I realize that some of my posts may be sinful in the eyes of some. Some of these thoughts might mislead or distract someone who is in a different place than me from more important issues. The misguided reader may use something I’ve said to rationalize or dismiss an issue in their life that needs addressed. If we were to live our lives in fear of discussion and expression based off of 1Cor 8:9 (don’t become a stumbling block) we would say nothing and do nothing.
Instead I would like to live by Martin Luther’s statement of “Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly.” We are bound to be a sinner who sins but I can’t bring myself to live in fear of sin. We are just caught in the death throws of sin in a place and as a people whom it no longer has authority over. I can, on the other hand live life to the fullest, say what I feel needs said, process verbally and through writing what I need to process, all in order to “believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly.”
All the while in the end realizing that “God is God.” God is not who I have created him to be or have understood him to be based on my own thought and dissection. Instead, God is who he reveals himself to be.
Eberhard Busch, when explaining Barth’s dialectical theology, says:
“Our explanations (of God) represent a great danger because “God” is then substituted for something else that we have declared to be God. So our explanations, in actuality, turn “God” into an idol of our own making…..It is clearly not that He falls into our hands. Rather, it is the reverse. We fall into His hands.
I will have faith and I think I will use Barth’s definition “a bowing down before that which we will never be, never have, and can never do. It is a bowing down before him who will never become world or man except in the complete negation of all that we here and now call man and world”
C. Austin Averill
I read your post like you are sitting across from me drinking coffee. Its relaxing, and lets me escape work for a good ten minutes.
Love it…what are you reading.
I’m reading a little Bible, some “Common Prayer: a Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals,” recently re-read “Let Your Life Speak” by Parker Palmer, and have started on “The Abingdon Pillars of Theology” by Eberhard Busch that you gave me. REALLY loving the latter. Also “Into the Wild” and quite a bit of “Calvin and Hobbes.”
I think we do have to be mindful of how we present ourselves… If love is not visible in our actions, or our lives, then we have/will become the stumbling blocks. Fear is something we no longer really have in our relationship with God. Yet, the Bible is drenched with stories, phrases and commandments with this word. We have fear. We experience fear. But it is manifested in the wrong areas of our lives. Fearing to be a stumbling block or more generally speaking, fear of sinning, is placing our fear in the wrong hands. Fear and love should go hand in hand with our relationship with God. Perhaps it’s because of our assumed knowledge of the world and all of it’s wonders have we become unafraid of an omnipotent God.
That is a good point,
I wouldn’t be surprised if there are multiple words for different types of fear referred to in the bible. This is when I wish I knew some Hebrew / Greek / Aramaic. The fear I’m talking about is much different than the fear referred to when the bible says to “fear the Lord your God.” Just like you said, that fear goes hand in hand with love.
My problem, and I think the problem of many other christians is that we scrutinize, judge, and over think, rather than “be mindful of.” The fear of screwing up cripples individuals, couples, and families from living a life of love and real fulfillment. I even recognize people who live with this fear end up looking like and being defined as pious in life style or righteous. They end up closed up in they’re christian organizations, churches, friend groups, schools, jobs, and homes and have little interaction with the world. If the Holy Spirit wasn’t quite as noisy and didn’t stir around so much it would be easy to slip into this life style. We could even do it all while being defined as strong christian leaders full of righteousness and wisdom making it even more seemingly cozy. The balancing act between being mindful of our actions towards the world and fearing the rights and wrong’s of life and hiding from the world is a balancing act I think we will all be dealing with for the rest of our lives. and honestly I love that. I think God meant this life as more of a roving adventure than a life long youth group retreat anyways.
What does “be mindful of” mean?
(SIDE NOTE I am agreeing with you, however, there is a place for both sides)
I think the problem is we have a relationship with God based out of a fear of consequences. That is, I believe so I am saved. Instead shouldn’t we say I believe so I can live. We look at the act of salvation and put our focus on the saving part as oppose to the healing and life giving part. Perhaps it is semantics, however, I believe it postures our mind and our own narrative to be more in tune with the act of building heaven here and now as oppose to dodging hell later.
“Being mindful of” is the phrase I gave to the balance of over analyzing “dos and don’ts” and the “sinning boldly” idea I talked about. I think we are saying the same thing, “believing so I can live” is right in line with the idea of sinning boldly, but believing in the Lord even bolder still. Just as long as what Bonhoeffer calls “cheap grace” doesn’t take hold in the mind of the believer.
Hey, Grand son, this is sooo good and sooo true and sooo perceptive. Would love to have a chat over a cup of coffee or such and us share together about this . Yes, I liked this. Well, we’ll get to share together on this I hope.
i’m sorry that i didnt credit the right pictures to you…i loses. : (
forgiven.