"Books," said St. Augustine after his conversion, "could not teach me charity." We still keep on thinking they can. We do not realize nearly enough the utter distinctiveness of God and the things of God. Psychology of religion cannot teach us prayer, and ethics cannot teach us love. Only Christ can do that and He teaches by the direct method, in and among the circumstances of life. He does not mind about our being comfortable. He wants us to be strong, able to tackle life and be Christians, be apostles in life, so we must be trained by the ups and downs, the rough and tumble of life. Team games are compulsory in the school of Divine Love; there must be no getting into a corner with a nice spiritual book."
Related Reading: An Evelyn Underhill Poem (MISSA CANTATA)
By Sherrie Morrison
Christmas is the season
When we celebrate Christ’s birth.
What we oft fail to remember
Is just why He came to earth.
His life would be fresh manna
Offered freely from above.
His death would buy our pardon
When we flee to Him in love.
With sacrament we see Him
In broken bread and wine.
Now the stable is a palace
Where His children kneel and dine.
This gift recalls the manger
Where our savior newborn lay.
This bread recalls the message
Christ, the lamb, was born this day.
Revelation 5:6-14
Effective discipleship involves (1) understanding the biblical world view and fully embracing the Gospel. It also entails (2) loving God's kingdom more than this world and more than the praise of men. It expresses itself in (3) humility and love for others, even the unlovable.
In this post, we consider the biblical world view and what it means to fully embrace the Gospel.
The Creator God is sovereign over all and through his Christ fills all things. The Apostle Paul speaks of this when he uses the Greek term "pleroma." The Bible's overarching message is that the God who is beyond the constraints of time and space fulfills all things even as He fills all things.
God self-reveals through multiple means, including the order of creation, prophets, teachers, sacred texts, and dreams.
There is a distinction between Heaven and Earth; between Creator and Creature; and between Male and Female. These entities are not equal. The biblical world view rejects dualism. Instead, it presents binary sets in which one entity of the set is recognized as superior to the other. We pray that God's will may be done on Earth as it is in Heaven because in Heaven there is perfection. Even the atheist recognizes the superior authority of the Creator by his denial of God's existence. Among humans, it is observed that the male is larger and stronger than the female.
This binary world view is largely overlooked in Christian circles. However, it is very important that it be understood. It clarifies God's action in stooping to save. Through the Incarnation of the Son of God, the one God and Father reveals himself primarily and essentially in a masculine way. The weak cannot save themselves. Only the Creator is strong to save!
The power of God is shown in the Resurrection. Those who are "in Christ" receive in their baptism a promise that they too will be raised on the last day. Effective discipleship requires that we live in that hope and share that hope with others. It also requires that we be deeply grounded in the biblical world view.
Related reading: "Binary" is a Bad Word These Days; God's Provision For Victory; God's Strategy for the Church
