I'm sure lots (if not all) of you have seen that article that's making the rounds again, written by a former missionary, and published through Huffington Post about why Christians should stop saying 'blessed'. At the end of the article he says that he'd like to hear people's thoughts, and I had plenty of them.
Okay, so I'm just going to deal with this one bit at a time; there’s a *lot* going on here, most of
which I heartily disagree with. (For the sake
of reading, all my thoughts will be in red.) If you want to read the unsullied article first you can do that here.
I was on
the phone with a good friend the other day. After covering important topics,
like disparaging each other's mothers and retelling semi-factual tales from our
college days, our conversation turned to the mundane.
"So,
how's work going?" he asked.
For those
of you who don't know, I make money by teaching leadership skills and helping
people learn to get along in corporate America. My wife says it's all a clever
disguise so I can get up in front of large groups and tell stories.
I plead the
fifth.
I answered
my buddy's question with,
"Definitely
feeling blessed. Last year was the best year yet for my business. And it looks
like this year will be just as busy."
The words
rolled off my tongue without a second thought. Like reciting the Pledge of
Allegiance or placing my usual lunch order at McDonald's.
But it was
a lie.
Now, before you start taking up a collection for the "Feed
the Dannemillers" fund, allow me to explain. Based on last
year's quest to go twelve months without buying anything, you may
have the impression that our family is subsisting on Ramen noodles and free
chips and salsa at the local Mexican restaurant. Not to worry, we are not in
dire straits.
Last year was the
best year yet for my business.
Things are looking
busy in 2014.
But that is not a
blessing.
Really?
How exactly do you define a blessing? I’ll look it up in the dictionary for you
really fast. According to Meriam Webster the first definition of Blessing is,
and I quote, “the act or word of one that blesses”. I’m pretty sure that
everything under the sun, arranged and orchestrated by God, who is the one true
Blesser, qualifies as a blessing, it’s all a matter of choosing to see it in
that light.
I've noticed a trend among Christians, myself included, and it troubles me. Our
rote response to material windfalls is to call ourselves blessed. Like the
"amen" at the end of a prayer.
"This new car is such a blessing." It is.
"Finally closed on the house. Feeling blessed." You should feel that way.
"Just got back from a mission trip. Realizing how blessed we
are here in this country." We are very blessed.
On the
surface, the phrase seems harmless. Faithful even. Why wouldn't I want to give
God the glory for everything I have? Isn't that the right thing to do?
No. Again I say,
REALLY?! I feel like there’s a SNL skit about this. Oh wait. There is. I’m
actually SUPER curious where you managed to accrue this notion that we ought
not to do this thing. Please point me to somewhere, anywhere, in the Bible
where it says that we are *not* to give thanks and rejoice for the gifts that
the Lord graciously gives to us on a daily basis. Because what I’ve read so far
seems to say just the opposite. For
instance, and this is really just the first one I remember, 1 Thes. 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, pray
without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus for you.” See, I
read “give thanks in all circumstances” and “rejoice always”, and I feel like
that’s a pretty straightforward order. Give thanks. For everything. All the
time.
As I
reflected on my "feeling blessed" comment, two thoughts came to mind.
I realize I'm splitting hairs here, creating an argument over semantics. But bear
with me, because I believe it is critically important. It's one of those things
we can't see because it's so culturally engrained that it has become normal.
But it has
to stop. And here's why.
First, when
I say that my material fortune is the result of God's blessing, it reduces The
Almighty to some sort of sky-bound, wish-granting fairy who spends his days
randomly bestowing cars and cash upon his followers. I am fairly
certain that devout, God-fearing, Christians have been calling themselves
blessed over an incredible variety of situations for a really, really long
time. Acknowledging that God has, in fact, blessed us with a material thing is
hardly treating him like a fairy. A
fairy gives us whatever we ask for regardless of how it will affect us or those
around us, and with no plan or purpose for the granting. The same cannot, and
should not, be said of God. Is he generous? Absolutely. Does his generosity
often appear in the form of material things? Again, yes. Are all of the things
he gives us part of a divine plan the depth and breadth of which we cannot hope
to fathom? Yup! Ergo, not a fairy.
I can't help but draw parallels to how I
handed out M&M's to my own kids when they followed my directions and chose
to poop in the toilet rather than in their pants. Sure, God wants us to
continually seek His will, and it's for our own good. But positive
reinforcement? Haha! Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but the Bible is full of all
kinds of positive reinforcement. “Honor your father and mother, that your days
may be long in the land.” Ex 20:12. What is that again? It sure looks like
positive reinforcement to me.
God is not a behavioral psychologist.
Second, and more importantly, calling myself blessed because of
material good fortune is just plain wrong. I beg to differ. It’s just plain silly to *be* blessed
yet deny it. How very arrogant of you. For starters, it can be offensive
to the hundreds of millions of Christians in the world who live on less than
$10 per day. You read that right. Hundreds of millions who receive a single-digit dollar
"blessing" per day. So, we cannot rejoice in any blessing that other
people do not have lest we offend them? What about kids? Children are a
blessing, given by the Lord (as are ALL THINGS; including money and material
possessions), to some people and yet not to others. Should the people that have
been blessed with children not rejoice and thank the Lord for that blessing
because (and I will give you that it is heartbreakingly sad) other people
cannot have the same blessing? What about people that are wealthier than you
personally. Are they supposed to walk around glumly because you don’t make as
much as they do? What about people who make less than you, but still more than
the people who only make less than a dollar a day? What about the people that
make a dollar a day; are they allowed to rejoice even though there are
definitely people who make absolutely *no* money on a given day? Who gets to
set the dollar amount where rejoicing and giving thanks for blessings of the
Lord becomes uncouth and hurtful? I’m pretty sure God already did, and that He set it up so that there is no income range where it's inappropriate to thank him.
