Organic Church – Holy Triage

Genesis 3:22 And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”

In the Beginning

In the beginning God was our Father. We didn’t have to worry about our next meal, our next paycheck, we didn’t have to know why, or how, or when. In the pureness of our minds we were able to live in the present moment, worry free, trusting our Father. In the beginning there was no law, only two trees representing two fruits, two futures, two choices. There was one tree that the Father warned us about and that was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The Father said for when you eat of it you will surely die. When we could have eaten from the tree of life we chose to eat of the tree of knowledge and in doing so brought into existence a new paradigm… The Paradigm of Good & Evil that Keeps Us from Seeing God.

The Consequences

The knowledge of good and evil began to obstruct our view of the Father. We became irrational, insecure, ashamed, naked and afraid. The Father that we directly communed with became a threat to us and we hid from Him. The first accusation then entered the world as a man blaming his wife, followed by the first of many murders and many other sins. People felt lost and they suddenly longed for structure or a system to fill the void once filled by the security of the Father’s love. People felt a separation from the Father and they felt a separation from each other defined as sin. Our minds were awakened in a way they were never intended to be… awakened in a way that blinded us. We began to question everything, we became discontent with simplicity, we began seeking answers where there were no answers and in this mad quest a once secure world became a dangerous place to live. We began to associate the Father with things that the Father has nothing to do with… things that we define as good and evil.

Biblical Examples of God not in Good or Evil

Jesus often demonstrated the blinding paradigm of good and evil in His parables. One example of the good and evil paradigm is found in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. The rich man’s wealth didn’t have anything to do with the Father and the poor man’s suffering didn’t have anything to do with the Father. When we associate the Father with what we define as good and evil we often place Him in positions where He does not exist. One modern example how the paradigm of good and evil forms false doctrines is the Prosperity Doctrine. Many churches today teach that Jesus was financially rich and that we too will become financially rich by giving to the church institution. Many churches teach that the riches of the wealthy are a sign of God’s blessing upon them. The parable of Lazarus and the rich man disproves the fact that the Father has something to do with neither wealth nor poverty.

Another example when Jesus used a parable to demonstrate the blinding effects of the paradigm of good and evil is the parable of the prodigal son. The prodigal son was blinded by the paradigm of good and evil. He went to his father and asked for his inheritance early so he could go out and find what was missing in his life. In this parable the father represents God. The Father allowed the son to venture out, but only played the role of the observer. The father in this parable had nothing to do with the son’s success or failure, but rather merely played the role of the observer. The prodigal son’s quests lead him to misery and misery lead the prodigal son to return home. The misery the prodigal son created had nothing to do with the father in the story. In this parable the brother of the prodigal son is left confused and bitter by the paradigm of good and evil. The Father (God) in this parable breaks every rule in the book of parenting and in doing so completely operates outside the laws of good and evil through His exercising of pure grace.

Jesus also demonstrates how the Father operates outside the paradigm of good and evil in other parables including, but not excluding, the wheat & tares, the parable of workers wages, building bigger barns and when He asks the rich man to sell everything He has and give the money to the poor.

The Observer

In the beginning before the fall people had unobstructed communion with the Father. In the beginning by choosing to eat from the tree of knowledge we caused the Father’s role to become more of an observing role. In sin our direct connection with God becomes severed… in other words this direct connection dies. The consequence of sin in the world is tied to the suffering both that we cause and the suffering that we allow to exist. In a perfect world love fulfills the law and brings atonement. The word atonement means the undoing. Love has a sanctifying effect as it directly opposes sin. When we choose to love our enemies it brings a healing effect upon our world. When we learn to work outside the paradigm of good and evil our hearts beat with the heartbeat of Christ. The word holy means to be set apart. We become holy when we rise above the paradigm of good and evil, when we see beyond its blinding effect. Jesus said you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free. Jesus came to open the eyes of the blind, to open the ears of the deaf and to set the captives free. We connect with the Father when we learn to observe like the Father.

Connecting with the Observer

1 Thessalonians 5:17 pray without ceasing,

What is prayer and how can we pray without ceasing? Could prayer be open eyes, open ears, a heightened sense of awareness where within holiness we obtain the ability to observe the way the Father observes? Could real prayer in its essences be the ability to see beyond, to rise above, to experience depth in the same way the Father does? What is walking in the spirit and could it possibly relate to praying without ceasing? How does connecting with the observer change our awareness? How does heightened awareness effect our actions? Does heightened awareness give us the ability to love in a way we once were unable to love? Upon our physical deaths do we completely and perfectly connect with the observer? In the book of Hebrews the Bible speaks of a cloud of witnesses could they be observing with the Father?

