The Way of Dissonance

The way of being saved is modelled in how we live our lives.

From a young age I witnessed gaps in how people lived, both in the public space and in the private. I never really got around to asking why, but what I saw revealed what was happening beneath the surface — people never really got what they truly desired. So the gaps were a resolve, a resolve to keep up with the Joneses so that they could save face and become a part of their immediate community.

Have you felt it? The quiet pressure to conform, even though something in you pushes back against it? But you push through...

Well, what's the harm in it anyway? What's the problem here?

Well, it means that your little community, the one your sense of identity and belonging comes from, buys into a collective pride. The kind that says something is right, but only within this space. Within the walls of our collective experiences, formed over time and reinforced through repeated images. But taken out of that cultural vacuum? It's perceived as lunacy. Think Lord of the Flies.

Now depending on your background or experience, this might be a good thing. Something the boys can laugh about or the girls chat about when they go away. After all, pride gives us a sense of purpose, a sense of identity, a sense of calling.

But here's the thing — as a follower of Jesus, pride simply means that we've built our lives around dissonant lies. Facts that simply disagree with their Creator. And you might have experienced it before — someone tells you something to the effect of "that's just the way things are," and for you, deep down, you know that it is simply wrong.

Psychologists call this dissonance, cognitive dissonance, but there is also dissonance of the mind, body and spirit — and for you sitting here today, dissonance has simply become a new way of life.

A new way of life? you ask. Why new? Well, because it hasn't always been this way. In the beginning was God — the Word and the Spirit — and they created the world as a perfect place. Scripture says everything God made was good. That was our beginning — but not as we know it. And that is what Jesus came to fix.

Jesus Shines His Light

this dissonance is what Jesus comes to shine his light on. Dissonance isn't part of Jesus' vocabulary of the soul — it's simply a light or dark thing. No greys or in-betweens.

If you're a follower of Jesus, part of you feels relieved, because if psychologists teach us anything it's that the body does keep score. And that dissonance we face wears us down, piece by piece. So that a simple smile and a wave across a room can be perceived as a vengeance peaking its face, taking root to come and steal your life when you least expect it.

You might think I'm going too far, and I am a little — but the exaggeration bears its point. A dissonant life is a worn-down life with weights that eventually kills its victims — and that's not just a spiritual reality it's a physiological one. Confession, it turns out, is medicine for the body as much as it is for the soul.

The once self-proclaimed and prophesied saviour went against the grain of his own cultural context thousands of years ago. The bible says he ate and drank with 'sinners' — people rejected by the class, religious and economic system of his time. But in all honestly were more aware of their gaps than the religious rulers of his day. about the true conditions of their heart than the so-called 'law carriers' in those days. He ate with them, dined with them, and he laughed with them. But why? Why did Jesus, against his cultural norms, exclude himself from 'his people' — after all, being cut off wasn't just a religious matter. Economic and political lines were attached to whom you associated with.

It's All About the Kingdom

Well, to answer that we have to take a step back. What happened at the beginning of Jesus' arrival to the public scene? He came with an announcement: 'the kingdom of God has come near!'

This declaration became a signpost for what Jesus was going to start living out. A kingdom where dissonance would be eradicated. The poor would receive the most prized possession. Those who mourn, comforted. Those who hunger and thirst for justice, satisfied.

See, this congruency in creation is a reality we are all invited to. Yes, you and me!

No longer shall a lion feed on an innocent lamb, or a vulnerable person be taken advantage of.

Jesus came to reconcile a warring world, making peace on both sides.

But How Does It Begin?

It begins with a call to turn — turn from our prideful ways of pretence and deceit — and open ourselves up to being known, known by our creator, the one who calls us his own — repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand!

Not exactly the words you expect to hear as an invitation to safety. But that is Jesus' invitation to you and I today. Not just to the ancient Israelites two thousand years ago that first heard his message. It is what his very life on earth brings.

Confess

A moment of honest confession — that where I want to be is not where I am, and where I am heading is not where I want to be. So please see me, hear my cry, and come to my rescue.

So what form does confession take in your journey with God?

Does it look like having a safe friend or mentor you can be open with?

Or does it look like you making a moment to be still and tell him about your struggles in the quiet?

I often remember Hannah, the mother of Samuel — a woman in great anguish, as an Israelite woman can be who has no proof of her worth in ancient Israel. A married woman with no child is seen as worthless in an economy that values large households with ever increasing children. Not even the love of her husband can console her in her shame. (see 1 Samuel 1)

But broken and hurting, she cries out in the quiet, mumbling her request before God. And do you know what? He hears her cry. The same God who heard Hannah's mumbled prayer in the temple hears you too.

See, God is not a God of the proud and arrogant — he is the God of the humble and faithful, those who see him for what he truly is: righteous, holy, and above all things.

So approach him with your weakness today, and find your strength there.

Because as Isaiah put it: in repentance and rest you are saved, and in quietness and trust is your strength. (see Isaiah 30:15)

Find your strength in the place of surrender today.

So, how will you walk today?