Barton Jahn's Blog - Posts Tagged "christian-walk-of-faith-trust"
We Cannot Do It All, Part 2
One of the things that powerfully validates the divine origin of God-composed journey of faith life-scripts as portrayed in the Bible, is this unique chipping away of those parts of our expectation for worldly conventional normalcy that must be displaced to make room for the higher plans of God.
Jesus is recorded in the gospels as saying: “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it” (Mk. 8:34-35).
What is unique about the biblical narrative stories of faith is the discontinuity between each of the stories. Different parts are chipped away from the rough-hewn block of marble each time to produce a different character portrait and a different outcome. But the chipping away of excess waste material always follows and is in harmony with the cross of Christ: “not my will, but thine, be done” (Lk 22:42).
This concept never shows up in literary fiction, movies, theater plays, in college-prep advice from high school counselors, or is even clearly articulated in some Sunday morning church sermons…because it is thoroughly and completely contrary to worldly conventional thinking. Going our own way…being the god upon the throne of our lives…is the universally approved, worldly approach to life. Following the living God into a risky adventure of faith, by contrast, is the most liberating, courageous, exhilarating, yet most challenging life-plan a person can choose.
Acts 17:24 says that “God…dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” Only God’s higher ways, displacing the worldly conventional thinking of our ways…chipping off the marble to create a finished sculpture…will produce the outcomes through the cross of Christ to match the ingenious works of God portrayed in the Bible…above and beyond humanistic creative imagination.
Jesus is recorded in the gospels as saying: “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it” (Mk. 8:34-35).
What is unique about the biblical narrative stories of faith is the discontinuity between each of the stories. Different parts are chipped away from the rough-hewn block of marble each time to produce a different character portrait and a different outcome. But the chipping away of excess waste material always follows and is in harmony with the cross of Christ: “not my will, but thine, be done” (Lk 22:42).
This concept never shows up in literary fiction, movies, theater plays, in college-prep advice from high school counselors, or is even clearly articulated in some Sunday morning church sermons…because it is thoroughly and completely contrary to worldly conventional thinking. Going our own way…being the god upon the throne of our lives…is the universally approved, worldly approach to life. Following the living God into a risky adventure of faith, by contrast, is the most liberating, courageous, exhilarating, yet most challenging life-plan a person can choose.
Acts 17:24 says that “God…dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” Only God’s higher ways, displacing the worldly conventional thinking of our ways…chipping off the marble to create a finished sculpture…will produce the outcomes through the cross of Christ to match the ingenious works of God portrayed in the Bible…above and beyond humanistic creative imagination.
