RSS

Tag Archives: Soul Care

Soul Care – Part 1 (by Rob Reimer)

21 May

Dear God, a friend asked me to read this book that’s meant a lot to him. I’ve been spending some time with it and I have things I’ve agreed with, things I’ve disagreed with, and then things that have made me think. I thought I might journal about some of them here and see if your Holy Spirit has anything to say to me through this.

First, I highlighted this sentence:

“Here’s a scary little secret: people marry to the level of their brokenness. If on a scale of 1 to 10 you are a 5, the healthiest relationship you will have is a 5. If you want to move from a 5 to a 7, there is one and only one path to get there. You must change.”

I disagree. I have to say that this was pretty early on in the book so it has made me approach the rest of it with some healthy skepticism. Why do I disagree? Because I can be a healthy person with an unhealthy person who will bring the relationship score down. Or I can be the weak link. If I’m a 5, that doesn’t mean I married a 5. If my wife is an 8 and she sees something in me, a 3, that falls in love and you call her to be with me, then I will be living in a relationship better than a 3 simply because of her presence. If she’s an 8, I’m a 3, and our relationship is a 5 (all of these are obviously subjective ratings), then we can climb to a 6 or 7 through my own growth. So I’m not quite with Mr. Reimer on this one.

Second highlighted sentence:

“Many churches today have one of these components in their culture: anointed truth, true community, or the presence and power of God. But it takes all three to create a culture of deep change.”

I have to say that I hate to disagree again, but this isn’t how I view churches today. I see them more as either having all three of these areas or having none of them. I’m not sure you can have these three things in a mutually exclusive way. Can you have anointed truth taught and not also develop community through it and have your presence and power among us? Can I do the first two and not have your presence and power? I guess I can see where “true community” could exist without the other two, but I’m not sure any environment will have one of the other two for very long without having all three develop. But if anointed truth or your presence and power shows up first and the other two components don’t develop, then that component will fade quickly. In my opinion. But I do agree with him that the healthiest churches have all three. The others are just going through the motions and it is why so many churches are dying and not attracting new people. It’s also why politics have been able to take root and become an idol in churches. We have lost our first love.

Third highlighted sentence:

But if you believe that you are fearfully and wonderfully made by a loving Creator, in the image of God and redeemed by the Savior who counted you worthy of His very life, then your life will be rich with meaning, purpose, and passion.”

I totally agree with this. It reminded me of Job and what he figured out about his “meaning, purpose, and passion.” At the beginning of Job, he counted himself righteous and that you would reward or discipline him based on his performance. When he suffered even without bad performance, he took issue with you. But after you showed up and spoke to him at the end of the book, he realized that his life was not about himself at all. His purpose was about simply being here to be used by you and to worship you. He deserved nothing. It’s the realization Paul comes to very quickly: “But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesu–the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.” (Acts 20:24) My life isn’t about what I accomplish by building up my own storehouses. I don’t deserve anything. The only thing I can expect is your grace through the gift you gave me through Jesus’s life, death and resurrection. Beyond that, my life is about you.

Fourth highlighted sentence:

“There are two key tools that you can access to renew your mind. They are both vital–you need to renew your mind by holding on to the truth, and you need the presence of God.” (emphasis Reimer’s)

This reminds me of Andy Stanley’s current series on “The Fundamental List.” So much of what we get theologically wrapped around the axle about is just immaterial opinion. Mary. Infant baptism. Drinking. Homosexuality. Promiscuity. Some of these are more important that others, but they are not foundational to my faith. For me, believing in Jesus, repenting and then developing a relationship with you is fundamental. The more I do that the more the Holy Spirit molds and shapes me. He is shaping me in this moment right now–clearing out the thorns in my soil. Getting rid of the pursuit of wealth and cares of this world. Developing the fruits of His/your Spirit. Sharing the hope to someone else that they can have those fruits. Loving my neighbor. I need your truth and I need your presence, as Reimer says. I just need to pray for your discernment about what is real truth from you and what is false truth from others.

Fifth highlighted sentence:

“I often spend time alone with God in silence.”

Here’s what I typed as a note for this: “Silence is a weird one for me. The times I hear God speak to me in silence aren’t as much prescribed times of silence, but only after I’ve been actively seeking him for an answer and then he uses an intuition or sometimes even something or someone around me to say something that the Holy Spirit seems to tell me it’s from Him.” Honestly, Father, these times of journaling have been some of the most revelatory times for me. I have felt your Spirit speak to me through channeling my thoughts while I focus them through this process. I focus on you in a way that I never can in just silence. Maybe I’m missing something. Maybe I haven’t disciplined myself enough to learn from this process. I don’t know. But I know that I find this time with you in this way incredibly edifying and soul-building.

