The Soul: What It Should Be and What We Are

            Most if not all of my previous posts have been either about the Bible or Biblical topics (theology). This one will be a little different in that it stemmed from something secular.

           This post will be about the soul.

           After reading Plato’s Republic*, I understood that humans, and especially Americans, are messed up. Now, I’ve known for awhile that it’s because we are no longer one nation under God, but that fact would typically end the discussion for me. We are no longer a Christian nation, so God is allowing us to take a tumble (read the Old Testament to learn all about this).

           As for specifics, I wouldn’t bother. I had the bigger picture, and that was enough. Until I read the Republic. Let’s get to it.

           The soul has three parts:

1) Appetitive – the animal desires like eating, sleeping, procreating

2) Spirit – emotions and feelings

3) Rational – reasoning and logic

           A person and a nation has a good, pure soul when the appetitive part of his soul is disciplined, the spirited part loves what is good and hates what is evil, and the rational part is developed and rules how a person acts and thinks. Read that again and understand it, cuz’ that’s the thesis of my thoughts on this issue and this post.

           America? Get out of here.

           Most of America is obese, or drunk, or high. Disciplined? No, the appetitive part is wild and untamed.

           Americans hate what is good and love what is wicked. That’s why people can stand by while a woman is getting beat up on a bus, call tennis ball splats art, worship gangsters who rap about hatred, etc. We see good and hate it. We love what is wicked. Love good and hate evil? No, our spirited part has not been refined.

           Americans watch around four hours of television a day and don’t read, which is the only way to develop the mind. If you don’t read, your mind and ability to think linearly (though A, then thought B, etc.) won’t exist. John Mark Reynolds, a Christian philosopher, talks about this lifestyle that is prevalent throughout America. We love what he calls “yum-yum”, which is mental powder puff. Except we make it our main diet.

           What happens when someone eats a diet of candy and soda? Yeah, bad things happen. However, in small amounts that stuff is okay. The equivalent of candy and soda in mind-input is television. It’s okay in small amounts, but when “yum-yum” is the only thing you are digesting, you are going to be one stupid cookie. Rational? We don’t know the meaning of the word.

           When the rational part of the soul is nonexistent (undeveloped), the soul’s fall back is to allow the spirited and appetitive parts rule the soul. Where does this lead? America, really. Unhealthy lifestyles, knee-jerk reactions, love of detrimental habits, and no vision of the future are symptoms of an unreasonable soul in a person and a nation.

           I’m particularly looking at the next generation, really. Teens don’t know anything about anything, but what’s worse is that they don’t care that they don’t know about anything. What’s worse is that they don’t know why it’s bad to not care that they don’t know anything. You get the picture.

           My next post will affix blame, and offer a solution. Cheery stuff, really :)

*I don’t agree with a lot of the Republic, but Plato understood that the human’s soul must be balanced for a life to be worth living. Oh, and his book inspired the post, so that’s another plus.

This Post Is Supposed to Be on Islam…

            Some time ago I said I would interrupt my “world-views” series to talk about the missions trip I went on. Well, now I’m done with the missions trip, so I guess I should go back to the world-views (Islam would be next)… But I don’t feel like talking about Islam at the moment…

            So instead I’ll write a little bit about evangelism (I went to a Dare2Share conference a few weeks ago so this is prominent in my mind).

            The whole purpose of Dare2Share is to ignite a fire in believers to spread the Gospel. Through skits, sermons, and music (Desperation Band played at our particular conference), this organization shows the need the world has for Jesus. It definitely impacted me.

            Okay, enough of the sunday school stuff. Romans 1:14-15 states:

            “I am under obligation both to the Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome” (ESV) (The King James has “bondage” instead of “obligation”).

            In summary, Paul has a serious desire to spread the Gospel.

            As Christians, we have the truth (Gospel) because the Truth (Jesus, not Paul Pierce) became flesh to save us. This is mind-blowing, earth-shaking, heart-piercing stuff. Do Christians have the same desire of Paul to evangelize?

            Speaking from my vantage point, I would say no. I generally sit on a couch and do nothing about the power God has given me. Why? For the most part*, I am lazy and fearful. I don’t want someone to give me a dirty look. I also don’t want to interrupt my comfortable life for this dude named Jesus.

            Contrast this to Paul. He looks at the Jews and Greeks and feels that he owes them the Gospel. As in, he looks at them and feels like he is obligated to them. He has to pay them the Gospel to be free. Romans 1:14 makes it clear that he has some serious motivation.

            Have you ever done something so bad that immense guilt was weighing on you? I have, and it it truly is a bondage. The only way I could get rid of the guilt was to apologize to the person.

            Paul feels the same way… about Jesus! Instead of an apology, however, he feels obligated to spread the Gospel. He is in bondage to spread the freedom of the Gospel to those in bondage to their sins (wait a second… read again).

