heroes of the faith, part 2
Johnny Cash liked pills. That is no secret. In his autobiography titled Cash he says, “I’ve gone and got [drugs] several times since that first awakening … because my problem persists. It’s an ongoing struggle. I do know though, if I commit myself to God every morning and stay honest with Him and myself, I make it through the day just beautifully.”
This constant problem that Cash fought, beat, and was beaten by always kept him very close to this world that we live in. He was always made painfully aware of the physical world in which we live. For some this may at first glance seem to be something of a downer. After all with all the songs we sing about heaven, glory, the skies beyond, and the spiritual realms it is no surprise that many would think Cash’s addiction that made the physical world so real would be so defeating for him.
This is however, what seemed to give Cash his genuine depth, wisdom and understanding about life and God and how those two can work together. I can’t help but think that Cash’s love for nature, animals, and the outdoors was connected to his love for the physical world in which we live. For Cash, the world, and all it had to offer were never evil. For him this physical world was a gift from God himself that we are called to care for is was the influence of sin in our world that messed all of this up.
Maybe why this is why he sung the line, “You’re so heavenly minded you are no earthly good.” Cash new that part of being heavenly minded was being earthly good. This lyric flew in the face of those who only prefer heaven. Many Christians feel that if heaven is good, and this is where we are going, then why would we want to hang out on this earth which is bad?
A few thousand years ago an understanding of our world called Gnosticism rose to prominence. While many have read something about this group in The Da Vinci Code, we have failed to realize that their philosophy has been preached and taught in our churches for centuries. The Gnostics (that is followers of Gnosticism) believed among other things that matter and the material world was evil. That is anything you could taste, touch, feel, smell, and hear was evil. Trees were evil. Water was evil. Chihuahuas were evil. They believed matter to be evil because it was a part of fallen creation. So the hope of the Gnostics was to escape this place, that is the material world and ascend to the heavens.
If matter was evil, then the immaterial or spiritual was good. So Gnostics held the spiritual above the material. The spiritual world was where God was, and where only a few who had true, enlightened knowledge (or gnosis) would get there.
The Gnostics were right, there is a division between the physical and spiritual. What happens when we die? Our soul or spirit leaves our body and goes to be with God. The physical rots but the spiritual lasts forever. This division between the spiritual and physical, however, is observed in death. Death is the result of sin. In Genesis, God tells Adam not to eat the fruit of a certain tree. Adam does not listen to him, and he and Eve eat the fruit. God tells them they will die. Death is here because sin came first. Separation of soul and body are the result of sin.
It is interesting to note that in the life to come when God restores all things to himself our souls and bodies reunite. If matter is bad then why does God come to earth to live with us? If material is bad, then why on earth did the God of the universe become flesh?
There is much good in this physical world. As many of you know, Beth and I are moving to Colorado (or as our children are telling people, the mountains). There is nothing evil about a mountain. A mountain is a complex structure that rises out of the ground because of shifting plates in the earth. They are beautiful and inspiring. Mountains on this earth are not evil, but they are affected by sin. Paul says that creation is “subject to frustration.” Mountains are perhaps my favorite part of this earth. Yet they are frustrated. In some way they are held back from the glory that God created them with. Mountains are not evil. Mountains are frustrated. They are groaning and waiting for release from sin. When God created the world he said it was good. Evil destroyed that. I believe what God said, “Mountains are good.”
Cash knew that we get to be men and women who enjoy the mountains and take care of them. We get to recapture the world in which we live. We can reclaim the command that God gave to Adam and Eve and steward his creation. We can bask in the joy, beauty and goodness of this creation. We continue to find ourselves as we cultivate what we have been given.
I look at Cash and think that in his weakness Cash became deeply aware of who we are. Whole beings, physical and spiritual, created to live in harmony with heaven and earth.
This constant problem that Cash fought, beat, and was beaten by always kept him very close to this world that we live in. He was always made painfully aware of the physical world in which we live. For some this may at first glance seem to be something of a downer. After all with all the songs we sing about heaven, glory, the skies beyond, and the spiritual realms it is no surprise that many would think Cash’s addiction that made the physical world so real would be so defeating for him.
This is however, what seemed to give Cash his genuine depth, wisdom and understanding about life and God and how those two can work together. I can’t help but think that Cash’s love for nature, animals, and the outdoors was connected to his love for the physical world in which we live. For Cash, the world, and all it had to offer were never evil. For him this physical world was a gift from God himself that we are called to care for is was the influence of sin in our world that messed all of this up.
Maybe why this is why he sung the line, “You’re so heavenly minded you are no earthly good.” Cash new that part of being heavenly minded was being earthly good. This lyric flew in the face of those who only prefer heaven. Many Christians feel that if heaven is good, and this is where we are going, then why would we want to hang out on this earth which is bad?
A few thousand years ago an understanding of our world called Gnosticism rose to prominence. While many have read something about this group in The Da Vinci Code, we have failed to realize that their philosophy has been preached and taught in our churches for centuries. The Gnostics (that is followers of Gnosticism) believed among other things that matter and the material world was evil. That is anything you could taste, touch, feel, smell, and hear was evil. Trees were evil. Water was evil. Chihuahuas were evil. They believed matter to be evil because it was a part of fallen creation. So the hope of the Gnostics was to escape this place, that is the material world and ascend to the heavens.
If matter was evil, then the immaterial or spiritual was good. So Gnostics held the spiritual above the material. The spiritual world was where God was, and where only a few who had true, enlightened knowledge (or gnosis) would get there.
The Gnostics were right, there is a division between the physical and spiritual. What happens when we die? Our soul or spirit leaves our body and goes to be with God. The physical rots but the spiritual lasts forever. This division between the spiritual and physical, however, is observed in death. Death is the result of sin. In Genesis, God tells Adam not to eat the fruit of a certain tree. Adam does not listen to him, and he and Eve eat the fruit. God tells them they will die. Death is here because sin came first. Separation of soul and body are the result of sin.
It is interesting to note that in the life to come when God restores all things to himself our souls and bodies reunite. If matter is bad then why does God come to earth to live with us? If material is bad, then why on earth did the God of the universe become flesh?
There is much good in this physical world. As many of you know, Beth and I are moving to Colorado (or as our children are telling people, the mountains). There is nothing evil about a mountain. A mountain is a complex structure that rises out of the ground because of shifting plates in the earth. They are beautiful and inspiring. Mountains on this earth are not evil, but they are affected by sin. Paul says that creation is “subject to frustration.” Mountains are perhaps my favorite part of this earth. Yet they are frustrated. In some way they are held back from the glory that God created them with. Mountains are not evil. Mountains are frustrated. They are groaning and waiting for release from sin. When God created the world he said it was good. Evil destroyed that. I believe what God said, “Mountains are good.”
Cash knew that we get to be men and women who enjoy the mountains and take care of them. We get to recapture the world in which we live. We can reclaim the command that God gave to Adam and Eve and steward his creation. We can bask in the joy, beauty and goodness of this creation. We continue to find ourselves as we cultivate what we have been given.
I look at Cash and think that in his weakness Cash became deeply aware of who we are. Whole beings, physical and spiritual, created to live in harmony with heaven and earth.