In Philip Yancey's book, "Soul Survivor", he explores the lives of some prominent persons who have directly or indirectly impacted his life. What he found as he rummaged through the attics of some of these person's minds were lives that were profoundly influenced by faith - personal faith. He quotes Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr: "Christianity has always insisted that the cross we bear precedes the crown we wear. To be a Christian one must take up his cross, with all its difficulties and agonizing and tension-packed content, and carry it until that very cross leaves its mark upon us and redeems us to that more excellent way which comes only through suffering."
Reading some posts on other Christian blogs and going back and forth about dogma and theology and liturgy and whether homosexuals or sinners of various varieties should be allowed membership in the Church, it occurred to me as I was reading this book that maybe we worry too much about what others are doing. How many of us could honestly say that we will ever have the enormous impact that Dr. King had? Could we even dare to hope? Would we be able to find the courage to live in such a way as Dr. King and risk personal or family safety for the sake of something bigger than self? How easy it is to point out the faults of others, especially when others are joining in. I wonder how much time Dr. King spent "blaming" others for the state of the Church?
Just how big does big have to be in order to positively impact our world for the Kingdom of Heaven? What must we do in order to give others the sense of hope that I feel so many are missing? Mr. Yancey writes, "'The glory of God is a person fully alive,' said the second-century theologian Irenaeus. Sadly, that description does not reflect the image many people have of modern Christians. Rightly or wrongly, they see Christians rather as restrained, uptight, repressed - people less likely to celebrate vitality than to wag our fingers in disapproval."
The "wag our fingers" comment is what really stirred me. It was like a lightbulb in my head finally found an electrical connection. Has Christianity really digressed to such a point that our "calling" in Christ is restricted to nothing more than pointing out the faults and failings of others? We share ideas about doctrine and theology - all good stuff - and I really enjoy the various perspectives especially of those with whom I may disagree. However, it seems to me that we could turn our attention and effort and energy to something a bit more positive; at least positive in the sense that others can look to us and see "the hope that is within us".
I freely admit that my greatest failure to date has been not only in failing to pick up my own cross and follow the Lord, but I have been too quick to point out to others that they are not carrying their crosses correctly.
Comments