Why we believe
Belief and faith go hand in hand; they are both translated from the same Greek word. Which English word is used to translate πίστις is largely a matter of context. Even though the same Greek word is used, in English ‘Faith’ is something that we have; ‘Believe’ is something that we do.
So why do we do it?
Predicting the future
God has created our brains to perform calculations at a rate that defies measurement. One of the things that the brain is good at is predictive reasoning. This is what makes driving possible – if you could not predict the motion of the other cars at an intersection, there would be far more crunched fenders.
Early in life, we learn to associate “hot” and “pain” by experiencing the two in close proximity. Some people learned to connect these two ideas by having their hands slapped as they reached for the hot stove. Others learned by actually touching the stove.
Similarly, we learn to associate grief with loss, pleasure with sugar, and certain unruly behaviors with severe tongue-lashings. In time, we develop the ability to predict the outcome of an action without having to experience it directly. I remember a childhood friend describing sliding down a razor blade into a pool of lemon juice – even though I am positive that he never had such an experience. Yet both of us made the expected noises and I know I shudder still at the thought. I cannot honestly imagine the pain that might ensue, but I can draw from other painful experiences in my life and extrapolate what it might be like.
The forcefulness of the predictive image is directly related to the seriousness of the consequences. When I was about ten years old, my Dad took the family in our four-wheel-drive pickup truck up a just-barely road to see a marble quarry in Colorado. As my four year old brother raced on ahead to see this wonderful site, a lady grabbed him by the arm and halted his progress. She looked at my parents and explained, “There is a drop-off there with no guard rail, and a patch of ice right before it.”
When we got to the edge of the quarry, there was indeed about a 50-foot drop straight down to a solid stone floor. And there was a frozen puddle about ten feet across just at the rim of the quarry. To this day, I still shudder at what could have happened there that morning. In my mind’s eye, I can still see my brother’s green sweater and the white marble with red streaks through it, the black ice, and the long drop to the stone below. Even though no accident befell us, the predictive ability of the brain clearly saw a dire consequence and imprinted these images where they will not be forgotten.
When things do not work out as our brains predict, we look for another explanation so that we can refine the process of predicting the immediate future. For example, experience teaches us that the cost of the things we buy will continue to go up in relatively small increments. When we see a price drop, we need to know why. Sales and negotiated discounts are familiar explanations, so they are included in the model of reality that the brain uses to predict the future. There are some products that defy the trend, like consumer electronics. So we add a clause to the mental rule, saying that prices go up, except for sales, model year closeouts, and computers.
Eventually, we develop a highly refined sense of how the immediate future should look. Little surprises us, because we have vast experience and a million corrective clauses to adjust a thousand situational rules. You might even say that we have faith that the near future will look pretty much like our predictions. And, for the most part, we are right.
So believing is, in part, based on those sets of rules that we have constructed from years of experience. Are those rules set in stone?
No, they are always fluid, because we are always finding new ways to tweak the rules that we use to predict the future. So when something does not quite fit the pattern we have imagined, it is no big deal. We revise the rule and keep moving on. If something is dramatically different than our predictions, that causes a little pain, because we have to totally re-examine the rules and all the little corrective sub-rules that explain things.
Superstition and magic are things that humans have invented because someone built a bad set of predictive rules, and those rules were seriously violated. If you break a mirror and there follows a string of ‘bad luck’, it is sometimes easier to add a rule to your predictive model that says “If you break a mirror, you get seven year’s bad luck” than to consider that breaking a mirror is nothing more than breaking a mirror. And of course, having heard the old superstition repeated often enough, some of us start cataloging all the bad stuff that follows a broken mirror as proof of the theorem. It becomes self-fulfilling prophecy.
Superstition is reinforced by inaccurate score-keeping. By being selective about what we define as ‘bad luck,’ we choose to reinforce the superstition rather than weaken it. Mental discipline can use this tendency to move in the opposite direction. By an act of will, we can choose to define broken mirrors and black cat path-crossings as simply ignorant beliefs of the superstitious. Having done so, we can choose to see how much good luck follows a broken mirror, and further weaken the grip that the superstitions have on our predictive reasoning.
It is this mental discipline that is all too often lacking in today’s busy world. “If you make people think they are thinking, they will love you. If you really make them think, they will hate you.” That quote is variously attributed to Paul Gaugin, Mark Twain, Don Marquis, Arthur Costa, Plato, and Aristotle. Whoever said it, it seems self-evident to me.
We love to think that we are thinking; it is the sort of bad score-keeping that allows us to believe that we are smarter than the average picnic basket. However, Paul reminded “…every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think…” (Romans 12:3). In context, Paul was speaking of getting puffed up about how much faith we have, rather than how much intelligence, but the same principle should apply.
Thinking can be hard work. It requires setting aside preconceived notions and telling that prediction engine to chill out and prepare to accept new information. This sort of thinking requires some uninterrupted time. When I am driving, my brain is furiously anticipating all the stupid moves that the other idiots on the road could make. I just know that half of the oncoming drivers are yakking on their cell phones, and another thirty percent are otherwise distracted. My mental energies are directed at keeping an escape route open. Sometimes, I am so wrapped up in how the other drivers could do something stupid that I do something stupid myself. This of course, reinforces the belief that all drivers – myself included - are just disasters waiting for the right opportunity. So I do not find that driving is a good time to ponder the deep philosophical issues of the day. I am too busy surviving to think clearly; I let the predictive engine run wide open.
Time to think
In our interrupt-driven world, there is rarely a time when we can focus on one thought for any length of time. Our attention spans have become shorter as our access to information has expanded exponentially. News sources feed us carefully filtered facts designed to lead us to some conclusion. Talk radio hands us our opinions fully formed and mocks the contrarian opinions of the many callers. Every Web site is a sub-set of information designed to convince us of something.
