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“I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.”- Job 19:25



I've been doing some reflecting these past few weeks...



Perhaps as a result of having a real child depending on me and my wife for her every need.



Perhaps as a result of having a real career, with real responsibilities.



Perhaps as a result of having a real place in a real world in deep need of a reality check.



Perhaps...



Whatever the reason I have been reflecting these past few weeks, I've been doing some reflecting.



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When I was an undergrad, I really thought that life was going to get better...or, as it were, I was going to get much better at getting close to God...closer to home.



This seemed like a justifiable train of thought: with age comes wisdom right?



This seemed like a true train of thought: every follower of Christ is bound for progression toward perfection right?



Thus...this was believable...wisdom and progress in Christ yield growth right?... so I thought that my growth would be measured by some form of getting better at living in the real world.



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it was that last disclaimer ( "be measured by some form of getting better at living in the real world.") that is absolutely false. And now, here we are, picking up the pieces and asking two questions:



1)why is this soooo false?



2)what the heck is growth then?

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Q: why is this soooo false?


I think the big part of my problem is this...I believed that I could make distinctions between what is true and what is false.

often times...especially in philosophy, qualifiers like "actually know", "actually true", "really know" or "really true" etc.... presuppose that the person making the statement has the upper hand on making distinctions between what is real is what is not real....what is true and what is false...

this normative presupposition is frowned upon, more often than not. especially in philosophy

why?

because it basically communicates this attitude..."I know more than you do...naaah nahh nah naaah naaah!!!"

normally people do not respond well to this kind of insinuation.

Well... like I was saying... the big part of my problem is, more often than not, I have no idea what is true and what is false...

the basic human response to this situation is...making stuff up.

ex. 1

"the moon is made of cheese."


it turns out that this assertion, believed by many for decades, is entirely false.

most evidence suggests that the moon is made of rock, not cheese.

However, before we as a people possessed any such evidence, the moon was edible...

ex. 2

"the world is flat."

again, it turns out that this assertion, thought believed by many for centuries, is entirely false.

most evidence suggests that the earth is actually a spheroid, not flat.

However, before we as a people possessed evidence, the earth was a Frisbee with monsters in the seas...

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despite the simplistic examples...

if we don't have answers, we get creative...

Some have suggested that the idea of God is the greatest and most complex example of this human folly.

I would like to humbly suggest that the idea of the "real world" is ACTUALLY the greatest and most complex example of this human folly.

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and here's why

"properly speaking, there is no certainty.

there are only people who are certain."

I will site myself as an example.

ask me what I know...I could talk and talk and talk...to the point that I have even convinced myself that I might actually know what I am talking about....but really, deep down, I am simply just piecing what I have experienced together is some way that I would say is coherent.

Is coherence truth?

hmm... I am going to leave that one open.


but when I really do take stock of what I know...or what I think I should know, only one thing really sticks out...

Jesus.

That's it.

Maybe I am just totally off on this one...which wouldn't be anything new for me, but the only thing I really know is Jesus.

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For a while this past winter, when life was really just way more stressful and demanding than I could have ever imagined I came to a certain realization under all the pressure:

"Jason, Jesus is more real than this....Jason, Jesus is more real than that..."

and it just kept going, eventually to the point where I realized that Jesus was more of a vibrant reality than any situation that I faced under the stress of my day.

I was in a crowded auditorium in Cleveland and Rob Bell was on stage and he started repeating these words and they broke me down...

"you don't have to live like this...you don't have to live like this....you don't have to live like this"

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So back to Jesus...

The scriptures suggest that He came to earth...and conquered it... even death...

and while doing all this, he kept telling everyone, "Truly, truly I tell you...the Kingdom is at hand...receive me."

"truly truly you didn't have to go home...home has come to you...receive it."

basically, to me, he was saying, "Jason...you don't have to know anything...just receive me."

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The reason why ("be measured by some form of getting better at living in the real world.") is soooo false is this...

Jesus already beat the idea of measuring up to the "real world".

Why try to beat God at what He can only do?

real growth...the kind Jesus suggests...the kind God suggests to Israel in Torah is toward living in Him...not in the world.

This is why it is so important that the disciples understand that they are going to suffer in world, that they are going to be persecuted, just like Christ himself...

because though they are still in the world, they are no longer of the world...their Spirit is set free to a residence outside the limits of human knowledge and laws...set free to go home to the Body of the unsearchable Christ...at home in the Kingdom of God.

So what the heck is growth?

Real growth is being more and more at Home in Christ...and less and less at home in the world.

hmmm...

Welcome Home.

“I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.”- Job 19:25