CAGED BIRD ORNIS

See also “Is Your Joy Full”

THE SCENARIO: Ornis is like a caged bird that wants to soar to the heights, but cannot because of the cage that shuts them in. Ornis' walk with their God Jehovah is personally scripted you see (Ornis is a hyper-pietist Christian), and so Ornis' joy of the Lord, particularly, cannot soar to the heights, but remains ever so mundanely earthbound. O there is some of the joy of the Lord in Ornis' life, but it is not the sort of full joy that is to be found up in the mesosphere, where one walks freely and uninhibitedly with the Lord, in the fullness of His gracious fellowship.

In the outworking of this scenario please consider the following:

1.In some ways Ornis has a sort of truncated view of Jehovah God (Ornis' “picture” of God is bounded). That is, Ornis has put limits on God (has caged Him) with “the cage-boundaries of their personal dogma” concerning Him. For example, Ornis believes that Jehovah God is a God of order (amen). At the same time, Ornis disallows any sort of observable randomness to be attributable to God, even though Ornis could not take many steps in any direction were it not for the random undulations of the surface upon which they walk, and of the underside of their foot gear, that together act to set up the necessary friction for Ornis to make a meaningful move. Here Ornis cannot see the creative beauty and intelligence of God in friction because of their strict “order dogma.” In general, Ornis cannot fellowship with God in everyday, practical matters that might have “randomness overtones” (Ornis is right for rejecting Evolution, which is based on a randomness presupposition; we are thinking about more practical matters of everyday living here). Ornis cannot see the creative beauty and intelligence of God in these matters because Ornis has limited God; Ornis has restricted Him to being a God of order, literally, and thus they miss out on the joy that accrues to appreciating God's unlimited capabilities, and miss out on the joy of praising Him for these things. Please discuss how limiting God's capabilities can limit one's joy of the Lord. Please consider also any areas of your life in which you limit God's capabilities by way of personal dogma concerning God, and ask yourself if this is caging or limiting your joy of the Lord. Does limiting God offend Him (please consider and discuss Num 11:23 in this context). Does God's holiness limit His capabilities? Please support your answer with Scripture.

2.Ornis is not a free bird because guilt pervades their life; it is the guilt that comes from being unable to attain to the standards of their personal dogma concerning God. In many ways this guilt is like a cage that prevents free-flowing joy of the Lord to manifest in Ornis' life. In fact, it motivates for Ornis an ever-stricter personal dogma, which in turn results in more guilt in Ornis' life, and so on (consider Jhn 8:34-36). Christian friend, how does guilt find its way into your life; is it because you have “dogmatized” the Word? Would you agree that it is only in a Christian group setting, under the power and leadership of the Holy Spirit, that one can honestly assess one's guilt-source/s, because one is apt to embrace one's dogma and not “see” it, as maybe others might through the guidance of the Holy Spirit? Does your church offer such a setting for you? Would you be willing to participate in such group counsel in order to discover any manner of personal dogma that is cheating you of a more open walk with God and the joy that attends that?

3. Ornis is not a free bird because they critique and judge others based on their personal dogma, thus missing out on that fellowship. In this way they have elevated their own dogma over the requirements of the Lord (Mat 7:1-here the Lord says simply “Judge not,” He does not allow for any excuses, or personal reasons). It is far too easy to judge others through the lens of our own piety. Christian friend, do you judge others? What standard guides your judgment of others if indeed you think you judge others? Who do you avoid in your church, and why?

4. Ornis is not a free bird because they live in fear. Their personal dogma has taken the surety of Jesus' consummate Redemption and replaced it with their own work-oriented interpretation of God's forgiveness and acceptance of themselves. Christian friend, have you substituted for the Sacrifice of Calvary your own dogmatic estimations of that Sacrifice? Are you confident of your place in God's eternal Kingdom based on the consummate Work He has done for you, and your consummate acceptance of the same?

5. We think that if Ornis had lived in Jesus' day, they would have been quite at home with the Pharisees (see “Matthew Chapter Twenty-three Commentary”). The Pharisees were hyper-pietists, that could do no wrong in their own eyes, because they believed they were the standard-bearers of God's holy Word, both in interpretation (as also largely the Scribes here) and certainly in practice. Christian friend, what guides your interpretation of God's holy Word; how do you know that you are right in your interpretations; how does Hebrews 4:12 practically work in your life; how is it manifested?

6. Ornis justifies their personal dogma by saying that it comes directly from the Holy Spirit; that He, the Holy Spirit, has manifested this dogma to Ornis (yet it contradicts what other Christians say the Holy Spirit has revealed to them in the same matters). How can one tell if Ornis is being guided by the Holy Spirit (consider, at least, Gal 5:22-23). Is it not blasphemy to say that one's personal dogma comes from the Holy Spirit if one cannot, based on that dogma, consistently evince fruit like unto the fruit of the Spirit? Consider here the seriousness of that (Mat 12:31). Christian friend, if the Holy Spirit guides your dogma, would that guidance not be consistent with the guidance He gives your teachers and elders and pastors and many others in your church; shouldn't there be a general consensus? The point is that the Holy Spirit cannot contradict Himself can He? So if there is contradiction in personal dogmas, where is this coming from?

7. Dear Christian friend, how big is your “picture” of Jehovah God? Have you personally “dogmatized” His Word? Do you use this dogma as a “lever” with God? With others? Does your dogma short-circuit your walk with God? Does it short-circuit your Joy of the Lord? Help us, Lord; give us an abundance of leaders and teachers that honor you, that altruistically love you; bestow upon them the capacity to reveal to us the truths in your Word as you meant these truths to be understood, so that we may draw closer to you through an accurate and honest assessment of your Word; indeed, through internalizing the same. Let this redound to the fulness of joy thus walking in your presence manifests. Thank you great Jehovah God.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE LEGEND

TOP