Simply Christian
I’m writing on Friday night…today I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing N.T.Wright speak at Calvin College’s “January Series”. The topic was “Simply Christian”, also one of his book titles. He said that his goal with this book was to do for our century what C.S. Lewis did with “Mere Christianity”. Either the man is incredibly arrogant and he’ll be found out…or he’s incredibly good and will do just what he set out to do. My guess is that he will do what he set out to do.
He reminded me of a lot of things.
1- All human beings are created in the image of God.
Even though, after the fall, that image is distorted and imperfect, the image is not entirely erased. It is to these reflections of God that we are to live out the life of the Gospel.
2- Staring at the sun/staring at the Son.
Wright said, “The more you look at God, the more you should expect to be dazzled. Most of the time when I am working my little heart out, what I should be doing is looking at God – and letting Him dazzle me.
3- We live where heaven and earth meet.
In the Old Testament, God met His people in two places: in the Torah and in the Temple. In the New Covenant, WE are the temple of the Holy Spirit. God speaks to the world today through His Word and through his people. For some, we will be the only “Bible” they ever meet.
4- We become like what we worship.
If we worship a stone idol, a bit of us dies as we take on the image of the stone. If we worship before the TV, we take on the image of what it is showing us.
If we worship the One, True, Living God, we will become more like Him.
I want you all to ponder the last paragraph of the book:
Made for spirituality, we wallow in introspection. Made for joy, we settle for pleasure. Made for justice, we clamor for vengeance. Made for relationship, we insist on our own way. Made for beauty, we are satisfied with sentiment. But new creation has already begun. The sun has begun to rise. Christians are called to leave behind, in the tomb of Jesus Christ, all that belongs to the brokenness and imompleteness of the present world. It is time, in the power of the Spirit, to take up our proper role, our fully human role, as agents, heralds, and stewards of the new day that is dawning. That, quite simply, is what it means to be Christian: to follow Jesus Christ into the new world. God’s new world, which He has thrown open before us.
I loved #4, this is so true. But I have never heard it said. And the quote was also, I like the part of leaving behind all the brokenness at the tomb.
If we worship before the TV, we take on the image of what it is showing us.— This statement stikes me this morning. I know so many who have let television become thier God. They plan everything around their “shows.” I grieve over this idol of America.
Wonderful Post. Thank you.
Oswald Chamber’s devotion for January 1 is “Let Us Keep To The Point”….it is an awesome devotional that needs to be read daily, not just on January 1…Oswald writes “Shut out every other thought and keep yourself before God in this one thing only – my utmost for His highest. I am determined to be absolutely and entirely for Him and Him alone.
Link:http://www.rbc.org/utmost/index.php?month=01&day=01&year=07. I really enjoyed this particular post in regards to where our focus should be.
I feel my life has changed this year because my “idol worship” has changed. Once consumed by alcoholism, my life was full of self-pity and depression. Now, having God at the center of my life, it is full of hope and direction.
I really needed to hear it today. I needed confirmation that what I was doing was right. I’m in the midst of a big struggle right now, and the Lord used you to say to me to keep on following me. Thanks for this confirmation.
Oh, I so look forward to being more like Him. What an awesome truth.
You post reminds me of the passage in Hebrews: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” ~ 12:2
thank you, Ellen for pointing to Him who can make the change and Him through us change the world.
There is nothing I can add to that! Amen, sister!!