            But how can he do this? In the next verse (16) he states, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (KJV).

            He can do this because he is unashamed. Jesus didn’t die so that Paul and I can turn around and be scared at someone cursing us out. Let’s spread the Word.

*The “other part” of why some Americans don’t evangelize could be because of the unconscious pollution of the hyper-calvinistic view “God will bring people into churches, we don’t have to outreach” that has trickled into the Church. I didn’t mention this because deeper theology would’ve killed the flow of the post.

RAK

            My third and final MAJOR thought I came away from the missions’ trip was that people are curious/suspicious of free.

            Now, I don’t mean the type of free that isn’t really free because of a few strings attached that will come back and bite the person later kind of free. No, I mean literally free.

            One thing I learned about New Yorkers is that they are suspicious of everything and everyone. I personally believe that all Americans can be like that; however, this trait is particularly noticeable in New York.

            A few friends and I went to a street corner and started handing out free coffee and free water. Literally. Now, you would expect lines wrapping around the city full of people who really wanted some free stuff, right? Right?

            Just kidding. People would stare at us like we were aliens. Someone even remarked, “You guys must’ve poisoned that stuff.” People generally ignored us.

            Let me back up a little. The focus of this post wasn’t on those poor mislead (suspicious) people, or even on the American trait of being suspicious of everything. That was more of an observation.

            No, the focus of this post is on the few (curious) people who did stop. Some cocked their heads. Some smiled. They would ask, “What is this all about?” while we would respond, “Nothing much, just serving the community.”

            Random acts of kindness (RAK). That gets to people in a way that nothing else will. We could’ve been doing ANYTHING other than standing out there in the (relative) cold, handing out free stuff. We were being nice for no other reason than wanting to love those around us.

            This should be the mark of the Church as a whole and of the Christian as an individual. Picking up litter, helping nursing homes, ministering to those whom the majority ignores. The Church can and should be a leader in this area.

            Random acts of kindness can break through the hardest of hearts. As someone who is theologically/philosophically minded, that can be hard to admit. While the truth affects some, love affects all*.

            When was the last time you did something nice for someone for no real** reason at all?

*Now, this love will spur people to find out about the truth behind it. However, as an introduction to Christianity, love (RAK) often is more effective than a philosophical conversation.

**By real, I mean with no personal agenda behind it.

Depart from Me: Answered Prayer

            I asked God, “Okay, so I know you can hear me. I’ve read all about it in the Bible. Is there any way I can know you are listening?”

            As I sat there, completely dejected, a friend came down to help see what I was up to (more like down to). I told this person a little bit about what I was feeling. I’ll never forget what she said.

            “My dad and most of my family isn’t saved. I used to cry all night long and for several days I was depressed. But I learned something. God is good.” Then she left.

            Now, I’d been listening the entire time, but the ending is what truly hit me.

            In my position, I won’t know or understand everything. I don’t completely understand why people have to go to Hell (of course, I get the whole “we rebelled from God and He has to punish us". I’m talking understand with my heart, not my brain).

            However, God is good. I can hold onto that even when my mind isn’t satisfied. I am a finite being; God is infinite. I won’t understand God because that is impossible in my human position. Goes with the job description, I guess.

            God answered my prayer. Though I still hate Hell, I understand that it is not God who wanted people to go there. God is good, and He is just. His goodness is the reason why I, a wretch beyond compare, am saved.

Depart from Me: Despair

            One night on the missions trip (I took a couple weeks ago), God moved me in a way I’ve never been moved before. As I was praying with my Christian brothers and sisters, a wave of grief hit me that I can’t adequately describe.

            You see, during the prayers I’d been lifting up a friend who KNEW Christianity was true. He knew it, however (in his words thru text), he just wanted to “flush it down the toilet.” At the same time he admitted he knew the Gospel was the truth.

            While I was praying for this young man, the words “I never knew you, depart from me” (Matthew 7:23) entered my head and refused to leave. For the first time this verse hit me. Words do not do justice to the pain and the sorrow I felt during that night. Supreme emptiness.

            If my friend died now, he would go to Hell. As Christians, we don’t like thinking about it. We like thinking about OUR eternity, but others?

            After the prayers ended, my brothers and sisters went to the dining room to eat and fellowship. I could not; I felt terrible. I went to our sleeping area and kept crying.

            I cried out to God, “People are going to Hell. Do you know that? Do you care? Do you love (the man I was praying for)? Can you hear me? WHERE ARE YOU?!?!”

            I could not reconcile Hell with the fact that people God created and loved will spend eternity there. How can this be?

            “Depart from me,” Jesus will say. People will be looking into those sad eyes; they will collapse in tears and despair. There will be no joy or peace where they go. No hope. No life.

           As I was by myself, the words “depart from me” would not leave. I felt an ache I’d never felt before. An emptiness, a hopelessness.