This caught my eye this morning.
An intellectually disabled New Zealand man is being held in Indonesia against his will, chained to a bed by his mother who says he is the victim of black magic and is demanding more than $6 million for his release, his father and siblings say.
Huge contrast with our command for the day.
1Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. 2Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation – 3if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
This is making me think about a couple of things. One is a comment that I made over at Keoni’s place. It was written from listening to young men. Men who are alienated, disengaged, and often in despair. Sometimes they have a Dad and Mum, and if they do, and there is a relationship, more doors open. And if there is no one, the way out of this is harder.
The second is watching the behaviour of parents post separation. If one parent is cunning and “smart”, using deception and guile, it backfires.
The children see this. I have heard children describe either their mother as a liar or their father as an oath-breaker. What happens is that the reliable parent takes over, and the less reliable parent becomes barren. Returning to scripture for a second…
1“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. 2He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. 3You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 4Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 6Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned”
Now, that is a true warning. We can argue about outcomes for hours — in fact at work there is a process called PBRF (where again, institutions have been gaming the system) that does just that — but in the world these things are measured. We tend not to measure these things in the church — for fear that our own lies will be shown up.
My first question, today, is how is my relationship with my children. My second question is am I causing others to glorify God. If I was a better Christian, they would be the other way round.
For it is clear that there is barreness in this world. Alte has just been up to New York with her husband… I think for the music, and she commented today...
My husband and I determined that nobody in Manhattan is having sex. It’s bizarre to watch the dynamic there; the complete opposite of a place like we live in.
We have a tendency to over spirtualize these things. Fruit means fruit. People drawn to GOd. Families growing.
But guile kills this, for we deceive ourselves. Going back tot he article we started with, the mother of this young man is a reasonable example. Consider this.
New Zealand’s Ambassador to Jakarta, David Taylor, said embassy staff had been in contact with the family and were working with authorities to find a solution.
Prime Minister John Key said the issue had been raised by Ambassador David Taylor with two Indonesian ministers, including Trade Minister, in Mr Key’s presence on Sunday. (snip) A spokeswoman for Mr Key said yesterday that the Prime Minister sympathised with the young man’s plight.
[The mother: name redacted] refused to answer questions about her son yesterday, directing inquiries to her lawyer. “You can’t force me. I am the victim too, you know. I’m not ready yet. You cannot just ask me now. Don’t rush me.”
We cannot decieve ourselves. None of us are perfect, none are righteous, and God will work within us to make us more like him. This will hurt — it is called pruning for a reason. But if we use guile in our interactions with others, we will also be lying to ourselves. And that is how we fall our of relationships with our fellow man and God, and that is how Guile kills.