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Topic: “Lover or Prostitute?” - The Question that Changed My Life - Dave Ryser
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Ron McGatlin
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Posted: 08/25/2008 at 12:53pm
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“Lover or Prostitute?”
The Question that Changed My Life
By David Ryser
A number of years ago, I had the privilege of teaching at a school of ministry. My students were hungry for God, and I was constantly searching for ways to challenge them to fall more in love with Jesus and to become voices for revival in the Church. I came across a quote attributed most often to Rev. Sam Pascoe. It is a short version of the history of Christianity, and it goes like this: Christianity started in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution; it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and became an enterprise. Some of the students were only 18 or 19 years old--barely out of diapers--and I wanted them to understand and appreciate the import of the last line, so I clarified it by adding, “An enterprise. That’s a business.” After a few moments Martha, the youngest student in the class, raised her hand. I could not imagine what her question might be. I thought the little vignette was self-explanatory, and that I had performed it brilliantly. Nevertheless, I acknowledged Martha’s raised hand, “Yes, Martha.” She asked such a simple question, “A business? But isn’t it supposed to be a body?” I could not envision where this line of questioning was going, and the only response I could think of was, “Yes.” She continued, “But when a body becomes a business, isn’t that a prostitute?”
The room went dead silent. For several seconds no one moved or spoke. We were stunned, afraid to make a sound because the presence of God had flooded into the room, and we knew we were on holy ground. All I could think in those sacred moments was, “Wow, I wish I’d thought of that.” I didn’t dare express that thought aloud. God had taken over the class.
Martha’s question changed my life. For six months, I thought about her question at least once every day. “When a body becomes a business, isn’t that a prostitute?” There is only one answer to her question. The answer is “Yes.” The American Church, tragically, is heavily populated by people who do not love God. How can we love Him? We don’t even know Him; and I mean really know Him.
What do I mean when I say “really know Him?” Our understanding of knowing and knowledge stems from our western culture (which is based in ancient Greek philosophical thought). We believe we have knowledge (and, by extension, wisdom) when we have collected information. A collection of information is not the same thing as knowledge, especially in the culture of the Bible (which is an eastern, non-Greek, culture). In the eastern culture, all knowledge is experiential. In western/Greek culture, we argue from premise to conclusion without regard for experience--or so we think. An example might be helpful here. Let us suppose a question based upon the following two premises: First, that wheat does not grow in a cold climate and second, that England has a cold climate. The question: Does wheat grow in England? The vast majority of people from the western/Greek culture would answer, “No. If wheat does not grow in a cold climate and if England has a cold climate, then it follows that wheat does not grow in England.” In the eastern culture, the answer to the same question, based on the same premises, most likely would be, “I don’t know. I’ve never been to England.” We laugh at this thinking, but when I posed the same question to my friends from England, their answer was, “Yes, of course wheat grows in England. We’re from there, and we know wheat grows there.” They overcame their cultural way of thinking because of their life experience. Experience trumps information when it comes to knowledge.
A similar problem exists with our concept of belief. We say we believe something (or someone) apart from personal experience. This definition of belief is not extended to our stockbroker, however. Again, allow me to explain. Suppose my stockbroker phones me and says, “I have a hot tip on a stock that is going to triple in price within the next week. I want your permission to transfer $10,000 from your cash account and buy this stock.” That’s a lot of money for me, so I ask, “Do you really believe this stock will triple in price, and so quickly?” He/she answers, I sure do.” I say, “That sounds great! How exciting! So how much of your own money have you invested in this stock?” He/she answers, “None.” Does my stockbroker believe? Truly believe? I don’t think so, and suddenly I don’t believe, either. How can we be so discerning in the things of this world, especially when they involve money, and so indiscriminate when it comes to spiritual things? The fact is, we do not know or believe apart from experience. The Bible was written to people who would not understand the concepts of knowledge, belief, and faith apart from experience. I suspect God thinks this way also.
