Friday, August 24, 2007

integration and disintegration

Integration

Integrity, integration, intimacy, disintegration

A person of integrity with God:

Listens to God through the Word and Spirit
Walks with God in morning / cool of the day
Talks with God 24/7
Is intimate with God through worship
Is God’s messenger, example, incarnation in the world
Is the same with God as he is in the world
Understands God’s love language is obedience [if you love me you will keep my commandments]

Is integrating God into their whole being

This isn’t a cliché person
They may be as dangerous as Jesus
They may be as loving as Jesus
They may be as confrontational as Jesus
They may be as compassionate as Jesus
They may…

A person of integrity with God in the church

uses spiritual gifts to uplifts others
has disciples, peers, and mentors
is investing cash and time in the church
follows leaders and challenges them as needed

A person of integrity with God in the city [world]

serves the world with excellence
is salt and light in ethics
looks to be missional
looks to tell the jesus story
looks to bring the kingdom to the least of these

Botched integration:

Listens to just word, and forgets word connects to God
Always trying to find a proof text for actions
Lives in fear of getting it wrong
Lives to aquire knowledge and be condescending to others
Thinks word has every answer
Listens to just Spirit
Doesn’t know how to test spirits with scripture
Hopes discernment and holiness are attuned correctly
Lives to aquire spiritual experiences that justify maturity / authority
Thinks spiritual power is the answer to everything
Talks at God
11th hour prayers are norm
prays to get, complain, vent…alone
Primarily prays for self
Listens very little
Makes lots of assumptions and wants God to sign alongside their assumptions
Wants love but not teaching, conviction, or rebuke…because they don’t see these as acts of love
Is intimate with self through worship
Is more concerned about how they feel, than how God feels
Often judges worship [especially in others]
Looks at worship as a time to get instead of give
Is willing to lie in worship if they still get what they want
Is God’s bad impersonation in the world [when these are over exaggerated into hyperbole]
Legalists/ Fundamentalists…Pharisees
Manipulative…Charismatics/Pentecostals
Judgemental…Protestors
Liberal…Cowards
Etc
Usually take 1 attribute of God and wildly overexagerate it
Take a minor text / detail and make it a major doctrine
Cliques, heretics, church splits
IE:
Mercy…social gospel
Wonder worker…charismatic movement
Teacher…evangelicalism
Is often a hypocrite because the system is unbalanced / unreal
What happens on stage isn’t what happens in real life
Over-promises and under-delivers making people feel like failures
Pushes hard with guilt, shame, seduction, neediness
Disobeys God
Because fear of God drives them to addictions
Because they don’t know his word
Because they use word foolishly
Because they don’t know how to walk in the spirit
Because they are unteachable
Ultimately and sadly…they don’t really know God and what he is like very much and have failed to integrate his intimacy into their life. So they prop up religion in the place of relationship and try to play the game.

Integration is a MUST for Christian spirituality to work
Safety is in the balance
Teaching you safety is my job
Integration is when we all do what we should for God, each other, and the world
Integration allows us as a church to enjoy diversity and deference. Fear of God, humility before all, and the law of love…is a good start and finishing point

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