The term bifurcated is not one that we use very much, but
it is a powerful term. To bifurcate something
means to “divide or fork into two branches.” We bifurcate lots of things. Bernie Madoff bifurcated his life when he had
the appearance of being a successful investor instead of the man behind a giant ponzi
scheme. If a man or woman carries on a
long-standing affair while maintaining the life of a good parent and spouse are
they not bifurcating their lives? Politicians
are notorious bifurcaters too. They may
say something like, “I am a person of deep faith, but I don’t allow those faith
convictions to influence my political agenda.”
You get the point . . .
The Bible is
clear over and over again that Jesus is either Lord of all or Lord not at all. Here is one
example:
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. – Galatians 2:20
With all this being said, how
can we be so tempted to bifurcate our lives with God? It doesn’t work. God doesn’t accept it. At best, all we do is cheat ourselves out of
the fullness of the blessing of a life intimately connected with God. At worst, we deceive ourselves and doom
ourselves to an eternity removed from God’s presence. Spiritual bifurcation is sin, plain and
simple, and sin leads to death.
The Bible says that we break
free from any and all sin first through confession and repentance (1 John 1:9,
James 5:13) and then further through walking in and with the Spirit of Life
that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 8). We
must be resolved, however, that we cannot live bifurcated lives anymore.
So, what are we to do? How do we get into this mess of spiritual bifurcation
in the first place? How do we get out?
To be wholly and fully committed to following Christ we have to be willing to get out of the scenario. In other words, it can't be about what we get from it or what response is given us from others or from God. Of course church language says things like die to sin, die to self, but language is only effective in context. We know that understanding and speaking another language opens up the world to us in the context it is used. Why is it then that we Christians choose the language, pick the context and say you are welcome in our world? What if following Jesus means disregarding our normative lives, the things we cherish, the things we worship other than God and atually taking the message in a language that can be understood to a hurting world? We have to start somewhere and living into our Baptismal covenant is a great start. Jesus loved people into tranasformed lives, and He said we would be able to do even greater things than He. But He loved us enough to die for us....
ReplyDeleteI remember when I first committed my life fully to the Lord and how excited and eager I was to learn more and more about him. Life was brand new and I new things in my life had changed. The fullness of Christ's love overflowing in my heart was evident. I know He is still just as real and part of my life. However, I have to take the time to stop and begin with Him every morning. Seeking him first and daily, I believe is crucial to "keeping the flame of faith burning and not under a bushel basket". That is one of the main causes for me to wain in my closeness and dependence on Him.
DeleteGreat point Jack, thanks!
DeleteI love the word "bifurcate."
ReplyDeleteJim, I would quibble with one point. I have always disagreed with the statement, "Jesus is either the Lord of all or Lord not at all." No, Jesus is Lord of all, regardless of me realizing it or not, or me submitting to that fact or not.
ReplyDeleteBifurcation (is that a word) happens because we are afraid of the consequences turning our lives over completely to Christ or we haven't seen very many people live out a life completely submitted so if no one else is doing it why should I.
How do we get out? Step by step. The disciples weren't changed over night and we shouldn't expect that we would be either. It took years of walking with Jesus (both physically and spiritually) for the disciples to get to the point of complete surrender and it's the same with us. We must walk daily with Christ to be allowed to be transformed by Him.
Jason . . . Bifurcate is a word. But you are ABSOLUTELY right about Jesus being Lord of all no matter what. Well said.
DeleteI had to think about this for a minute. In my opinion I feel as if it is almost a natural part of what we as christians are trying to avoid from the moment we start our day til we go to sleep at night but the way the world is its like the enevitable happens. Bifurcation seems to be where we christians rely on repentace and submission to cleanse us of these sins but instead have gotten into the habit of mindlessly blurting out and half-heartedly listing our sins to our Great Lord. Its like the time I heard the saying our Lord is interested in devotion more than emotion. I realized that at one point or more in our walk of faith we minimalize and often dont even label the small stuff we stumble on as sin then not deeming it nessasary to even repent. So whether you label it as something we or man has done to really peel back the layers and study ourselves with no being biast or without a worldly influenced wrongness bifurcation is almost unavoidable and maybe its for a reason. The Lord works in mysterious ways and we also say that he is constantly revealing things that we may or may not understand. To ponder on his word and bifucation could go on forever it feels.
