Real | Real People - 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 | January 7
INTRO
Happy New Year family!
You know what? Why don’t we take a selfie to commemorate this new beginning? I hardly do any of these things.
Isn’t it a funny world we live in? I remember when you only had 24 or 36 pictures and that’s all you got! Now there are thousands upon thousands right here. The world is at your fingertips.
It’s an instagram and tiktok culture with a filter for every memory.
“Each person has more opportunity to broadcast their ideas worldwide. You have a canvas with unlimited space, and you can shoot 20 takes and make 30 selfies in order to choose the ‘real self’ that you want to expose to the world. Hours and hours of ‘real’ content are at your fingertips.”
All this ‘reality’ and the result–nobody is real anymore. Everyone just shares their best moments, carefully curated to capture the eyes of a world with ever waning attention spans. They crave something real, and so they scroll endlessly through post after post searching for an itch that cannot be scratched–unsatisfied!
What does it take to be real?
PLATO’S ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE
In the Republic, written by Plato in 380 BCE, he contemplates a scenario where there are prisoners who have lived in a deep dark cave from birth, their bodies and heads restrained so they can only ever look at the cave wall in front of them. Behind them is a partition and behind that a great raging fire. Guards regularly pass by this fire as puppeteers, concealing their bodies, while holding aloft animals, images, carved statues, and the like. Some of them make noises while others do not. All these captives ever see are the shadowed projections on the cave wall in front of them. And so to them, the shadows are their reality. They do not know of the fire and cannot perceive the guards. Perhaps they even begin to give names to these shadows. If the prisoners could speak with one another, maybe they even play games and award honors to those who could remember the most names or correctly guess which image would appear next.
Now suppose one of the captives was released and turns to see the production behind. “What do you think his reaction would be if someone informed him that everything he had formerly known was illusion and delusion, but that now he was a few steps closer to reality, oriented now toward things that were more authentic, and able to see more truly? Would he, rather, believe that the shadows he formerly knew were more real than the objects now being shown to him?”
Now suppose with great struggle he was brought to the surface and forced to endure the pain his eyes would surely feel when met with the blazing glory of the sun. How would he be changed by the grandeur before him, knowing that this is the source of life? “We should not be surprised that individuals who have reached this level might be unwilling to spend their time on mundane affairs, for would it not be that their souls always feel a calling to the higher things.”
Why would we ever want to waste our time on lesser things, isn’t that right Scott?
Now, one last time, imagine if you will, that this captive was returned to his shackles in the depths of that cave. How little would the honors he previously coveted mean to him now? Would he not try to open the eyes of his fellow prisoners, to free their mind? “Wouldn’t he become a laughing-stock? Wouldn’t they say, ‘You have returned from your adventure up there with ruined eyes!’ Would they not say that the ascent was a waste of time? And if they had the opportunity, do you suppose that they might raise their hands against him and kill this person who is trying to liberate them to a higher plane?”
Do we not all “resemble captives who are chained deep within a cavern, who do not yet realize that there is more to reality than the shadows they see against the wall.” And given the chance, do we not suppress that truth for fear of what it may mean to our own pitiful lives captivated by shadows? We shun reality to be enamored by a life without substance.
ROMANS 1
This is crazy! Doesn’t it sound crazy? Who would do such a thing?
Does not Paul say the very same thing?
In Romans chapter 1 he writes, “18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts…”
We suppress the truth. We pursue the shadow and not the substance. We settle for lesser things for fear of what a life where God exists would mean and what we may have to give up. We are slaves–captives waiting for something, someone to wake us up to the grandeur above. Though we may not know it, we all long for something real, to be someone real. We want to be real people. We want to be part of a real family. We long for the presence of a real God. We long to live lives fully awake.
“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (Ephesians 5:14)
AWAKE AND ALIVE
Don’t think it is not lost on me that all this talk of shadows and sleeping sounds shockingly similar to the 1999 blockbuster hit, The Matrix.
Doesn’t it though? And no, “ignorance is [not] bliss” Cypher.
No doubt that movie certainly has Christian overtones.
We all have the need to be unplugged from the delusions we’ve surrounded ourselves with so that we may live real lives. Lives with our eyes fully opened.
While that’s pretty Biblical right there, in and of itself. Here’s even a step further, to live lives with unveiled faces.
In 2 Corinthians it says, “12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled faces, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another…”
Being transformed into the likeness of God. Drawing closer to the grandeur of His luminous realm. This is what it means to live as real people–vibrant lives unto the Lord.
V.I.B.R.A.N.T.
Real people. Real family. Real God.
In the following weeks, we’re going to talk about what it means to be a real family and what it means that we serve a real God. But today I want to give you a framework for what it means for you to be a real person here with us as we strive to be real people here with you.
And the way I’m going to do that, is through the acronym V.I.B.R.A.N.T. If you want to live a real, vibrant life for the Lord this is where you start. And as we walk into this new year together this is what we individually and collectively should be striving toward–vibrancy!
VISIBLE
The first word is visible. If you want to be a real person you can’t go around hiding in the shadows. Paul writes that since we have this hope we are bold. We don’t hide what we have behind a veil, but we live it visibly.
Our faith is not private. It exists to be seen! To be felt and experienced by the world around us. As the anointed ones of Christ, we are here to be and create places where Heaven meets earth.
