From the book, Historic Creeds, by Kenneth Boa:- (18) "It is much better to desire God without being able to think clearly of Him, than to have marvelous thoughts about Him without desiring to enter into union with His will." ...Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation.
- (24) "It is easier to define ourselves by what we accomplish than by our new identity in Christ. For some, the Christian life consists more of fellowship, service to those in need, witnessing, and worship than of becoming intimate with Jesus. This leads to the problem of ministry without the manifest presence of God."
- (24) "God is an intensely personal and relational Being, and it is an insult for us to treat Him as though He were a power or a principle. Some of us find it easier to be comfortable with abstract principles and ideas than with people and intimacy. As we have seen, good things like the Bible, theology, ministry, and church can become substitutes for loving Him. As a countermeasure, it is good to ask God for the grace of increased passion for His Son so that, by the power of the Spirit, we will come to love Him as the Father loves Him.
You know, I think it's easy for people to see church simply as 'a place you go on Sunday.' It can become just a routine; a 'putting your time in' sort of thing. But I also think we face a certain temptation to think church is not all that important. As long as we're listening to sermons or reading books and doing good works, there's a danger in thinking that makes us a part of the body of Christ.
It's a strange place where grace and works meet. I don't have a good argument for anyone, but I think that unless our works are an outgrowth of our community (church).... then it's maybe just us trying to do good things. I believe there is a biblical basis for a certain amount of organizational structure in the church. And community must be important, or there wouldn't be all those verses about unity and patience and loving one another. I think it's a hard thing for people, no matter what their life work consists of, to continue to want to be a part of the body; to keep working at relationships; and to be submissive to authorities ordained by God (and, yes, I believe God uses man in that ordination process). It's equally difficult to keep the perspective that it's not all about where we are on Sunday mornings.
I don't know, I guess it's just like trying to figure out how Jesus could be both God and man and what it all means. Well... I keep being interrupted by the ladies here for their bible study and can't keep a stream of thought flowing. Hmm... suppose there's a connection there?
2 comments:
Bullet points two and three really speak to me and where I am at, too. I can be easily tempted to substitute works for relationship. And I have decided that our church is where I am staying, flaws and all.
My one caution is when church becomes the end-all and be-all of some peoples lives. Not just the show up on Sundays thing, but the participate in everything AT CHURCH and think that's all it takes to be a good Christian, without engaging others outside the church, mission, etc. That's the challenge I have now - trying to be a good member of the church, but also trying to be engaged with our community in caring and loving ways, and our church is not very mission/outreach/community oriented.
But your point is well taken - the FIRST thing I need to keep working on is my relationship with Christ. Thanks for reminding me.
Jim,
You definitely raise a valid point of caution. It's too easy to try to make church a social club - which is misguided. Perhaps that is the reason you are where you are - to help guide your church in this path.
Thanks for the input.
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