Raising The Dead (The Hardened Heart)

 Because, knowing God, not as God do they glorify or thank Him, but vain were they made in their reasonings, and darkened is their unintelligent heart.

Romans 1: 21, Concordant New Testament

I was thinking this week of a conversation I had with one of our security officers not so long ago.  Our conversation centered around my recent experience with bringing a young man back to reality with the assistance of modern medicine.  My coworker, being a believer, commented that he felt sorry for the young man's condition.  For a moment I strongly disagreed.  That is, until I realized that I had stepped into what could be the same experience the young man had.  My heart had become hardened.  Now, many who have either read my page or talked with me in person might wonder when I mention that my heart has become hardened.  I speak of the Lord and our need for Him.  How can someone who loves the Lord Jesus suddenly produce a hardened heart?  The answer to that question lies in how close to our hearts which we hold that which know to be true.  For a time I had forgotten that the Father is the very image of that man we see on the street each day.  For it is God who has created all mankind in His loving image {Genesis 1:27}.  No wonder the outcome of a persons life, that never changes.  The trouble is, I had become so accustomed in my day to day job duties with seeing the negative aspects of the homeless issue here in Portland that I had forgotten that there is indeed a human side to this problem.  There is a human side to the drugs and addiction.  There is a human side to the piles of trash around the city.  The mayor of our city recently commented about the homeless issue that, "I'll take common sense over expertise."  Common sense tells us that something needs to be done to address this issue our nation is facing.  Common sense tells us that these are people and not throw away inconveniences.  The experts tell us that we need to take these people and shuttle them all into mini encampments around the city.  thereby getting them out of the way of everyone else.  Out of sight, out of mind.  What is the first thing that comes to mind when I hear the so called experts propose this as a solution?  I think of how so many of the "experts" in Nazi Germany decided that the best way to deal with their undesirables was to herd them into their own camps.  The similarities between these two solutions should scare more than a few people.  

If anyone should be saying that "I am loving God," and should be hating his brother, he is a liar; for he who is not loving his brother whom he has seen can not be loving God whom he has not seen.

1 John 4: 20, Concordant New Testament 

Like I said, through the course of so many years on the front lines of the homeless situation in our city, my heart had become hardened to the real issue at hand.  I had forgotten the truth.  I've heard many a preacher speak to the fact that sin sears our conscience until our hearts become hardened by our own behavior.  I feel that this is entirely possible.  I believe that each of us are graced from birth with the moral conscience we were created with.  Yes, even the most despicable people you may have ever met once knew the truth.  So what happened?  The same thing that happened to me.  Over time these people who were created in our Fathers image forgot who they were.  Many things can and do contribute to our forgetting who we are.  Our environment, outside influences and behaviors all contribute to the fact that we may one day forget who it is that we really are.  We are not of the world, but of God {1 John 4:4}.  Our identity does not belong to this world, but to Christ who is in us {Galatians 2:20}.  When we look in the mirror, we should not see the flesh that has been scarred by many difficult situations in life.  The face we see in the mirror is that of Christ Jesus.  It is Jesus who became sin on our behalf {1 Corinthians 5:21}.  We are no longer that person we used to be.  Through Jesus we are a brand new creation {2 Corinthians 5:17}.  This never changes no matter how often we forget. 

~Scott~