The Most Precious Commodity (Part Three of Three)

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

(John 8:32 NIV)

If there was one thing that really kept me from accepting the Gospel, it was my love of freedom. My personal freedom that is.

You see, the moment you accept the truth that there exists an omnipotent, omniscient, and sovereign God, the implication is that personal freedom no longer exists. And boy is that ever going to ruffle a lot of feathers.

It certainly did mine.

And proud rooster that I am, I had fought tooth, claw and nail against that offensive portion of the Gospel.

Jesus’ call for morality I can accept. I could also accept (sometimes even smugly so), that all people will one day make an account of all the good and bad things they’ve done in this life and that they would go to heaven and hell accordingly.

But to say that God had already planned it all from the very beginning?!

After all, if God really is all powerful and all knowing, He would have already known what every single human being was going to do even before time began, right?

Predestination is an ugly word. Especially today, when individual freedoms are being touted, heralded, cherished, and even fought for as a basic human right.

“Freedom is the right of all sentient beings,” says the heroic Autobot leader Optimus Prime of the sci-fi series Transformers.

I wonder if the irony of robots championing the cause of freedom had been intentional among the creators of the series.

Because if you ask one of the most respected scientists and physicists alive today, he will tell you that that is exactly what human beings are: biological machines that are the result of the interplay of the physical laws of the universe. He argues that humankind’s coming into being was inevitable due to the predictability of these physical laws. We are simply obeying the immutable laws of physics by our very existence.

In fact, he believes that the very predictability of the physical laws of the universe would even allow us one day to actually predetermine what each individual will do in the future even before he/she commits an act simply by monitoring the physical and chemical changes occurring within an individual human being.

Might I also add that this same noted physicist does not (currently) believe in a personal God.

So there you have it, even a well-noted, atheistic scientist is basically telling us that personal freedom does not exist. It is but an illusion resulting from our inability to perceive (and therefore accept) that everything that has been, is, or ever will be, has already been predetermined, if not by God, then by the laws of physics.

That’s ridiculous! I KNOW I have freedom because I make personal choices everyday! So do the people around me! Everybody makes choices!

But are we really able to make choices on our own?

To be free means to be able to make a choice without being influenced. To have personal freedom is to be able to shape the course of our own destiny.

When we talk about personal freedom, we talk about a situation where WE are in control of our own lives, and that the choices that we make are purely ours and are not influenced by anything else. We make those choices voluntarily out of our own free will without coercion of any kind.

But is that really true? Are the choices that we make purely done out of our own will and not influenced at all by anything external to us?

I have personally realized that the individual and personal choices that I make are themselves already the result of factors external to myself. In fact, given the chance, I wouldn’t have chosen to make some of the decisions that I had to make in my life.

The very act of choosing therefore had already been forced upon me.

That doesn’t sound like I’m free at all doesn’t it?

If we look more closely at the all the decisions and choices that all of us make every day of our lives, we will eventually come to the realization that they are all the result of factors outside of ourselves.

The food that we eat, the clothes that we wear, the things that we buy, the work that we do, the people that we are with. None of these are the result of choices that are purely the result of our own free will.

To be human, by very definition, is to be subject to the context in which we find ourselves in. Our very existence depends upon and is dictated by the very physical reality that we live in.

We can only ultimately choose what the world around us influences us to choose.

But that’s not true! If I really felt like it, I can choose to do things apart from what the world tells me to!

Well, if personal freedom meant that we are free to do what we felt we wanted to do, then we make our feelings the basis of that freedom.

However, are not our own feelings themselves the result of context? We feel sad because we encounter something sad. We laugh because we experience something funny. We feel anger because something or someone made us angry.

Our feelings are themselves the result of external circumstances. Therefore, choices that are the result of what we feel are also externally influenced.

Besides, I have also learned (and still am learning) that choosing based on what I feel at the moment only leads to an erratic life. And an erratic life is anything but a life of freedom. It is a life of whim and fancy that leads to all kinds of nasty and unwanted consequences.

Which leads me at last to the strongest argument against personal freedom:

No matter the choices that we make, we cannot escape the consequences of our decisions.

We can pretend all our lives that the choices we made had been purely ours to make. But the consequences of those decisions will always come back to haunt us and the people around us.

In fact, every consequence of every decision every human has ever made echoes throughout space and time, affecting humanity and the rest of the physical world in more ways than we can possibly perceive or determine.

Because regardless of what our opinions are of each other, we are ALL linked to one another. Every individual and collective thought, word or action are like pebbles being dropped in a pool of water: it ripples across all the surface, affecting the whole pool.

