Within my earthy temple there's a crowd,
There's one of us that's humble, one that's proud.
There's one that's broken hearted for his sins,
There's one that's unrepentant, sits and grins.
There's one that love his neighbor as himself,
There's one that cares for naught but fame and wealth.
From much corroding care I should be free,
If I could once determine which is me.
This little poem always puts a smile on my face. If I were to be completely honest, I would have to admit that I have a pesky side at times. This pesky side would like to take the things that it sees and hears, filter it through a whole series of lenses of likes and dislikes, and then pass judgement on the situation based on the reality that it creates by this screening process. This pesky side would like to see its truths as the only truths, its preferences as the only preferences. This pesky side would want to proceed according to its plans, or at least how it perceives them to be, and expect all others to fall in line with them. This pesky side would like to see its ways as being the most efficient, the most equitable, the only way, and wonders why others can't see it that way as well. This pesky side would act on only what it feels is worthy, and reject others ideas because it doesn't fit in with its vision or plan.
But if I were completely honest, I would have to admit that I have a noble side as well. It's a side that sets aside all the worldly filters that it has built up over the years; (likes, dislikes, biases, prejudices, preferences) and understands and sees the situations before it as they actually are. This noble side lives the real truth revealed through love, compassion and prayer, constantly seeking a deeper understanding. This noble side looks at all sides of a situation, considers all alternatives, listens to all plans, and then proceeds on the best, not necessarily those determined by itself alone. This noble side acts with compassion, love, mercy, forgiveness in all situations, and is not interested in passing judgement on anything it sees or hears because it recognizes that there are things of which it is not aware, things that it cannot see in their entirety, things which it cannot fully understand.
Maybe this is what Jesus meant when he spoke to Nicodemus in the Gospel of John. "What is born of flesh is flesh. What is born of Spirit is spirit." And to be "born again" is really to allow our noble side to grow and be the dominate force in the living out of our lives in faith. Is Dying to "self" really dying to our pesky self?
In the Acts to the Apostles, a whole group of believers were united, heart and soul. No one claimed for their own anything that they had, as everything was owned and held in common. And we read that none of the members were ever in want.
Maybe Luke is describing here a community of people who are, or at least trying, to live out their lives from their noble sides, the sides of us that are nurtured by the Spirit of Christ. I'm sure the pesky side is there, as well as it is in any of our communities of faith, but it's the noble side that defines a community. It has little to do with structures, rituals, pretentions, preferences, or things done out of efficiency. It has everything to do with the Spirit, living from the Spirit, living from one's noble side. It has everything to do with inviting God to be a part of the process, individually and as part of the whole group of believers.
Jesus says: "Unless you are born of water and the Spirit, you cannot see the Kingdom of God." So the Kingdom of God is something real. Could it be the union of our noble side, our inner Spirit, with God?
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