False shame and false guilt rip their way into the heart of who we are. In such cases we have to become more acutely aware and suspicious of the “lie” and its deceptive power to control and manipulate us. Real guilt and real shame for living unspiritually, however, calls us to acknowledge and trust what is “true” and its dedicated power to rescue and liberate us. Reckoned right through the mediatory work of the crucified and risen One, who illuminates the path away from the “lie” and to the “true”, brings us the possibility of living spiritually in that the false and its power begins to diminish, while the true and its power begins to flourish.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
The fascination of living in the thought world of the mind promotes the woeful attempt to be a self contained self. God tells us this is not only foolish, but inevitably impossible as the other and the world break in and through the false fortress of self sufficiency. As the walls of pretending are broken down and shattered in creation and through Christ, recognition of who we truly are will begin to free us from the enticing power of self deception.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
I continue to be baffled by how many Christians seem to be so bound to the Law. God, they conjecture, is the mighty Lawgiver who condemns them at every turn. It’s as if Christ is absent. Somehow the relevance and superabundance of, “now, therefore, there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus,” is remarkably silent in the vocabulary and voice of the one who speaks under the Law. Yet, and this is the power, “Christ condemned sin in flesh so that the just requirement of Law might be fulfilled in us who walk (conduct our lives) not according to flesh but according to Spirit.” Be free and start walking.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
Lost in translation. Transversing from good theology to relevant praxis is like learning another language. Getting translation going can be like pushing water uphill. We all too often get stuck somewhere along the way between cutting edge theology and compassionate praxis and therefore find ourselves without a way to speak and act. Yet, being first-rate translators will please God and help change the self, the other, and the world. The art and labor of translation is a necessity if we are going to sufficiently move from theology to praxis and back in credible and authentic ways. Let’s learn to translate and seek to be attuned to the language of motion and dialogue so that theological truth doesn’t end up not touching anyone and not going anywhere.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery
Imagination is the elixir of life and the pathway to the discovery of truth, wherever it is to be found. Reason, sense observation, feeling, and experience suffer severe impoverishment without the recognition that imagination is the lynch pin that makes each of them possible and holds them together in a related, yet distinct manner. To be sure, knowing God, the revealing God, and being in community with him, is a possibility that be(s) and becomes much more of an accessible reality in and through imagination.
Dr. Gregory J. Laughery