In diplomacy and international relations, we talk about the “sovereignty” of nations and the right of every country to determine the course of its own existence. In reality however, any diplomat would tell you that a truly sovereign nation does not exist. (There wouldn’t be any need for diplomats otherwise).

Every single human being, even when in a collective nation or country, is subject to and influenced by each other’s existence. Our governments and leaders may love to champion the cause of independence and self-determination, but the truth is that it is impossible for anyone to truly live apart from anyone else.

We all live on one planet and share the same resources. The very air that we breathe is part of one continuous atmosphere that covers all of the earth. Whatever chemicals we pollute our environment with will eventually have consequences for every single human being on the planet. Whatever policies we adopt have implications, not only on ourselves, but also on our neighbors and the very physical world around us.

Anything we do has consequences.

There is no escape from consequence.

There is only one possible conclusion from all of this and it is that personal freedom does not exist. It is an illusion.

But how can that be? If personal freedom does not exist, then where did the idea come from? If it isn’t real, then why do I yearn and long for it so?

It is as though some voice inside of us is trying to convince us that it is real.

And oh how we listen to that voice. We do its bidding almost instinctively. “Personal freedom is REAL. It is the most precious thing in the world. Fight for it!” it commands. And we obey. With every fiber of our being we obey.

Scripture tells of the account when humans first heard that voice. It also tells us the consequences of obeying that voice. The whole story is what we now know as Original Sin.

The day humankind rebelled against their Maker.

Because we thought we could be our own gods.

"God knows that when you eat the fruit of that tree, you will know things you have never known before. You will be able to tell the difference between good and evil. You will be like God." - (Genesis 3:5 NIrV)

We are told that all the evil and suffering that is occurring in creation right now is the result of that one act of rebellion.

Because we choose to do things our own way and not how it's supposed to be.

And now comes the real rub of predestination:

If God is who He says He is, then couldn’t He have predicted the Fall of Man? Why couldn’t He have stopped the Serpent from tempting Eve? Why allow that one act of rebellion to pass down and poison the entire human race all this time? Why allow sin to enter the world in the first place?

Is not God being unjust and unfair in holding us accountable for choices that He already knew we would make as a result of situations that He already knew and in fact willed to happen?

If all sin was birthed by the Original Sin, then God must have known and allowed it to happen in the first place. If God is good and sin is evil, then God had contradicted Himself by allowing sin to exist alongside Himself.

Anything that is self-contradictory is non-existent.

Therefore God does not exist.

The logic is flawless. Or so I had thought.

What the logic does not take into account is what God’s purposes are.

Scripture essentially makes the following claims about God:

1)    That He made all of creation.

2)    That all of creation has a purpose.

3)    And that purpose is to give glory back to God.

To glorify means to draw attention to and to consider precious or valuable.

All of creation therefore, is meant to point back to the Creator and to praise and cherish Him above all things.

Christianity tells us that the only way for us to truly do this is through His Son, Jesus Christ.

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. - (Colossians 1:19-20 NIV)

And it is through the cross that the Messiah draws all to Himself:

And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to Myself." - (John 12:32 NLT)

The message of the cross would lose all of its significance had not Original Sin occurred. Without sin, the power of the cross and entire Redemptive History would be rendered meaningless.

But as it is, everything that has happened thus far is so that God may be glorified through His Son. All of what is recorded and written in Scripture points to the Son. As the Messiah Himself notes:

"You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to Me! - (John 5:39 NLT)

Everything points to the Son.

The Son. Who is also God. Who chose to become human. Who lived and died with us as a human. And lived again. Just so that we would know, that everything that He did, He did for us.

So that we may glorify Him.

I realize now that there is only One who is truly Sovereign. There is only One who is truly free to do as He pleases throughout time and space. All of history is essentially His story.

When He made us after His own image, He intentionally passed down to us the desire for freedom. This too is by design. This too is predestined.

For to desire freedom is to desire God. And to desire God is to give Him glory.

And that fulfills His purpose.

Real freedom then, is to be found only in God through His Son.

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. - (John 8:36 NIV)

Free to do what, exactly?

Free to pursue and be satisfied most fully by the one thing that is truly most valuable in life.

You see, humankind’s desire for money, fame, and freedom can never, ever be satisfied. For we can only be truly satisfied with what we were intended to desire for in the first place.

Namely God Himself.

