Whiplash

I saw a movie last night called Whiplash. Helen had picked it to watch because someone she knows said it was their favorite movie. They like it so much because it shows what it takes to be the best at something. If you have the passion for something and are willing to sacrifice everything, including your own ego, you can attain great things.

What was so troubling about this film, though, are the tactics used by the teacher to motivate his students, who are jazz musicians. Halfway through the film I said out loud, "Why in the world do these students put up with such a jerk of a teacher?!" The only ego that could exist in the practice room was the teacher's. Everyone else's was destroyed, and the only thing that kept those students doing what they were doing was their love and passion to be the best at what they loved the most.

In a previous blog I referred to Jesus' parable of the widow and the unjust judge. It seems blasphemous to compare God to an unjust judge, but that is exactly what Jesus is doing! Why? Because there will be times in life when it will look and feel like God could care less about you, like He is indeed an absent father. I need to go back and re-read a book by Chaim Potok, The Chosen, where you learn about the extreme tactic a rabbi uses on his son to achieve a desired result. The tactic was to stop all communication with his son once he reached a certain age. The closest I've come to experiencing such pain at the human level is when I've gone out for sports. The best coaches will be merciless in their training - pushing, pushing, pushing to get every muscle in your body in shape and toned up to do exactly what is required to accomplish the job at hand. Only those who have the passion to win will be willing to go through that kind of physical and mental abuse.

I've heard it said that king David's son Solomon was never allowed to get away with anything. His brothers could be spoiled brats, but he was in training to be a king. It was the discipline - I'm sure painful to the point of tears at times - of a loving and wise father that prepared Solomon to be the great king that he was able to become.

I don't think of my passion in terms of being a king, or even as being "the best" at something. The way I have thought of it is simply "to know God and make Him known." More recently, due to the influence of Rick Joyner, I would say my growing passion is to become a friend of God's, to walk with Him as Enoch did - of whom Scripture testifies, "he was no more. because God took him."
Is there anything more worthwhile than to get to know the Creator and Master of all things on a first name basis? To hear His voice, to know and feel His heartbeat, as John the Beloved did because he leaned on Jesus' breast?

This journey of mine to draw near to God has been the hardest thing I've ever done. It has led me straight into the wilderness where I've been stripped bare and where I've literally felt like I've been left to die. It has been said that the reason something is a treasure, is of such great value, is because it is either extremely rare (hard to find) or it requires an effort that few are willing to put forth to acquire it. Is an intimate knowledge of, or relationship with the Father, really worth it? We would all be quick to say, "Yes!" But are we willing to do what it takes to achieve it?

Some might say, "Oh, but Jesus has already done the hard part in making the way open and accessible to the the Father. It doesn't have to be that hard!"  Oh really? Then why isn't it more common to see believers walking closely with the Father like Enoch (who didn't have the benefit that we have of access to God through Jesus)? We literally are as close to God as we want to be. The problem, dear friends, is not with the availability of God. The problem is with our desires.
What do we really want and what will we really sacrifice for? Are we willing to endure the whiplash of the three enemies of our soul (the world, the flesh and the devil) in order to draw near to God?