As I laid in bed from 3AM to 4AM thinking about this it became fascinating to consider how much sense it made!

I dedicate this article to my Atheist friends out there because I know they will love it.

Most of the “church” believes the world is getting worse and that evil will win the battle over the earth. The church will never improve a world they have written off as evil. Few Christians actually have faith in good as you can see by the emphasis they place on witch hunts. Most Christian’s have become pessimistic and cynical people known for seeing the worst in society. Most Christians repel the love of God, the love of others and even the love of their own children. If you cannot accept your redeemed self then you will never believe God and others will accept you. Christians miss out on true spiritual community allowing their wounds to sabotage any hope for healthy relationships. Christians hide their sins because they are afraid others will judge them in the same way they judge others. True Church starts in the heart and Christian’s hearts are often divided. Christian parents unknowingly abandon their own children to a “church” system that discourages people from being themselves. All these hidden hearts are left feeling unknown and filled with loneliness. Worst of all Christians are actually playing a role in the destruction of modern society, but in arrogance they walk through life believing they are improving the world.

The good works of Christians are often rooted in ego/insecurity or the desire to be a hero because many ultimately feel worthless. The world watches most Christian people treat God like a Prozac pill as they seek His presence like a drug to make them feel good and to cure their insecurities. Many Christians walk around bragging that God is “using them” to fill some authoritative role as His agents over the average in society. Christians love to appear smart and many have been “right” for so long that there pride refuses to let them be wrong. Many Christians love to defeat the Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses on there door steps and then they call it apologetics as they brag about it to there Christian friends. When Christians serve it is often more about feeling good then actually loving the people they are serving. After volunteering Christians will often talk about there good works and elevate themselves higher then they ought. Christians usually don’t care enough to even know the names of the homeless and the less fortunate they serve. Why? Because serving is often more about the warm feeling and the high they get then the people they serve. This is why it is so easy for churches to waste millions of dollars on beautiful buildings and worthless programs that improve their so-called images rather then truly tending to the needs of the poor, the widows and the orphans.

It is a good thing that God came for the sick, the weak, the fools, the least, the last, the lost, the poor, the widows and orphans. I guess all of those prideful people who think they are God’s gift to society are only fooling themselves. I am sure these so-called Christians stopped fooling the world a long time ago. The church will continue to see lower attendance and fewer tithes from its members as people leave “the building” in search of God. Those left in the pews will be those who sadly believe that God will somehow pay them back with a larger home or BMW in exchange for their tithes and offerings as there pastor flies around the world with his bigger traveling budget. The people left in the pews will fall victim to the money hungry and power hungry wolves who love to fleece the flock for all their worth. These “churches” will volunteer people to death, drain their pockets and then laugh as the door hits them in the ass on their way out. Why? Because “churches” operate like communist governments and they discipline people questioning the “system”.

So there you have it, the church really is making the world worse. There you have it the “churches” dramatic belief in the world’s destruction may actually become a self fulfilled prophecy, fulfilled by the “church” itself. Christians are actually a major source of love repelling, judgmental, arrogance that can only hinder them from making any real difference in the world. “Christian” lack of patients, grace and mercy will ultimately be returned to them in the same measure. Believe it or not the world and the secular media even now are calling the “churches” bluff.

Look at the past “Christian” president that “Christians” elected for 8 years. President Bush betrayed us; he made America into the laughing stock of the international community. President Bush wanted to be a hero like the typical Christian, but pride cometh before a fall. As the world watches the last so-called Christian nation go under it won’t be a pretty picture. The world will watch a so-called “Christian” nation rather spend hundreds of billions protecting our oil then saving the sick and the poor of Africa. We would rather build more weapons to protect our oil then for the purpose of ending genocide and child sex trafficing. We would rather generate more drama in our media to sell more advertising then promote the truth. Why? Because corporations own both Americans and it’s politicians. REMEMBER it is far easier to believe a lie that you want to believe then an “inconvenient truth”. What are the consequences? According to the CDC the most prescribed medications in America are drugs for anxiety, depression and sleep aids. When it comes down to it, there is often both sad and selfish motivates behind all the volunteer work & financial contributions. Everyone loves to feel like a winner.

Maybe Christians should read there own Bible and heed the words of Jesus below???

Matthew 7: 21-23

I Never Knew You “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

How can people who read the same Bible and attend the same church have completely different interpretations of both God & the Bible?

Think of it like SECURE people and an INSECURE people.

If an INSECURE single person gets a smile from an attractive member of the opposite sex how do they handle it?

VS.

If a SECURE single person gets a smile from an attractive member of the the opposite sex how do they handle it?

