Barton Jahn's Blog, page 13
July 20, 2016
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.
July 19, 2016
We Cannot Do It All
We cannot have everything we want, simply because as a practical matter we cannot do everything we want. Time and physical reality forces us to exclude and make choices.
We cannot both live in the county and in the city, travel the world and go to college, find time to read all of the books we want to read and lead an active social life, become expert in two or more sports, pursue a happy marriage, have children and a family life, serve on the local school board, volunteer for weekend charity social work, spend as much time with old friends as we used to before marriage and children, write books, and be active in social media, all at the same time.
Life is not only about what we do, but also about what we choose not to do. Some things have to be cut out.
It has been said that a sculptor creates a masterpiece in marble by the pieces that are chipped away. The finished marble statue is created by the material that has been removed from the rough-hewn block of stone marble. There is a final outcome envisioned within the artistic eye of the sculptor, but the actual carving process to reach the end-product involves the chipping away of the excess, waste material.
The cross of Christ element in all of the biblical narrative stories of faith is unique to all religions, philosophies, and worldviews.
As Abraham walks from the city of Haran towards Canaan, with each step he takes Abraham’s personal plans for worldly conventional normalcy are being replaced by the higher plans of God, beyond anything Abraham could imagine.
The fact that the Master Sculptor was chipping away the worldly normative life-plan of Abraham, the father of faith, over 5,000 years ago is massive evidence for the divine composition of this opening journey of faith narrative in the Bible.
You cannot be Abraham and be anything else at the same time. A focused life excludes other things.
No humanistic writer would ever invent the concept of chipping out the marble from the block of conventional worldly normalcy to replace it with a risky, God-led journey of faith containing the cross as its central theme.
Understanding the fact that a biblical-quality journey of faith excludes our own way is critical for today’s disciple of Jesus Christ.
We cannot both live in the county and in the city, travel the world and go to college, find time to read all of the books we want to read and lead an active social life, become expert in two or more sports, pursue a happy marriage, have children and a family life, serve on the local school board, volunteer for weekend charity social work, spend as much time with old friends as we used to before marriage and children, write books, and be active in social media, all at the same time.
Life is not only about what we do, but also about what we choose not to do. Some things have to be cut out.
It has been said that a sculptor creates a masterpiece in marble by the pieces that are chipped away. The finished marble statue is created by the material that has been removed from the rough-hewn block of stone marble. There is a final outcome envisioned within the artistic eye of the sculptor, but the actual carving process to reach the end-product involves the chipping away of the excess, waste material.
The cross of Christ element in all of the biblical narrative stories of faith is unique to all religions, philosophies, and worldviews.
As Abraham walks from the city of Haran towards Canaan, with each step he takes Abraham’s personal plans for worldly conventional normalcy are being replaced by the higher plans of God, beyond anything Abraham could imagine.
The fact that the Master Sculptor was chipping away the worldly normative life-plan of Abraham, the father of faith, over 5,000 years ago is massive evidence for the divine composition of this opening journey of faith narrative in the Bible.
You cannot be Abraham and be anything else at the same time. A focused life excludes other things.
No humanistic writer would ever invent the concept of chipping out the marble from the block of conventional worldly normalcy to replace it with a risky, God-led journey of faith containing the cross as its central theme.
Understanding the fact that a biblical-quality journey of faith excludes our own way is critical for today’s disciple of Jesus Christ.
