1 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.
We live in a bewitching world. Every day we are bombarded by images designed to get us to do something we would not normally do. After they get done with us we might desire a HUMMER, the world’s ugliest car! Those ad campaigns are designed to trigger internal impulses beyond our awareness in order to manipulate our wills. They turn us into profit-serving egomaniacs. For most of us, we don’t even recognize the manipulation. But every advertisement is a lie in one way or another, downplaying the negatives and emphasizing the plastic positives. They create need in the consumer and then design a product to meet that newly designed need. No one NEEDS a cell phone that does text messaging and photography. Humans have gotten my just fine without that technology. Payphones worked fine in emergencies. But take away the payphones and then there is a need. The same is true in our relationship with Jesus. Our most basic need is to have a relationship with the Creator. Done! Check! But then new need is created; we need a to help our kids grow in their relationship with God and we are not willing to give up our schedule to be more involved in their lives so, presto, a gymnasium for our kids. Oh and we had better throw in a recreation pastor to oversee those activities. And the music during worship needs to sound like the latest worship CD or we are not going to that church. I could keep going on with examples of the complications we build into our walk with Christ, but that too would be an example of bewitching. The simple truth is that we need to personally connect with Jesus on a moment by moment basis. We personally are responsible for that connection and growth. If it is not happening on the personal level, it is not going to happen on the corporate level. Church is great, but it is not a substitute for a personal connection. In what ways are you giving up your responsibility for your own personal spiritual growth to someone else? Take back your responsibility and begin today to act on that choice.
The Arnold Journey 