Blessed

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-dannemiller/christians-should-stop-saying_b_4868963.html

The above is a post that is going around Facebook. There is a lot of good stuff in it, but I take issue with his conclusion, and I'd like to lay it out with a little more detail than I feel is appropriate for a Facebook comment.

First, I want to state absolutely that I am in complete agreement with this writer about the horrendous thing that is called prosperity "gospel" which is really not good news at all. It is a lie, and Americans in particular need to get away from this idea. Stuff is not an indicator of the levels of our faith.

Second, if his point is that we need to focus on spiritual things instead of on material things, again, I completely agree. Focus on what God has done in changing you spiritually, not in what you have or don't have materially. Absolutely. Colossians 3:1-2

Unfortunately, that's not what I read. What I read is "material stuff is not a blessing; it's a trial." After just quoting the Lord Jesus when He said, (paraphrasing, here) "Blessed are you when men hate you" this writer claims that trials are suddenly not blessings.

Honestly, this writer seems very confused about what a blessing is. And part of the reason for that is that he's using as his definition a passage where Jesus is not defining anything. Jesus does not say, "You are ONLY blessed when...." He says that these groups of people are blessed. He doesn't say they are the only ones who are blessed, or that these listed blessings are the ONLY blessings. He is NOT defining blessing here. He is laying out principles.

So let's use the rest of what the Holy Spirit wrote, instead of just one passage, and see if we can broaden our understanding. I call your attention to the book of James. 1:17 - Every good gift comes from the Father. And then 4:13-17. What is the point of these? That God is in control of everything we do or don't receive.

Let's bring Romans 8:28 into this too though, because it's extremely important. Everything that happens or doesn't happen to a Christian is for their good.

And now we are armed for the climax. What is a blessing? A blessing is a good thing that happens to me; therefore, it is a gift from God. Everything that happens to a Christian is a good thing because it ultimately brings us closer to Him. Therefore, whether I get the job, or don't get the job, I am blessed. Whether I get the car or don't get the car, I am blessed. And I don't mean generally, and I don't mean just spiritually. I don't mean that I, as a person, am blessed in Christ (though I am). I mean not getting the job IS a blessing, and getting the car IS a blessing.

Let me flesh this out for you. My husband lost his job when we'd been married for about 6 weeks. It was a blessing. It was for our good both materially and spiritually. It was one of the biggest blessings we've had. It completely changed our outlook for the start of our new life.

Recently, we were able to purchase a second car. That was also a blessing from God. Without my husband getting a new job, without the health to work hard (which is a gift every day from the LORD), without so many things that God has done for us, we would not have been able to afford that car. And I would be missing most church services these days, because my husband has to go straight from work. If I didn't have a car of my own, I would not be able to get to church most weeks.

We have been blessed. Materially. With things being taken away and with things being granted. The great danger of not seeing material things as God's gifts, is that suddenly, you have no one to praise for them, except yourself.

The writer ends by saying that he's grateful. Grateful to who? For what? If he hasn't been given anything, then he has nothing to be grateful for. Think about this: How many unfaithed people (by that, I mean people who either don't practice their "faith" or don't believe in a deity) who will say they are blessed? They might be grateful, but ultimately, they're grateful to their boss for the raise, or their spouse for their hard work, or circumstances. They aren't grateful to God.

Saying, "I am blessed" automatically indicates, by the simple grammar of the word, that there is a Blesser. And generally, everyone knows that ultimately, you're talking about a deity.

The other danger of this is Gnosticism. If you follow this train of thinking far enough, you will come to the conclusion that material things are not only not good, they are bad. ONLY spiritual things are good. ONLY spiritual things are praiseworthy. This is heresy. God created EVERYTHING, the soul and the body. He created the world, and everything He created was good. We ruined our souls, but we still believe the spiritual is good. God's creation is full of good things, things that we need and enjoy. He made it for our benefit, and it is beautiful. If you say that a car or a house is not a blessing, then I say, neither is the Grand Canyon, neither is sleep.

Sleep is one of the best blessings I have experienced. And only God can give you good sleep. What we need to do is not stop saying we are blessed, we need to realize how much we are blessed. How many people take sleep for granted? A lot. I did right up until I had a baby and it finally hit me that I do not DESERVE a good night's sleep. I can't earn it. I can't make it happen. I can't make myself be rested in the morning. Even if I drug myself, it's a small chance that I'll wake up refreshed. Sleep is a gift from God. It's a blessing. And many of us take it for granted. Let's not stop telling how much God has blessed us. Let's start to realize how many things we never said were blessings from the Lord, and let's tell everyone about them. The times when He gave, and the times when He took away. We are blessed people.