If you notice, there seems to be a defining theme for each time period. The late 90’s we were taught to fear the anarchy that would result from the Y2K computer crisis. No sooner was that fear safely past than September 11th, 2001 issued in a crisis so that we could fear terrorists. Not long after the Department of Homeland Security had been established, we had to go to war because Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. After the American people wearied of hearing about the war, suddenly the price of oil doubled, raising prices at the pump dramatically. As I write this, the unthinking masses are being herded into pressuring Congress to open up costal waters and the Alaskan reserve so that we can drill for oil in those areas.
Sometimes, I stop to catch my breath. It is exhausting being stampeded from one opinion to another; I need to get some time alone to think.
Consider what this means. Shut out the world for a while, quiet the voice inside your head that bounces from topic to topic like a sugared-up toddler in a toy store. Slow your breathing, relax your muscles, and focus on one thought for a minute. Taking time to think is a lot like praying.
Jesus talked about entering our ‘closet’ of prayer in Matthew 6:6: “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret…” This closet is an inner sanctuary where we can be alone with God. In our world, this may not be a physical location so much as a behavioral practice.
Communion with God is a good place to examine our preconceived notions. Ask Him if the future really has to be as we anticipate it. Discuss current events with your heavenly Father and seek His opinions on the things that we are being fed. But above all, be aware of that predictive engine running in your brain and challenge its rule set. Because those rules often take the place of thinking; we simply make assumptions about the future and wait for them to be validated.
Inhibitor to faith?
This amazing predictive ability of the brain is what prevents us from enjoying faith to the fullest. Because we have often seen similar situations and circumstances, we are convinced that the outcomes must follow the pattern that our predictions forecast. In a sense, we have faith that things will continue as they have… and so they do.
Thinking that all things will continue as they have is not an inhibitor to faith so much as an unintended application of faith. It rarely enters our awareness that expecting things to continue is a form of faith. After all, it takes so little faith to believe that nothing miraculous will happen today.
The opposite of faith is not doubt. Doubt is faith applied backwards – doubt is faith that something will NOT happen, rather than faith that it will happen. For example, if I want it to rain, and pray for it to rain, and look out at the sunny sky and think to myself, “It’s not going to rain today”, then I have just put faith in failure. I have canceled out the effects of my earlier prayer by applying an equal amount of the substance of faith, but I applied it in the opposite direction. So doubt is a form of faith.
Fear is also a form of faith – a specialized subset of faith as a whole. Fear is faith in bad things happening. It has side effects like adrenalin fatigue, panic, or just a low level of constant stress. Fear is faith in personal harm, but it is a form of faith. Perfect love casts out fear because when we feel loved and protected, we are no longer thinking about being harmed.
So what can inhibit faith? Only a failure to think at all. If you can turn off your brain and park your body, you will have no faith. Other than that, if you are thinking, you can use your faith to change the world around you. For good or ill, whether we intend to do so or not, we do change the world around us with our faith. It is the way that we have been created.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
The book - chapter 3
Chapter 3. The power of words
In the preface, I mentioned that spoken words control our faith. There is a relationship between faith and words; in this chapter, I want to show you the power of the spoken word.
Creative words
At the end of Chapter 1, I called your attention to the way that God created the heavens and the earth – He spoke them into existence. Many theological explanations exist for the concept of “Logos”, or the Word. But rather than go all mystical here, I would like to stick with the literal. The things that are written in the Word of God are often written in metaphors because they are true on multiple levels – the literal and the metaphorical. Focus with me on the literal for a few pages, and then you can go back to the deeper meanings.
While I am on the subject, I have noticed a definite human tendency to go all mystical and metaphorical on many matters. There is a book in print called “The Secret,” and a movie by that name. The basic premise of the book is that that there is some mystical power in the universe that brings us what we think about, so by changing our thoughts, we can change our lives. The “Law of Attraction” describes how this occurs. And it must be true, because so many people have said it was true.
Logically, there is a problem with this. When something is true, it is true regardless of popular opinion. Well, not everything. By definition, the current President’s popularity is true or not depending on popular opinion… but I digress. For most things, truth is not dependent on mass opinion, and the book “The Secret” is built on the premise that if so many people (some of them even famous people) believe it, it must be true. I would rather cite scripture and admit that if the Bible is wrong, then I am wrong, too. My personal bias is to accept the Bible as the word of God.
Interestingly, the concepts in “The Secret” do have some basis in scripture, as I am attempting to bring out in this book. It is not true because a lot of people think it is true, it is true because that’s how God put the universe together.
“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). King David waxed poetic and described it in Psalm 33:6 as “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.” In short, all that God made, He made by speaking it into existence. Then He turned around and made man in His own image, named him Adam, and put him to work.
Examples of words at work
Throughout scripture, there are descriptions of the power of the spoken word. In Numbers 20:8, God told Moses to speak to a rock. “Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.”
Side note: “Ye” is plural. The translators of the King James Bible spoke a version of the English language that is 400 years older than what we speak today; we have since abandoned the idea of singular and plural forms of “you”. So literally, God told Moses that both Aaron and Moses were to speak to the rock. They didn’t; they spoke to the congregation and hit the rock with Moses’ rod, just like they had in Exodus 17:6. In Exodus, they were told to strike the rock; this time they were supposed to speak to it. This failing later cost Moses his ticket into the promised land (Deuteronomy 32:49-52). When God says “speak”, we better open our mouths and say something, and when He says whack the rock with a stick… that is when we should get all physical with the rock.
Jesus illustrated the point about faith and speaking when He told the disciples that “…If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” (Matthew 17:20). He said something very similar in Luke 17:6: “And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.”
Transplanting trees and moving mountains are given as examples of what the voice can do, when faith is present in mustard-seed quantities. Mark 4:31 tells us that the mustard seed is the smallest seed of all, so I assume that the amount of faith required for these feats is also small.
But faith quantities are not the point here; the point is that Jesus said “say unto this” mountain or tree. Speaking is the tool that our faith uses to accomplish the work.
