What's Behind a Name? (4/10/2011)

After a recap from the name study we've been doing (Adam, Eve, Gideon), we launched right into some more good information on what's behind the names we've taken on and are living under.

First, it's important to distinguish that my name is who I am. When someone talks about my friend, Sarah, I don't think about the name Sarah and how it's spelled and what it means. I think about all the characteristics of my friend Sarah. I think about WHO she is, not what her name is. Her name is who she is.

So, if my name is who I am, and I start living under the wrong name, I start living out of a false identity. I am not acting under my God-given name, so of course, my actions won't match up. Living under the wrong name creates a separation or gap between me and God and between me and others because it isn't really me relating to God and others.

That gap creates:

• Loneliness
• Insecurity
• Lack of Value
• Inner Turmoil

The loneliness I feel from living under the wrong name comes because I fear that no one really knows me. And then I start to think, "what if they really did know me? what would they think then?" And then I realize that I don't even really know myself. How can someone actually get to know me if I don't even know who I am?

My actions under the wrong name will inevitably be destructive to me or to those around me.

Discussion:
Have you processed names this week?
What have you wrestled with as you considered it?
What impact has it had on you?

The Mystery Behind the Mystery

Parker Palmer, in A Hidden Wholeness, offers an example of a river frozen over to help us identify those places where we are not aware of or living out of our true name.

If you've ever lived near a lake, you know that when one part of the lake is frozen thick enough that it's safe, the whole lake is safe. A river, however, is different. A river has currents running underneath the ice so that you can't see what parts are thin and what parts are safe. Venture out onto a river, and there's a good chance you'll find a thin place where there's a current underneath. (I wouldn't try it if I were you!)

These thin and safe places are a good example of our interactions throughout life. Sometimes, we're tread on, and everything is all right. But if someone or something comes too close to one of our currents, our ice breaks!

It's these thin places where we need to examine ourselves and find out what's making us react, what name are we living under in the times when we break? Why aren't we living out of our God-given name? These are places where we need wholeness in our lives. God created us for wholeness. And since everything got messed up in the fall, God is trying to restore us to that wholeness. Recognizing these thin places will help us on our journey back.

The Divide

Living with two selves:

• the self we want people to see and know
• and the self we know lives inside (and many times needs some healing and restoration to wholeness)

creates a divide in us and we are continually at war with our selves, which creates an uncomfortable inner turmoil.

What's Controlling You?

Remember this one?

Ephesians 5:18

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.

Probably most of us heard this as a commandment to not drink any alcohol! But what this verse is really getting it, is that it's not good to be controlled by factors or voices other than God.

These controlling forces make us behave in a reaction to them instead of for genuine, good reasons. Identify the name of the voice that's screaming at you; identify the factors you are letting control your actions and reactions. And remember that the journey towards wholeness is a process of re-thinking.

Discussion
Can you identify some of the controlling voices in your life?
Do these voices parallel the names you have identified or can you give them a name?

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Sitting there wondering what the practical application is? No worries, here's some advice from Karl. But as he mentioned on Sunday, this is no prescription or 5 Step Plan to Complete Wholeness. However, these ideas might help you as you process and try to practice on your journey towards wholeness.

• Become aware your names.
• Continue to evaluate the extent of the influence your names have on you.
• Observe yourself to increase your awareness so that you can begin to identify when your actions are under the influence of the voice.
• Try to identify different kinds of names:
  • Voices of the past
    • Things done by you
    • Things done to you
  • Voices of Fear
  • Voices of Expectation
• Process it with someone who is safe.

Your journey towards wholeness is a process of discovering the factors that are controlling you and realizing that:

• You don’t have to be defined by the voices of accusation in your life.
• The controlling powers these voices hold over you can be broken.
• God’s voice will lead you to wholeness.

What's in a Name? (4/3/2011)

We're continuing to explore answers to the question, "What's the Point of God?" As we do so, we're seeing that God leads us back to the way He created us in the beginning; He leads us back to wholeness.

Discussion
In your world, how has this wholeness been playing out?

So, What's in a Name?

This week, we're going to take a look at how our identity affects our wholeness and how sorting out our identity, discovering it, and excavating what's true or false about who we believe ourselves to be is essential on this journey towards wholeness.

Every one of us has a name, an identity.

• We're living under it.
• It defines us
• It determines the way we live and the choices we make

Identity for Adam and Eve

When God created Adam and Eve, He gave them specific names under which to live, names that would enrich their lives, inform their choices, and help them relate to Him and to each other. Some of those names are:

• Image of God
• Very Good
• Loved

Then, the Serpent came along and began to plant seeds of doubt in their understanding of their identities.
"God didn't say that."
"Or, if He said it, He didn't mean it."
"This isn't as good as it gets."
"You won't die."
"Life will be better."
Etc.

