The Inspired Life

Here's my article for May:

When we hear about people achieving amazing things we often describe them as being 'inspired' particularly in the fields of art, literature, ideas and music.   The word 'inspire' comes from the Latin meaning 'to breathe into' and was originally used to describe divine beings breathing ideas, virtues or talents into, usually, humans.  This feature of pagan myths is a glimpse of the full truth that we find in the Bible.

The Creation stories teach that the difference between humanity and the rest of creation is that we are made in the image and likeness of God and that he breathed life into us (Genesis 1:26-27 and 2:7), so all of us have been 'inspired' by God.  What's more, the Hebrew (and Greek) word for 'breath' can also mean 'spirit', and so in this context we have been created with God's holy spirit.

As the biblical story unfolds, God's holy spirit is revealed to be more than just a poetic way of talking about being 'inspired' in his likeness.   The Holy Spirit is shown to be a personal divine being who is both one with God the Father and God the Son, and also differentiated from them – the Christian doctrine of the Trinity.   Jesus taught his disciples about the Holy Spirit on the night before he died (John 14-16), and this month we will be celebrating the feast of Pentecost, when after Jesus' death, resurrection and ascension, the Holy Spirit came down upon the disciples and empowered them to tell others about Jesus.  The rest of the New Testament (mostly letters written to the small fledgling Christian communities) speak about how the true followers of Jesus are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who inspires and equips them to trust in Jesus and live in obedience to him.

So the question we need to ask ourselves is, who or what is inspiring us?  Or perhaps, to use a popular term, who is influencing us?  Greek culture valued wisdom - Luke described those in Athens as being people who “spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas” (Acts 17:21)!  But Paul, writing to the church in the Greek city of Corinth, speaks about two types of wisdom: wisdom that comes from God through the Holy Spirit and the “wisdom of this age” which he says is “coming to nothing” (1 Corinthians 2).  This transitory nature of the wisdom of the world is clearly seen as we think back to ideas, trends and characteristics that were once commended but now seem ridiculous and even immoral.  Think for example of the gladiatorial games or the practice of leaving babies on rocks to die simply because they were female.

Jesus describes this contrast using the illustration of houses (Matthew 7:24-27).  The life inspired by the wisdom of Jesus' teaching is like a house built on the sure foundation of rock.   The life inspired by the wisdom of the world is like a house built on sand.  Only one is a truly wise life, able to weather the storm. Which wisdom is inspiring you?