Why
is it that we fear or shun those things that don’t fit into our own ideology?
We so quickly determine what is right and wrong or good and evil based on our
own limited perception rather than comparing it to Life. Jesus is that Life, and
it’s only into HIS image that we should be conformed (Romans 8:29). Where we
get into trouble is when we determine that we “know” what is right or wrong,
or what Jesus’ image should be based on our own limited knowledge. We
continually buy in to the original lie in the Garden as we blindly reach for the
fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Then we try to cover our
own perceived nakedness with the fig leaves of Religion. God’s intention and
purpose for us is and has always been to eat from the Tree of Life where, in
“its” leaves, is the healing for the nations (Revelation
22:2).
In
Matthew 19, someone approached Jesus and said, “Good
Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” Jesus’
response is quite intriguing. In verse 17, Jesus responds, “…Why do you call
Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into
life, keep the commandments.” Jesus, the sinless one, asks “Why do you call
Me good?” Notice how He then turns the attention to the Father, and then
offers life—not good or evil, but LIFE.
We too often judge by appearance, tradition, religion,
and social ideologies when a man (or woman) is defiled, not from the outward
things, but from that which comes from within (See Mark 7:2-23). We are really
just walking in spiritual pride—we “know” how it should be, but do we?
Proverbs 22:4 says, “By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor
and life.” We need LIFE!
There
are secrets, insights, and hidden gems buried within the Native people that no
other people group on the face of the earth has. These secrets range from
spiritual truth to social reform, from honor and protocol to worship and the
arts. Hear me…especially those of you who are Euro-American
charismatics—there are secret things in the Spirit that the Father has given
that we will never know apart from Native people because He gave it to them. And
if we continue to discard them and not embrace them for who the Father created
them to be, we will NEVER discover those secrets—they will forever be lost.
Spiritual things that would have been easier to accomplish with those gifts will
be much more difficult without them.
This
is one of the reasons that we have such limited spiritual wisdom now. We
haven’t embraced our Native brothers and sisters (or other cultures) for who
they’ve been created to be. It’s like missing pieces of a puzzle—we put
the puzzle together but notice that huge chunks are missing. We won’t admit
that they’re missing because we threw them away the last time we “cleaned
house”. So rather than acknowledge their absence or try to find them again, we
determine to recreate them according to what we think they would have looked
like. The only problem is, we have no idea what they looked like. We may get a
pretty good approximation of the overall picture, but the fine details are
purely speculative, and more importantly, we cannot possibly know the shape of
each missing piece and how they interlocked with each other. It’s time to stop
trying to fit sky pieces in ground holes, and pretending we’re something that
we’re not.
I’ve been compelled to search the Scriptures for truth
in what God says about it all. What I’ve discovered so far is that He says
ALOT about the subject and so I offer those Scriptures here as arrows in our
bows. Catch their words with your spirit. Many of these talk about whether we
need circumcision or not, whether to eat food offered to idols or not, etc.
Those were the issues of their day. The concepts still apply to us today. Romans
14:5-7 and 1 Corinthians 7:23-24 really sum it up well:
“One person esteems one day
above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in
his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does
not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to
the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does
not eat, and gives God thanks. For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies
to himself.” Romans 14:5-7
“You
were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. Brethren, let each one
remain with God in that state in which he was called.” 1 Corinthians
7:23-24
Additional
Scriptures: Mark 7:2-7; Acts 11:2-10; 15:1, 7-10;
Romans 8:28-31; 14:1-23; 1 Corinthians 8:4-13,
9:19-22, 10:23-33; 12:3-6, 12-27; Galatians 2:6, 7, 11-17; 5:13, 14; Ephesians
2:10; Colossians 2:16-23