It seems like with so many things in the Christian faith, there is a tension that just seems to rest over everything - a difficult balance that, if not properly understood, can lead many people to unhealthy extremes or cause them to abandon valuable tenets of the faith completely.
Think about it.
Love and Justice.
Grace and Discipline.
Sovereignty and Freedom.
Imago Dei and Depravity.
It's the "already-not yet" tension that plays out in everything we believe and do.
I was reading Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton this morning when I came across a quote that got all these thoughts brewing. He describes it well:
"We have said that we must be fond of this world, even in order to change it. We now add that we must be fond of another world... in order to have something to change it to" (p. 102).
Paul says:
"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account." Philippians 1:21-24 ESV
Let's pray that the Holy Spirit helps us to maintain that delicate balance that allows us to joyfully expect and emulate that time when all things will be made new and we see Christ in His fully glory.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
The Great Tension
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1 comments:
Word. You hit it right on the head though when you say that we should hope that the Holy Spirit guides us to this understanding. I've been thinking a lot lately about how finite our minds are...we just don't get it. None of that makes sense unless you have the spirit to help you, and you can't really have that until you're a believer...which is, I guess, what leaves a lot of people lost when they look for a "logical" reason to become a Christian or when they look to prove things with science. The bottom line is that knowing the Lord and being able to have the immeasurable grace the He offers (the basic tenants of the Christian faith) defies all logic.
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