21 November 2022
It's not a question of being nice to people; that's not enough. Worse, simply being nice answers the wrong questions. It sends a false message.
I'm a jolly fellow. I do what I can to lighten the mood every where I go. It's not that I laugh at funerals; I know how to cry. I know this world sucks, but I don't take it seriously. There's nothing I can do to change it. All my efforts would leave things still broken. So my investment is in letting people know I can feel the pain, but that I don't let it rule me.
It's like a motto with me -- We don't have to succeed; we have to try. Our mission is to seek what's right when everything is wrong. A major element in our testimony is that we have a very different understanding of what's right. And what's right in God's eyes is not getting lost in outcomes. The outcomes cannot change me.
What makes it funny for me is that Darkness cannot own me. I'll pass through it, but I don't belong there. I can reject its claims, and it requires no heroics. It requires only the few small things we have in our hands. God gave those things to us precisely so we could use them for His glory, and then give them away.
I look back over the sweep of my personal history and I'm sure I've given away more than a million dollars worth of stuff. My flesh might have regrets about some of that, but my heart has no care in this world. I want people to feel like they've encountered something eternal, and that surely includes a lack of attachment to things. I get sad or angry at the manifestation of an acquisitive nature.
There are plenty of things I know God wants me to keep for now. I don't give stuff away to be nice. Human need is not my guide. Awakening something inhuman is what really matters. I'm humane because I'm much more than human. That's what I want people to see; they aren't restricted to being just human. That most of them will not catch on is not the point. I have to wade through the lostness of my fellow humans to get to those few who will stand up and walk out of it. I can't do it for them, but I can demonstrate the right spirit.
I'm not trying to show superiority; I'm trying to point out a superior path. There's plenty that people cannot do, but wallowing in the lies of this world is not forced upon us. Yes, I have been shown the ways of God, and how this world is designed to work. The world at large in not interested in what I have to say about that. I'll share His divine wisdom with those who listen, and look on with sadness while the rest of the world violates His Word. Sometimes I'll play along with the stupidity because it's the only way I can get close enough for people to see that it really doesn't matter.
Yes, there are some battles I'll fight. I won't hesitate to put a bullet through someone for the right reason. It's highly unlikely, but not impossible. Part of my Covenant responsibilities is protecting others and staying alive until God says, "Come on Home, Son." I can be as belligerent as the situation requires, but it rests on my convictions, not someone else's rules. Meanwhile, the joy of the Lord is my preferred weapon.
My battle flag says "Covenant and Convictions". I most certainly do discriminate between those who share the same covenant and those who stand outside. I know the difference between family, allies, bystanders and enemies. But the strategy is to use the things of this world as mere weapons and tools. I have no intention of trying to keep anything, but to recognize that my greatest treasure is people. I'm trying to win people. The best way to do that is to be a winning person, someone who lives like victory is wholly internal.
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