Verbal utterances are given great weight in the scriptures; consider the following list of verses about talking:
Proverbs 18:21 - Death and life are in the power of the tongue
Proverbs 15:4 – A wholesome tongue is a tree of life
James 3:5 - Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things
Romans 10:10 - …with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Clearly, the tongue is used in reference to speaking, rather than licking things here. James goes on to describe the tongue in more detail.
James 3:8 - But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. (9)Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. (10) Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
Clearly, the strength is there – what is lacking is direction. Our tongues should be wagging for good, not for evil.
Words cannot be recalled
There have been some times in my life when I wished I could go back and un-say something that I had said; often because it was hurtful or untrue. I have found to my great regret that words cannot be unsaid. Sometimes, you can smother them with more words, confessions, apologies, and so on… but that is not the same as un-saying them.
Isaac ran into this problem when he blessed the wrong offspring.
Genesis 27:36, 37
And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? (37) And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?
When Esau complained that his brother had been blessed, Jacob lamented that the words he had said could not be recalled; the blessing was given, the words spoken, and the children of Jacob are still stereotyped as wealthy… they are still blessed with corn and wine. Not only were the words “no deposit – no return”, but they were “no expiration date”… The blessings continue indefinitely.
Even God Himself cannot un-say words. In Isaiah 55:11, God says “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” In Isaiah 45:23, He says “…the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return…”
Because words are so durable and so powerful, we ought to watch them carefully!
In the preface, I mentioned that spoken words control our faith. There is a relationship between faith and words; in this chapter, I want to show you the power of the spoken word.
Creative words
At the end of Chapter 1, I called your attention to the way that God created the heavens and the earth – He spoke them into existence. Many theological explanations exist for the concept of “Logos”, or the Word. But rather than go all mystical here, I would like to stick with the literal. The things that are written in the Word of God are often written in metaphors because they are true on multiple levels – the literal and the metaphorical. Focus with me on the literal for a few pages, and then you can go back to the deeper meanings.
While I am on the subject, I have noticed a definite human tendency to go all mystical and metaphorical on many matters. There is a book in print called “The Secret,” and a movie by that name. The basic premise of the book is that that there is some mystical power in the universe that brings us what we think about, so by changing our thoughts, we can change our lives. The “Law of Attraction” describes how this occurs. And it must be true, because so many people have said it was true.
Logically, there is a problem with this. When something is true, it is true regardless of popular opinion. Well, not everything. By definition, the current President’s popularity is true or not depending on popular opinion… but I digress. For most things, truth is not dependent on mass opinion, and the book “The Secret” is built on the premise that if so many people (some of them even famous people) believe it, it must be true. I would rather cite scripture and admit that if the Bible is wrong, then I am wrong, too. My personal bias is to accept the Bible as the word of God.
Interestingly, the concepts in “The Secret” do have some basis in scripture, as I am attempting to bring out in this book. It is not true because a lot of people think it is true, it is true because that’s how God put the universe together.
“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). King David waxed poetic and described it in Psalm 33:6 as “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.” In short, all that God made, He made by speaking it into existence. Then He turned around and made man in His own image, named him Adam, and put him to work.
Examples of words at work
Throughout scripture, there are descriptions of the power of the spoken word. In Numbers 20:8, God told Moses to speak to a rock. “Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.”
Side note: “Ye” is plural. The translators of the King James Bible spoke a version of the English language that is 400 years older than what we speak today; we have since abandoned the idea of singular and plural forms of “you”. So literally, God told Moses that both Aaron and Moses were to speak to the rock. They didn’t; they spoke to the congregation and hit the rock with Moses’ rod, just like they had in Exodus 17:6. In Exodus, they were told to strike the rock; this time they were supposed to speak to it. This failing later cost Moses his ticket into the promised land (Deuteronomy 32:49-52). When God says “speak”, we better open our mouths and say something, and when He says whack the rock with a stick… that is when we should get all physical with the rock.
Jesus illustrated the point about faith and speaking when He told the disciples that “…If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” (Matthew 17:20). He said something very similar in Luke 17:6: “And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.”
Transplanting trees and moving mountains are given as examples of what the voice can do, when faith is present in mustard-seed quantities. Mark 4:31 tells us that the mustard seed is the smallest seed of all, so I assume that the amount of faith required for these feats is also small.
But faith quantities are not the point here; the point is that Jesus said “say unto this” mountain or tree. Speaking is the tool that our faith uses to accomplish the work.
Verbal utterances are given great weight in the scriptures; consider the following list of verses about talking:
Proverbs 18:21 - Death and life are in the power of the tongue
Proverbs 15:4 – A wholesome tongue is a tree of life
James 3:5 - Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things
Romans 10:10 - …with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Clearly, the tongue is used in reference to speaking, rather than licking things here. James goes on to describe the tongue in more detail.
James 3:8 - But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. (9)Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. (10) Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
Clearly, the strength is there – what is lacking is direction. Our tongues should be wagging for good, not for evil.
Words cannot be recalled
There have been some times in my life when I wished I could go back and un-say something that I had said; often because it was hurtful or untrue. I have found to my great regret that words cannot be unsaid. Sometimes, you can smother them with more words, confessions, apologies, and so on… but that is not the same as un-saying them.
Isaac ran into this problem when he blessed the wrong offspring.
Genesis 27:36, 37
And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? (37) And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?
When Esau complained that his brother had been blessed, Jacob lamented that the words he had said could not be recalled; the blessing was given, the words spoken, and the children of Jacob are still stereotyped as wealthy… they are still blessed with corn and wine. Not only were the words “no deposit – no return”, but they were “no expiration date”… The blessings continue indefinitely.
Even God Himself cannot un-say words. In Isaiah 55:11, God says “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” In Isaiah 45:23, He says “…the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return…”
Because words are so durable and so powerful, we ought to watch them carefully!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
The book, chapter 2, part 2
What is it that faith does?
Faith literally changes the physical world. It brings about healing in the body, it changes weather patterns, and it alters the state of matter. Since it does these things, it may be useful to think of faith as an energy field that can be manipulated by human beings.
