Discipline

Early this morning I experienced a dream that was very clear when I woke. I was walking with someone to the back of a house, beside a wooden, gray-aged deck.

As we walked up the steps to the deck we could hear the plaintive wail, "Mama!!" followed by "Not fair, not fair." Then repeated with added intensity, a slightly higher wail. as we worked our way up, we could see her, standing with hands at her eyes, shoulders hunched.

"Honey, it may not be fair, but it's part of discipline," we heard her mother explain, acknowledging her feelings but not giving in to the strong urge to wrap her in forgiveness.

"She's right, honey. Your mama loves you and is a very fair woman. Can you tell me why she's not fair?"

Down to whimpers now, she turned to us and said, "I didn't mean to."

Mankind’s oldest excuse. Usually it doesn’t matter what was done, we really didn’t mean to. Then, what was the purpose – what did we mean to do?

Usually, we did what we were thinking. Maybe without planning, but the act was in our mind, in our thoughts. It came from things we think about, which is why God emphasis that in Philippians 4:8. It does make a difference – what is in our minds comes out in our actions. Solomon knew about it.

Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. (Proverbs 23:6-7 KJV)

My dream wasn’t long enough to find out what the child’s infraction was, but her response was so applicable. The feeling that discipline is not fair far out weighs our acceptance of deserved punishment.

“Infinite punishment for a finite sin,” I’ve heard that phrase so often by those who count the concept of hell “not fair.” That the single decision to reject God is limited by boundaries of time and impermanent life should not result in eternal punishment. I disagree. Hell results from that single decision, and is fair, because we’ve been told the separation is eternal.

In my view, simply being separated from God, without hope of any change, for all of eternity, would describe hell, but greater details have been given in God’s word. To ignore those descriptions, to deny their reality also denies the remainder of the Bible. If God’s word cannot be trusted, we Christians are most miserable. Paul recognized this.

And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. (1 Corinthians 15:17-19 KJV)

Paul refutes this position in detail, having seen the risen Christ himself. It changed his life – taking from him all that he had trained for, lived for, persecuted for, and he counted it for gain.

But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, (Philippians 3:7-8 KJV)

Dare we?