Where Do We Go From Here part 4

Yes, it really is part four, but the end [of this tangent, anyway] is near, I promise. If you're interested, parts one, two, and three are here, here, and here. The next part is the Calling. Specifically, when God called Abraham into a covenant with him. In essence, God promised Abe that he would make a great nation out of Abe's seed, and Abe promised to obey God and follow him [you know, I wonder if this is like the red and blue pills in Matrix, and if Abraham ever wished he'd chosen to stay in the matrix...er, you know what I mean! I know I would have about the time God said "circumcision."]

God says,

"I will make you into a great nation

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,

and whoever curses you I will curse;

and all peoples on earth

will be blessed through you." Genesis 12:2-3

"I will bless you, and you will be a blessing." Hmm. McLaren says in his book:

"When religions assume that their adherents are chosen only to be

blessed, and forget that they are blessed to be a

blessing, they distort their identity and they drift from God's

calling for them... when they see themselves as blessed to the exclusion

of others rather than for the benefit of others, they become part of the

problem instead of part of the solution." [McLaren p64]

Later, they talk about the part that says He will bless those who bless Abe's people, and curse those who curse his people. McLaren defines blessing someone as expressing love and support for that person. Cursing is defined as withdrawing that love and support. So God isn't saying that He's gonna destroy anyone who stands in His way, just that if anyone doesn't support and love Abraham, then He will not support and love those people. The book goes on to say:

"Anybody who opposes the general direction of creating good, of helping the world become

better not worse... would be working against God, kind of unmaking

or uncreating the world that God has been making, [or] destroying God's work... and of course,

God would be against that." [p67]

This is so fascinating to me, because this definition of good encompasses everything positive, not just trying to preach the gospel and convert people [like Christians sometimes believe], and evil is everything that damages or destroys part of God's creation, including the plants and animals, but also the people in it. And we each have to choose whether we will help God create His world, or whether we will work against Him and try to destroy it.

Another thing that is so exciting to me is that we are co-creators with God. Artists, musicians, and writers are the most visible about this, but we all create things in our own lives, whether consciously or not. This is profound for me because I've always been led to believe that God is the Creator and we are just His creation. Maybe not puppets, but certainly not anything worthy of the title creator. I thought that ideas only came from God, and He only gave them out to 'special' people, and that He was the one who controlled everything that happened to me. But I'm thinking that maybe we really do create our own destiny. That maybe the only choice we have to make is whether to serve Him [by co-creating the world He dreamed of when He made us], or to serve evil [aka Satan] and destroy it. And once we choose to serve Him, where we go from there and how well we do our job is up to us.

It's up to us, but we are not left to muddle through alone. I think He is there to help us every step of the way, if we ask Him to. I think He's more than happy to help us figure out what we want to create, maybe helps us see our potential in a given area. But ultimately, how far we go to reach that potential is up to us.

So, we are all called into a relationship with God. When we enter this relationship, we become co-creators with Him, creating the world of His dreams [which I can guarantee you is far more wonderful than we can imagine!]

Woo Hoo!! Okay, I'm done for now. Blog ya later!