We Need

(With an imperious air) We don’t need you.

And you don’t need us. On the other hand, we are altogether glad you took a moment to read this. Our motives are radically different from other religious groups. It’s not propaganda to say that we are trying to get you free from bondage to sin. The difference is that we know better than to think your spiritual liberty depends on us. It depends on you and God. Our mission is to help you become aware of the lies and blinders that prevent you taking His path to liberty.

We don’t see your path; we simply know of a certainty it’s there. God said so — wanna argue with Him? But you do argue with Him. All sin is rooted in disputing what God has revealed. Our mission isn’t to bring His revelation to you, but to show you how we found His revelation for each of us. Because the only way you’re going to get a personal encounter with God — a direct revelation — is come down that path He made for you.

Our payoff is the blessings of His glory shining in our souls when we see how He uses our fallible human response to His divine call to bring other folks into that glory. We are just along for the ride and entirely disposable. But what a heavenly thrilling ride it is! So we gladly encourage you to hang out with us as long it serves His glory in your life. As soon as that changes, you need to move on. You’ll know; if we have to tell you, there’s something wrong already.

Meanwhile, just a few of you will sense that this mission here at Kiln of the Soul is a longer term destination for you. Welcome. We are still figuring this out, so don’t be afraid to jump in whatever you got going. Still, don’t pretend you can just take over. If that’s your urging, there’s something very wrong with your understanding of how this works. We have a pretty clear idea what God has put into our hands, and we’ll guard that trust He has given us. But in this virtual space, that guarding is mostly a matter of sharp words to call your attention to something.

I noted that some of you will hang out and find an important job in this parish. Sister Christine is my partner in this mission. She lives out around Ottawa, Canada and I live near Oklahoma City; we’ve never come any closer geographically. God can work that way. We’ve developed a strong bond of friendship and fellowship and helped save each other massive amounts of moral misery. She’s the Mama Elder in my parish. That’s a role, not a “position.” The label is meant to form an image in your mind of what her presence is like on this blog. She’s about as good as any mama I’ve ever known, and better than a great many I’ve known. The point is that God uses her in my life and I can’t imagine how you could hang out with me here and not be blessed by her involvement.

She posted something on her blog yesterday, then thought better of it, I suppose. That’s her business, but I loved it and was going to discuss it here. The gist of it is simple: Your freedom is right there burned into your heart. Whatever excuse you use for ignoring it won’t matter, because it still works out to sin. Remember what I wrote in my “Our Crazy Religion” series? It’s a moral failure in God’s eyes — a sin against Him as Creator — if you do not strive to unite your moral awareness into a big holistic picture that includes how your body is an integral part of Creation. God takes His Creation seriously; He sent His Son to die on the Cross so Creation could be free from bondage. Creation is a living and active member in all of this stuff. Creation is one big thing made up of countless little things, each with their own kind of personal awareness and a form of sentience, and each one eagerly participates in your personal redemption if you will just take the time to learn something about how it all works. Nature isn’t fallen; we are. We can take advantage of that and use Creation as our strong and trustworthy ally.

But at some point you simply must assert your moral boundaries and stop listening so very slavishly to folks who don’t get that picture. Nobody says you have to become an activist and culture warrior to force the world to get right. You can’t possibly know what’s right for the next person. You’ll do all you possibly can do just getting yourself right. When Christine and I offer specifics, those are technically examples that may or may not jive with what your own heart can tell you. We know from experience that your heart will guide you in both the nature and timing of every decision that brings you into greater communion with Creation. We also know that making the occasional concrete suggestion tends to trigger a shift in thinking so that your mind becomes more comfortable with obeying and implementing what the heart commands, instead of trying to run everything. The intellect is a terrifying master, wholly inept and implacable. It’s an amazing good servant once it knows the heart rules.

We can’t possibly stop talking about this stuff. It won’t let us be quiet. We aren’t building a church; we participate in one that forms around us because we would like to share in the joy of God’s Kingdom growing in human souls. We don’t need money and names and stats. We need the glory of God. Wanna shine that light over here?