I drink generic sodas. Not all generic sodas. Some of them suck. But some of them aren't bad. The Orangette soda is as good as Sunkist in my opinion, except it doesn't have caffeine. And if I will pay close to $2 to see what a Sweet Corn soda tastes like (one of the nastiest sodas I've tried), why not spend less than $1 on a 2 Liter of generic soda to see if it's drinkable, or even good? Some of the Atwood's sodas aren't bad for the money, and neither are some of the Walmart sodas. The Greater Value Root Beer is actually good, if it's cold. And for 88 cents a 2 Liter quality doesn't have to be as high to make it worth it.
My wife bought me a generic 2 Liter I hadn't tried yet, another of the ones from Wally World, Mountain Lightning. Obviously from the name it is their substitute for Mt. Dew, my favorite regular soda. I tired it this morning. It's not a bad citrus soda. I will probably drink it from time to time, especially when Mt. Dew is not on sale, like it is now. Mt. Dew is definitely worth the 12 extra cents it costs when on sale. Like I said, the Mountain Lightning isn't bad, not at all, especially if you're not expecting it to taste like Mr. Dew. It doesn't.
It's in the same general category, citrus soda, but it's not Mt. Dew. It's cheaper, with a pretty good flavor, but it's not a great substitute for the Dew. Why not? Because it doesn't have the power of the Dew. Mountain Lightening has about the same amount of caffeine as Dr. Pepper, which isn't bad, but it is a lot less than the caffeine kick of the soda it's trying to market itself as a substitute for. And that is finally where I begin to get to the point of all of this.
I will continue to drink Mountain Lightning. But I will do so knowing it is a secondary, not a substitute. If I am drinking for taste and want to save a few cents, I'll grab it. But if I need power, if I need caffeine, I'll grab a Mt. Dew, if I'm going to drink soda. And this whole situation turns my mind to spiritual thoughts. I practice general spirituality like I drink generic sodas. Some of it sucks, and I don't go there again, but some of it's not bad. Some of it is pretty good.
There's nothing wrong with drinking from the cup of generic spirituality. Truth is truth. It's cheap and tastes good, some of it does, anyway. Now, when it completely contrasts or contradicts the spiritual truth of Daddy, then it should taste nasty. It's like Maple Bacon Soda, that sounds interesting and good (c'mon, bacon is always good, right?) but when you taste it, you can't even choke it down. That's what happens when you surrender your spiritual taste buds to the Holy Spirit. Something that sounds good but doesn't line up with the truth tastes bad. There is nothing wrong with some vague general spiritual truth, as long as it is indeed truth. Drink it up as an extra, as spirit candy or something. But don't lose sight of what you're drinking. It's the generic, and it doesn't have the same power.
God loves you. That's a true statement. There's absolutely nothing wrong with saying that, listening to it or agreeing with it. It's true. And it's also generic. When I say God loves you, I am thinking about God, the creator of the universe and all that is in it. But for all I know, you may be thinking about Zeus. I was about to type Thor, but I hear he's a jerk. The point is that I can picture one thing and you a totally different thing and us both be in agreement with the statement. That's what makes it generic. Any god will fit, as long as it's a god that can be seen as loving.
God loves you, so He won't hold your mistakes against you and it doesn't matter what you do. Still general, but I hope it doesn't taste as good to you. That's close enough to things we like to hear that it sounds good, but....It's not quite true. It does matter what we do. Grace is not the freedom to sin and live for self. And God's love will not make Him unjust. Just because we tried to be good or had good reasons for being unloving isn't good enough. God doesn't grade on the curve. And if we ignore what's right or try to gain God's favor through merit, we will fail. A lot of little g gods in generic spirituality will fit the first sentence of this paragraph, but not God. And that should make it taste a lot worse than we first thought it would.
But here is some truth with power. God loves you, as you are, not as you should be, but He loves you enough not to leave you the mess you are. Daddy knows that we can't be good enough on our own, that we do not have the ability to break free from selfishness and sin on our own, and that we need the help of His power. So He did for us what we can not do for ourselves. Daddy sent His Son Jesus to earth, wrapped Him in humanity to take our place. He poured out our shortcomings and imperfections and the justice due us on Jesus. And He poured the perfect love and service of Christ on us. Luther called that the Great Exchange. The ability to have relationship with Daddy, the enabling power to love and live as we should and the freedom to say no to what used to have us held captive is called grace, and it's freely given to those who accept the work that Jesus did on the cross. When we believe that the love that Daddy has for everyone and the death that Jesus died for everyone is actually specifically for us, Daddy loves me. Jesus died for me, the grace is given to us and the Spirit of God actually comes and makes His home in us. He comforts and guides and teaches. He gives is the power to please Daddy and get close to Him. He makes us like Jesus.
Now that's specific. That's a specialty spirituality, and it costs a lot more. There's also no truth with more power. God loves you is true, but not as true and powerful as Jesus is the expression of Daddy's love for us. There's nothing wrong with drinking from the cup of the generic, but don't be deceived into thinking it is the real thing and just as good. When you need real power, full power, it's found in Jesus, the Word made flesh who loves you and died in your place. He is the one who came to heal the brokenhearted and set the captives free, and if you want your heart whole and you want to get and stay free, He is the only way with the power to make it happen.
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