trying to follow

Wednesday, September 14

random comments

"random" is probably not the most appropriate word. alas, my vocabulary is limited.

i'm reading lesslie newbigin's the gospel in a pluralist society (not while i'm typing; that would be really difficult, nigh impossible). it's really good. it's kind of... well, it leaves me feeling like "you guys [people who are around, whom i encounter daily] just don't get it, that is if you don't believe the good news of Jesus Christ, and maybe even if you do." he attacks the premises of religious conservatism and liberalism (particularly that of contemporary Christians). i find relief in this. it's not an argument of left versus right. both sides miss the point. he says, "there are on the one hand those who seek to identify God's revelation as a series of objectively true propositions, propositions which are simply to be accepted by those who wish to be Christians. and on the other hand there are those who see the essence of Christianity in an inward spiritual experience, personal to each believer, and who see the Christian doctrines as formulated during church history as symbolic representations of these essentilally inward and private experiences." i haven't completely grasped where the two should meet, but i see and lament flaws in each mindset, which newbigin claims, and i think justifiably so, are "tearing the Church apart."

i tell myself that once i get it all figured out that i'll really start changing others' lives. i think that's an excuse. i think it's a lie. i mean, sure, i may be more helpful to a seeker/wanderer if i know more of the answers, but i'm sure that God wants me to be used now. that's a part of growing as a Christian, a part of this journey that's just as important as learning. in any event, i long to develop a greater understanding of our responsibility as the Church. i want to have the answers. more answers, i suppose. i'll never have them all.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home