Righteousness that makes us Relevant (A Lovesong for the Illiterate)

“Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to these words. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body. Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole [duty] of man.” 
(Ecclesiastes 12:12-13 NIV)


There is no power in reading and studying and writing, unless it is accompanied by and arising from meditation and personal interaction with the living and personal God. Private study without person-to-Person dialogue gives rise to a personalized religion and pride that increases as knowledge increases. May you always reject this. May you rather be found more in prayer and meditation than in private padding of our inner knowledge sanctum. This is about which audience you truly play for. I am not yet sealed into the concert hall of One. It is this place of spiritual devotion that gives rise to sounds that attract many – even enemies. It gives rise to the sounds of compassion, wisdom, generosity and activated love. It gives rise to the sound of hard work, of selfless inventiveness, of consistency and sustained godliness.


The concert hall of many is a cacophony of noise and tunes and shouts and proclamations. It is stuffed full of booths and stalls of men and women trying to ply their knowledge onto prospective fans and supporters. It is a place of anesthetic gas puffed out of puffers of praise. It has no end of items to trade and purchase. It is an endless parade of conferences and ecclesiastical opprtunity. 

So what of the gospel need for an endless array of nations and villages, dying in famine while the saints enjoy their own excess? So what, goat or sheep. So what.

To misquote Mike Batt, we must write our love for God on the Walls of the World, not the walls of the church or our private porch.

“Jesus’ brothers said to him, “You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” For even his own brothers did not believe in him. Therefore Jesus told them, “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.” Having said this, he stayed in Galilee.”

(John 7:3-9 NIV)

ND