How did that detachment happen?
Did He really say that you will die? You won’t die. You’ll be like Him. You won’t need Him. You’ll be able to do it on your own.
From that has come the offer of other sips of deception.
Sip One: Why listen to them? What do they know? They don’t know what it’s like? They’re old, they don’t live in my day, they’re do was so long ago, they can’t relate to what I’m going through.
Sip Two: What would she know? She’s a woman. What would he know? Typical bloke. I’ve got this. I don’t need to get their permission for everything.
Sip Three: I’m not surprised that they don’t understand me. No one really understands me. That’s why they judge me. When they judge me, they just don’t know what they do to me. You expect me to leave myself vulnerable for anyone else to do that? You must be joking. You got to look after number one and to do that, I’ve got to be able to make it on my own.
So we relate, but at arm’s length. So we work together, but at arm’s length. So we set up constructs and systems of interactions in which exchange of goods and services can take place, but only at arm’s length. Independence is the key. I can stand up on my own two feet, thanks. I don’t need you. I can make it on my own.
This is where the power of the truth makes a big difference. Could the Son do it on His own?
I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing.
John 5:19-20
Did the Son ever believe that He could do it on His own?
But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me.
John 16:32
The example set for those that came after Him was an example of never looking to be alone, Find total dependence on the heavenly Father and in the light of that dependence recognise that He has deliberately designed us for community, for relationships that go beyond arm’s length.
Rather than drinking in the deception to suggest there’s strength in doing it on our own, we recognise that being alone shows weakness. Sure, we’ll be accounted for ourselves individually and no one is preventing the time to be alone as well as to be with others. What is recognisesd is that need for relationship, connection with the Father above to help us, to be with us and to help us appreciate what we have with others.
It’s the power of this witness and this example that propels those that follow to cultivate environments where saints know they are not on their own. They need never be lonely – even in the greatest challenges.
Even when we feel lonely, we can be reminded that we are not detached. We are connected, we belong, we are a part of a vital, living attachment of saints.
(Photo by Daniel Mingook Kim on Unsplash)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 