ReplyDeleteI had to think about this for a minute. In my opinion I feel as if it is almost a natural part of what we as christians are trying to avoid from the moment we start our day til we go to sleep at night but the way the world is its like the enevitable happens. Bifurcation seems to be where we christians rely on repentace and submission to cleanse us of these sins but instead have gotten into the habit of mindlessly blurting out and half-heartedly listing our sins to our Great Lord. Its like the time I heard the saying our Lord is interested in devotion more than emotion. I realized that at one point or more in our walk of faith we minimalize and often dont even label the small stuff we stumble on as sin then not deeming it nessasary to even repent. So whether you label it as something we or man has done to really peel back the layers and study ourselves with no being biast or without a worldly influenced wrongness bifurcation is almost unavoidable and maybe its for a reason. The Lord works in mysterious ways and we also say that he is constantly revealing things that we may or may not understand. To ponder on his word and bifucation could go on forever it feels.
ReplyDeleteI had to think about this for a minute. In my opinion I feel as if it is almost a natural part of what we as christians are trying to avoid from the moment we start our day til we go to sleep at night but the way the world is its like the enevitable happens. Bifurcation seems to be where we christians rely on repentace and submission to cleanse us of these sins but instead have gotten into the habit of mindlessly blurting out and half-heartedly listing our sins to our Great Lord. Its like the time I heard the saying our Lord is interested in devotion more than emotion. I realized that at one point or more in our walk of faith we minimalize and often dont even label the small stuff we stumble on as sin then not deeming it nessasary to even repent. So whether you label it as something we or man has done to really peel back the layers and study ourselves with no being biast or without a worldly influenced wrongness bifurcation is almost unavoidable and maybe its for a reason. The Lord works in mysterious ways and we also say that he is constantly revealing things that we may or may not understand. To ponder on his word and bifucation could go on forever it feels.
ReplyDeleteI had to think about this for a minute. In my opinion I feel as if it is almost a natural part of what we as christians are trying to avoid from the moment we start our day til we go to sleep at night but the way the world is its like the enevitable happens. Bifurcation seems to be where we christians rely on repentace and submission to cleanse us of these sins but instead have gotten into the habit of mindlessly blurting out and half-heartedly listing our sins to our Great Lord. Its like the time I heard the saying our Lord is interested in devotion more than emotion. I realized that at one point or more in our walk of faith we minimalize and often dont even label the small stuff we stumble on as sin then not deeming it nessasary to even repent. So whether you label it as something we or man has done to really peel back the layers and study ourselves with no being biast or without a worldly influenced wrongness bifurcation is almost unavoidable and maybe its for a reason. The Lord works in mysterious ways and we also say that he is constantly revealing things that we may or may not understand. To ponder on his word and bifucation could go on forever it feels.
ReplyDeleteI had to think about this for a minute. In my opinion I feel as if it is almost a natural part of what we as christians are trying to avoid from the moment we start our day til we go to sleep at night but the way the world is its like the enevitable happens. Bifurcation seems to be where we christians rely on repentace and submission to cleanse us of these sins but instead have gotten into the habit of mindlessly blurting out and half-heartedly listing our sins to our Great Lord. Its like the time I heard the saying our Lord is interested in devotion more than emotion. I realized that at one point or more in our walk of faith we minimalize and often dont even label the small stuff we stumble on as sin then not deeming it nessasary to even repent. So whether you label it as something we or man has done to really peel back the layers and study ourselves with no being biast or without a worldly influenced wrongness bifurcation is almost unavoidable and maybe its for a reason. The Lord works in mysterious ways and we also say that he is constantly revealing things that we may or may not understand. To ponder on his word and bifucation could go on forever it feels.
ReplyDeleteI had to think about this for a minute. In my opinion I feel as if it is almost a natural part of what we as christians are trying to avoid from the moment we start our day til we go to sleep at night but the way the world is its like the enevitable happens. Bifurcation seems to be where we christians rely on repentace and submission to cleanse us of these sins but instead have gotten into the habit of mindlessly blurting out and half-heartedly listing our sins to our Great Lord. Its like the time I heard the saying our Lord is interested in devotion more than emotion. I realized that at one point or more in our walk of faith we minimalize and often dont even label the small stuff we stumble on as sin then not deeming it nessasary to even repent. So whether you label it as something we or man has done to really peel back the layers and study ourselves with no being biast or without a worldly influenced wrongness bifurcation is almost unavoidable and maybe its for a reason. The Lord works in mysterious ways and we also say that he is constantly revealing things that we may or may not understand. To ponder on his word and bifucation could go on forever it feels.
ReplyDelete