Hebrews 1 refers to Jesus as "the very image of God’s substance" (Hebrews 1:3) and in Colossians we learn that He is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). Jesus’ life puts God on display. And so, as His followers, as we are being transformed into His likeness, we reflect His glory and character in our own lives to be seen by the word.
INSPIRED
A real person lives a visible life! And a real person lives an inspired life. Pauls writes that it’s the Spirit of the Lord that awakens a life to true freedom–true reality.
When we think of that word, inspired, I think of what it means that this word is inspired (2 Timothy 3:16-17). That it is God-breathed. That it is God-initiated. We talk about that word Spirit, pneuma. God fills our lungs with His breath, and we breathe deeply as real people.
Our lives do not operate from mere human impulse but are driven by the power of the Spirit. We are filled with the Holy Spirit. It empowers us. It changes us.
The love of Christ compels us, His Spirit controls us (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). Our lives are inspired!
BELIEVING
A real person is also a believing person.
It’s only through Christ that our veil is taken away. It’s only through Christ that the shackles are removed and we can see the reality beyond the shadows. So we repent. We turn to the Lord and away from the darkness (Acts 26:18). We seek the Lord (Hebrews 11:6; Jeremiah 29:13).
The foundation of who we are rests on Jesus. So, we put our full weight on Him, His finished work, and His daily provision. We have no backup plans.
We are a believing people.
RELATIONAL
Being real is also about being relational.
God Himself exists in perfect community with Himself–perfect relationship. Father, Son, and Spirit. A perfect loving relationship defines God’s very being.
“Moreover, if God is perfect relationship, and we are created in the image of God, then [this is] our life as well. We are called by divine grace to enter into that mode of loving relationship that defines God's very being.”
It’s about being fully known and only then do we open ourselves up in vulnerability and intimacy to be fully loved. Fully known and fully loved. That is something we will strive toward in this new year as we become more fully the real family God has made us to be.
ACTIVE
So a real person is relational. And a real person is also active–actively involved in the world and the lives of those around them.
This may seem obvious as being a part of visible and relational, but it bears emphasizing.
The pictures of exile in the Old Testament, of Daniel and his friends in Babylon, the picture Jesus paints for us living under the rule of an empire opposed to the very values of Christ. These are pictures of a loyalist subversion. Staying true to Yahweh at every turn though pain it may cause. And so, not conforming to the culture but subverting the culture with love.
In our exile, “God sends the prophet Jeremiah who instructs [us] to do the unthinkable. He tells [us] to pray for the world’s peace and to seek the welfare of [our] city. He says… unpack and settle in, plant gardens, build houses, get married, and have kids. Jeremiah assures [us] of a brilliant future ahead—one that will not be won with war. He promises that one day, God will return [us] to [our] homeland (Jeremiah 29:4-11).
This bright future comes not through violent overthrow nor through timid conformity—this change starts with the peoples’ choice to trust Yahweh by loving their neighbors and blessing the community [we] have found [ourselves] in. This choice requires loyal love for God and his own way of life.”
We live out what we believe for the benefit of our brothers and sisters as well as those who are not yet a part of the family. We carry our faith with us as we do all things to the glory of God (Colossians 3:17; 1 Corinthians 10:23-33).
NOURISHING
And so, a real person is also nourishing.
There are a lot of people who suck… suck the life out of those around them. Like babies we come to our family and cry, feed me, attend to me, love me, care for me… You "suck the life" out of people rather than drinking from Jesus, the Spring of Living Water (John 4:!4).
The disciple of Christ–real people are nourished by Christ and so nourish others by their lives. In 1 Corinthians 15, which we’ll get to at some point in the future, it says, “‘The first man Adam became a living being’; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit… 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven” (1 Corinthians 15:45-49).
We are not bound by the consumerism of our culture that looks to what benefit we can get, it’s our self-care idolatry. Instead we seek to be life-giving spirits which encourage and care for all people. We die to ourselves. We love on purpose and with purpose.
TRUE
Finally, as real people, we are true.
We are a true family. We are the Church. And as the Church we are called to be the pillar and foundation of truth in this world (1 Timothy 3:14-16). And so truth guides us into truth.
We can not settle for the lie of the shadows. There is reality beyond what we can see, touch, taste, and hear. This is true reality. God is ultimate reality and we find our true being, our full life as we make that climb out of the cave of illusion and into His glorious light (1 Peter 2:9).
God is real. He can be trusted. His promises are for here and now. And His words guide our lives.
A LUMINOUS REALM
We are a real people and we are becoming a real people. This is what our future holds–more realness. Less lies. Less fakeness. Less imitation, playing at life. More real.
In his allegory of the cave, Plato said “those who are able to see beyond the shadows and lies of their culture will never be understood, let alone believed, by the masses.”
We are a people with unveiled faces peering into the Son and beholding the majesty of God. And this is our call, to shake the world around us to the reality that lies beyond what can easily be seen and perceived. Though few may listen, this is our call nonetheless (Isaiah 6:8-13).
Look around you! Look around you at work, in your neighborhoods.
“17 These are a [mere] shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ… [Let us therefore hold] fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God” (Colossians 2:17-19).
Resources (*the views expressed within the following content are solely the author's and may not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Mountainside Church):
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/transformation/does-anyone-know-what-s-real-anymore/
https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/seyer/files/plato_republic_514b-518d_allegory-of-the-cave.pdf
https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/trinity-loving-relationship-defines-gods-very-being
https://bibleproject.com/articles/exile-in-the-bible-ethic-of-loyalty-and-subversion/