Healing is the most frequently attributed evidence of faith in action. The four friends who let the man down through the roof, the woman with the issue of blood, and other scriptural incidents reaffirm that faith brings about healing. Healing is also the easiest evidence of faith, or perhaps another way to say it is that healing costs the smallest amount of faith.
When Jesus returned to Nazareth, he did no mighty works; he just healed a few folks (Mark 6:5). The reason given for the lack of mighty works is that the local folks had little faith: “And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (Matt. 13:58)
How does faith work?
Faith works by tapping into the power of God. The woman with the issue of blood touched the hem of Jesus’ garment, and he felt virtue go out from him (Luke 8:46, Mark 5:30). The Greek word used here, δύναμιν, is more often translated “power” and is the root for the English words “dynamic” and “dynamite.”
When Jesus walked the earth in human flesh, He subjected Himself to human limitations. He made it clear that human beings could do more than He had done: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” (John 14:12).
If faith is the extension cord that plugs into the power, then when Jesus was in his own country (Nazareth) where the people had little or no faith, He endured the same limitations as the rest of us – he could do no mighty works, except to heal a few people.
Some commentaries say that He was unwilling to do the works; however, the text says He was unable – the difference between unwilling and unable is significant. Jesus said that all power was given unto him (Matt. 28:18), so our expectation is that he had the ability to do mighty works, but chose not to; that’s not what the verse said. It said that He could not do many mighty works.
The word for mighty works used in Matthew 13:58 has the same root as “power” – the word is δυνάμεις, just a different word ending than δύναμιν. The word translated as “power” in Matthew 28:18 is a different word - ἐξουσία – which is also translated as “authority.” Jesus has all power as in permission to do anything; His ability while clothed in flesh was limited to that set of abilities that are common to humanity.
Because there was so little faith available, He could not tap into His cosmic power to accomplish mighty works.
Volumes have been written about the dual nature of the man Christ Jesus; I will not delve into that topic here. Since He was both the omnipotent God and a limited human being, Jesus experienced some unique things. One of those things, in my opinion, was that feeling of power flowing from Him as the woman with the issue of blood touched him. As God, He is the source of that power. As a man, He could only tap into that power through the same set of tools He provided us all with. Faith unleashes the power of God. It is not itself the source of power, but merely a necessary accessory.
Electricity can be harnessed in many ways; humanity has been able to make electricity flow through wires or through the air. We use magnetic fields to transfer electrical energy from one voltage to another; we manipulate it in many other ways. But without some conduit, some conductor, some medium for it to flow through, it is worthless to us. On a hot day, having an electric fan can be nice – but unless it is plugged into the wall, it can be frustratingly still. The power is available in the wall; the fan is available, but if the power cord is missing, the voltage is useless; it cannot turn the fan because it cannot reach the fan.
Electricity is a parable, a model, a metaphor for the power of God, and an illustration of the way that faith works. If God’s power is electricity, then Faith is the wires. Faith is what brings the power to where it can be used. Faith is something that we can get more of, just like we can go to the hardware store and pick up more extension cords. How we grow our faith is through the words that we use.
Faith literally changes the physical world. It brings about healing in the body, it changes weather patterns, and it alters the state of matter. Since it does these things, it may be useful to think of faith as an energy field that can be manipulated by human beings.
Healing is the most frequently attributed evidence of faith in action. The four friends who let the man down through the roof, the woman with the issue of blood, and other scriptural incidents reaffirm that faith brings about healing. Healing is also the easiest evidence of faith, or perhaps another way to say it is that healing costs the smallest amount of faith.
When Jesus returned to Nazareth, he did no mighty works; he just healed a few folks (Mark 6:5). The reason given for the lack of mighty works is that the local folks had little faith: “And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (Matt. 13:58)
How does faith work?
Faith works by tapping into the power of God. The woman with the issue of blood touched the hem of Jesus’ garment, and he felt virtue go out from him (Luke 8:46, Mark 5:30). The Greek word used here, δύναμιν, is more often translated “power” and is the root for the English words “dynamic” and “dynamite.”
When Jesus walked the earth in human flesh, He subjected Himself to human limitations. He made it clear that human beings could do more than He had done: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” (John 14:12).
If faith is the extension cord that plugs into the power, then when Jesus was in his own country (Nazareth) where the people had little or no faith, He endured the same limitations as the rest of us – he could do no mighty works, except to heal a few people.
Some commentaries say that He was unwilling to do the works; however, the text says He was unable – the difference between unwilling and unable is significant. Jesus said that all power was given unto him (Matt. 28:18), so our expectation is that he had the ability to do mighty works, but chose not to; that’s not what the verse said. It said that He could not do many mighty works.
The word for mighty works used in Matthew 13:58 has the same root as “power” – the word is δυνάμεις, just a different word ending than δύναμιν. The word translated as “power” in Matthew 28:18 is a different word - ἐξουσία – which is also translated as “authority.” Jesus has all power as in permission to do anything; His ability while clothed in flesh was limited to that set of abilities that are common to humanity.
Because there was so little faith available, He could not tap into His cosmic power to accomplish mighty works.
Volumes have been written about the dual nature of the man Christ Jesus; I will not delve into that topic here. Since He was both the omnipotent God and a limited human being, Jesus experienced some unique things. One of those things, in my opinion, was that feeling of power flowing from Him as the woman with the issue of blood touched him. As God, He is the source of that power. As a man, He could only tap into that power through the same set of tools He provided us all with. Faith unleashes the power of God. It is not itself the source of power, but merely a necessary accessory.
Electricity can be harnessed in many ways; humanity has been able to make electricity flow through wires or through the air. We use magnetic fields to transfer electrical energy from one voltage to another; we manipulate it in many other ways. But without some conduit, some conductor, some medium for it to flow through, it is worthless to us. On a hot day, having an electric fan can be nice – but unless it is plugged into the wall, it can be frustratingly still. The power is available in the wall; the fan is available, but if the power cord is missing, the voltage is useless; it cannot turn the fan because it cannot reach the fan.