So I stand by my statement that most American Christians do not know God--much less love Him. The root of this condition originates in how we came to God. Most of us came to Him because of what we were told He would do for us. We were promised that He would bless us in life and take us to heaven after death. We married Him for His money, and we don’t care if He lives or dies as long as we can get His stuff. We have made the Kingdom of God into a business, merchandising His anointing. This should not be. We are commanded to love God, and are called to be the Bride of Christ--that’s pretty intimate stuff. We are supposed to be His lovers. How can we love someone we don’t even know? And even if we do know someone, is that a guarantee that we truly love them? Are we lovers or prostitutes?
I was pondering Martha’s question again one day, and considered the question, “What’s the difference between a lover and a prostitute?” I realized that both do many of the same things, but a lover does what she does because she loves. A prostitute pretends to love, but only as long as you pay. Then I asked the question, “What would happen if God stopped paying me?”
For the next several months, I allowed God to search me to uncover my motives for loving and serving Him. Was I really a true lover of God? What would happen if He stopped blessing me? What if He never did another thing for me? Would I still love Him? Please understand, I believe in the promises and blessings of God. The issue here is not whether God blesses His children; the issue is the condition of my heart. Why do I serve Him? Are His blessings in my life the gifts of a loving Father, or are they a wage that I have earned or a bribe/payment to love Him? Do I love God without any conditions? It took several months to work through these questions. Even now I wonder if my desire to love God is always matched by my attitude and behavior. I still catch myself being disappointed with God and angry that He has not met some perceived need in my life. I suspect this is something which is never fully resolved, but I want more than anything else to be a true lover of God.
So what is it going to be? Which are we, lover or prostitute? There are no prostitutes in heaven, or in the Kingdom of God for that matter, but there are plenty of former prostitutes in both places. Take it from a recovering prostitute when I say there is no substitute for unconditional, intimate relationship with God. And I mean there is no palatable substitute available to us (take another look at Matthew 7:21-23 sometime). We must choose.
Dr. David Ryser
Edited by News Room on 08/30/2012 at 8:49am
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Ray Ashmore
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Posted: 10/06/2008 at 6:59am
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This is the most clearly stated description of the American church in western culture that I have ever read. I wish I had written it, but alas, I didn't experience it. Thank you for this!
Ray Ashmore
Edited by Ray Ashmore on 10/06/2008 at 7:01am
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alicia myers
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Posted: 10/13/2008 at 2:51am
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Another one I read just recently..lol! Yep, this is one of the best ones I've read lately...just 'one' of the best....he nailed it, Lover or Prostitute..you can't be both.
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More of Christ, Less of Me..
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Tim Speer
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Posted: 01/29/2009 at 11:46pm
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So when you have been trained as a prostitute from your birth and even told that it is not only godly but what the almighty expects of you, how do you find your way to the one you love.
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col. 1:26-27
Hold to Christ, and for the Rest be Totally Uncommited - Herbert Butterfield
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Arla Speer
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Posted: 01/30/2009 at 6:49am
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I don't think you do "find your way to the one you love". First, if the act of prostitution is all you've ever known, you don't really know what love is at that point. You've been giving this to get that - bartering, in essence, for what you think is love. Love is not a 'treat' for behaving good or a 'payment' for a job well done. Love literally has nothing to do with who or what you are (the receiver of love) but has everything to do with the one love comes from. I Cor 13 tells of many different ways to recognize the acts of love but lately I have come to appreciate the wisdom of I Timothy 1:5. "But the end of the charge is to love with a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere/unpretended faith." It's not easy but you can seemingly produce the acts of I Cor 13 and convince anyone looking in from the outside that you love. However, you cannot pretend to have any of the things mentioned in I Timothy 1:5.
Second, the One who knows love is the one who seeks you out. "We love because he first loved us." I John 4:19. True, one can have that sense of there must be something more; but I believe that He pursues us and is interested in us long before we are interested in 'finding' Him.
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Arla Speer
How wrong are you willing to be?
