Wednesday, September 26, 2012

THE PERPETUAL CHALLENGE

We--theologically speaking--are both consumed and enamored with God's handiwork, mission, and commands.  We study, dissect, and then announce to the world our latest findings.  Such issuance brings delight to some and conflict to others.  A new debate ensues which is as old as the hills; old versus new.

A perpetual challenge breeds in the church; How shall we deal with new?

When we enter the kingdom zone we tend to forget that paradoxes abound.  To keep one's life one must die.  Giving causes keeping; but refraining from giving away will result in loss of that which was kept.  The only strong ones are those who lean into their weaknesses.

The kingdom is wired to befuddle the rational and the logical.  This will always be a perpetual challenge.

New is always the challenge.  Why is that?

God is the Creator.  He continues such a prolific style.  He makes all things new.  We are to be a new creation.  His very nature is newer than the newest.  Should we kick against His style, the church will fade into relicism.

Margaret Wheatly voices, To be responsible inventors and discoverers, we need the courage to let go of the old world, to relinquish most of what we have cherished, to abandon our interpretations about what does and doesn't work.  We must learn to see the world anew.  As Einstein is often quoted as saying: No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it...We inhabit a world that co-evolves as we interact with it.  This world is impossible to pin down, constantly changing, and infinitely more interesting than anything we ever imagined.

Yes, in Christendom there is a Rock; his name is Jesus.  He is firm, solid, and sturdy.  Our perpetual challenge is identical to the religious leaders of his day; to develop an ability to be sure of him while remaining with flexible stance upon those truths which must evolve as we study our Bibles and experience the Creative God they reveal...John 3:8.


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