Duplicity

“I continue to dream and pray about a revival of holiness in our day that moves forth in mission and creates authentic community in which each person can be unleashed through the empowerment of the Spirit to fulfill God’s creational intentions.” [3]

Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/john-wesley-quotes-23-great-sayings/#ixzz2g5RpC300

An authentic community of believers begins with each individual person within that community so intentionally and unreservedly dedicated to Jesus Christ because they love Him with all their heart, soul and body that they model His character without pretense or self-awareness. If we "abide in Him and He abides in us" how we live and move within our community will be a demonstration of that reality without special regard or prejudice of any kind.

"Self-awareness is the first thing that will upset the completeness of our life in God, and self-awareness continually produces a sense of struggling and turmoil in our lives. Self-awareness is not sin, and it can be produced by nervous emotions or by suddenly being dropped into a totally new set of circumstances. Yet it is never God’s will that we should be anything less than absolutely complete in Him. Anything that disturbs our rest in Him must be rectified at once, and it is not rectified by being ignored but only by coming to Jesus Christ. If we will come to Him, asking Him to produce Christ-awareness in us, He will always do it, until we fully learn to abide in Him." (Oswald Chambers/ My Utmost for His Highest)

The title of this post is duplicity because the struggle which exist within our hearts to procure our own sense of embellished identity is a constant opposing and undermining force which must be subjugated so that Christ may indeed be formed in us. The apostle Paul made clear in the book of Galatians how we were to resolve our dilemma when he wrote " I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Gal. 2:20)

We understand the word duplicity to mean divided loyalties, but that is a misnomer. We can really only have one true loyalty, the other is always an imposter of sincerity and trustworthiness. It is deceitful because it is always keeping personal gain as its master plan.

"When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship  This means we can't live our lives with duplicity. It is not about us anymore, but it is all about Christ, and it will always mean that following Him with integrity will lead us to the cross and the consequence of this will be life to others.


^"always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you." (2 Cor. 10-12)

Multiplicity

"When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, your consolations delight my soul (Ps. 94:19 NAS)

The new normal of our lives these days has been one of multiplicity, refracted with the complexities of transitioning from the familiar routines of life as we know it and now letting go of all that to take hold of a new, different, unknown way and culture.

The Hebrew word for a multitude of thoughts is Sarappim which, according to one scholar, can be used to describe the numerous branches of a tree. Rather than the whole of the tree the picture is more about all the individual parts. In the English construction we might describe someone as going to pieces as opposed to being whole or complete.

 In the New Testament, the apostle Paul, in the book of Philippians, wrote, "Be careful (full of care or worry) for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God and the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep (guard) your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Here the Greek word merimna is used for careful, which has the meaning of going in too many directions at once. Jesus chided Martha when he said, "Martha, Martha you are worried and bothered by so many things, but only one thing is necessary ..."
How many times like Martha do we loose sight of the one thing; the most important thing.

Our culture is being dramatically impacted by the amount of information we are being inundated with every day. Infobesity is a new term coined to describe a rampant condition in our society and psychological studies have found it to be a source of increased depression. When we have too much information and too many choices our thoughts become fragmented and the concern or worry for making the wrong choice increases exponentially. Learning how to deal with this condition is like sorting through too much spam.  We need to establish boundaries for our minds as well as our computers.

Coram Deo

Coram Deo This phrase literally refers to something that takes place in the presence of, or before the face of, God. To live coram Deo is to live one’s entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God.  To live all of life coram Deo is to live a life of integrity. Integrity is found where men and women live their lives in a pattern of consistency.  It is a life of wholeness that finds its unity and coherency in the majesty of God.  (http://www.ligonier.org/blog/R.C. Sproul)

Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (1Cor. 10:31) Here the idea is not to categorize our lives in such a way as to live in two separate worlds, but to demonstrate a consistency of character in every circumstance regardless of what is happening around us or what everyone else is doing.