Interesting....This has been a topic that I have been thinking about a lot lately.
So here is the million dollar questions....how does it look if you take it outside of your hand and apply it to your entire life? Will our culture (both Christian and Secular) accept that?
Here is an interesting quote...I think it is somewhat relavant to your post. This is from Scot McKnight
"I want to emphasize something here: Jesus’ attitude is not “take me or leave me.” Instead, it is a here-I-am, come follow me. I am with you; will you be with me? The difference is dramatic. It is not an in-your-face or ball-you-out but a gracious embrace of grace that has the power to transform. He is the “Lord for” us because he is the “Lord with” us.
If Jesus is Lord in the sense of “for us” — he rules for us, etc., then to answer the summons to follow Jesus is to give him who we are, what we have done, and to entrust ourselves — our whole selves — to Jesus. Anything less than full surrender is incomplete following. Now, let’s be careful right here: not one of us gives up everything and all we are. We try; we reach out; but we are never fully surrendered. Regardless, Jesus is Lord “for” in helping us — he is there “for us” to give us strength, to empower us, to ennoble us and to direct us. (Of course, he is Lord “over” but that may not be the implication of his Lordship.)"
http://www.jesuscreed.org/?p=735
The article is dealing with a different subject matter, but the quote is right on.
I think Andrew and I came to the conclusion that we need to live it.
-- And I think there's something to the fact that even though we try, we may never fully be in submission to Christ in every way.
Then here's my question.. How much of our faith is God working in us, and how much of it is us taking action? --
That aside, Andrew and I and a few other guys feel that God is calling us to live it. In prayer with Andrew yesterday, it came up that we both understand we may not be accepted by the world or the church in it's current state.
And that's ok. It really doesn't matter. We're willing to be hated, if that's what happens.
So far we don't have a formula for what it will look like. Maybe we'll figure it out as we go, or maybe God will guide us in every single step of it. For now, the only thing we know about what it will look or be like is that we will live it.
3 comments:
Interesting....This has been a topic that I have been thinking about a lot lately.
So here is the million dollar questions....how does it look if you take it outside of your hand and apply it to your entire life? Will our culture (both Christian and Secular) accept that?
Hmmm...sounds like a future sermon.
Joe
Here is an interesting quote...I think it is somewhat relavant to your post. This is from Scot McKnight
"I want to emphasize something here: Jesus’ attitude is not “take me or leave me.” Instead, it is a here-I-am, come follow me. I am with you; will you be with me? The difference is dramatic. It is not an in-your-face or ball-you-out but a gracious embrace of grace that has the power to transform. He is the “Lord for” us because he is the “Lord with” us.
If Jesus is Lord in the sense of “for us” — he rules for us, etc., then to answer the summons to follow Jesus is to give him who we are, what we have done, and to entrust ourselves — our whole selves — to Jesus. Anything less than full surrender is incomplete following. Now, let’s be careful right here: not one of us gives up everything and all we are. We try; we reach out; but we are never fully surrendered. Regardless, Jesus is Lord “for” in helping us — he is there “for us” to give us strength, to empower us, to ennoble us and to direct us. (Of course, he is Lord “over” but that may not be the implication of his Lordship.)"
http://www.jesuscreed.org/?p=735
The article is dealing with a different subject matter, but the quote is right on.
Joe
I think Andrew and I came to the conclusion that we need to live it.
--
And I think there's something to the fact that even though we try, we may never fully be in submission to Christ in every way.
Then here's my question.. How much of our faith is God working in us, and how much of it is us taking action?
--
That aside, Andrew and I and a few other guys feel that God is calling us to live it. In prayer with Andrew yesterday, it came up that we both understand we may not be accepted by the world or the church in it's current state.
And that's ok. It really doesn't matter. We're willing to be hated, if that's what happens.
So far we don't have a formula for what it will look like. Maybe we'll figure it out as we go, or maybe God will guide us in every single step of it.
For now, the only thing we know about what it will look or be like is that we will live it.
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