The most basic definition of wholeness in my mind is simply a minimum of 51 percent; where we give more than we take. What if in every situation we face that we made a commitment to to make a greater contribution than withdrawal -- whether financial, relational, emotional, or the investment of our time? Jesus is our best example [since He is 100 percent] of a person whose entire life was given to giving. Jesus always gave more than He took. He still does. Everyone who genuinely engages Christ in a relationship receives far more than they ever give.
Modern psychiatry is the study of human dysfunction. Its expertise is in identifying, describing and defining human brokenness [though I do think they are also simultaneously 'defining deviancy down' with each new edition of the DSM [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual ... the Bible of psychiatry]. But the path to wholeness cannot be discovered by concentrating on the signs of fragmentation. This is why Jesus is our best and only hope. Jesus was the only truly whole person to ever live. He is the purest expression of what it means to be a healthy human being. While we can learn about God by studying His divinity, we equally can learn about man by studying his humanity. In Jesus we unlock the mystery of wholeness. And we find that wholeness is a promise for all of us. God fully intends to make disciples out of broken people. His love unleashed in us is our only hope for the process of wholeness to find its completion.
Love in its purest expression is not something that is received but something that is given. God is not love because He is most loved but because He is most loving. To properly pursue love, we must strive to give it away rather than simply to find it.
When we consume things, we are materialists. When we consume people, we are cannibals. In the most dysfunctional of human relationships, we see people existing for our benefit. We can be so longing for love that every time someone comes close to us, we devour them, oblivious to our selfishness. We can become emotional leeches. After we've sucked someone dry, we then detach and seek our next victim. Yet genuine love is never self-motivated [1 Corinthians 13:5]. When we open ourselves to love, we open ourselves for love. We are most whole when we are most free to give. Holiness and wholeness are inseparable.
Jesus answered, "The most important command is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these" [Mark 12:29-31].
Jesus clearly says that our relationships are more important to God than anything else. We are never closer to the kingdom of God than when relationships are our priority. First is our relationship to God, and inseparable from this relationship with our Creator are our relationships to others. This is not sequential. It is not love God, then love ourselves, then love others; it is love God and love others as we love ourselves.
The more of ourselves that we give away, the more whole we become. The more completely we love, the more complete love makes us.
When Jesus prayed for His disciples in John 17, He prayed for wholeness [unity]. There is no fragmentation in God; love is always the motivation, the intent and the outcome of the Godhead. Everything about God is good, and everything flows from God. He is the eternal giver, the source of every good and perfect gift. We were designed to live this way. We were created to be expressions of the goodness and wholeness of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment