Some do preach Christ out of envy and strife, but some also of goodwill. The former preach out of selfish ambition, insincerely, supposing they add affliction to my imprisonment. But the others out of love, knowing I am set for the defense of the gospel. What then? Whatever the motive, Christ is preached. In that I rejoice and intend to continue rejoicing.
How powerful is our enemy? Is worldliness truly strong enough to cover the fact that God has had a hand in every good thing from the beginning of the world? Are they strong enough to take truth from Him and claim it for themselves?
No!
So when some reveal truth by accident in their fight against Truth, it is our place to cheer and say, "I knew you'd have to get to Truth sooner or later, because it can't be avoided or ignored."
And, when a Christian, seeing that Christian books are rarely-to-never read by those who would most benefit by them, steps out to write a book that will not drive them away from Truth by scalding them with all its glory, but instead lure them with a soft glow of what could be theirs, I think we should rejoice that Christ is preached. (See my last post for one such author.) Do we run the risk of Truth being misunderstood or perverted? Yes. Yet, you must admit, even the whole Truth, word-by-word--with footnotes--is willingly perverted and misunderstood.
What do you think? Do we live Christian lives even in the moments when we do not outline the steps of salvation? Do we tell Christian tales even when the story is more subtle than Christ's parable of the sower? What does make a story, or a work of art, or a batch of cookies, or even a moment of housekeeping.... Christian?
Could Christian really just be a glimpse of Christ doing something in the life of a person? Can it be so simple and general? What if Christ is preached so simply?
And... while I'm thinking about it... why did God shield His people from His full glory so many times and ways? Can it be that we would be just as destroyed by the WHOLE TRUTH as secular readers might be with the whole Truth? Maybe Christ works in a process that takes a whole life and turns it into light.
1 comments:
Karen, what a post! You asked, "What makes a story, or a work of art, or a batch of cookies, or even a moment of housekeeping.... Christian?"
It reminds me of something spaghettipie and I talked about on her other blog Stewardship Living.
This summer while I was in a community theater production of Midsummer Night's Dream (speaking of fantasy...) a cast member asked if I ever wished I could use my drama skills to worship and serve God.
The question floored me. What did he think I was doing in Midsummer? Serving myself?! No! Any good play, any good work, any good art has the potential to glorify God. I truly believe that.
Wonderful post.
Post a Comment