It is His will and purpose that ALL of humankind be saved from a life of emptiness and suffering resulting from our trying to fulfill our desire for Him through money, fame, freedom, and whatever else we think will make us happy.

For He is a God:

who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

(1 Timothy 2:4 ESV)

And the truth will set us free.

He promises us that if we earnestly seek for Him with all our hearts, soul, and strength, we will find Him. For He was always there in the first place, where He always is and always should be in our hearts: IN FIRST PLACE. Everything else comes secondary to Him.

He is the One True Commodity that we cannot do without.

He is all we need.

I pray that He open the eyes of your hearts so that you may know Him and His true value in our lives.

Because to know what is truly valuable and desirable, and to be given all the opportunity in all of creation in order to reach that desire…that my dear friends, is true freedom.

Soli Deo Gloria.

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need. - (Matthew 6:33 NLT)

The Most Precious Commodity (Part Two of Three)

A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. - (Proverbs 22:1 NIV)

Is it truly possible to live without money?

And perfectly on cue, God provides an answer. In today’s Yahoo! News, an article tells of a German woman  who did exactly that for 16 years.

Possible? Yes. Would everyone want to do it? Most probably not.

Not everyone is willing to live off solely on charity.

Here in the Philippines, it is considered shameful to be dependent on others. Most Filipinos try to be as self-sufficient as possible, not only because of pride and self-esteem, but because we generally don’t want to be a burden on anyone else.

The Filipino concept of hiya or shame is so strong and prevalent in our society that is it considered a mortal crime to shame a Filipino.

The opposite is likewise true. Most Filipinos just love to be the center of attention. Noted Filipino professor of Anthropology, Felipe Landa Jocano once shared his thoughts during a lecture that Filipinos have been culturally conditioned from birth to want the limelight. Up until today, Filipino parents consider it a matter of great pride to showcase the talents of their children in every social gathering.

This is the reason why Filipinos in general are such great entertainers. Our talents rank right up there with the best in the world.

And if you detect a hint of pride in that statement, it is just to be expected. To be recognized is an inherent desire among us Filipinos. And I believe it to be true among most humans as well.

Is there anything wrong then, with wanting fame?

As far as humankind is concerned, money and prestige have always come together. The search for fame and fortune has always been a common theme throughout many societies. Our cultures have stories of many youths who, lured by the prospect of fame and fortune, had left family and home to try and make a name for themselves elsewhere.

The oldest of these accounts of course, can be found in the Gospel of Luke, where Jesus tells the parable of the prodigal son.

And here we find our clue to the answer to our question.

The son had asked for his share of the estate, only to spend it in “wild living” (Luke 15:13). The parable gives no further details on what happened during this time; we only know the consequences of it. But it does not take a biblical scholar to fill in the blanks. We have way too many similar stories of our own to draw inspiration from.

You see, I have realized that the need for recognition is tied closely to the need for money. There was a time in my life that I wanted money so that I could spend it on and impress my friends.

People whose adoration and friendship can be bought however, only remain your friends as long as the money is there. Fame and recognition that comes from such an arrangement therefore, is a farce. It is fleeting and transient as money itself.

The funny thing is that many of us to this day still think that the way to recognition lies in material wealth, despite all the testimonies and accounts that state otherwise.

It is as if some kind of veil covers our eyes, preventing us from recognizing and accepting the truth: that true prestige cannot be bought, and does not disappear like mist when the money is gone.

As in the parable of the prodigal, it takes the experience of being down in the dirt and among the pigs to realize the gravity of our blindness.

We have to find ourselves at the lowest moment of our lives to feel the need to go back home.

And there, we will find a Father who will run to us upon seeing us return. He will run to us with a loving hug and kiss. We will break down and cry, and state that we are unworthy of His love.

But He will hear none of it. He will call His servants for a robe and a ring, and have a feast prepared to celebrate our return. All the estate will be up and rejoicing.

For what was once lost is now found.

And I tell you with all the sincerity of my heart, that to be recognized as a son by the Creator of the Universe Himself, is worth infinitely more than all the fame and fortune the world can ever give you.

Soli Deo Gloria.

"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” - (Matthew 18:3 NIV)

The Most Precious Commodity (A Three Part Series)

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21 NIV)

What is the one thing that humankind cannot do without?

I realize that the answer will vary greatly depending on who you ask.

Personally, I would think that the top three answers would be money, fame, and freedom, though not necessarily in that order. I say this because these three once ranked the top in my own list of priorities in life. That, and also because I observed that everyone else I knew seemed to be striving (and competing) for these very same things.