Sixth highlighted sentence:

“The lie I believed was that if someone didn’t agree with me, they didn’t love me, or at least I felt threatened that they wouldn’t love me.”

I’m grateful I’m not at this place now. I think I used to be. I don’t know that I used to feel loved or unloved based on this, but I have certainly wondered about if I can be in relationship. And there have been some dealbreakers for me. But those have been more about personal things in relationships and boundaries than they’ve been about general opinions regarding life, theology, politics, etc.

Conclusions

So that’s where I am up to this point. I’m not sure if I will finish the book or not. But I wanted to stop and assess what I’ve gotten out of it up to this point. Even the things I haven’t agreed with have made me stop and question why I disagree so I guess that’s been good too. But just know that I love you. I’m grateful for you. I know I deserve nothing. I’m here for whatever you’re calling me to do. Give me ears to hear.

I pray this under your authority and in your name,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on May 21, 2023 in Miscellaneous, Soul Care by Rob Reimer

 

Tags: ,

Reaping What You Sow and Weeding Your Field

13 May

Dear God, I’m going to take a couple of passages out of context: Galatians 6:7-8 and Matthew 13:24-30. Well, not really. Maybe I’m actually going to focus on the context for the verses because I read something this morning that I didn’t necessarily agree with, and I want to see if I am wrong. Or at least consider if I’m wrong or right–I don’t know that I can come up with a definitive answer.

I was reading a book called Soul Care by Rob Reimer, and he used the Galatians 6 passage to talk about himself and how he had been reaping what he had sown with his wife. He said he was praying one day through issues he was having with his wife and, separately, someone at work, and you said to him, “The law of the harvest.” The he heard, “A person reaps what they sow. You can blame Jen [his wife] if you want. You can blame Me if you want to. But you are standing in a field of weeds because you have been sowing weed seeds. You have been sowing seeds of anger and selfishness. If you want to stand in a field of fruitfulness, you have to sow new seeds.”

Yeah, on the surface this sounds good, but there are simply times when people do not reap what they sow. Sometimes they are great, loving people who experience rejection and hate. Sometimes they are difficult people who find themselves surrounded by forgiving and gracious people. In the Bible, Job comes to mind (his friends and his wife giving him a hard time). Manoah and his wife and the way Samson turned out. So it made me to go Galatians 6 just now to see what the context is for the passage. Here is what Paul said to the Galatians in chapter six, verses seven through nine: “Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.”

So what I’m seeing here is the overall field of my life and how it lines up with you, your peace, and eternity. So from Reimer’s perspective and what he’s saying for his particular set of situations, the whole reaping what you sow metaphor can be true, certainly. But I don’t think it has to be true. When it comes to human relationships, one needs to take responsibility for the hurts they’ve caused and not only apologize but also strive to make it better. But it also takes the other side to respond, and sometimes they aren’t prepared to or able to respond in kind.

In some cases, I think there are other factors that can drive the outcome of a relationship. That’s where the second passage comes in. If I think Reimer is taking Galatians 6 out of context, then perhaps I’m taking Matthew 13 out of context. First, the parable of the weeds in verses 24-30 is preceded by one of my favorite parables that I’ve been looking at lately, the parable of the Sower (the farmer scattering seeds that fall in four different types of soil). But verses 24-30 talks about the weeds that are planted when the farmer isn’t looking (with you being the farmer, Satan being the weed planter, and the evil people of the world being the weeds): Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew. The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’ ‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed. ‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked. ‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do. Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’”

The truth is, sometimes weeds get planted that we had nothing to do with. And sometimes there’s nothing we can do about them except pray to you that somehow healing will come.

Father, you know the hurts I’ve experienced and the hurts that I’ve caused. If I’ve caused hurt, reveal it to me and give me a legitimate chance to repent and make it as right as I can. For the things over which I have not control, help me to know how to respond to that as well. Give me serenity to accept the things I cannot change. Give me courage to change the things I can. And give me great wisdom and serenity to know the difference.

I pray all of this through the grace and mercy you offer me through the life, death, and resurrection of your son Jesus,

Amen

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on May 13, 2023 in Galatians, Matthew

 

Tags: , ,