When Jesus taught His parables He knew people would react in one of three different ways. Some people would interpret His parables totally wrong, some people would not be able to interpret them at all and some people would actually totally get it.

Today if I read the Bible believing God is mean and He hates me I will add something to it. If I read the Bible believing God loves me it makes it almost impossible to subconsciously add to it… since God is love.

Example: In the parable of the talents it is clear that the man who received the one talent did not believe God was good. See how not believing God is good effects his behavior…..

Mat 25:24-30 “Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. ” ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Example: Few people in the Old Testament really GOT God like David did as revealed in the Psalms. David is even considered a man after God’s own heart.

Mat 12:3-8 He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

I happen to believe the God of the old testament was totally misunderstood by His followers. In the above scriptures even Jesus clearly indicates these people didn’t GET God (saying David did get God). This makes me question some of the writings in the Old Testament

We live in a world that represents the elite’s vision to harvest profit. Everything including education is designed to make us produce for the elite. We are slaves and most of us don’t even know it. There are a few elite controlling the masses via big government and via large corporations. The elite keep us hypnotized with a few promises and the crumbs that fall from their tables. We are slaves until the day we become aware of our slavery. Once we are aware we often become alone because we begin to see something that most don’t see. We are hypnotized by the media, video games, greed for gadgetry, sex, a lust for power and popularity. EVEN when we launch movements it often becomes more about us then the cause. Once the elite can no longer rule us in this fashion then prepare for a dictatorship that will be soon to follow.

This is a reflection of a parent who keeps there kids entertained for the purpose of keeping them out of their hair. What happens when the child one day wakes up to this form of manipulation? On that day begins his/her revolution which is often labeled a rebellion.

The American Indians that we robbed, raped, lied to and then murdered did not believe in hierarchies. The American Indians did not believe people were meant to rule over each other. The people we stole this country from became our slaves for a time until the day we didn’t need them and decided to make them our enemies to justify murdering them. Today we are at risk of succumbing to the same fate under the power of the elite.

This is why I love the movie AVATAR!

It is the darkness that conceals what lies deep down at the core that God seeks to eliminate. All I did was articulate what some feel / sense yet fail to understand. Evil means simply to conceal the truth. The world we live in that God tells us to not be of has found many ways / means to shield the truth. Again… I know this is dark, but it is what many feel / sense yet fail to understand. HOWEVER, the truth is when a feeling / sense gets articulated (becomes light) causing some to go into denial (hide) and others to be set free.

We are like gifts that God is unwrapping in this life, but some would rather not be unwrapped because they prefer darkness rather then light.

Today I interpret everything on my own constantly facing new truths that combat old lies. I now realize the dangers behind mediators who have too much at stake to simply say I am wrong. I now realize the god they are serving has become money at some point, turning their once on fire churches into cold businesses. As I started to see clearly for the first time even more has been revealed. It became clear they are slaves to the money that pays their bills, slaves to the institution and slaves to their own spotless reputations, these same spotless reputations that keep their paychecks coming. Church in a building is now a show and the show must go on… even while as Mother Teresa said “loneliness spreads like the leprosy of our generation”.

On many days I am not a God fearing man. Being a prince is a lot of pressure for an imperfect man to bare. How about we add the fact that the ideal man does not even exist, therefore God’s solution is the fact that He asks us to be merciful (meaning not punishing when someone deserves it) and gracious (meaning being nice even when someone doesn’t deserve it).

I have been with my wife Jana 16 years and I can say with all certainty that I am far from the prince that she deserves. If my wife was looking for the ideal man I would have never made it past the first date (I said stupid things on our first date). Did I mention the fact that we met in a bar and neither of us was sober. I was what many would consider a backslider christian and my wife rarely thought about herself as a christian. In fact if either of us were waiting for or looking for the ideal mate…… both of us would still be single.

Just saying (with a smile) my own perspective. Jesus didn’t die so we could sin, He died because we do sin. Grace and mercy means accepting that as handsome and as beautiful a person may be…. we as Jesus did need to lay down our own lives and sacrifice our definition of what is ideal sometimes. He may not always be the handsome prince. She may not be always be the beautiful princess so grace and mercy become the glue that keeps people together. Without out grace and mercy we will find ourselves either continually being kicked to the curb or continually kicking people to the curb.

1 Peter 4:8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

Remember the quote “too good to be true” and you will be OK.

