The Heart of Darkness – second edition
And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23 NASB
Deny himself – Abraham Heschel completed A Passion for the Truth just days before he died. In that book he compares the impact and influence of Kierkegaard and Rebbe Menachem Mendel of Kotzk (the Kotzker). Both men dealt seriously with the insidious nature of human self-interest, although they had very different conclusions. Both, however, agreed that “the inexhaustible intransigence of self-interest bore the poison that destroyed individuality and freedom.”[1] If Heschel had been a Messianic believer, he might have discovered that Yeshua dealt seriously with the same corruption – so seriously that Yeshua exhibits a depth of spiritual understanding and a commitment to transformation of human behavior found only in the most lauded rabbis. Two thousand years before Kierkegaard attacked Christianity for its form without godliness, and two thousand years before the Kotzker Rebbe decried the ritual practices of Judaism without an experience of the awe of YHWH, Yeshua called His followers to a path that few have chosen – a path of liberation through death to self-interest.
Oswald Chambers called it “abandonment to God.” We recognize those who have truly put aside their agendas in the service of the Lord only when they are accidentally revealed in their humility. Not one of them prances across the stage. Were it not for God’s grace, we would never know they lived. We experience the blessings they produce, often without any awareness of their presence.
What characterizes the man or woman who has truly denied self? Kierkegaard and the Kotzker agree. Such people are tangibly aware of their utter dependence on God. They find self-reliance revolting as a form of idolatrous conceit. Such men and women despair of the state of human kind. Compromise is unconscionable. Drift is anathema. Only the grace of God can keep them alive when they look deeply within and without. They recognize the enormous gap between holiness and heroism. For them, God is either of supreme importance or of no importance at all. There is no middle-ground. For them, life is a response to the awesome mystery of redemption and the amazing benevolence of God’s request for obedience. The only question of significance is, “What does God demand of me?”
Yeshua answers this question, but His answer is terrible, demanding, almost compassionless. “Deny yourself and take up your cross.” Who is able to do such a thing? Certainly not the man or woman who is concerned with the consequences of such a commitment! And certainly not the man or woman who worries about his or her failure to keep the Torah! Yeshua knew, long before Kierkegaard and the Kotzker, that the essential battle of human beings is found in the interior of the heart, and without the power of God, that is a heart of darkness. But it doesn’t need to be.
Yeshua recognizes that self-reliance is a prison, a very deceptive one. It appears as an angel of light but in truth it is the epitome of bondage. Essentially, self-reliance attempts to replace God’s sovereignty by denying His ownership of all of life. Self-reliance asserts that ownership is under our control. Self-reliance would remake Man in our own image. In this re-creation of humanity, self-esteem and the approval of others becomes an essential ingredient of human well-being. Perhaps this is why those who truly deny themselves are invisible to the world, unknown to all but the Spirit as they distribute the blessings of their Creator. Self-esteem can easily become the opiate of the people. It undermines all that makes us human, replacing the bridge between heaven and earth with the arrogance of carpe diem, a destiny within my own hand.
The man or woman who takes up the cross knows differently. “We live in spite of peril. Our very existence is a refusal of surrender to normalcy, to security and comfort.”[2] And normalcy is found everywhere, even within the “Body.” To take up the cross is to live in the tension of redemptive reordering. It is to willingly obey when the path ahead is dark and cloudy. It is to put aside our fears and fear the Lord. It is to allow the Spirit to take possession of our hearts so that we share in the agony of God.
Carrying the cross is invisible but it leaves its marks nonetheless. Perhaps you know that weight of glory. Perhaps.
Topical Index: cross, deny, Luke 9:23, Kotzker
[1] Abraham Heschel, A Passion for the Truth, p. 87.
[2] Abraham Heschel, I Asked for Wonder, p. 133.