Satan began to undermine Adam and Eve's God-given identity to the point where they acted out of the different names they assumed because Satan taught them to distrust God.

They began to act out of their Self-Discovered Names:

• Afraid
• Ashamed
• UnLoveable

Instead of passing on their God-given names to future generations, they passed on their self-discovered ones laden with guilt and shame and hurt.

We perpetuate the lack of true identity by passing on our own self-discovered names to others. We were created with specific names, but self-discovering false names was part of our fall. Part of our need for redemption is to be given the chance to be restored to the names God has for us.

Living under a false identity creates a gap or separation between me and God, as well as me and others. Living under these names and experiencing this separation only brings:

• Lonliness
• Insecurity
• and Lack of Value

Is it the name that creates the behavior? Or does the behavior create the name? At some point, it's hard to tell and we get stuck back in this cycle trying to fix the behavior without dealing with the deeper issue of identity.

Adam and Eve showed us the move from true identity to false identity. But what does the reverse look like? What does restoration look like? Let's take a look at Gideon for a good example.

Gideon

So, here's Gideon, an Israelite driven to hiding because of the oppressive and overwhelming Midianites. And who comes to visit?

Judges 6:11-16

The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”

“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”

Notice, the Lord's name for Gideon is "Mighty Warrior." However, in Gideon's response, he points out that he's the weakest of the weak. He's obviously been living under and believing in a different identity for himself.

God still chooses to use Gideon, however, and works with him, walking him through his disbelief and insecurity until Gideon is able to act from his God-given name, "Mighty Warrior."

Judges 7:9-18

During that night the LORD said to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.

Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.”

His friend responded, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.”

When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The LORD has given the Midianite camp into your hands.” Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.

“Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon.’”

What About Us?

Karl shared with us his own experience discovering his God-given name. Because it's such a personal story, I'm not going to try to reproduce it here. But if you missed it Sunday, please take the chance to ask him about it.

It's probably pretty easy for most of us to identify our self-discovered names, the names we're living under and acting out of... the fears and insecurities that motivate and inform our choices.

But, what name has God given you? If He were to walk up to you today, how would He address you? It certainly wouldn't be, "Hello Lonely" or "Hello Failure."

When we can start identifying the name(s) God has for us and find out who He created us to be, we can really start moving on this journey to wholeness.

When we can start identifying our self-discovered names and trace them back to the insecurities, circumstances, or events where we claimed those names and started living under them, we'll also really get moving on this journey to wholeness.

Spend some time this week processing your God-given and self-discovered names and how living under either has affected you and your relationships.

When God moves in your life, share your experiences with others. It would be detrimental to our community at this point in our shared experience of this journey toward wholeness for us to not share what God is teaching us during the process.

Try listening to God this week to see if He reveals his name for you (even if it is a little "hokey"). But remember, restoration is a process....

The Sin/Repent Cycle (3/27/11)

We're continuing this week with the question, "What's the Point of God?" Soon(ish), we'll attempt to tackle the question, "What's the Point of Church?" Even though we're not there yet, we know it's coming; so we can go ahead and explore it a bit!

As we discussed last week, this journey towards wholeness is meant to be a shared experience. Community is essential when looking at the picture of wholeness. As we continue to meet together, be looking for opportunities to get to know each other, become comfortable with each other, and if you feel the need or desire, pray for one another. If we can get this down, we'll be well on our way to understanding a large part of the point of church.

Rinse and Repeat

Remember the old Blond Joke: How do you keep a blond busy for hours?

Give her a shampoo bottle and make her read the instructions on the back: Rinse and Repeat.

Even a blond is smart enough to realize, at some point, that repeating the cycle over and over and over again is going to get her nowhere. And, pretty soon, the hot water is going to run out.

Getting stuck in a cycle is never fun. It's especially not fun when it feels like the joke's on you. You've tried a million times to stop sinning. Every time, you use the right formula: after you sin, repent. Yet, it still doesn't clean up the mess. Maybe it's time we looked at sin and repentance a bit differently.

Remember the big picture of salvation we saw last week?

We discussed how most of us have been taught a framework that focuses on only two aspects of the big picture: Fall and Redemption. Unfortunately, this leaves out that we were created in God's image and that there's a process of restoration to get us back to that image originally intended for us.

