Chris Herrington decided years ago that his reality was much more fun…
and he’s ready to tell you why.
Sit back and relax.
It’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Most people accept the fact that we are now off of work and school for the Christmas holiday, and then we can tack on New Year’s, so it seems that going religious for today’s topic is not so outrageous a leap since we have, many of us, gotten 10 days off and a boost for the economy, a much needed miracle about right now.
This being the case, let’s indulge ourselves a little.
No religious holiday would be complete without a round of verses from the Bible:
Here is a shot from Colossians 2:
13And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
14Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
15And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
16Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
17Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
18Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
19And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.
Paul, in this context, has been arguing that everything is “in him.” No matter what it is; it is “in him.” That seems like such a well-documented and overly stated fact in Paul’s mind that repeating it as in whom or in him or through him or by him seems like over kill, but then that is the nature of this subject; “being dead in our sins,” leaves us without any other avenue of thought. We are dead, but reborn in Christ! This is such a tightly wound argument that Paul is able to use this base as a way to argue everything else from it. In his writings, he takes on every modern religious issue, including religion itself. Whatever we might believe about the Bible, word of God or pile of letters, to anyone who takes the time to read the Bible as a piece of literature, there are some interesting concepts to mull over for the holidays. Let me just pull out one, and let’s contemplate it for New Year’s.
Can there really be such a thing as “voluntary humility?”
“18Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility….”
I’ve read Colossians about 15 times in the last 3 weeks; I know! Get a life, right?
The Bible uses the word reward 103 times. Paul names what his idea of a reward is, “Colossians 1: 18What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.” He does not want to impute the gospel; Christ does not impute him. No charges, no bills, no IOU’s. Freedom to be who we are. Paul is not doing anything that will create any kind of burden to the message of Peace and Grace in Christ. Okay, this all sounds so wonderful and touchy-feely! Let’s get back to the beguiling part, “18Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility….”
This means that your humility has to be experienced. You don’t get to be humble because you are a “good person.” No one gets off that easy. God knows everything that Santa is clueless about, but he does not impute it to us! The game is, he pass the tab! (Anyone who thinks otherwise needs to ask a spouse to clarify that for them.) Humility is not voluntary because we all know that we are not all that and a bag of chips; if we accept this it’s called “humility.” If we deny this, it’s called “humiliation.” If we think that we can volunteer to be humble, it’s called ego. Giving something that is meaningless is “volunteering” to help the urchins. This is why it is “easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into heaven.” The door to heaven is not for sale! What does a rich man have that God would want anyways? Now, I do not presume to know what God wants, so let’s not send in letters telling me to get this or that straight. The point is that this is not about money, per se. It’s about false worth.
I’m simply reading a passage from the Bible and wondering if people can really “volunteer” to be in a state of humility. This just sounds so self-righteous! She is so chaste! He’s an honest person! He’s a Christian businessman. He has such wonderful volunteer humility! We all think that we know the reason for the season, and we love the old movies that remind us of that reason. We belly up, bloat up, fill up, and drag on, but we hardly seem to take a rest between Labor Day and New Year’s to really check our own values at the door long enough to read our founding documents, supporting verses, or personal philosophy. We are so busy saying we believe that we don’t stop to check the reality of our beliefs. What does it all mean?
You can volunteer to be in an event, but then you have to face how you feel about it when you get there. What of soup lines, meal deliveries, and the little old gray-haired ladies that started most of our churches? Once the packaging is torn and the food is reconfigured into left-overs, the games are all played and the nuances are figured out on the new phones, what now? It’s back to work, ten days later. What kind of break was that? Short.
Doing something that gave away what was important to you, your time, that would be a gift that might go on for a life time. Volunteer your time; what you learn there will be humbling enough.
runningturtle87
Having completed 32 years of public school service, Chris Herrington lives, with his wife, in Appleby, Texas, and his writing consists of blogging and essay writing concerning an array of topics including education, mediation, self-development, and human interests. He teaches at the Martin School of Choice, plays racquetball, and enjoys his job.
Chris Herrington can be reached at herrington@everythingnac.com
