What Inspires... What informs...

I am becoming aware of a real push-and-pull struggle in this season of my life (perhaps my age has something to do with it - just coming into our own, approaching mid-30s). At once I am pulled in one direction and simultaneously pushed in another. I am pulled by the Spirit of God to live an "inspired life" that is both animated by Him, and where He is the goal, the purpose, the reward. This relationship, this shared journey with Him, this conversation with Him equals the source of inspiration, the very source of vitality and fullness, and the impetus for everything else which I do. On the other hand, I am pushed by social mores, social pressures, the status quo culture to lead an "informed life." Informed by tradition, informed by my circumstances, informed by the goals and values of the dominant culture around me. I was reading in the Starfish Manifesto (an online book available for free download) and appreciated the following insights:

"Here is an anatomy of the process of inspiration. See it is as a waterfall that cascades down five steps like this:

Intimacy...Inspiration...Information...Tradition...Faded memories

Intimacy (with God) is the spiritual place, the source of inspiration. When you draw near to God, who is Spirit, he promises he will draw near to you. This is where God reveals secrets, plans, agendas, in the place where you and he whisper together like friends. And in this place of intimacy, when he whispers, “I love you,” you faint.

Inspiration is a fresh droplet of revelation, supernatural knowledge from God in the form of visions, insights, pictures, etc. When the revelation “I love you!” hits you, you cry.

Information is empirical data; sound bytes. You read or hear: “God loves you.” And all you do in response is nod. “Good to know!”

Traditions are frozen information, the collective memory of a people. When you recite John 3:16, you frown. “Yeah, that’s what they say.”

Faded memories occur when you have moved so far away from the source of inspiration, God-stuff appears to you like disconnected puzzle pieces that may make you feel warm, but will have no effect on you. You hear: “God loves you,” and you smile and reply: “How sweet!” and order another ice cream. An actual bombshell of inspiration has become an irrelevant piece of hearsay.

Humans basically have one key choice to make in life: to live an inspired life or an informed life. To choose not to be inspired by God means to choose to be inspired by man – and drown in all that human information, tradition, or be trapped by circumstances, the Status Quo stuff. This is a safe guarantee to miss the original goal of life altogether. And there is something worse than that: to be inspired by the one thing that mankind without God is inspired most by: Mammon."

I find Jesus to be so subversive in the cultural contexts of His day (both among religious Jews and among the gentiles/Romans). He did not and could not fit within anyone's status quo. He baffled everyone as he walked unrestrained by their traditions, their expectations, and their understanding of Him.

I am a disciple of Jesus, learning to follow in His footsteps (as unpredictable as this journey has been, He is consistently taking me lower). Jesus lived an inspired life. He lived as a man in right relationship with God - inspired by the continuous stream of revelation that flowed from being in perfect communion with the Father (Jesus said He only did what I saw the Father doing, only spoke the Father's words, etc.) And He shed His blood to reconcile us back to God so that He would be "the first among many brothers" who had that same sort of communion with God. Every day I find that this is the goal of life - to be fully reconciled (nothing holding back, or getting in the way of intimacy) with my Father. As I behold Him as He truly is, and not the image I have made Him, nor the image anyone else has made Him, I am transformed in a very real way into His likeness. Yes, this caterpillar is quietly becoming a butterfly in some little cocoon hidden away, waiting to emerge as an entirely different creature...