I'm back!

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My apologies to anyone out there that have been reading my blog. I had been on a hiatus last month due to winter break. I really have no excuse for my non-posting. I was just being lazy. It was wrong on my part to be lazy....yes, yes it was.

Anyways, I wanna start off my postingness by introducing to y'all a C.S. Lewis quote which has lots of meaning for me. It is from the book Mere Christianity. In the chapter on Social Morality, he writes:

"You will find this again and again about anything that is really Christian: every one is attracted by bits of it and wants to pick out those bits and leave the rest. That is why we do not get much further: and that is why people who are fighting for quite opposite things can both say they are fighting for Christianity."

This quote has a lot of "stuff" to it, so to speak. First of I really like how he states that every one is attracted to bits and pieces of Christianity. "Every one" would include non-Christians in this context I believe. This is true, don't you think? If you happened to bust out a verse such as Exodus 20:15 (Ten Commandments) or something, wouldn't it be likely that you'll find people of various religions and even atheists agreeing with you? I mean, i'm sure the motive to not steal would be different for each person, but in the general sense people would find this verse agreeable.

Of course though, that verse would only be agreeable if it is not in the context of the bible, which brings us to my second point. The "every one" in the quote includes Christians, as well. When I read this line, a redlight popped up in my head. Stop. Is this something that I'm doing? Yea, it is. I could really be quoting the "nice" verses all day; not so much the harsh ones. An example would be John 3:16 versus 1 John 2:15. The former is the good news that God cares about us and allows us to achieve salvation through Jesus (cool!), but the latter tells us that if we love anything worldly, we cannot love God (ouch!). So.......it would be optimal for you to think about this point in regards to you own life before you read on, although it is really optional.



Thinking yet?






Okay, third point! the words "that is why we do not get much further" pretty much tells us that, you know, if you only stay with the stuff you like, you'll be forever be a lukewarm Christian. I've read and heard many things that talks about being "totally on fire for Christ" or "I'm a fervent Christian!" But really, what are you fired up about? It really does feel good to be totally on fire about Christ's love for us, but there's more. Until you're excited about being a Christian that lives in a sinful world, being persecuted for your faith, and totally happy about giving up your love for wordly things, you won't get much further. Nothing wrong with liking the bits and pieces of Christianity, but there is something wrong with not growing in Christ.

The last line in this quote talks about fighting for opposite things but all the while fighting for Christianity. Example: whether we're fighting to accept the fact that God loves us or fighting to accept the fact that God has infinite wrath, in both cases we're fighting to become a better Christian, right? God is multi-dimensional to say the least, and resultantly some of the dimensions are gonna be different ends of a spectrum.

Today, let the journey be renewed. Let's pick up more of the bits and pieces of Christianity, but this time, let's pick up the nice and the harsh. Especially the stuff that doesn't appeal to us. Sin did not appeal to God, but He still picked us up as sinners.

2 Responses to "I'm back!"

Anonymous Says :
January 21, 2009 at 9:01 PM

Allen, great to read your thoughts and see God growing you . . . an encouragement to faith in us!

Allen Says :
January 24, 2009 at 1:49 PM

Thank you Mrs. T!

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