It's no wonder, looking at solely fall and redemption, that we expect a quick and easy turn around. I fall; I am redeemed. All done. Clean cut. Whew! Glad we got that out of the way!

Most times, however, that sin tends to pop back up and rear it's ugly head so that we feel stuck in a cycle of sin and repentance (fall and redemption). If I sin one day, and repent for my sin ("I'm sorry!"), but then turn around the next day and commit the same sin all over again, what good is it to continue saying "I'm sorry?"

Our focus has become fixing the behavior rather than examining how our motives and intentions line up with truth. Looking back at Eve from last week... Was the behavior, the deception, or the choice to believe a non-truth Eve's sin? She got off course, input the coordinates on the GPS incorrectly. In other words, the root of the problem wasn't that she ate the fruit. The root of the problem was that she got off the path God had created for her. She can apologize all day for eating fruit, but until she gets back on the path God created for her, it's not going to do any good.

Why then, do we expect that a simple "I'm sorry" is going to cut it? Why do we expect that since redemption exists, everything should be right with the world? We expect that a quick moment will erase all the damage that has been done, but we forget that we still need to reset the coordinates on our GPS and get back on the right path.

"Well, honey, I know we're not supposed to be driving through this desert, but let's stop in at the QuikMart and get a slushy. At least it'll cool us off!"

Obviously, if you're not supposed to be in the desert, a slushy isn't going to fix your problem. It's like treating strep throat with a cough drop instead of antibiotics. It might temporarily soothe, but the problem still exists.

Most of us have probably been taught that repentance equals saying "I'm sorry" to God, again and again. And if we didn't get it right the first time, we've got to try again, "one more time, with feeling!"

But, then, "Oops, I did it again!" and we're sucked back into the cycle: sin and repent, sin and repent, sin and repent... Wow, does that get tiring!

It seems that it's time, once again, to reexamine our coordinates...

What is repentance anyway?

The Greek word for repentance is metanoeo. It means:

to think differently or afterwards, i.e. reconsider (morally, feel compunction): a change in the way we think, perceive, or understand.

In other words... there's something in our framework or worldview that we're thinking about wrongly.

We can say, "I'm sorry for thinking wrongly." But it doesn't change the fact that we're thinking wrongly. The conclusion to be drawn then, is that we must change the way we think. This does not happen in a moment. Changing the way you think is a process of growth, awareness, perception, and understanding, among other things. It works itself out through life circumstances, counseling, community, etc.

Bringing us back around to that image of salvation... it's a lot more like restoration.

That's where God wants to lead us: towards a better way of thinking; towards wholeness.

Consider this:
If there's a destructive behavior in my life and I continue to say, "I'm sorry," that phrase loses it's meaning.

If you are the victim in an abusive relationship, after the first time your partner/abuser says, "I'm sorry," there's hope for change and improvement. Eventually, however, after you've been hurt over and over and over again, "I'm sorry" means nothing. At some point, there must be more.

Discussion:
Discuss your experience with or awareness of this cycle and what stirs in you when offered a different option for the word "repentance."

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So... What's the Point of God?

Remember from last week:
It is not to systematically eliminate our sin so God will be increasingly pleased with us and so we can grow continually closer to Him.

If repentance is the process, then what's God's interaction with us?

Let's take a look at what Karl likes to call "The Sin Perception Dilemma."

(And now, my friends, I will attempt to become even half the artist Karl was on Sunday morning.... )

The Whiteboard

This is the framework most of us grew up with:
Here I am, trying to get my way to God.

Only...Ahh! Oh, no... Blam! Now there's a HUGE Pile O' Sin between me and God!

My job is to chip away at the pile of sin, so that I can get close to God. Only, anyone of us who has ever tried knows that the pile of sin is impossible to disappear. It remains a continual barrier between me and God.

Conclusion: I will never be close to God.

Let's take a look at another potential framework... How's this, instead?

That's God, with His arm around me, saying, "No worries, the cross has already taken care of the pile of sin. Let's work together to restore the way you think about Me, life, yourself, and others and get back to how I originally created you to live."

On the journey, God helps me in discovering how to achieve wholeness.

As whole people, we might still screw up and have behavioral issues, BUT we may be less broken, more honest and authentic, less fearful and full of shame, and more able to experience true community and relationship with God and others.

The pile of sin is already taken care of by Jesus' sacrifice, so repentance and restoration are about the journey to wholeness, not about my effort to eradicate my sin and reach God.

So, what IS the point?

To receive and embrace God’s Love, and in so doing, begin a process of repentance which will help us rediscover the Image of God initially formed in us.

It's God's patience and His kindness that lead us to a correct way of thinking.