Thank you for this word for today. As my bewildered heart and life are pressed down beyond understanding and after a night of tears I found this when I turned on my computer – you truly have a gift from Him in conveying some of the depths of YHWH’s dealings with us…it so difficult not to want to ‘seize the day’. Do something to change our circumstances……but where can we go? What can we do? We can only –
‘….. take up the cross …… live in the tension of redemptive reordering. ……be willingly to obey when the path ahead is dark and cloudy. …..put aside our fears and fear the Lord. …..allow the Spirit to take possession of our hearts so that we share in the agony of God’.
Another day to ‘to lift the feeble hands’. thanks
I will lift you up today, my sister. The darkness will not overcome us.
Christine – i rejoice with you in your new found revelation – seeing clearer today than in the past – rejoice my Sister, and again i say rejoice – for our redemption draweth nigh… tears are to cleanse the soul – i was weeping too but their is joy in the morning because His mercies are new every day & we see clearer than before: http://www.flickr.com/photos/flygirljc/1476748885/in/set-72157603566115498
ms. jan
“the agony of God”. I am suddenly struck by this phrase this morning. I am brought back to the garden where Yahshua agonized over the work ahead of Him. I look at the judgment of YHWH in a new light and I am most thankful for His tender mercy toward us.
I hear the agony of our dear sister Christine. Praying for you dear one.
We who are followers of the Way have three enemies. These enemies remain the same and do not change ever. These enemies have clearly been identified for all of us in G-d’s book of instruction, the Lamb’s book of life. When we learn (mostly through trial and error) with a little “unveiling” or revelation, when we have our “aha” moments with G-d, over the course of a lifetime of learning and mostly through our failures, G-d’s word is the rock upon which we may take our stand.
There is a gold standard for every son of Adam. We (all) are the sons and daughters of Adam and we (all) together are fallible carbon units. We are made from the same “stuff”- dirt. Creatures of clay made alive when G-d breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life.
Listen again to these words but this time- listen. “When Christ who is our life shall appear..” Have you ever heard these words or is this the first time? “When Christ who is our life..” -Who is our life? Who is the Vine? It is the LORD. It is the LORD Jesus Christ. It is ADONAI- Yeshua HaMashiach. Christ (the ANNOINTED ONE) is our life. This is the “solid rock” upon which I stand and will stand forever:
In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my Light, my Strength, my Song
This cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest
drought and storm.
What heights of love,
what depths of peace
When fears are stilled,
when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand
In Christ Alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of G-d in helpless babe
This Gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of G-d was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ
In Christ alone I place my trust
And find my glory in the power
of the cross
In every victory let it be said of me
My source of strength
My source of hope
Is Christ alone
No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His Hand
’til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.
These are not my words- they belong to another. But this (also) is my Song of songs. I am His and He is mine. Forever. “Owned.” “Under New Management.” He is LORD.
LORD of every thought and action,
LORD to send, and LORD to stay,
LORD in speaking,writing,giving,
LORD in all things to obey,
LORD of all there is of me,
LORD of earth and heaven, we’ll see
LORD of today and eternity..
it’s not about me, it’s not about you, but it is about us.
Together we are the body and bride of Christ.
Thank you for today’s message, I need it!
ME TOO ROBIN… ♥
this came to me when I was “ready to receive” and needed to hear from G-d. And I have learned (from another source)- “G-d always speaks to a human heart through a human heart.” As Pogo quipped: “we have met the enemy and he is us! In hopes of a better understanding and a clearer view of: -not “I” but Christ. He must increase, but “I” must decrease.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6591377/31-Kings-Victory-Over-Self-AB-Simpson
Been a while since I’ve posted/participated, so “greets”!
Given the weighty emotional things previously expressed in the comments this morning, let me advise that I’m going to be a bit contrarian here. I need some help reconciling some of the things expressed with the realities of my day to day life. In no way do I mean to diminish anything already expressed above. Christine, blessings toward you, sister!
I’ll take off from “the inexhaustible intransigence of self-interest bore the poison that destroyed individuality and freedom.” I’m certainly no Heschel or Kierkegaard. At the same time, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I see as the two main competing political theories and their application here in the States. These different perspectives are rooted in self-reliance/self-interest and the primacy of the individual (me) versus the collective (my government).
