“It is not enough for the priests and ministers of the future to be moral people, well trained, eager to help their fellow humans, and able to respond creatively to the burning issues of their time. All of that is very valuable and important, but it is not the heart of Christian leadership.” Page 43 of In the Name of Jesus
Convicting! I really felt this personally at first because I know it is easy in my discipleship times to act like that. I can certainly be moral, well trained, etc, but what does that matter in our situation? We have such a gift with our jobs to share Jesus, but even at Wesley, in a one-on-one time with someone where it is explicitly understood that we should work in Jesus, I don't. I allow myself to be simple and very human, and while this is helpful, it is not operating in the fullness of who we are made to be in Christ. Without Christ, all of our good behavior, morality, our desire to help human kind leaves us as really devoted, really underpaid guidance counselors. We might as well be Lucy from Peanuts with her five cent counseling if we don't do everything in the understanding that we love because Christ loved us first. I quoted this verse to confess that my heart isn't always directed to the heart of Christian leadership.
Philip - what do you think of the idea that if we were actually living like we should, fully aware of God and having his power and character run through us, then we would actually be functioning as God originally designed 'humans?' Is it just semantics for you? If this is the case, then we are living as sub-humans/half-humans. Further, the way in which we use 'human' as a derogatory term when we speak of being a good Christian would need to be changed as well. Psalm 8 says God made us 'a little lower than God' - that is CRAZY!
ReplyDeletethis hits me because i want to seem like a good person. i want to be the person that every one else wishes they could be. but it's such a humbling thought to know that being a good leader is to work in the power of Christ, not in what i alone can do.
ReplyDeleteClay-I guess from a sort of semantic perspective, humanity was what replaced our creation in God's image. I personally see human as more of an honest thing than derogatory, for if we aren't human in the sense that I use it, then what do I need Jesus for? Not that I revel in my sin, but just that it's wonderful to know what Jesus is to me. Today in a high school bible study we read in psalm 18 "The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." I'd rather live in this mindset than live by my own strength. A little below God is still not God. So I guess the answer is no, I see humanity as you put it, below God. Human is a broad term in my vocabulary.
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