During our year in Guatemala, Gabby and I witnessed first-hand
the damage done by the theology of prosperity, where faithful people scraping
by to feed their families were simply told they must not be faithful enough. If they
were, God would pull them out of their nightmare. Just try harder, and God will
show favor. AH! Here we get to the crux of the matter. And one of the points we
agree on. Prosperity Theology is a heinous, terrible, sin. And it is a shame
and embarrassment to the body of Christ that such heresy is spewed out (and
tolerated) on a daily basis. It’s also true that no where are we promised
material blessings as a payment for every single act of obedience, but that
does not negate the fact that we *are* blessed with physical things.
The problem? Nowhere in scripture are we promised worldly ease in return for
our pledge of faith. In fact, the most devout saints from the Bible usually
died penniless, receiving a one-way ticket to prison or death by torture. I almost agree
with this statement, but it needs to be clarified. First of all, it’s probably
a more accurate statement to say that a *lot*, maybe even *most* (if you’re
being generous), of the saints from the Bible died penniless. Second, just
because they *died* penniless does not mean they *lived* that way. Off the top
of my head, Joseph of Arimathea, comes to mind. That guy had a pretty sweet
tomb and those things were *not* cheap. (You might say that the Lord had
blessed him over the course of his life and given him the means to purchase it
[gasp of horror] for himself.) It was his. He owned it. He even planned
on using it. But he held it loosely, and gave it back to God when it was time
to do so.
I'll take
door number three, please.
If we're
looking for the definition of blessing, Jesus spells it out clearly (Matthew 5:
1-12).
1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat
down. His disciples came to Him,
2 And He began to teach them, saying:
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for
they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of
God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and
falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven,
for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
I have a
sneaking suspicion verses 12a 12b and 12c were omitted from the text. That's
where the disciples responded by saying:
12a Waitest thou for one second, Lord. What about "blessed
art thou comfortable," or 12b "blessed art thou which havest good
jobs, a modest house in the suburbs, and a yearly vacation to the Florida Gulf
Coast?"
12c And Jesus said unto them, "Apologies, my brothers, but
those did not maketh the cut."
So there it
is. Written in red. Plain as day. Even still, we ignore it all when we hijack
the word "blessed" to make it fit neatly into our modern American
ideals, creating a cosmic lottery where every sincere prayer buys us another
scratch-off ticket. In the process, we stand the risk of alienating those we
are hoping to bring to the faith.
Let
me just stop you right there. Reading over those verses, I could not help but
notice that every single item on that list an attitude, or posture of the
heart. Nowhere does it say, as you would like to suggest, “Blessed are the
people who don’t own anything, for they’ll be the holier saints in heaven.” It
also doesn’t say, “Blessed are the people who hide their blessings under layers
of guilt and sadness, for they’ll be the most joyful in heaven.”
And we have
to stop playing that game.
The truth is, I have no idea why I was born where I was or why I
have the opportunity I have. You’re right. You are very, very, blessed to be
alive when and where you are. It's
beyond comprehension. But I certainly don't believe God has chosen me above
others because of the veracity of my prayers or the depth of my faith. Point number
two. Still, if I take advantage of the
opportunities set before me, a comfortable life may come my way. It's not guaranteed. That makes
three. But if it does happen, I
don't believe Jesus will call me blessed.
He will
call me "burdened."
He will
ask,
"What
will you do with it?"
"Will
you use it for yourself?"
"Will
you use it to help?"
"Will
you hold it close for comfort?"
"Will
you share it?"
So many
hard choices. So few easy answers. Really? (Reeaally??) This is entirely
an attitude of your own devising. Instead of choosing to see your blessings as
an opportunity to serve Christ and others, and instead of choosing to have a
joyful heart, you see yourself as burdened. Poor, poor you. How much guilt you
must carry for being so blessed .Everyone who is alive and breathing faces
those questions every day. Some of us have more to consider than others but we
must all consider it. It is the chief end of man to glorify God and enjoy
him forever. How do we glorify God? By loving him, and doing what he
commands. He commands that we be Joyful! With words of praise and thanksgiving
constantly on our lips! We are to praise His unending, unsurpassed goodness
all the time! We are BLESSED!
So my
prayer today is that I understand my true blessing. It's not my house. Or my
job. Or my standard of living. (Oh, yes, those pesky fake blessings, they do so
get in the way.)
No.
My blessing
is this. I know a God who gives hope to the hopeless. I know a God who loves
the unlovable. I know a God who comforts the sorrowful. And I know a God who
has planted this same power within me. Within all of us. This is Gnostisism at the core,
really. You only have *one* true blessing, the spiritual kind, because all the
earthly blessings are fake hollow forms of the essence of the true blessing?
Well, as my high-school teacher always told me, “We Ain’t No Stinkin Gnostics!”
Is the fact that Jesus came, died, and reconciled us to God as our true
heavenly father the ULTIMATE blessing? YES. Is it our ONLY blessing? Not by any
means.
And for
this blessing, may our response always be,
"Use
me."
Since I had this conversation, my new response is simply,
"I'm grateful." Would love to hear your thoughts. This really gets me hot under
the collar here. You’re grateful? Really? For what?! Blessings, I tell you,
blessings. These abundant gifts of love.
I propose that a more accurate way to
correct the issue you’re grappling with would be, instead of just ending
thoughts and facebook updates with “blessed” or “grateful”, to use
both. Like this: I'm am grateful to be so blessed. Or #blessed #grateful . They should go hand in hand, so let them.