To wit, I strongly assert that living and participating in a system wherein millions of actors acting on and for their own best interest is greatly preferable to a system wherein a few actors are empowered to ostensibly act on their own for the best interests of millions. For illustration of the concepts involved, reference Milton Freidman’s short talk on the four ways to spend money. Certainly Friedman’s line of thought is not without controversy (the YouTube comments bear this out), however it resonates with me extending from the role of money as a store of value. “Value” and “Interest” are inexorably linked. I was an Econ major, so I sort of dig that kind of stuff.
Skip, you’ve certainly made the point that the Hebraic view is one of behavioral activity as opposed to cognitive assent. Shema. This effectively destroyed the “spheres” concept I (perhaps incorrectly) attribute to Luther…there’s not a spiritual sphere and a practical living sphere…just one holistic life spehere in which I actively make choices from moment to moment.
This is where the question of “self-interest: good or bad?” comes in. The question is practical both individually and collectively. Today I got up early for a conference call with a colleague in India. I then got dressed and came into the office. These things were eminently in my self-interest considering I like to eat and provide for my family. My employer compensates me as I deliver value to it by doing these things. My interest is served. My employer’s interest is served. All good.
I’ll grant that the concept is susceptible to perversion. Bernie Madoff acting in his own interest had some bad consequences, but that didn’t work out so sporty for him either in the end. I’d assert that his definition of self-interest was poorly calibrated.
Perhaps I’ve missed the point of today’s word. I get it that all I enjoy flows from the generosity of God (ref Ps 145). I just don’t think that’s entirely disconnected from me working and choosing in my own best interest…working and acting to provide for myself and my family and others I get to serve.
I don’t want to set up a life where I have some inner spiritual sphere where I have some sort of conceptual humility/cross-bearing, then walk out the door to go to work and put on a confident set of actions as I engage with the world.
Perhaps I’m elaborating on the “tension of redemptive reordering”. Perhaps this reordering results in a recalibrated definition of self-interest, and that’s what I’m trying to express or get at here.
I welcome your perspective on this! Recalibrate me as needed!
God loves self-interest, when it is in alignment with His prime directive of stewarding the creation. Taking care of family and ourselves is in alignment. Taking care of them at the exclusion of responsibility toward others, God and His world is not. Turning toward God is self-interest par excellance. It is in my self-interest to follow Him, no denying that. The confusion comes when self-interest becomes the sole determiner of behavior.
“It undermines all that makes us human, replacing the bridge between heaven and earth with the arrogance of carpe diem, a destiny within my own hand.”
Well I must admit that I was just thinking about a “carpe diem” (sieze the day) poem last night.
I was from my teens attracted to Rabbinical thought, and Eastern religions.
But I lived with surfers on the beach growing up and was also very attracted to “carpe diem” and the “heart of darkness.”
When I was a senior in college I wrote a paper on one of my favorite poems.
And a young visiting professor from Yale said he had never read an undergraduate paper with such insight.
That was because most of his students had not grown up on the beach in Del Mar.
To His Coy Mistress
by Andrew Marvell
Had we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, Lady, were no crime.
We would sit down and think which way
To walk and pass our long love’s day.
Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side
Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide
Of Humber would complain. I would
Love you ten years before the Flood,
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews.
My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than empires, and more slow;
An hundred years should go to praise
Thine eyes and on thy forehead gaze;
Two hundred to adore each breast;
But thirty thousand to the rest;
An age at least to every part,
And the last age should show your heart;
For, Lady, you deserve this state,
Nor would I love at lower rate.
But at my back I always hear
Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity.
Thy beauty shall no more be found,
Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
My echoing song: then worms shall try
That long preserved virginity,
And your quaint honour turn to dust,
And into ashes all my lust:
The grave’s a fine and private place,
But none, I think, do there embrace.
Now therefore, while the youthful hue
Sits on thy skin like morning dew,
And while thy willing soul transpires
At every pore with instant fires,
Now let us sport us while we may,
And now, like amorous birds of prey,
Rather at once our time devour
Than languish in his slow-chapt power.