Electricity is a parable, a model, a metaphor for the power of God, and an illustration of the way that faith works. If God’s power is electricity, then Faith is the wires. Faith is what brings the power to where it can be used. Faith is something that we can get more of, just like we can go to the hardware store and pick up more extension cords. How we grow our faith is through the words that we use.
Monday, December 14, 2009
The book, chapter 2, part 1
Chapter 2. What is faith?
We use the word “Faith” in a few different contexts; the nuances of the definition depend on how the word is used. For example, we speak of “The faith,” as a reference to the set of Christian beliefs. Sometimes, we use the word to denote denominations within the scope of Christianity. Faithful can be used as a synonym for marital fidelity. And sometimes, faith is used to define an emotion of confidence – as in, “I have faith that his check will be good.” This last meaning – confidence – at least comes close to how the word is used most often in the Bible.
This book is not about those other definitions. It is about that often unexplainable confidence that something specific will happen in spite of observable circumstances. The faith that I am writing about is not dependent on a specific denomination, or even on a Christian belief system. But more on that later.
Faith is, of course, the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It says so right here in Hebrews 11:1. But I have often wondered, what is faith? Is it a liquid, solid, or a gas? Is Faith measured by the quart, by the pound, or by the cubic centimeter?
Not knowing how it is measured does not make it un-measurable. The first reference to faith in the New Testament includes the modifier “little” (Mat. 6:30). The very next use of the word is a reference to “great” faith (Mat. 8:10). Clearly, if faith can be little or great, then faith can be quantified.
More is better.
In so many areas of life, we automatically assume that more is better. Faith is one of those areas where it really is true.
Look at some of the words of Jesus as he dealt with quantities of faith:
Mat 8:26 - And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?
Mat 8:10 - When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
Mat 14:31- And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
Notice the tone. When Jesus speaks of little faith, there is a hint of disappointment in his voice. When He speaks of great faith, his tone is approving.
In fact, there are even a few verses that command faith:
Mark 11:22 - And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
From these and other verses, it occurs to me that we ought to have faith in God, and that the more faith we have, the more God is pleased.
Perhaps I am guilty of stating the obvious, because churches have long exhorted us to have faith. Most of us already know that faith is a good thing, and that we need more of it. Knowing that we need more faith is like knowing that we need to eat healthy, or that we need more exercise. Knowing that we need more faith is a start, but knowing does not get it done.
Where does faith come from?
In the first place, we are given a little bit of faith to get us started. Paul writes in Romans 12:3 that “…God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” Ironically, God wants it back. Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please Him. Part of our stewardship, therefore, is that we are in charge of taking care of a quantity of this substance for Him.
God has given this measure of faith to every human. Most people manage to retain some quantity of faith, but Paul notes that there are some who have no faith. In 2 Thess. 3:2, Paul requests prayer “… that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men for all men have not faith.” If not all men have faith, some of them must have lost that measure that God gave them in the first place.
So not only does faith come from God initially, it is clear that there are some things that people can do to reduce the quantity of faith that they possess. Since the Bible notes that some people have great faith and some have little faith, there must be a way to gain more of it after receiving that initial measure that is dealt out equally – one measure to everyone.
We use the word “Faith” in a few different contexts; the nuances of the definition depend on how the word is used. For example, we speak of “The faith,” as a reference to the set of Christian beliefs. Sometimes, we use the word to denote denominations within the scope of Christianity. Faithful can be used as a synonym for marital fidelity. And sometimes, faith is used to define an emotion of confidence – as in, “I have faith that his check will be good.” This last meaning – confidence – at least comes close to how the word is used most often in the Bible.
This book is not about those other definitions. It is about that often unexplainable confidence that something specific will happen in spite of observable circumstances. The faith that I am writing about is not dependent on a specific denomination, or even on a Christian belief system. But more on that later.
Faith is, of course, the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It says so right here in Hebrews 11:1. But I have often wondered, what is faith? Is it a liquid, solid, or a gas? Is Faith measured by the quart, by the pound, or by the cubic centimeter?
Not knowing how it is measured does not make it un-measurable. The first reference to faith in the New Testament includes the modifier “little” (Mat. 6:30). The very next use of the word is a reference to “great” faith (Mat. 8:10). Clearly, if faith can be little or great, then faith can be quantified.
More is better.
In so many areas of life, we automatically assume that more is better. Faith is one of those areas where it really is true.
Look at some of the words of Jesus as he dealt with quantities of faith:
Mat 8:26 - And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?
Mat 8:10 - When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
Mat 14:31- And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
Notice the tone. When Jesus speaks of little faith, there is a hint of disappointment in his voice. When He speaks of great faith, his tone is approving.
In fact, there are even a few verses that command faith:
Mark 11:22 - And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
From these and other verses, it occurs to me that we ought to have faith in God, and that the more faith we have, the more God is pleased.
Perhaps I am guilty of stating the obvious, because churches have long exhorted us to have faith. Most of us already know that faith is a good thing, and that we need more of it. Knowing that we need more faith is like knowing that we need to eat healthy, or that we need more exercise. Knowing that we need more faith is a start, but knowing does not get it done.
Where does faith come from?
In the first place, we are given a little bit of faith to get us started. Paul writes in Romans 12:3 that “…God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” Ironically, God wants it back. Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please Him. Part of our stewardship, therefore, is that we are in charge of taking care of a quantity of this substance for Him.
God has given this measure of faith to every human. Most people manage to retain some quantity of faith, but Paul notes that there are some who have no faith. In 2 Thess. 3:2, Paul requests prayer “… that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men for all men have not faith.” If not all men have faith, some of them must have lost that measure that God gave them in the first place.
