The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb Quotes

“Racism is alive and well in our culture, but we often succumb to the lie that it died with institutional slavery and segregation.”
― Jamin Goggin, The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It

“In a culture drunk on power and in need of an intervention, the church has too often become an enabler. In many places, churches openly affirm the way from below. Instead of being told how desperately I am in need of God, I am repeatedly told how much God needs me. Instead of being exhorted to pick up my cross and follow Christ, I am told that Jesus wants to be my partner in the plan I have to rid my life of all struggles and challenges. We hear gospels of moralism, centering on our power to become a better person, and we hear sermons offering up God as merely another resource along our journey for successful and happy living. Sermons become pep talks amid a quest for power and significance. Instead of worship being an invitation to come before God in humble awe and reverence, worship becomes an experience meant to lift us above the travails of everyday life and give us a sense of transcendence. Instead of hearing God’s vision of redeeming all things in Christ by the power of his Holy Spirit, we hear of the pastor’s vision to grow an even bigger church that does bigger things so that he can be powerful and we can be powerful with him. The church is called to rest in the grace of God, whose power is perfected in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).10 Unfortunately, the church has often capitulated to the way from below. It has embraced the way of power to control. This must be addressed head-on. If we ignore the deep vices of the church by pointing to signs of success on the surface, we are in grave danger. The Lord, we are told, “weighs the spirit” (Prov. 16:2). When we embrace the way from below for ministry, we develop a superficial spirit. We can build buildings, programs, and services of power that are, in the end, weightless. What might it look like to become weighty churches? Who are the brothers and sisters in Christ we can look to who have embraced the way from above? Who are the voices crying out in the wilderness that there is a different way?”
― Jamin Goggin, The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It

“The church, the place where kingdom values should reign, is the place where we come to know and participate in the way of God—where “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). The church is the place where the powers are to be exposed for what they are and are continually put to shame as they were upon the cross. Sunday morning worship in this sense is a spiritual battle, but the battle isn’t limited to Sundays.”
― Jamin Goggin, The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It

“But at the core of Jesus’ action we see how detached he remained from the power systems of the world and how attached he was to the Father and his way of power. Jesus was grounded in an unhurried existence that allowed him to be present; to listen carefully and faithfully; to overflow in mercy, grace, and love; and to know his calling (and refuse to be seduced by callings that were not his, or callings not done according to his way).”
― Jamin Goggin, The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It

“This last point can easily be misunderstood. Because of sin, we are all drawn to autonomy—we are all oriented to independence rather than dependence upon God. Because of this, we will always be tempted to use our strengths (whether they are talents, abilities, or even spiritual gifts) in our own power rather than in reliance upon Christ.”
― Jamin Goggin, The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It

“We compensate through self-improvement. A lot of what we think of as our strengths is really just the result of this compensation. Rather than looking to Christ to redeem, we have acted as our own redeemer. Twice over we neglect our Redeemer. We neglect him in our self-accomplishment, in our attempt to overcome our weaknesses with strengths. We also neglect him because we don’t believe we need him where we are powerful; we only need him where we are failing or still poor. In this sense, operating from our strengths is practicing atheism.”
― Jamin Goggin, The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It

“God invites us into the valley. The question is whether we will accept the invitation. The valley will always be in the shadow of the mountains. The mountains, with their dramatic peaks and pillars to the clouds, will always appear more special to the world around you. Becoming a valley is truly humbling. And yet this is the place where the rain soaks deep and fruit is truly produced. The valley is the place of life. It is the place of kingdom power.”
― Jamin Goggin, The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It

“When I was faced with challenges, my internal monologue was more shaped by “I can make it happen,” “I have what it takes,” and “I’ll just try harder,” than by “I need you, Lord,” “I am lost without you,” and “Apart from you I can do nothing.” As Jim talked, it became clear to me that such an approach to the Christian life was not Christian at all.”
― Jamin Goggin, The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It

“The focus is on my ability, my creativity, and my potential. These become the pistons driving the engine of self (resulting, Jesus tells us, in the eternal loss of self). No place for weakness exists in this view of reality. More important, no place exists for God. We don’t reject God outright, but we retain the god of Deism, who once did some powerful things but is generally detached from our day-to-day lives. So instead of abiding, we pray for God to give us some of his power. Instead of growing into him who is our head (Eph. 4:15), we ask him to give us some magic (“Just make me stop sinning,” “Just make these temptations go away,” and so on). Instead of entering into the way of weakness, we try to use God to become something powerful.”
― Jamin Goggin, The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It

“A heart that is formed by greed, pride, self-centeredness, and anger will very quickly adopt forms of living that affirm the power structures of this world, the flesh, and the devil (even within the church).”
― Jamin Goggin, The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus Path of Power in a Church That Has Abandoned It

“In the words of Dostoyevsky, “Active love is a harsh and fearful thing compared with love in dreams.”
― Jamin Goggin, The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It

“You should have a fifty-year plan—a vision for growth over a long period of time as you embrace your weakness.” Learning to walk the way from above takes a lifetime, and it doesn’t happen by accident. The”
― Jamin Goggin, The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It

“People are not our enemies; our enemies are the powers of evil themselves. We are called in Christ to love all—to hope that God can save even those embracing evil—and we are called to believe that the gospel is good news for all. But we still resist. Our”
― Jamin Goggin, The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It

“We are called as his people to participate in Christ’s triumph over these powers by submitting to the way of the cross. We are called to be a cruciform people—to live according to the cross-shaped way of Jesus.13 We are called to receive power in weakness, not power in our strength or in ourselves.”
― Jamin Goggin, The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It

“Outside of anything illegal, sex is really the only thing that matters to us concerning the pastor’s personal life. Power? Not so much. Money? Very few care. Unless a pastor is caught stealing from the church’s bank, a pastor can serve Mammon wholeheartedly and, generally speaking, find that few are really bothered. Power”
― Jamin Goggin, The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It

“Twice over we neglect our Redeemer. We neglect him in our self-accomplishment, in our attempt to overcome our weaknesses with strengths. We also neglect him because we don’t believe we need him where we are powerful; we only need him where we are failing or still poor. In this sense, operating from our strengths is practicing atheism. This”
― Jamin Goggin, The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It

“Significance, unlike wisdom, does not take patience. I”
― Jamin Goggin, The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It

“we have come to see that the way of power commended in Scripture is not the way of power we have seen in evangelicalism. Our”
― Jamin Goggin, The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It