{"id":468,"date":"2010-06-17T08:07:45","date_gmt":"2010-06-17T14:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/raincitypastor.wordpress.com\/?p=468"},"modified":"2010-06-17T08:07:45","modified_gmt":"2010-06-17T14:07:45","slug":"the-liberating-power-of-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/06\/17\/the-liberating-power-of-one\/","title":{"rendered":"The Liberating Power of One"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

As I\u2019m reading along in the II Kings 17, I come to this little phrase, \u201cThe Songs of Israel did things secretly which were not right, against the Lord their God\u201d<\/em>. \u00a0I put the Bible down, feeling like there\u2019s something important in the air, something that needs digesting. \u00a0I\u2019ve had countless conversations over the years about the disillusionment and bitterness that grow inside people because it is eventually discovered that there\u2019s a Grand Canyon of distance between the leader\u2019s private life they live and public teaching they proclaim. \u00a0They have a secret life, like the sons of Israel in II Kings.<\/p>\n

I pick up the other book I\u2019m reading called \u201cPracticing the Presence of God\u201d by a 17th century French monk named \u201cBrother Lawrence\u201d. \u00a0 This guy had a reputation for being calm in the midst of any circumstance, overflowing with genuine patience and generosity, a genuine manifestation of Christ\u2019s grace. \u00a0He tells us that he learned, \u201cThe most excellent method he had found for going to God was that of doing our common business without any view of pleasing men but purely for the love of God.\u201d<\/em> Again, later, he says that he came to the point where he, \u201cbegan to live as if there was none but He and I in the world.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve read Brother Lawrence before and when I came to that \u201cnone but He and I\u201d bit, I\u2019d close the book. \u00a0I\u2019ve seen the \u201cnone but me and Jesus\u201d paradigm become a veil for detachment from real relationships, or honesty, or laughter and hospitality. \u00a0That kind of veiled piety can be nothing more than license for selfishness, arrogance, even contempt.<\/p>\n

But today, with Brother L\u2019s words juxtaposed with II Kings 17, I suddenly saw that Brother L was simply talking about doing everything we do both \u201cfor\u201d and \u201cthrough\u201d Jesus, realizing that the end result will be greater engagement, hospitality, and joy, not less. \u00a0The monk unpacks what both \u201cfor\u201d and \u201cthrough\u201d mean in his writings.<\/a> \u201cFor\u201d Jesus means that everything; writing this blog, doing the dishes after that, working on texts for my summer series after that, doing e-mail after that, shopping after that, shopping after that, caring the basil plant after that, and watching Boston (hopefully) win game 7 on the road after that while eating with my family and guests \u2013 all of it can be done \u201cfor Jesus\u201d \u2013 for His glory. \u00a0Brother L speaks of how, over the years, his times of \u201cwork\u201d became as hallowed as his times of \u201cprayer\u201d because he\u2019d learned, through practice, to make every act and act of worship.<\/p>\n

This paradigm will have the effect of changing your life. \u00a0To help us all overcome discouragement, he reminds us that he failed often, but when he did, he simply picked up where he left off, confessing, and starting once again to do everything \u201cfor the love of God\u201d. \u00a0He takes this one step further by saying that he purposed to do everything \u201cthrough\u201d the power of God. \u00a0He shares the example of being sent to the city to buy the wine for the monastery. \u00a0When given tasks, he\u2019d simply pray, commit the work to God, and do it, confident that God\u2019s presence and the power of the Holy Spirit would infuse the work with grace and beauty.<\/p>\n

It would be easy to read this kind of thing through either a romantic or cynical lens. \u00a0The former elevates Brother L to unworldly status and sets us up for disappoint as we try to learn from him. \u00a0The latter gives us license to dismiss him as a quack, and remain in our spiritual mediocrity. \u00a0Instead, I\u2019d invite you to look at him and say this: \u00a0\u201cHere\u2019s someone who sought to live everyday in the conscious awareness of God\u2019s presence as much as possible, more and more over the years, and it changed him. \u00a0I think I\u2019ll try that too.\u201d<\/p>\n

When I\u2019ve been in that space, the effects are palpable, ranging from blood pressure, to sleep, to the capacity to really be present and listen to people. I laugh more, am fearful less, and just generally find greater joy in living when I\u2019m trying to please one rather than two thousand. \u00a0Reducing the audience to One is both more challenging and liberating that I\u2019d imagine. \u00a0I hope you give it a try!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I\u2019m reading along in the II Kings 17, I come to this little phrase, \u201cThe Songs of Israel did things secretly which were not right, against the Lord their God\u201d. \u00a0I put the Bible down, feeling like there\u2019s something important in the air, something that needs digesting. \u00a0I\u2019ve had countless conversations over the years […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-intimacy","category-rule-of-life"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Liberating Power of One<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As I'm reading along in the II Kings 17, I come to this little phrase, "The Songs of Israel did things secretly which were not right, against the Lord\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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