So not only does faith come from God initially, it is clear that there are some things that people can do to reduce the quantity of faith that they possess. Since the Bible notes that some people have great faith and some have little faith, there must be a way to gain more of it after receiving that initial measure that is dealt out equally – one measure to everyone.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
The book, chapter 1, part 3
Adam’s belly button
One of the deep, imponderable mysteries of the universe is that of Adam’s navel. Since he was created by the hand of God, he was not formed in a womb, and therefore had no need for an umbilical cord to nourish him. So - did Adam have a belly button? It would have been pointless… but I believe that he had one.
Adam was made in the image of God, according to Genesis 1:26. So if God’s image includes a navel, then Adam would logically have had a navel, too. So the real question is this: Does God have a belly button? Again, yes.
Consider this passage from Colossians, chapter 1:
(13) Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: (14) in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: (15) who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature
Clearly, the passage in Colossians is speaking of Jesus of Nazareth, who was “made of a woman, made under the law” (Galatians 4:4). Since Jesus was born of Mary, it stands to reason that Jesus had a navel. And since Jesus is the image of God, the image of God has a navel. Finally, since Adam was made in God’s image, Adam had a navel.
While the belly button defense is a little on the silly side, it does serve to illustrate a point: God knows what He is doing, right down to the level of navels and hair inventory and sparrow counting. Nothing is beneath His notice.
God created
The heavens and the Earth were created by God with a level of detail far finer than Adam’s navel. So when He created man in His own image, the end product is, as David said, “…fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:14).
I have heard it said that God spoke the universe into existence, but crafted humanity by hand. The rationale behind this argument is that God said “let there be…” to create things, but “let us make” when He spoke of Man. But a tour of Genesis 1 and 2 fails to support this observation - After God spoke each day, the account says something about what God had made. The tools that I use indicate that the same Hebrew word is used for “And God made the beast of the earth after his kind…” as is used for “Let us make man…”
Again, I am no Hebrew scholar, but it seems that the same Hebrew word, translated into the same English word, is hardly grounds for proving that there is a difference in the two uses.
However, while I do not see a difference in creation, I do see a difference in redemption. Humanity is not special in Gods eyes because He spent extra effort to make us - but we are special, because He went to such lengths to redeem us.
How it was done
Look for a moment at how God created the heavens and the Earth:
Genesis 1:3 “And God said…”
Genesis 1:6 “And God Said…”
Genesis 1:9 “And God Said…”
Genesis 1:11 “And God Said…”
Genesis 1:14 “And God Said…”
Genesis 1:20 “And God Said…”
Genesis 1:24 “And God Said…”
Notice a pattern? God spoke, and things happened.
God’s creative power was unleashed verbally. Commands went forth from the mouth of God, and the mountains rose from the seas, the grass sprouted, and the birds appeared. Every living thing began from nothing more than God’s spoken words. And God said it was good.
Finally, God reproduced a version of Himself. He made man in His own image – and He said it was very good.
How exact was the replica? How close to the original? The replica contained as much as would fit into the physical realm. The image of God that God used to create Adam was the man Christ Jesus. It stands to reason, therefore, that Adam had the authority - the power - to walk on the water, to calm the stormy seas, to bless or curse fig trees, and to ride unbroken donkey colts. The first Adam had all the features of the Last Adam; the difference being that the first Adam fell victim to a slithering salesman of sin, but the Last Adam redeemed us from that sin.
One of the deep, imponderable mysteries of the universe is that of Adam’s navel. Since he was created by the hand of God, he was not formed in a womb, and therefore had no need for an umbilical cord to nourish him. So - did Adam have a belly button? It would have been pointless… but I believe that he had one.
Adam was made in the image of God, according to Genesis 1:26. So if God’s image includes a navel, then Adam would logically have had a navel, too. So the real question is this: Does God have a belly button? Again, yes.
Consider this passage from Colossians, chapter 1:
(13) Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: (14) in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: (15) who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature
Clearly, the passage in Colossians is speaking of Jesus of Nazareth, who was “made of a woman, made under the law” (Galatians 4:4). Since Jesus was born of Mary, it stands to reason that Jesus had a navel. And since Jesus is the image of God, the image of God has a navel. Finally, since Adam was made in God’s image, Adam had a navel.
While the belly button defense is a little on the silly side, it does serve to illustrate a point: God knows what He is doing, right down to the level of navels and hair inventory and sparrow counting. Nothing is beneath His notice.
God created
The heavens and the Earth were created by God with a level of detail far finer than Adam’s navel. So when He created man in His own image, the end product is, as David said, “…fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:14).
I have heard it said that God spoke the universe into existence, but crafted humanity by hand. The rationale behind this argument is that God said “let there be…” to create things, but “let us make” when He spoke of Man. But a tour of Genesis 1 and 2 fails to support this observation - After God spoke each day, the account says something about what God had made. The tools that I use indicate that the same Hebrew word is used for “And God made the beast of the earth after his kind…” as is used for “Let us make man…”
Again, I am no Hebrew scholar, but it seems that the same Hebrew word, translated into the same English word, is hardly grounds for proving that there is a difference in the two uses.
However, while I do not see a difference in creation, I do see a difference in redemption. Humanity is not special in Gods eyes because He spent extra effort to make us - but we are special, because He went to such lengths to redeem us.
How it was done
Look for a moment at how God created the heavens and the Earth:
Genesis 1:3 “And God said…”
Genesis 1:6 “And God Said…”
Genesis 1:9 “And God Said…”
Genesis 1:11 “And God Said…”
Genesis 1:14 “And God Said…”
Genesis 1:20 “And God Said…”
Genesis 1:24 “And God Said…”
Notice a pattern? God spoke, and things happened.
God’s creative power was unleashed verbally. Commands went forth from the mouth of God, and the mountains rose from the seas, the grass sprouted, and the birds appeared. Every living thing began from nothing more than God’s spoken words. And God said it was good.
Finally, God reproduced a version of Himself. He made man in His own image – and He said it was very good.
