{"id":1364,"date":"2018-03-12T07:00:35","date_gmt":"2018-03-11T20:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hopeuc.com\/la\/?p=1364"},"modified":"2018-03-05T14:06:02","modified_gmt":"2018-03-05T03:06:02","slug":"reboot-week-5-checking-blind-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hopeuc.com\/santa-fe\/2018\/03\/12\/reboot-week-5-checking-blind-spot\/","title":{"rendered":"REBOOT \/\/ Week 5 \/\/ Checking the blind spot"},"content":{"rendered":"
Some conversations are harder than others. As we have seen over the previous weeks, the innocent can be wrongly accused and the patient can feel like failures, when all the time it was out of their control. This week\u2019s conversation is about being able to hear from God when we do have to take responsibility, when repentance and change are needed. So how do we develop a healthy ability to talk about being wrong?<\/div>\n

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One of the things that makes it hard to talk about being wrong is that our thinking can quickly shift, from becoming aware that we have done wrong, to feeling like something is wrong with us. We are going to spend some time looking at the life of David, so we can better see how to open ourselves to reflection as a way of hearing the voice of God.<\/div>\n

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David was in many ways an admirable person. He was clearly courageous in conflict, and had a high level of confidence in God. Unlike Saul before him, he understood that the means to the end was as important as the end itself. One of several examples of this can be seen during the time when King Saul was looking to kill David. David had an opportunity to fast tracking his own appointment as the next king:<\/div>\n

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After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, \u201cDavid is in the Desert of En Gedi.\u201d So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.<\/em><\/div>\n

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He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. The men said, \u201cThis is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, \u2018I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.\u2019\u201d Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul\u2019s robe.<\/em><\/div>\n

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Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. He said to his men, \u201cThe Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord\u2019s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.\u201d With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.<\/em>\u00a0 1 Samuel 24:1-7<\/div>\n

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Question:<\/div>\n
    \n
  1. David was a harden war veteran, why might he be so reluctant to kill the man who is out to kill him?<\/li>\n
  2. David\u2019s men see the opportunity as a sign that it\u2019s the right thing to do. What enabled David to see it differently?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    <\/div>\n
    Now let\u2019s go to a point much later in his life, when David was King of Israel.<\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n

    <\/div>\n
    In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king\u2019s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.<\/em><\/div>\n

    <\/div>\n
    One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, \u201cShe is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.\u201d Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, \u201cI am pregnant.\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n

    <\/div>\n
    So David sent this word to Joab: \u201cSend me Uriah the Hittite.\u201d And Joab sent him to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, \u201cGo down to your house and wash your feet.\u201d So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master\u2019s servants and did not go down to his house.<\/em><\/div>\n

    <\/div>\n
    David was told, \u201cUriah did not go home.\u201d So he asked Uriah, \u201cHaven\u2019t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn\u2019t you go home?\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n

    <\/div>\n
    Uriah said to David, \u201cThe ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord\u2019s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n

    <\/div>\n
    Then David said to him, \u201cStay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.\u201d So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. At David\u2019s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master\u2019s servants; he did not go home.<\/em><\/div>\n

    <\/div>\n
    In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it he wrote, \u201cPut Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n

    <\/div>\n
    So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in <\/em><\/div>\n

    <\/div>\n
    David\u2019s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.<\/em><\/div>\n

    <\/div>\n
    Joab sent David a full account of the battle. He instructed the messenger: \u201cWhen you have finished giving the king this account of the battle, the king\u2019s anger may flare up, and he may ask you, \u2018Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn\u2019t you know they would shoot arrows from the wall? Who killed Abimelek son of Jerub-Besheth? Didn\u2019t a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?\u2019 If he asks you <\/em><\/div>\n
    this, then say to him, \u2018Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n

    <\/div>\n
    The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say. <\/em><\/div>\n

    <\/div>\n
    The messenger said to David, \u201cThe men overpowered us and came out against us in the open, but we drove them back to the entrance of the city gate. Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king\u2019s men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n
    David told the messenger, \u201cSay this to Joab: \u2018Don\u2019t let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.\u2019 Say this to encourage Joab.\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n

    <\/div>\n
    When Uriah\u2019s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.<\/em>\u00a02 Samuel 11:1-27<\/div>\n

