Here's the first of five principles of the "hands," framework of spiritual transformation: Jesus makes you more and more like him--a heart and soul faith, made flesh--as you transform, rather than repress, your desires. (You can read the intro here, no here.) These five posts are a bit longer than typical, but oh so worth your contemplation!
Oh my, most everything you've heard about transforming your life and habits--how shall I frame this--is, well, it's just wrong. Your spiritual mentors, more than likely--though with your best interests in mind--encouraged you to repress your desires, your passions. The Apostle Paul acknowledged that many of his first-century readers had also been taught, and were themselves teaching the next generation, to repress their desires (Colossians 2:21). Paul countered, his words marked by a curious tinge of frustration, "Why do you submit yourself to decrees such as, 'Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!'" Such regulations, Paul admitted, have an appearance of wisdom, but "are of no value against fleshly indulgence" (v. 23). C.S. Lewis famously asserted, "...Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased" (C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory). The key to transforming your life then is to transform--rather than repress--your desires. To transform your desires is to transform your life, from the "inside*out" (Matthew 15:11; 23:26). Although it's scarcely recognized, Jesus taught inside*out spiritual transformation when asked, "What commandment is the greatest?" Jesus replied, "The foremost is...'you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart (your desires, your passions), soul (your inner man, your eternal spirit, your character), mind (your intellect, your thoughts, your emotions), and strength (your outer man, your body, your behavior) and to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:28-31). Like concentric circles radiating from a pebble dropped in a quiet pond: from heart to soul to mind to strength; from God to neighbor. Consider three aspects of what it might take to transform your desires... One: transform your desires from the flesh to the Spirit. Paul wrote, "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on what that nature desires, but those who live according to the Spirit, have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace... (Romans 8:5-8; fusion of NASB/NIV). Ironically, men and women who live according to the desires of the flesh include, on one hand, those who seek to satisfy the unquenchable appetites of the flesh and, on the other hand, those who seek to repress those same appetites. In either case, "the mind set on the flesh is death." What would it look like--what would it require--to transform your desires from the flesh to the Spirit? Two: transform your desires from indistinct to uniquely yours. Can you imagine Jesus earnestly inquiring, "What do you want me to do for you?" It's the very question he asked of blind Bartimaeus (Mark 10:51), among other. Bartimaeus quickly, knowingly, replied, "Lord, I want to regain my sight!" How would you answer Jesus, were he to ask of you, "What do you want me to do for you? What are your expectations?" If you're having trouble crafting a response, you might--curiously enough--find the answer in your familiar sin patterns. For, typically, sin isn't the result of wanton rebellion; it's more often a misguided attempt to satisfy the desire that is most true of you. Can you peel back the layers and name your greatest longing? What would it look like--what would it require--to transform your desires from indistinct to uniquely yours? Three: transform your desires from fear to love. The Apostle Paul wrote, "You have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children..." (Romans 8:14-15, NLT). God desires you to serve him from a place of familial love, rather than slavish fear--from a place of compassion rather than compulsion. The Apostle John affirmed, "Perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). Fear and love cannot coexist, for fear is entirely self-oriented, while love is wholly other-oriented. As your love for God and neighbor matures, the fears that oppress you--those fears that inhibit you and that mire your relationships in suspicion and manipulation--will begin to dissipate. What would it look like--what would it require--to transform your desires from fear to love? What spiritual practices might bring you to a place where God can transform your desires from the flesh to the Spirit; from indistinct to uniquely yours; from fear to love? How might transforming--rather than repressing--your desires lead to reconciliation in your relationships with both God and neighbor? |
