THE THIEF

THE THIEF

Past flight and worry, he's been caught.

His ankles chained, unable to walk.

Waiting, condemned, his time soon comes.

He'll die today when come the drums.

Escorted swiftly to his cross,

Impaled in agony, all is lost.

He can't get down, he can't atone.

Never can he go back home.

Endures for hours and then hears Jesus

Speak the words with power to free us.

"Remember me," to Christ he cries,

Love's alive in Messiah's eyes.

True faith the Lord can recognize

"You will be with me in paradise."

A promise from the one beside,

About whom he'll say, "for me he died."

Death is no master, no need to fear it,

"Into your hands I commit my spirit."

© Ron Unruh, March 2015

PARADISE WAS LOST

The Bible tells the tale that something terrible happened within humanity. The Reflection Of God Became Impaired By Sin. That happened in the paradise lost story, when Adam and Eve got the whole ball rolling. Like a snowball on a hill, it got larger and large affecting us all. Mankind today is only remotely like the ideal humanity portrayed by the psalmist in Psalm 8. The original Adam and Eve was ideal humanity. The human possessed the God-given capacity of self-determination, which meant that he and she had freedom to choose to obey God or to disobey. To disobey would be a violation of the relationship with God. When the original humans from whom we came, chose to disobey God, that act of rebellion defaced the image of God in the human and has affected the entire race. Long after creation, Solomon observed the tragedy that man did not remain as he was created. "This only I have found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes" (Ecclesiastes 7:29).

FROM CYNICISM TO OPTIMISM

Maybe what needs to occur to modify our thinking about church from cynicism to optimism, is first of all to admit that it has not lived up to our expectations because we had an unrealistic picture of what she was. She is not Paradise. She is not Utopia. She is a gathering of once damaged people all of whom are in stages of recovery. Cynicism dissolves when we rid ourselves of wrong notions. Another thought shaper might be the acceptance of the role of the critic rather than the cynic. Criticism can be energizing to the subject of the criticism when it is genuinely delivered and honourably received. It’s like an objective performance analysis. Finally, a virtuous approach is to be the change that you wish to see in the church. This is far more demanding work than cynicism. It is about action and not merely about words. Yet how often in the past, those who have led by example, have been instrumental in awakening the church to new paradigms and necessary change. Maybe you have to live a radical life. Get past crabbing to contributing once again. If you truly want to become serious about the things that have made you cynical, then you must graduate to objectively speaking about this and living it.