fed on lies about love: two rooms please
hey gang - hope everything is going well for you!
this week we'll focus our fusion talk on the second chapter of hosea, which deals with gomer running from her husband and her unfaithfulness to him. it is a passage of the bible that deals with explicit, unrepentant, sin and should lead into some hard conversations about who we are in god's eyes.
so...here are the things i'd love for you to consider.
#1 how did you understand the relationship between this week and last week's talks? did you feel like they were joined together sufficiently in the introduction? what about if you hadn't heard last week's talk, would this week have been easy to understand if you were "coming in cold"? was there a phrase/word that helped make this connection clear? or, maybe a phrase/word that made it more confusing than necessary?
#2 the story of gomer's multiple affairs is a hard story for many to relate to. if we avoid making one-to-one comparisons between her sin and ours, are there ways in which you see yourself reflected in her? what do you think makes her act this way? one thing we've never explored is that she may be acting this way out of devotion to the canaanite religion - is this a credible hypothesis? is there any textual evidence to support this?
#3 tell me about the orientation/position piece. did that make sense to you? was it helpful? do you find that you often fall into the trap of judging/evaluating yourself/others primarily by behavior? what do you think you might do differently to avoid this trap?
#4 as always, use this space to make any comments that the preceeding questions haven't addressed. again, i don't want you to feel confined to these questions - they're just a launching pad for further conversation.
thanks again!
this week we'll focus our fusion talk on the second chapter of hosea, which deals with gomer running from her husband and her unfaithfulness to him. it is a passage of the bible that deals with explicit, unrepentant, sin and should lead into some hard conversations about who we are in god's eyes.
so...here are the things i'd love for you to consider.
#1 how did you understand the relationship between this week and last week's talks? did you feel like they were joined together sufficiently in the introduction? what about if you hadn't heard last week's talk, would this week have been easy to understand if you were "coming in cold"? was there a phrase/word that helped make this connection clear? or, maybe a phrase/word that made it more confusing than necessary?
#2 the story of gomer's multiple affairs is a hard story for many to relate to. if we avoid making one-to-one comparisons between her sin and ours, are there ways in which you see yourself reflected in her? what do you think makes her act this way? one thing we've never explored is that she may be acting this way out of devotion to the canaanite religion - is this a credible hypothesis? is there any textual evidence to support this?
#3 tell me about the orientation/position piece. did that make sense to you? was it helpful? do you find that you often fall into the trap of judging/evaluating yourself/others primarily by behavior? what do you think you might do differently to avoid this trap?
#4 as always, use this space to make any comments that the preceeding questions haven't addressed. again, i don't want you to feel confined to these questions - they're just a launching pad for further conversation.
thanks again!
posted by david mcdonald at 8:49 AM
4 Comments:
I haven't really gotten to the questions about the messages yet but this is what they have been brewing in my head this last week. Over the past several years as I've grown and learned about God, I've internalized what an awesome God he really is. That he has an unlimited ability to understand my heart and to forgive. I'm afraid that this understanding is weakened by my failure to internalize the fact that my sin hurts him. When I realize what I'm about to do may hurt someone, it has a huge impact on me. I think this more than anything else effects my behavior. I seem to be able to understand this well when other people are the object. With God, however, it is another story. My strong belief that God will understand and forgive doesn't seem like much of a deterrent. Somehow I need to internalize the pain my sins cause him. I'm not sure why that hasn't become as deeply rooted as his forgiveness. See what I getting at?
I checked throughout the week for the podcast and was not able to get it. Question #1. I thought the visual that you displayed on the projector was great. All of us are on paths, even gomer. To see that are direction is more important to God than where we are on the path allows us to feel his love and gives us hope. It was very clear that she and I are loved. It also was clear that I may at times be closer to God by my actions yet heading in the wrong direction because of my contentment and lazziness. I am not sure if this was the message, but I felt that you were saying that God loves it when we try to get closer to him. Being a coach I instantly thought of the players who have to work much harder than those who have talent. It is often the player with little talent who brings a smile to my face when I see them working so hard or even doing something that others may take for granted.
#2 Her sleeping with men is not any different then me making the same mistakes over and over. In fact if she is doing it because of her devotion, wouldn't she be pointed in the right direction? There are times when I get into bad habits where lying to myself about them over a long period of time seems to make the habits okay. Perhaps she has convinced herself that what she is doing is okay.
#4 I loved the orientation/position piece. I read a book last year that I think is called If God is Love. It focuses on how people are very quick to judge. It came to my mind right away when you diplayed the position piece. It was clear that we can get caught up in where we are in position, but if we do, we must be judging because that is how our position is determined. I try daily to stay out of this trap but the trap is a doozey. I like how you displayed the direction arrow. This is a great way to remind me that it makes no sense to judge because in God's eyes we are bringing him happiness because we are trying. I can remember coaching a basketball team years ago and we were losing 40-0 (position wise we were in another galaxy) One of the boys stole the ball and was fouled with 3 seconds left. He made one of the shots and we lost 40-1. He was so excited, and as a coach, it was the most wonderful thing I have ever witnessed. I told the players after the game that I was so proud of them, because regardless of losing by 39 points(position)they kept trying. Who is better, the team who plays lazy with a 20 point lead or the team who tries when they are down by 40?
What I got from the message was, regardless of our place, keep trying, that's what brings a smile to God's heart. I know that I am loved. Knowing this, makes me want to try harder. When I am closest to God, I need to be aware that God wants me trying just as hard. I have not been able to do this yet.
hey gang - thanks for your interaction this week!
dave - i love to see this kind of reflection taking place on your part. i think your insights on your own spiritual journey are powerful and you're making jesus very proud!
josh - great thoughts on orientation, i'm glad the illustration resonated with you.
your story of losing 40-1 was amazing! i'll definately be using it!
looking forwards to next week!
- dave
Sorry for the incredibly late response from last week's teaching. This past week has been CRAZY NUTS for me. Didn't mean to leave you hanging, Dave, on your longing for feedback. So okay...
I thought the beginning of your teaching was very powerful, unfortunately relevant, grabbing and emotionally heartbreaking. Great job on paralleling the three stories at hand (God/Israel, Hosea/Gomer and Steve/Angela) and setting up for "the rest of the story" this Sunday.
Regarding Gomer, you did make me explore her a bit more than i have in the past. And yes, i can relate...for all the times that i have pursued myself; motivated by internal fear (otherwise known as pride) and failed to walk forward in faith believing God's message for me, listening instead to that of my own or that other broken people have fed me.
Your visitation of Gomer made me ask whether it is actually possible for someone to be that morally debased, for as you, i long to offer excuses for such people. Here are my new thoughts on her: She was familiar, comfortable, even ironically valued in her role as temple prostitute (much like a stripper may feel she is being valued and beautiful in her line of work despite the truth otherwise). For as much as Gomer was abused and taken advantage of, she knew what to expect, her role and she did it well i suppose. I expect that being "thrown" into a holy, unconditionally loving relationship was nothing short of foreign and more self-revealing of her short-comings than she could possibly handle. Could it be that she found herself in the arms of other men in order to just feel "normal" as she had come to be defined. To be a godly wife and mother was so far from that normal, she just couldn't bear it, so she ran back "home." And to see herself as Hosea and ultimately God saw her was something, in all sense of the meaning of the word ...unbelievable... for to be truly known and truly loved is virtually incomprehensible. ----- I say all this because when we actually know ourselves to be sinners, prostitutes if you will, then it is all the more of an AWESOME leap to grasp God's pursuit and love for us.; a gift Gomer struggled to accept during this part of the story. A gift I believe many still struggle to accept because it is so "other than" the message many of come to know of themselves.
One of the many amazing things about God to me is that He is both Other (ungraspable) and contextual. The Incarnation is the ultimate example of this, but is also historically demonstrated in the Hosea/Gomer story and the message it was for the Israelites AND as a foreshadowing of the coming of Messiah.
Ultimately this whole story is a message of hope in a Love not known and/or understood to many, and Dave, your use of the orientation/position brought this message to life. You made it contextual for us, allowing the abstract to touch our daily lives. Great, great, great use of a relevant connecting example.
Thank you for sharing Truth, David.
Peace to all of you,
becky
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