How exact was the replica? How close to the original? The replica contained as much as would fit into the physical realm. The image of God that God used to create Adam was the man Christ Jesus. It stands to reason, therefore, that Adam had the authority - the power - to walk on the water, to calm the stormy seas, to bless or curse fig trees, and to ride unbroken donkey colts. The first Adam had all the features of the Last Adam; the difference being that the first Adam fell victim to a slithering salesman of sin, but the Last Adam redeemed us from that sin.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
The book, chapter 1, part 2
Here is the second chunk of the book I once thought to write, continued from the last blog entry:
Adam’s purpose
When God created man in his own image, He also stated His reasons for doing so. Genesis 1:26 says “… and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”
So when Adam was created, his position was over the fish, birds, cattle, and creepy things, and under God. In this sense, Adam was middle management. He had a boss that he reported to, and he had underlings that he was supposed to boss around.
The reason that Adam would use tools is that Adam was expected to get some work done - he was to dress and keep the Garden of Eden. I suspect that his tools were not all the physical accoutrements of gardening - rakes, hoes, and shovels - because he was to have dominion, which means he was the boss.
My observation of corporate America leads me to believe that talking counts as ‘work’. I have never been a manager, but I have seen management gather and process information, make decisions, and provide direction. Because a manager has dominion over a group of people, speaking certain words causes those people to take action and accomplish things. Move these over here, write that letter, create this software, reduce costs - these are all things that managers direct, and things get accomplished. To a manager, wielding this power must seem like magic. Speak, and see results.
Help wanted
That was Adam’s position, between God and everything else. Well, the local branch of everything else, at least - the universe is a big place. Adam was both a master and a servant by turns, dressing and keeping the garden and providing God with periodic status reports in the cool of the day.
Like many middle managers, Adam was feeling a little resource-constrained. Clearly, being the boss over every living creature and the dirt beneath them was a lot of work, so he met with God and discussed adding a head-count. With God’s approval, he placed an ad in the “Employment” section of the local paper.
The ad must have run for several days with no response, because there was “not found an help meet for him” (Genesis 2:20). Well, what happens when middle management cannot complete an assigned task? Upper management takes over. God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and performed a little surgery. From the removed rib, God created Eve. Say what you will about a copy of a copy not being as sharp as the original, I still see some definite improvements in Human, version 2.0.
So, what was Eve’s position? Was she, as some would suggest, lower on the org chart? Or was did she report directly to God? Her job description was identical to Adam’s job description. When God gave them direction, he gave it to both of them. I’m going to suggest that Eve was at the same level on the organization chart, but with a dotted line to Adam.
Paul later would write that the man is the head of the woman, and the head of man is Christ. This reasoning follows the dotted lines, rather than the solid lines. When Eve talked to God, she wasn’t going over Adam’s head; she was talking with her boss. The dotted line on an org chart suggests direction, not responsibility. Eve reported directly to God, although since Adam was responsible to God for the garden, he would share with her what needed to be done, and together, they would do it.
Responsibility is one of those chain-of-command things. When Eve ate from the wrong tree, her boss was responsible for her actions. Adam, being only a dotted line, was not held accountable. However, since he participated in the same activity, both were punished. Ultimately, God Himself would have to wrap Himself in flesh and take the punishment for fallen humanity. This is the ultimate example of assuming responsibility.
Adam’s purpose
When God created man in his own image, He also stated His reasons for doing so. Genesis 1:26 says “… and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”
So when Adam was created, his position was over the fish, birds, cattle, and creepy things, and under God. In this sense, Adam was middle management. He had a boss that he reported to, and he had underlings that he was supposed to boss around.
The reason that Adam would use tools is that Adam was expected to get some work done - he was to dress and keep the Garden of Eden. I suspect that his tools were not all the physical accoutrements of gardening - rakes, hoes, and shovels - because he was to have dominion, which means he was the boss.
My observation of corporate America leads me to believe that talking counts as ‘work’. I have never been a manager, but I have seen management gather and process information, make decisions, and provide direction. Because a manager has dominion over a group of people, speaking certain words causes those people to take action and accomplish things. Move these over here, write that letter, create this software, reduce costs - these are all things that managers direct, and things get accomplished. To a manager, wielding this power must seem like magic. Speak, and see results.
Help wanted
That was Adam’s position, between God and everything else. Well, the local branch of everything else, at least - the universe is a big place. Adam was both a master and a servant by turns, dressing and keeping the garden and providing God with periodic status reports in the cool of the day.
Like many middle managers, Adam was feeling a little resource-constrained. Clearly, being the boss over every living creature and the dirt beneath them was a lot of work, so he met with God and discussed adding a head-count. With God’s approval, he placed an ad in the “Employment” section of the local paper.
The ad must have run for several days with no response, because there was “not found an help meet for him” (Genesis 2:20). Well, what happens when middle management cannot complete an assigned task? Upper management takes over. God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and performed a little surgery. From the removed rib, God created Eve. Say what you will about a copy of a copy not being as sharp as the original, I still see some definite improvements in Human, version 2.0.
So, what was Eve’s position? Was she, as some would suggest, lower on the org chart? Or was did she report directly to God? Her job description was identical to Adam’s job description. When God gave them direction, he gave it to both of them. I’m going to suggest that Eve was at the same level on the organization chart, but with a dotted line to Adam.
Paul later would write that the man is the head of the woman, and the head of man is Christ. This reasoning follows the dotted lines, rather than the solid lines. When Eve talked to God, she wasn’t going over Adam’s head; she was talking with her boss. The dotted line on an org chart suggests direction, not responsibility. Eve reported directly to God, although since Adam was responsible to God for the garden, he would share with her what needed to be done, and together, they would do it.
Responsibility is one of those chain-of-command things. When Eve ate from the wrong tree, her boss was responsible for her actions. Adam, being only a dotted line, was not held accountable. However, since he participated in the same activity, both were punished. Ultimately, God Himself would have to wrap Himself in flesh and take the punishment for fallen humanity. This is the ultimate example of assuming responsibility.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
The book, chapter 1, part 1
In the beginning
Once upon a time, God created the heavens and the earth. After all the oceans were filled and the animals were busy doing animal-like things, God added a man to oversee things.
