That’s How I See It—Next Point!”

Clearly, I like discussing the Bible and faith matters. I recall an exchange between some persons in which I presented Pauline injunctions in the Pastorals regarding church order. I asked for their assessment and opinions of Paul’s instructions for contemporary church life. I quickly noticed something peculiar. They were adamant, even defensive, about their interpretation and application of Paul’s admonitions.

The conversation was surprisingly difficult. I found myself struggling to make these people think deeper and address other implications. Trying to be a good interrogator, I fought to keep back my own opinions from being too quickly apparent; but that failed because the messenger was getting shot! I was saddened that we ended frustrated over the scriptures, but I also hated the fact that they didn’t allow themselves to think from all angles about the topic. Instead, they looked at it and sized it up too quickly.

I was disturbed about their attitude on many levels: How will one relate well with people in an increasingly pluralistic society? To what degree do you expect your own opinions and beliefs to be respected? Are there things that you could be missing? And when it comes to God and spiritual things, what happens when God leads us out of our comfort zones and against our personal rules? Intransigence, or being uncompromising, can render a person incapable of being led by the Spirit. They will close themselves off from illumination and the Spirit’s impressions on the heart.

It is no less a form of being unteachable and fleshly. Consider it: when God puts it in one’s heart or mind to act in a certain manner, to assist one or speak something to another, that person might think to do it but will fight it or justify an excuse to act contrary to what he heard from the Lord; and that’s all because we know what we know and don’t sway from our position.

A Vision Worth Remembering

Peter’s dramatic vision of the sheet of unclean animals (Acts 10) is a worthy reminder that we probably shouldn’t be too quickly set in our ways and close-minded when there are other viewpoints and options. The vision is really interesting because God corrects Peter on the revelation of grace to the Gentiles, to whom one might assume God was calling Peter. Instead, Peter was called to the Jews (cf. Gal. 2:7-9).

It’s important to God to get our general thinking straight and speaks to the personal constitution he expects of his people, indeed humankind.

In my post entitled “Rogue Conviction” I write, “Perhaps a belief is to be possessed or espoused, not vice versa, lest believers (in anything) risk being driven by their beliefs and so become fanatics. People who sacrifice themselves to their convictions often become instruments of those ideas to beat others into subjection.”

You know, this is the attitude that put Christ to death, and it is critical for us Christians to get it right.