I believe that it is important for us to be able to take the time to sit down and look at the things that we truly value in life: the things we hope for and strive for, and consider the implications that they have on the way we actually live our lives and relate to each other as human beings.

It is my desire therefore, to use this space and time to assess the three things that I believe are foremost on many people’s minds when they think about what they truly value in this life.

Let’s start with what I think is the most obvious.

It’s all about the money, money, money… goes Rihanna in her popular song.

About four decades ago, Liza Minnelli sang a similar riff in the Broadway Film Cabaret, where she sang the famous words: Money makes the world go round!

If there is one thing that the modern world never seems to get enough of, its money.

If any of you ever wondered to yourselves, exactly how much money is there in the world right now, you would be hard pressed to find a definitive answer. Because not only are the numbers constantly changing, but the numbers themselves are already beyond normal human comprehension.

As an illustration, US Federal Reserve statistics in 2009 estimated that a little over eight trillion US dollars in actual currency were in circulation in the world during that time. That’s twelve zeroes after the eight. Your average pocket calculator would start displaying the “E” for error sign at this point.

If you tried to count all that money manually at a rate of one dollar per second every day, it would take you over two hundred forty thousand (240,000) years to finish counting.

And that is just all the US dollars in the world in 2009.

Why so much money?

I believe a simple answer to that question is this: humans have reached a state where their want of resources far exceeds their capacity to consume them.

In an even simpler answer, I believe the reason is greed.

That’s ridiculous! I can already hear some of you reacting. It can’t be as simple as that! You’re not even an expert! Surely, our economists have a better explanation! The situation is far more complicated than it seems!

Well, that’s what I had thought too.

Until I looked at my own life and saw the mechanics of greed at work in it.

Like many humans in this day and age, I work for money. I strive to excel in my work because I want to earn a bigger paycheck. I tell myself that the more that I earn, the more secure I will be in life.

I realize now that this is an illusion. The more I earn, the more insecure I actually become. That is because I only need so much to maintain my life. The surplus of my income inevitably gets spent on superfluous things: things that make me feel good…for a time.

Before I know it, I become addicted to that feeling. I need to buy even more of those things just so that I can get that feeling back again and again. And there’s always something bigger. There’s always something shinier. There’s always something better. Soon, I realize that I’m not making enough money to purchase those bigger, shinier, and better things.

So work for more money. I compete for more money. I strive for more money. Until money is all I care about. Money is all that matters.

It’s all about the money. Show me the money, and that’s where I will be.

You see, all those complicated economic theories that try to analyze financial crises fail to realize one thing: that greed is not a matter of economics, but a matter of the human condition.

It is the same reason why economics has to this day failed to solve world hunger and eradicate wars for resources. It only been looking at the symptoms and not the root of the problem.

Sound economic policy might mitigate the symptoms for a time. But then reality sets in and the bubble inevitably bursts. History has proven this time and again. Not even the world’s greatest civilizations can avoid financial collapse due to unbridled human greed.

At this point, many of you will probably argue: But that’s just the way we are! Humans are just plain greedy! There’s nothing we can do about it, and that’s that.

That’s partly correct. We cannot do anything about it. Not by ourselves.

This disease is far beyond the capacity of humanity to heal by itself. It needs strong medicine to be administered into it from the outside.

But for any of us to accept that medicine, we must first be convinced that we are sick.

For the cure is only as effective as a proper diagnosis.

Here then is the Good News:

Someone outside of humanity DID come into the world. And He brought with Him a diagnosis of the human condition.

It is the human heart that is the cause of all our suffering.

“For from within, out of the human heart, come evil ideas, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, evil, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, pride, and folly. All these evils come from within and defile a person." - (Mark 7:21-23 NET)

He tells us that money is NOT the most precious commodity in the world, and that we would do well to put it in its proper place in terms of the things that we value in life.

For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. - (1 Timothy 6:10 NLT)

Not only did He bring with Him the diagnosis, He also brought with Him the medicine, namely Himself.

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." - (John 6:51 NIV)

And to take that medicine, we need only do one thing:

 "This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the One He has sent."  - (John 6:29 NLT)

I had long resisted taking that medicine, and in so doing, have lived in growing misery with humanity’s disease, causing its spread, both within myself and to others.

But the good thing about this medicine is that it NEVER loses any of its potency. It is the same strong medicine that has been saving lives from generations past. And I am fully convinced that it will remain the one and only true medicine for humankind.

A most precious commodity indeed.

Soli Deo Gloria.