Have you ever stopped to wonder what a day was like for Adam? He was in Eden - the perfect place, crafted by the hand of God, all fresh and new. So what does a man do all day in a place like that? Lounge around eating succulent fruit fresh from the trees, tanning on the beach, and sipping syrupy concoctions with little paper umbrellas in them? There was probably no lounging, and definitely no paper umbrellas.
The Bible gives us more than a few clues to what Adam was doing. Genesis 2:15 says that the reason God put Adam in the garden was to “dress and keep it.” That sounds like work.
In fact, Genesis 2:20 says that there was “not found an help meet for him.” No suitable helper seems to indicate that he was doing something that he could have used a little help with - and lounging around is not an occupation that needs much assistance.
Clearly, Adam was working in the Garden. Not only thinking up names for the plants and animals, but also managing the growth of the garden. Maybe this included irrigating, pruning, trimming the branches, and hauling away the debris. Whatever it was he was doing, it was not lounging. In fact, God made man to be a steward, placing the management of the garden facility under Adam’s control.
Language changes; sometimes words change in meaning. Biblical scholars like to refer back to the Hebrew or Greek to make sure that what the translation says is still accurate. I do not claim to be a scholar, but I do use an on-line source that compares several translations, and has multiple Hebrew and Greek texts available for comparison. A quick reading of the verses in Genesis comforts my conscience, because the words ‘dress’, ‘keep’, and ‘help’ have survived centuries of use without changing their meanings. You can use the same source; it is http://bible.cc. The address is very simple to remember, and the Web site is easy to use.
Since help still means help, and Adam needed help, then Adam was busy doing something in the Garden of Eden. Although the Bible does not specifically use the word, I am going to go out on a limb and call what Adam was doing “work”. Not the same sort of work that I do, because he had no computer… but he was still doing work.
Tools
One thing that makes humans different from animals is the use of tools. While a lower order primate may use a stick to poke ants from a rotting log, or a bird may use a stone to drop an oyster upon, the consistent use of tools is a uniquely human endeavor. Not only do we use tools, we tend to collect them, organize them, buy fancy cases for them, and resent lending them to the neighbors.
Adam had no neighbors to borrow his tools. He did not have a Home Depot to purchase them from, or a garage to store them in. Did Adam have tools? I know of no archeological or biblical description of a shovel, rake, or pruning shears in Adam’s time. But I do know that Genesis says that Adam was made in the image of God, and that God used tools. It seems logical that Adam would use tools as well.
Hold on there - God uses tools? Of course God uses tools; we just use different words to describe how He uses tools. Many people desire to be used of God. His tools are referred to as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. We call them ministries, or we call them gifts, but the word “tools”, while not as lofty, still describes those who are used by God.
To be an instrument in the hand of God - such a noble sounding goal! Yet most people would reject the notion of being a tool or a puppet - those words do not sound as haughty in context, even though they convey the same basic meaning.
Once upon a time, God created the heavens and the earth. After all the oceans were filled and the animals were busy doing animal-like things, God added a man to oversee things.
Have you ever stopped to wonder what a day was like for Adam? He was in Eden - the perfect place, crafted by the hand of God, all fresh and new. So what does a man do all day in a place like that? Lounge around eating succulent fruit fresh from the trees, tanning on the beach, and sipping syrupy concoctions with little paper umbrellas in them? There was probably no lounging, and definitely no paper umbrellas.
The Bible gives us more than a few clues to what Adam was doing. Genesis 2:15 says that the reason God put Adam in the garden was to “dress and keep it.” That sounds like work.
In fact, Genesis 2:20 says that there was “not found an help meet for him.” No suitable helper seems to indicate that he was doing something that he could have used a little help with - and lounging around is not an occupation that needs much assistance.
Clearly, Adam was working in the Garden. Not only thinking up names for the plants and animals, but also managing the growth of the garden. Maybe this included irrigating, pruning, trimming the branches, and hauling away the debris. Whatever it was he was doing, it was not lounging. In fact, God made man to be a steward, placing the management of the garden facility under Adam’s control.
Language changes; sometimes words change in meaning. Biblical scholars like to refer back to the Hebrew or Greek to make sure that what the translation says is still accurate. I do not claim to be a scholar, but I do use an on-line source that compares several translations, and has multiple Hebrew and Greek texts available for comparison. A quick reading of the verses in Genesis comforts my conscience, because the words ‘dress’, ‘keep’, and ‘help’ have survived centuries of use without changing their meanings. You can use the same source; it is http://bible.cc. The address is very simple to remember, and the Web site is easy to use.
Since help still means help, and Adam needed help, then Adam was busy doing something in the Garden of Eden. Although the Bible does not specifically use the word, I am going to go out on a limb and call what Adam was doing “work”. Not the same sort of work that I do, because he had no computer… but he was still doing work.
Tools
One thing that makes humans different from animals is the use of tools. While a lower order primate may use a stick to poke ants from a rotting log, or a bird may use a stone to drop an oyster upon, the consistent use of tools is a uniquely human endeavor. Not only do we use tools, we tend to collect them, organize them, buy fancy cases for them, and resent lending them to the neighbors.
Adam had no neighbors to borrow his tools. He did not have a Home Depot to purchase them from, or a garage to store them in. Did Adam have tools? I know of no archeological or biblical description of a shovel, rake, or pruning shears in Adam’s time. But I do know that Genesis says that Adam was made in the image of God, and that God used tools. It seems logical that Adam would use tools as well.
Hold on there - God uses tools? Of course God uses tools; we just use different words to describe how He uses tools. Many people desire to be used of God. His tools are referred to as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. We call them ministries, or we call them gifts, but the word “tools”, while not as lofty, still describes those who are used by God.
To be an instrument in the hand of God - such a noble sounding goal! Yet most people would reject the notion of being a tool or a puppet - those words do not sound as haughty in context, even though they convey the same basic meaning.
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