From Psalm 14
H,
I have been thinking of that
line “enmity with the world”. It sounds awful and unfriendly. It may create the
elitist impression that we are some superior sub-culture on the fringes and
destroying “all ye sinners” from within the rocky beads of earth. The first problem of course is that we are
sinners also. Redeemed and all that but from outside that circle, who sees
that? Christians mess up all the time. To say we are the moral compass of the
world, in purely black print, misses the point of salvation.
line “enmity with the world”. It sounds awful and unfriendly. It may create the
elitist impression that we are some superior sub-culture on the fringes and
destroying “all ye sinners” from within the rocky beads of earth. The first problem of course is that we are
sinners also. Redeemed and all that but from outside that circle, who sees
that? Christians mess up all the time. To say we are the moral compass of the
world, in purely black print, misses the point of salvation.
Also, we are not enemies
with people. Individuals are not at war with God, even though they think they
are. Christ went around doing well to sinners because the saints were scarce. Hehe.
The gospel calls to all people. The world we are in conflict with is the system
of the world. The way it operates. The “me-first” culture of the thing that
does no good to me or anyone else and leaves me the unsatisfied and others
robbed.
with people. Individuals are not at war with God, even though they think they
are. Christ went around doing well to sinners because the saints were scarce. Hehe.
The gospel calls to all people. The world we are in conflict with is the system
of the world. The way it operates. The “me-first” culture of the thing that
does no good to me or anyone else and leaves me the unsatisfied and others
robbed.
Dare I mention the devil? We
cannot pick and choose theology. It all has to run together. The prince of this
world is the enemy. The poles and points and hurdles he sets up here and there
to keep us running on the mill and ignoring God is the very system that keeps
us slaves in a spiritual Egypt. How many times have we heard a Christian say: “If
I was not a Christian, I know where I will be”. Have we not thought or said
something similar ourselves? Like those blind Israelites on the way to Canaan
who could only see slavery as a constant meal with variety rather than the
constant crushing of their vital wills are
we not in the same trap now? Seeking the legendary comfort of human achievement
against the holy construct of living for that forever day?
cannot pick and choose theology. It all has to run together. The prince of this
world is the enemy. The poles and points and hurdles he sets up here and there
to keep us running on the mill and ignoring God is the very system that keeps
us slaves in a spiritual Egypt. How many times have we heard a Christian say: “If
I was not a Christian, I know where I will be”. Have we not thought or said
something similar ourselves? Like those blind Israelites on the way to Canaan
who could only see slavery as a constant meal with variety rather than the
constant crushing of their vital wills are
we not in the same trap now? Seeking the legendary comfort of human achievement
against the holy construct of living for that forever day?
It is a subtle trap that ensnares
us. If we get enough money or job satisfaction or romantic love or purpose or
peace then we will be able to look back at a worthy life when the end comes. These
things are not bad in themselves. They are just not all there is. They are
parts of an eternal plan that does not end with the getting of these transient
reminders of something greater. To say: no, I want more is not to disregard
these things. It is to put them in the larger context of what they mean for the
soul. It is to admit they are on the road to something more but they are not
the road itself nor the destination. They are not eternal things.
us. If we get enough money or job satisfaction or romantic love or purpose or
peace then we will be able to look back at a worthy life when the end comes. These
things are not bad in themselves. They are just not all there is. They are
parts of an eternal plan that does not end with the getting of these transient
reminders of something greater. To say: no, I want more is not to disregard
these things. It is to put them in the larger context of what they mean for the
soul. It is to admit they are on the road to something more but they are not
the road itself nor the destination. They are not eternal things.