Something to painfully ponder: "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried." Quote from Gilbert K. Chesterton, prominent Catholic author, philosopher, apologist, and literary writer.
Although I'm familiar with Chesterton, I encountered this quote only a few minutes ago when leadership guru and avowed Christian Chris Brady tweeted it.
I tweeted back - that we can write entire essays on this quote alone. And becauseI'm wordless at the moment, in grappling with the significance of this quotation (like what exactly is the Christian ideal and why it's so difficult and are we actually living it), I'll just post the photos of famous folks who would probably best embody irrefutable examples of the Christian ideal: Mother Teresa, who needs no introduction, and A.W. Tozer, the so-called Christian mystic whose books like The Pursuit of God and The Knowledge of the Holy brought millions of modern believers into a deeper walk with God, one that is more experiental and yet in accordance with Scripture.
http://www.leadingsmart.com/2010/05/the-history-of-the-church.html posted this video which had two gentlemen arguing/presenting the two faces of the Christian church as we marched through the centuries. The commendable and the confounding. The holy and (yes we've had them) the profane. The Reformation and the Crusades.
I for one welcome it because as Christians, we do need to get a sense of our own history. My very first pastor emphasized this in church decades ago: understang church history is getting a glimpse of the move of God as His Spirit spreads across the world. We also have to know what we've inherited to appreciate in a deeper sense our mission, our mandate - and the crimes that have been done in God's name, so as not the next time someone criticizes us for it, we know how to answer (as opposed to just giving a dumb look or outright denial which really wouldn't be helping - pride coupled with ignorance can drive away the very people we ant to bring to Christ).
Here's the video where two guys have it out on the history of the church:
Now here's my opinion, which I've also posted on Pastor Tim's blog (and which for some reason doesn't show there):
"Provocative and disquieting, to say the least. (Will also embed it in my blog.) I think that the Church has to enter a greater area of holiness if it is to shine at its brightest. The challenges are tougher today. Acts of altruism like orphanages, schools, feeding programs - other faiths have them, too. Transformed lives - other religions have similar testimonies. A peace and serenity that exude love - even New Agers can radiate that. Miracles - Eastern faiths have that in droves. There are other lights out there - and, in my humble opinion, the one differentiator that can set the Church apart and make its light blaze above the rest is a powerful mixture of humilty, holiness, and love that only Christ can give. And speaking as just one person, it does seem a tough bar to reach. It's why we need God all the more. YYMV."
I forgot to add in that post - and here's to make it clear. When I say "powerful mixture of humility, holiness and love..." think the martyrs when they were burned, praying, on stakes in the Coliseum; Chinese Christians and Brother Andrew who were tortured relentlessly but never gave up; Mother Theresa whose healing hand and heart brought Christ's love in India...
That kind of divine love and holiness which no human compassion or sincerity, no matter how noble, can duplicate. It might take that kind of cleansing to make the Church shine today with the power of a supernova. Question is: what will it take?
Got a confession to make. In my assignments as a freelance journalist, if there is an authentic, editorially defensible way to put the Lord in the picture, I do it. Writing about God in a non-religious piece should be not hard-sell or shoving down the Gospel your reader's throat. It has to be 'natural' and within the context of the article. It's not forced, neither is it a misreprsentation of the subject. It gives glory to God while adding depth and layer to the content. It leaves the reader something to affirm or reflect on without turning him off on spiritual things.
I didn't intend for my first blog post to be a book recommendation, but this little book released last 2009 seems to capture (I say this because I haven't read it yet) the questions, the struggles, the issues that are on my to-study list.
The author, Pastor Ed Gungor of Oklahoma, addresses heads-on the doubts that we might have had and let's face it, the situations that make it downright uncomfortable to be a Christian these days. In his intro, he says:
"The reason I wrote this book is because I didn't want to ignore the fact that some things about Christianity are just plain messy. In recent years there have been lots of atheistic books that attack the Christian faith. I think some of their attacks need a response from the Christian community-but one that is both fresh and humble. In "What Bothers Me Most About Christianity" I try to do that. In this writing I explore the most difficult aspects of the Christian faith, including...
Why doesn't God just show Himself?
Why does a loving God allow evil in His world?
If the Christian faith is so good, why are some Christians so bad?
Why was God so harsh during Old Testament times?
Why is the Christian faith so exclusive?"
Now here's what he said that I like the most:
"I honestly believe that having faith does not demand intellectual suicide. There are reasonable responses to these difficult questions. This book will equip you to better represent your faith to everyone around you."
That's the one conviction that's burned through me in the past decade since I rebuilt my life after 8 long years in the ministry. Back then as I was starting out, I was cynical, angry, doubting, as I saw life from the bottom of the pit - but God addressed every concern and every outcry that I put to him. Maybe not immediately, certainly not with pat answers, but He did.
That's great - because ten years after, I'm beginning to realize that the 'hard' questions will never stop.
Especially in a 21st century that is coming to terms with a shrinking globe, the ramifications of economic collapse, a youthful culture where the 'instant' and the ambiguous are the norm, where science is redefining our perspectives, our philosophies, our pillars in ethics.
Now multiply those challenges to a Bible-believing Christian living in a democracy who has to stand by spiritual absolutes without slipping into social discrimination; dialogue and work with members of other faiths without compromising his own; and deal with issues on gender, reproduction, the economy, physics, archaeology, genetics, the human mind, etc. from a Scriptural perspective at the same time taking into account the findings of those disciplines.
And above all, to say the uncompromising truths of the Gospel in humility and love.
We don't stop learning even though we know the one Truth. We can't stop being students in understanding the application of His teachings and declaring His indispensable importance to the society we live in. We learn and grow in our journey.
Forget the Bible-thumping, fire-and-brimstone, narrow-minded stereotype of a born-again believer. We might have to be a 'complex' Christian to be effective in this complicated world.
