I just came back from a walk down my local beach at Currumbin, Australia. There is a section of the beach that faces the river-mouth. There is a big huge red sign that says "it is dangerous to swim here. don't do it". About 10 metres away is a life-guard watch-tower and during peak season, jet boats patrol the river-mouth.
Why?
Because humans are idiots. They cannot be told. They always know better. So why then doesn't the surf life saving club abandon that part of the beach? Because they are in the business of saving lives. It is a given that people are stupid and will do stupid things, so they place the saving of lives above all other priorities. Even if none of the surf life-savers are Christians, they are behaving in accordance with God's law. It is an act of grace to put the watch tower there in just the same way Christians believe that Jesus came down in the flesh to live a perfect life so that He would be justified to save us from the consequences of our own actions.
God's law is that we strive to do as He did. We are to forgive, and love one another. Hist forgiveness and his promise of salvation doesn't mean that the laws of the universe automagically vanish and do not apply. The laws of cause and effect are still there which is why we need His lifeline. If I go swimming in the river mouth, get swept out to sea by a strong current because I ignored the sign and was too proud to raise my hand and scream for help (resistance to personal change), I can't blame the life-savers for not saving me. Yet somehow people still blame God for the consequences of our built-in sinful nature. God can only help us if we put up our hand and yell for help - thereby admitting that we were stupid enough to ignore the sign. [Habbit 1 of the 7 habbits is taking responsibility]
It's in our nature to be too proud to raise our hand and scream for help. Yet we have been given a gift that no other species has. We have been given the gift of free will. We can simply DECIDE to transcend our pride, our imperfect nature. We can DECIDE to get a free ride. But we have to give up our illusions and give up control. It seems paradoxical to us that giving up control is what's necessary to experience freedom.
It goes against OUR nature.
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- Terence Kearns
- I enjoy living on the coast and I enjoy my work as a photographer.
6 comments:
Deuteronomy 31:8 / Joshua 1:5
"...[He|I] will never leave you; nor forsake you".
And my personal favourite:
1 John 1:9
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
Key words in that text:
IF (it's still up to us)... just(he has the authority (by the blood))... all(there is nothing beyond His forgiving)...
The word JUSTIFIED
JUST as IF I'D ... never sinned.
Hey Terence. I hope you don't mind me giving out my opinion. I would assume if you wanted to put your thoughts out without discussion you would have your comments disabled.
In the case of both of those quotes, you can only go by them if you can take the source as authoritative. Perception being reality for oneself would mean that in your case, I see that you consider the source authoritative.
In my case I can't justify how one can pick and choose quotes from a source that as a whole just doesn't stand up to my perception of morality and authority. People say the word is truth. If so you have to take the entire word (book) as truth.
Very true. You are right, selectively quoting snippets of a greater truth can in fact be used to tell a lie (if I wanted to or even if I was just clumsy).
It would have been a bit impractical to quote the entire Bible though ;)
Does that mean I can't quote any of it? I think it means I should be careful to make sure that context I create for the quotes has a clear point to be made. sometimes I might fail in this.
As for the whole thing satisfying your perceptions of morality and authority, I can't comment because that is personal and the details therein would more than likely be complex. I can only assume you've investigated the Bible far enough to exhaust all other conclusions.
Bear in mind, that in order to see truth, you have to put your own agenda's and instincts aside. I'm not just talking about the Bible here. But perhaps this is why they say that you need to have the right spirit when you study it. I've come across other people who are cynical about it before they even study it. You can't beat cynacism - it wins every time. it also cheats its bearer of the truth - which is sad. We all fit somewhere in between the opposite poles of cynasism and total blind faith. It is the murky gray expanse in between where lies our human nature.
Yes I agree it would be impractical to quote the entire book. I have tried reading it, and can't get through it all!
I also agree that the context is important, and in this case those quotes are in context with your post. My point is the quotes don't resound for someone who doesn't adhere to this particular source being the word/truth. You may as well make sayings up for such people (which I may or may not be) and the made up sayings would have as much meaning them.
I'm not saying you can't do anything (i.e. quote passages). That's is your prerogative.
As for investigation, I'm still investigating. I don't see myself stopping anytime soon. It is a lifelong learning phase.
Since ones own agenda, well at least their instinct, is what helps form your psyche, then maybe the truth is relative and no hard and fast measurable thing. The search goes on.
I agree on all counts :)
I think that is is great that you bother to take the time to investigate things. So many people don't.
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