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David Ryser
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Posted: 01/30/2009 at 6:57am
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Excellent posts. Wow. I agree that we learn to love, and we grow in love, as we are loved by the One who is love. It is natural for a fallen human being to be a prostitute; we've never experienced true, unconditional love. The real tragedy is when we do not grow out of it after becoming Christians in spite of the fact that His love is lavished upon us. Worse, we carry our prostitution into the building of the Church. What a mess. Only by experiencing an intimate, passionate relationship with Jesus will this change--in us personally first, and then in our churches. My wake-up call came when Martha's question exploded into my spirit at the end of a season when God was wooing me with His goodness, and I already was beginning to know that there was more to the relationship than I'd experienced to that point in my life.
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But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ
--Philippians 3:7
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Ron McGatlin
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Posted: 01/30/2009 at 7:47am
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My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he stands behind our wall; He is looking through the windows, Gazing through the lattice.
My beloved spoke, and said to me: "Rise up, my love, my fair one, And come away. Selah
(Song 2:9-10)
Ron
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David Ryser
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Posted: 01/30/2009 at 7:24pm
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Yes and Amen, Ron. Who is able to resist this kind of love? Some do. I couldn't.
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But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ
--Philippians 3:7
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Mandy Gay
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Posted: 02/02/2009 at 2:01am
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Hosea 2:14-20 (Amp)
Therefore, behold, I will allure her [Israel] and bring her into the wilderness, and I will speak tenderly and to her heart.
There I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor [troubling] to be for her a door of hope and expectation. And she shall sing there and respond as in the days of her youth and as at the time when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
And it shall be in that day, says the Lord, that you will call Me Ishi [my Husband], and you shall no more call Me Baali [my Baal].
For I will take away the names of Baalim [the Baals] out of her mouth, and they shall no more be mentioned or seriously remembered by their name.
And in that day will I make a covenant for Israel with the living creatures of the open country and with the birds of the heavens and with the creeping things of the ground. And I will break the bow and the sword and [abolish battle equipment and] conflict out of the land and will make you lie down safely.
And I will betroth you to Me forever; yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy.
I will even betroth you to Me in stability and in faithfulness, and you shall know (recognize, be acquainted with, appreciate, give heed to, and cherish) the Lord.
(highlighting mine)
Through reading the whole of Hosea 2 it seems that Gomer (representing Israel) had not understood her husband's love, therefore he set out to show her his love and win her heart for himself.
Love Mandy
Edited by Mandy Gay on 02/02/2009 at 2:03am
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Tim Speer
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Posted: 02/18/2009 at 4:33pm
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This took place a few years ago, is there something more the Lord has shown you since then??
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col. 1:26-27
Hold to Christ, and for the Rest be Totally Uncommited - Herbert Butterfield
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David Ryser
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Posted: 02/18/2009 at 5:10pm
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Indeed there is. Part 2 is coming soon!
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But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ
--Philippians 3:7
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Frank Hadzalic
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1 Corinthians 13 is not a chapter about love, per se.
It is the premise that we MUST have love when ministering the gifts of the Spirit. It is part of the trio of chapters, 1 Cor. 12 - 14. Same principal as Romans 6 - 8 which we need to read as a whole and not individual units.
Regardless, we have to decide what motivates us to serve Him. Even if one has never experienced love, it does not mean they are incapable of expressing it. We all are in the image of God, hence, even a sinner can manifest love. Not perfect love, but still love. And when that love is returned, we grow in it. But the seed, ability to love, is always there though the amount may not be so great.
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Blessings,
Frank
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Tim Speer
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Posted: 02/25/2009 at 10:43pm
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Will the church ever stop seeing, judging and interpreting as though they are on the outside looking in??? Christ has come!! We do not minister!! We are dead!! Christ in us ministers to the world around us. We need to check the nature of our relationship and stop acting as though we have a say in this!!
"Apart from me you can do NOTHING!!!
-Jesus
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col. 1:26-27
Hold to Christ, and for the Rest be Totally Uncommited - Herbert Butterfield
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Lili Tomulet
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Posted: 02/26/2009 at 5:27am
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__________________
Lily
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Lili Tomulet
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Posted: 04/02/2009 at 2:19am
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Tim, I like very much what you are saying here (and the signature).
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Lily
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