Having many possessions isn't necessarily a sin, yet possessions can be distracting...and if Satan can't convince us to worship him instead of God, he will do his best to distract us from our purpose.
That is why I try to have only what I need...seeking a life that is materially simple, yet spiritually rich. May my possessions not possess me!
As a Millennial, I've grown up in a postmodern society...yet I don't resonate with postmodernism.
When I read the works of modernists, I am struck with a nostalgia of sorts. Despite their cynicism, they seem more honest, sincere, innocent than most people today. They speak to my heart more than any postmodernist has ever done.
After all, the modernists were raised by Victorians. They had a Romantic past to look back to wistfully, even if they knew they could never return to that more innocent time. In contrast, Millennials have the 20th century to look back to...a century that many of us would rather forget.
What does God think of the web of lies known as fiction? Since fictional stories are untrue by definition, should Christians avoid them and stick to nonfiction? Is writing fiction a form of lying?
The answer to all of these questions is no. Christ and the prophets spoke in parables, which are fictional tales. Yet the parables cannot be considered lies, because God never lies.
Lying is sinful because the liar intentionally distorts reality, trying to portray untruth as truth. It is a form of hypocrisy. Yet an author of fiction doesn't claim to be telling a factual story, so the motives are completely different.
In fact, fictional storytelling can be used to tell profound truths, even in ways that nonfiction cannot. Nonfiction tells practical truths -- facts, in other words. Fiction -- if the story isn't merely intended to be entertainment -- tells transcendent truths.
"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every though to the obedience of Christ." -2 Corinthians 10:3-5
These verses used to make me wonder...does God despise imagination?
Since He created us to have one, the answer must be no. After all, the imagination grants us creativity, leading to artistic and scientific innovations. Creativity is part of what makes us reflect the image of God, and imagination can be used for good purposes.
Yet some Christians consider the imagination to be entirely evil, like how some consider all sex to be evil. Of course, sex isn't inherently evil. God created it!
The problem is the wicked heart of mankind, which twists normal sexual feelings into sexual immorality. Outside of God's established boundaries, sex becomes evil. Since sexual immorality is rampant these days, some Christians associate all sex with sin.
The imagination is similar, I think. The imagination of mankind is wicked from youth. Since we're born with a fallen nature, our imaginations are corrupt. As a result, most of what we spontaneously conjure in our imaginations is evil, and some Christians may suppress their creativity in order to avoid offending God.
Yet when we are redeemed by Christ, so are our imaginations. Christians must avoid immorality of the body and mind, but that doesn't mean denying our humanity. We aren't to stop using our imaginations, but to bring them under submission to Christ.
Being loved changes us.
There's a little stray dog -- perhaps a chihuahua, a Pomeranian, or a mix -- running around outside. The disturbed creature's crazed barking awakened me at 4:50 this morning. Unsettled, I couldn't go back to sleep.
Yesterday I tried to help it, but the dog hid in a corner, barking and snarling in fear. Fleas crawled across the poor thing's face. Its yellow eyes looked deranged, distant, traumatized....Yet I saw glimpses of what the dog could have been if someone cared for it.
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| At the time Tyson was next to me, contentedly snoring like a domestic dog ought to. |
Love...or the lack of love...makes us who we are. Love transforms our character. Without love we become like that abandoned dog, a deranged shadow of who we're meant to be.
The dog was too far gone to realize the difference between an enemy and a friend. It didn't sense my intention to help. From its perspective, all had become darkness and danger...and so it ran away from love, the only way it could be saved.