In the past I have been guilty of planning and producing the “Me Show”. The “ME SHOW” is about trying to be somebody when you feel deep down like a nobody. I find it easy to love and forgive those types of people because I know what it is like to feel like a “nobody”. I have had friends that constantly boast and I have accepted them knowing that behind all the bragging lies pure misery. When your identity is based upon external forces that are beyond your control…. life is like riding a wild horse that can never be broken. I see people everyday thinking they have the power to break the wild horse (life), but these people are only happy when they are temporarily holding something, something that will eventually lead to their deep misery when the wild horse (life) kicks them off… over and over again. This is why I find the Buddhist concepts of desire leading to pain very realistic.

Now that my “ME SHOW” is over my goal today is to simply pour out my heart with no strings attached…. even draw attention toward others and away from me when I have the opportunity. Love given and received freely is my reward. I am glad to not be in a position where my financial security or my self esteem is dependent upon my popularity. I can freely speak my mind without the worry of people deleting me from their friends lists. After graduating from Bible college I decided not to be a pastor because watching other people’s “me shows” started making me sick to my stomach.

The best favor anyone can do for themselves is avoid seeking an identity in the girls, the gold and the glory. The smart girls can usually see right through you, the gold is easily lost unless you make it your wicked slave master and the fame only opens the doorway to controversy. When people identify with the girls, the gold and the glory they invite destructive fears into their lives…. fears that often bring death to their door step early.

There is a running theme in many of the parables Jesus taught that makes the simple statement… “show up”. Show up for the wedding feast, show up to work, show up at home after a long journey that takes you to a place feeding pigs and even eating the pig food. Show up to the challenge of taking your talents and making them multiply. Show up to eat, to drink, to visit the imprisoned, to care for the sick and needy, to free the captives (so they are free to show up too). Show up at the very kingdom of God that is both amongst us and within us. Show up to gather with two or more in Christ’s name and He will show up.

Jesus welcomed everyone to show up thieves, prostitutes, races of people that were previously rejected by the Jews, tax collectors (basically politicians). When Jesus called out to “the world”…. He meant it and when He used the word “all”…. He meant it. Jesus was more concerned with the obsticals that prevented people from showing up (the religious leaders) then He was concerned with trying to determine which individuals had the potential to show up. Jesus simply says “come” follow me and He says to everyone regardless of race, class, sexual gender or religion.

God gave me a dream one night 5 years ago that showed the institutional church trying to place God’s living water behind a dam (making it stale and bitter water, rotten like manna not eaten the same day) and I heard God’s voice say open the floodgates so I can build up my church. My life began to change and I met Darin Hufford author of “The Misunderstood God” a year later. Today I know a lot of people who have heard God speak this same message to their hearts. Things are changing faster then you realize because the present economy is challenging the institution and revealing their wickedness. GOD HIMSELF is building an army and people are being freed from slavery…. and all the while the hearts of the religious leaders grow harder and more calloused.

Today I want you to think about the word “presence”. What keeps you from being present? The ultimate form of presence in someones life is true love. What keeps you from loving with no strings attached? What keeps you from “showing up”?

There is nothing in the world that is permanent; change is inevitable. In fact, the only thing that is constant in this world is change – it happens no matter what. And if we are to move with the times, we must adjust to change, or we risk being left behind in obscurity and antiquity. The church is no exception to this rule – it has undergone significant changes over the centuries, and is still changing with the passage of time. If we live in the past, we find it hard to survive in the present, and this leaves us with no hope of ever seeing the future. So in order to survive the changes that comprise the church of the 21^st century, here’s what we need to do:

• Accept the change: If you condition yourself to accept change, it does not seem that big a deal when it does happen. It may not happen, but when it does, you are ready for it. This makes a huge difference in your attitude towards change. Rather than fighting it, you are now ready to embrace it. So it becomes something you welcome with open arms as opposed to something you fight with all your might.
• Be the change: If you believe in being progressive, be the change you want to see. Use your church and its teachings to help others and bring about positive changes in their lives. Instead of condemning sinners to hell and damnation, try to help them see Christ’s way of life. When you begin to make a difference in their lives, you are bringing in more people into the fold of Christ’s flock.
• Anticipate the change: Finally, you must anticipate change in any form it may come, even if it is shocking and you cannot accept it. Some churches are so filled with politics nowadays that it is hard to associate them as being houses of God. There is so much infighting and bickering and this makes it hard for people to pray and concentrate on the Lord alone. Anticipate that this could happen to your church too, and be prepared to focus your energy on worship alone instead of letting your mind wander and be distracted by these other goings-on.

Not all the change that is taking place in the church is bad; the key to continuing to be a good Christian lies in being a part of the good change and steering clear of all that is not true to what Jesus taught us.

By-line:

This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of online christian colleges . Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: adrienne.carlson83@yahoo.com.