Wednesday, July 29, 2015

I cleaned my room today: For the love of order.

I cleaned my room today before I sat down to work. 

It seemed to make a big difference, and I felt a twinge of joy and satisfaction seeing all the dust-free surfaces, and the toiletries on my dresser sorted by frequency of use.  

I have to admit, I am slightly embarrassed to announce this. These sorts of comments are normal relegated to the obsessive, the perfectionists, and the uptight, three traits you don't want on your eharmony profile. But is it wrong to love order? To see beauty in order?

Many of us strive for order in our lives, with varying results. 

Many of us try and reserve a small place of order in our lives: your room, your house, your office or even your computer (with your icons set up in just such a way, with all sorts of diagnostics apps telling you how things are going). 

Some of us have come to believe order is a bad things, as a result of some event, such as having kids. We believe that fun and order cannot exist together, so we conclude that order must be something bad--always threatening our relationships, making us irritable over the smallest things. Maybe we’ve even been wounded by those who love order in church: conflict and animosity over seemingly pointless things such as carpet colour, arrangement of the bulletin, and chair layout. 

Finally, some have even slipped into despondency and depression because they are continually disappointed by the lack of order in their world: new things get old, clean rooms get dirty, technology becomes obsolete, clothes get stained and shrink. They have found that endless hours of cleaning, organizing and upgrading have brought them no closer to the order that their hearts desire. 

There is only hope in Christ for any of these groups. 

See, the presence of Christ is the only place that the beauty of healthy inter-personal relationships, and the peace that comes from a perfectly ordered world are realized. 

1 Cor 14:33 (NIV) - “ For God is not a God of disorder but of peace…"

The reason many of us come into unnecessary conflict that stems from our desire for order is because we are taking a desire God has given us, which is meant to points us to the next life, and instead try and satisfy it in this temporary, broken world. 

Colossians 3:1 - 4 (ESV)
"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."

Should we not strive for order and peace here on earth? Absolutely we should. Yet we should not put our hope in it. A Christian who has put their hope in the peace, order and love that is present in heaven, will not become anxiety ridden, depressed, or irritable when the order they desire is unrealized on earth. 

Just so you know, I have a long way to go on this one too. 

So join with me in fighting that tendency to hope for the order I crave in this world, and  be ‘sober-minded,’ and ‘set your hope fully on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.’ 1 Peter 1:13. 

And finally, let us remember that  Christ left a world of perfect order and beauty (heaven), to come into a world, He created in perfect order and beauty, that we messed up, so that we could live forever in His world of perfect order and beauty. 

I don't know about you, but if I gave someone a house that we beautiful, and they destroyed it, the last thing I would want is to have them live at my house. He is amazing. 


No comments: