"....How long will you live crazed by illusion?" -- Psalm 4:2, The Message
According to the dictionary, the word "illusion" is defined as "something that deceives by producing a false or misleading impression of reality." Therefore, the word "disillusioned" means to be freed from a false impression of reality. Could it be, then, that disillusionment is a necessary part of growing in the truth?
Some of us need to be "disillusioned" when it comes to God! Yes...I meant to say that and exactly that way! It is so easy for people to form their own theologies on the basis of their wishful thinking about God, not on the solid foundation of God's own self-revelation in history. Even those of us who know God through Jesus Christ, and who derive our core theology from Scripture, often believe things about God that simply aren't true. For us, God may be a big ol' friend who is there to give us everything we want....hardly the biblical God. Or perhaps our "God" is harsh and severe rather than gracious and merciful. To some extent, we all need to be "disillusioned" when it comes to God in order to embrace the truth of God's nature as revealed to us through Christ and through Scripture.
If I am fooled by an illusion, if I embrace as true something that isn't, then "disillusionment" might be a painful but necessary step on the road to truth and health.
I wonder which illusions I need to be set free from? Where do I need disillusionment? When it comes, will I accept it as a tough but gracious teacher or will I cling to my illusions?
I have been preaching that we need to pray for purity of mind. Not so much from lust, bitterness, greed, all the things we normally think of, but rather to be cleansed of all traditions, biases, and past prejucices. God set us free! Greg Bond
ReplyDeleteExtreme disillusionment is often necessary for God to get our attention and cooperation. Illusions about God and ourselves often develope unintentionally. The process of dismantling those illusions is extremely painful but God, because He loves us, reduces us to the "least common denominator". Finally, stripped bare of our own self-righteousness, we see ourselves for who we really are...and it isn't pretty. It has transformed my life and ministry in so many ways but never more so than on the subject of grace. God is calling us to be dispensers of grace, now more than ever. For that to happen the illusions have got to go!
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