    <\/div>\n
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    Questions:<\/div>\n
      \n
    1. This episode starts with an abuse of power. What are some of the justifications that people give when using power at the expense of others?<\/li>\n
    2. David\u2019s power as king is almost absolute. No one is able to resist his orders. Except perhaps Uriah, who refused to break solidarity with his fellow soldiers and so unknowingly carried his own death sentence back to his commander. David didn\u2019t set out to have a man murdered, so what makes it increasingly difficult to get out of making bad decisions in order to \u2018correct\u2019 bad decisions?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      <\/div>\n
      <\/div>\n
      The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, \u201cThere were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.<\/em><\/div>\n

      <\/div>\n
      \u201cNow a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n
      David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, \u201cAs surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n

      <\/div>\n
      Then Nathan said to David, \u201cYou are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: \u2018I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master\u2019s house to you, and your master\u2019s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.\u2019<\/em><\/div>\n

      <\/div>\n
      \u201cThis is what the Lord says: \u2018Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n

      <\/div>\n
      Then David said to Nathan, \u201cI have sinned against the Lord.\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n

      <\/div>\n
      Nathan replied, \u201cThe Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n

      <\/div>\n
      After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah\u2019s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground. The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.<\/em><\/div>\n

      <\/div>\n
      On the seventh day the child died. David\u2019s attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, \u201cWhile the child was still living, he wouldn\u2019t listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n

      <\/div>\n
      David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. \u201cIs the child dead?\u201d he asked.<\/em><\/div>\n

      <\/div>\n
      \u201cYes,\u201d they replied, \u201che is dead.\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n

      <\/div>\n
      Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.<\/em><\/div>\n

      <\/div>\n
      His attendants asked him, \u201cWhy are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n

      <\/div>\n
      He answered, \u201cWhile the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, \u2018Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.\u2019 But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.\u201d<\/em><\/div>\n

      <\/div>\n
      Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him;\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>\u00a02 Samuel 12:1-24 (NIV)<\/div>\n

      <\/div>\n
      <\/div>\n
      Nathan was a prophet, and so he brought word from God to David. David’s authority to reign as King was delegated by God, so David was still accountable to God. However, kings, like most of us, rarely like to be told that they are wrong. So Nathan tells a story about \u2018two men\u2019.<\/div>\n

      <\/div>\n
      <\/div>\n
      Questions:<\/div>\n
        \n
      1. Why was it easier for David to see the wrongness of the actions of this \u2018rich man\u2019 than to be told directly?<\/li>\n
      2. David effectively judged himself guilty, do you think he was completely blind to that before that moment?<\/li>\n
      3. What can we learn from this in terms of our own blindspots?<\/li>\n
      4. How did David\u2019s confidence in the graciousness of God help him? (Read Psalm 51 for greater insight into this)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        <\/div>\n
        In many ways we are all like David in our ability to make choices that suit our interests, even at the expense of others. So how can we find the way back to good decisions as soon as possible? Embracing the opportunity for small corrections is a great way to remove the need for a large rebuke.<\/div>\n

        <\/div>\n
        <\/div>\n
        Exercise:<\/div>\n
        We won\u2019t always have someone like Nathan come to tell us a story that brings us insight into our actions. Checking for a blindspot can be as simple as trying to put yourself in the position of every one in the situation. This is a reflective exercise, so it will require practice and self-awareness. Often being wrong feels just like being right, right up till the moment we become aware of it.<\/div>\n

        <\/div>\n
        <\/div>\n
        Next time you face a decision, ask yourself this: If I made this decision, would I be happy with the outcome if I was any one of the people affected? This can be a way to greater awareness and growth as well as a check for the self interest blindspot. Like Jesus said, ‘Do to others as you would have them do to you.\u2019<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Some conversations are harder than others. As we have seen over the previous weeks, the innocent can be wrongly accused and the patient can feel like failures, when all the time it was out of their control. This week\u2019s conversation is about being able to hear from God when we do have to take responsibility,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reboot","entry","no-media"],"yoast_head":"\nREBOOT \/\/ Week 5 \/\/ Checking the blind spot - HopeUC Santa Fe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hopeuc.com\/santa-fe\/2018\/03\/12\/reboot-week-5-checking-blind-spot\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"pip_hopeuc\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"12 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hopeuc.com\/santa-fe\/2018\/03\/12\/reboot-week-5-checking-blind-spot\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hopeuc.com\/santa-fe\/2018\/03\/12\/reboot-week-5-checking-blind-spot\/\",\"name\":\"REBOOT \/\/ Week 5 \/\/ Checking the blind spot - 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