Let us roll all our strength and all
Our sweetness up into one ball,
And tear our pleasures with rough strife
Thorough the iron gates of life:
Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run.
I have been reading David Tylers little book, “Jesus Christ: Self Denial or Self Esteem?” His whole thesis is summed up in that Self-esteem is the antisis of Self Denial which Jesus taught. For me, Skip, your message of today echos what Tyler has written. I am reading Tyler’s book as part of the “Persdonhood from a Biblical Perspective” a Master’s Internation Divinity School course. I have a total of nine books + to read for this course and its concluding paper. This article has made the cut and will be included with proper citation. Thanks, Skip’
Thanks Roy for reminding me of Tylers’ book. A good read I’m revisiting.
Thank you – I felt upheld today. I would just like to say having read the rest of the comments on self interest etc. I am by nature a ‘doer’ ‘go-getter’ planner and organiser. I have had several careers in which these skills were well utilised. After my mother died in my arms from pancreatic cancer in 1988 (a precious believer) I found my self praying …’Lord I want to know who you really are …… how I can serve you….whatever it takes…. please show me’. After that I watched my life be totally turned upside down and often wondered ‘why did I pray like that’. Yes, all my self interest had to die. My life was completely wrecked…….
But…… I changed/was changed. I got my answer. HE certainly showed me who HE is. I would not change that for anything. Yeshua was never self interested, he never hurried anywhere and he was always pointing to the father. It is never easy to say ‘not my will but yours’ or not my interests but your ways. Once I let go of ALL my self interest I was asked to ‘come into the wilderness with me’. It has been the most profound time of testing and trials along with inexplicable joy and learning. I went to Ethiopia and His ‘interests’ opened up…..if anyone had told me all those years ago I would be teaching and interacting with a multitude of individuals in Africa I would never have believed it. It was not in my-self interest!
I would venture to say we all have to get to ‘………God is either of supreme importance or of no importance at all. There is no middle-ground. …….. life is a response to the awesome mystery of redemption and the amazing benevolence of God’s request for obedience. The only question of significance is, “What does God demand of me?”’
Though the way at present is blocked God will get his way…..it’s in his interest.
Thank you all for your words and prayers.
In response to Christine.. –The only question of significance is, “What does God demand of me?”–
Does G-d “demand” anything? Does our Father demand obedience? You will do as I say, or else!! I love what Skip said: “Turning toward G-d is self-interest par excellence.” What is the best thing we can do in for our “selves?” Obey G-d. What is the best thing we can do for our spouse? Obey G-d. What is the best thing we can do for our children? Obey G-d. What is the best thing we can do for our community and nation? Obey G-d. Hmmm.. seems to be a pattern developing.. Obedience (to G-d) will result in blessing. (remember blessing is a state of being not necessarily having). One of our problems begin with our wrong-thinking about “blessing” is not about having “stuff and things.”
G-d is consistent with His view concerning sin. It is nothing to be trifled with in any form or fashion. “Be ye holy” is just as much a “command” today as when the ink was still fresh on the page. Maybe we wonder “what does holiness look like?” Who “models” holiness for us today? -Still only ONE as far as I can tell.. -We know His name..
Great post, Skip. Last weekend I had the privilege of attending the annual Tikkun conference (Messianic organization that is headed by Dr. Dan Juster) here in Maryland. We heard great teachings from godly men who live what you were talking about. These are gentile men (Don Finto, John Dawson of YWAM, and a few others) who have laid down their lives to bring reconciliation between the church and the Jewish people & Israel. They abandoned their plans and their dreams in order to answer the call of G-d in their lives. They all dripped with the love of Yeshua and it was incredibly inspiring to be around them. So, when you see it in someone else, you recognize it and hunger for that to be you (I do, anyway).
Oh, how I still struggle with the parts of my heart that is dark and the fear that reflects my lack of trust and faith. I am ever grateful for His patience and kindness towards me as I work toward imprinting the full redemptive power of Yeshua in my life. Baruch HaShem!
This is a hard teaching, who can accept it?