I got to hang out in Cass Park this morning with my friend Shaun Hover--just back from working with young adults in India and Pakistan. Some of you will remember Shaun from the stories told here and here and here.
This morning, we spent time following up with different people from this past Sunday's time in The Park. Overall, it was a good morning. We met up, at one point, with Mark. Mark is on his way back, getting out of the cycles of addiction and poverty.
Among other things, I took Mark a suit to wear for an interview he has this week. As I drove him back to where he was staying, the conversation turned to the everyday task of following Jesus ("keeping the Lord first," were his precise words). Towards the end of the conversation, he sad, "I ain't gonna lie to ya. Life's hard right now. Real hard. The devil is 24 hours. Devil don't quit. Always working. Always waiting to get you."
Mark wasn't simply describing a man with a red devil costume on with the proverbial pitch fork in hand. He was talking about the reality that evil is a power in our world. Evil is not merely something we choose, rather, it is an oppressive reality: it seeks to steal, kill, and destroy.
Most folks in the circles I run in don't talk like that. They talk about bad decisions, and poor choices. And I'm all for talking that way myself. But I wonder if we trick ourselves into thinking that we have all the power. That living a virtuous life is simply about me mustering enough logical will to be good. That might be a religion, but it is not the Christian religion. Christianity says that God, in Jesus, has overcome the powers of this world, to make us better than we could ever make ourselves. Or, as one friend wrote this week: God has overcome the strong by his preference for weakness.
The devil is twenty-four hours. All day. Every day. But so is God. So is the Spirit. So is the Jesus who walked among us.
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3 comments:
I took a friend out recently who has been overcoming a heroin addiction. It is amazing the power of these drugs. My heart went out to him.
Yeah, I am working with a recovering addict right now and one of the things that he said recently was interesting. He said that he can say no 100 times, and yes once and he's lost. To win the battle you have to say no consistently. I liked your drawing this past a physical/chemical dependency discussion, because I think you are right...there are powers and forces that are beyond any microscope that are involved in addictions. The Exodus story has got to have something to say to that huh?
Matthew and Jonathan,
I think people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol remind us who are addicted to honor, approval, and work that we are all sick, in need of a healing balm.
Thanks for your thoughts.
JG
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