Dale Cresap's blog

Are you familiar with the concept of karma? You may recognize this term from eastern religions as the idea that good will be rewarded and evil punished. You may reject karma as not being of Christian origin, but do you hold to the same idea without the name? Do you think that sinners other than yourself are getting lenient terms from me? Consider those who worked all day in the vineyard. They thought the late-comers were paid too much. The elder brother resented the generosity of the father to the prodigal son. Come to me and rejoice in my grace poured out on others as much as on you and you shall be the children of your Father in heaven. 

Do you have a story of pain and bad treatment that you received at church? Do you know any believers who don’t? You understand that the search for a perfect church would be futile. They are all attended by fallible people. You are one of these yourself, and so you may have contributed to someone else’s church pain story even without knowing it. And yet I am still present in my church despite its imperfections, and I am at work in you to bring forth my likeness in you even through the trials and difficulties you face. Don’t focus on them or let them consume you. Look to me to give you the grace to look forward and move forward. 

Are you looking for a meaningful life? Advertisers spend extravagant sums to tell emotionally engaging stories and introduce their product at the last moment to imply there is a connection. You don’t have to be very smart to see there isn’t, but they are betting millions you won’t notice. Such is the intensity of the intrinsic human desire for meaning. The desire for engagement with something transcendent is undeniable. You won’t find it in advertiser’s claims or in buying the products they offer, but it is still available. You just have to look for it in the right place. Seek and you will find. 

Have you ever seen a messy desk? You wonder how anyone could find a particular item there. Computers do not lend themselves to such a disorganized approach. Every file must be assigned a location somewhere in the directory structure. Which approach do you use to classify people? There is a strong human bias to assign categories, and to classify the people you meet according to observable characteristics. This is called stereotyping and it is an ugly habit when applied to such characteristics as race. If you are open to see it you will find that people don’t fit easily into neat categories. It is better to take a messy desk approach to them rather than forcing a fit. 

My word relates an incident in which a man was preaching according to the baptism of John. Some other believers overheard him and afterwards spoke to him privately to give him the rest of the story of the gospel, including the crucifixion, resurrection, and redemption that it brought. Have you ever been tempted to set someone straight whose understanding of the truth was incomplete? Can you see the advantages of doing this privately? Someone making proclamations to an audience is more likely to be defensive than receptive, and neither speaker nor audience benefits from a conflicted message. Truth can be patient until the time is right. 

My word teaches you that it is better to suffer wrong without cause than to sue your brother in the courts. This is stated in regard to this specific condition, so it could be interpreted as having a narrow application. Do you think the same principle could be applied broadly? Are there other ways in which it is better to endure an offense rather than to take active measures in reaction to it? Most people make such decisions intuitively and overlook minor slights, rudeness, and insults. Let this be your preferred method of dealing with provocations, that you resist not evil and conduct yourselves as the children of your Father in heaven. 

Do you discipline your children? If your child ran into the street, would you use it as an opportunity to correct them and teach them the dangers of traffic? What if they ran into the street and were hit by a car? Would you apply discipline in that case? Hopefully not. In this case they have suffered enough. The purpose of discipline was that this case might be avoided. My word teaches you that I chasten and correct my sons. Do not confuse this with punishment for sin. As in the case above I provide you with instruction and correction that you may be spared the real injuries of bad choices. 

Are you looking for opportunities to serve me? Do you want to be led by my Spirit in doing so? If you are waiting for a prompt, and are not sensitive in hearing from me, you will not find many opportunities. Are you familiar with defaults from using computers? If your default is ‘no’, then you will walk past many places where I could use you. What if your default was yes? Then you would assume that every assignment was for you unless I told you no. This would involve a continuous running dialogue, but it would result in more opportunities realized for you. Does this seem like an unrealistic approach? Try it and see if it doesn’t lead you to greater sensitivity and awareness. 

Do you make an effort to see everyone you meet according to the essence of their being, the way that I made them? Do they make it difficult for you because they see themselves as what they wear or what they drive or other possessions? Event those who realize that this perspective is shallow still see themselves in terms of acquired titles and credentials and achievements. But the true essence of their being existed from birth. It is hard to see them that way if they refuse to see themselves that way. You can minister life to them by looking beyond the identity they have constructed to engage with who they really are. 

Do you believe that the Bible is true? Many have investigated the basis and claims of the Bible in great depth and found them to be true. Others are still skeptical and this is ultimately a matter of faith. Do you understand the difference between proving the Bible to be right and using the Bible to prove yourself right? Surely you have seen people from opposing viewpoints eager to quote scriptures to defend their positions. They usually use different scriptures, but does this matter if they come from the same book? Perhaps this should make you reconsider the way in which you use the Bible. If you approach it without a predetermined position it will speak for itself.