ChristianLife-Truth

I've had a lot of time lately to think about what exactly it means to live in a Christian community. It's a tough thing to ask yourself, mainly because so many people see it in different ways. I have had many different tastes of what one would call fellowship. Mostly good, but some negative. The negative ones seem to stick out in my mind more... not because I hang on to the negative, but they are the ones that i feel like I learned the most from.

The biggest negative experiences I have had with Christian life have usually revolved around lifestyle choices that people have not approved of. Mainly Shawna and I living under the same roof. That was, without a doubt, one of the hardest parts of my life in a Christian community. Mainly because most people didn't seem to care about how our life was being lived. Instead, they were concerned about the illusion that it conveyed. I say most, not all. Some people whom I have a deep respect and love for (who may very well read this) came to me out of love and told me they disagreed. And that's fine. In fact, that's great! More and more, I am believing that God speaks subjective truths to individuals. I was confused when someone whom I respect came to me and said "I disagree. Here is my argument." and I said "Well, I am not of the same opinion. Here is my argument." We both made valid, solid points, and yet we left the conversation completely unconvinced of each other's opinion. It was interesting because he said something along the lines of "I don't know how to feel. Becasue either the Lord is speaking through me and I'm right, or he's speaking through you and you're right." At face value I wasn't sure how to take that comment. The more I thought about it, wresttled with it and prayed about it the more I relized that I disagreed. Maybe God is speaking through both of us. Maybe that the truths that God has are so profound that they seem contradictory to our feeble minds. I mean, think about the amount of blatant contradictions in the books of the law. Obviously, God isn't worried about his 'rules' being lived in contrasting ways. We can all agree on the ten rules that govern our life, (The commandments) but other than that it's open to interpretation. I'm reading "The Year of Living Biblically" right now and he touches on that so much. The amount of people that interpret the law in completely different ways. They can't all be right, can they? I would say yes. If we, as believers, can find a way that the law and God's word can speak truth and Holliness into our lives, why should we stop it? God's truth is eternal... now I don't know about you guys, but I can't grasp the concept of eternal truth. Don't you think that the Lord is gonna dumb it down for my feeble insgnifigant mind in order to make me understand it on a personal RELATIONAL level!?! Why not? This is the God who holds the cosmos in his hands people! Why wouldn't he? He would REJOICE at being able to relate with us on such a subjective level!

Even Jesus did it. I mean When the disciples got mad at Mary for annointing him with oils instead of selling them to feed the poor, he said "Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me." (Matthew 26) In contrast, when asked how he could get into heaven, he told the rich man "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your posessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven. Then come, follow me." (Matthew 19) Isn't it interesting how God can speak two completely different messages to people who are in completely different places in life and in their relationship with him!?! I love it.

I don't have any answers. Just my thoughts on truth and how the eternal truth relates to us on individual levels. I think it's gloriously quasi-contradictory. I love it!