I had referenced this presentation in an earlier post. It is now available to watch here:
http://fm.thevillagechurch.net/blog/pastors/?p=691
Worth your time.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Counter Intuitive
This day was insanely busy. Now it's 11:40 and I feel the need to jot a couple of thoughts. The good news is that in between the busyness, I was still able to spend some time talking with God. What were we talking about?
The fact that the Gospel is so incredibly opposite from my (and your) daily experience. In almost everything I do, there is success and there is failure, based on how I perform. In my personal stock account, I make money or lose money based on my decisions about what stocks I buy/sell, how I manage risk and how well I control my emotions and have the right perspective. My job performance is based on how much I get done in a given day and how well I do it. The health of my friendships is based, to a large extent, on how much time and thought I put into them. My physical health is greatly impacted by my diet and exercise habits. Even softball tonight was influenced by how well I played and whether or not I put people in positions where they could be successful. So how well or poorly everything goes in a given day comes back to me, either directly or indirectly. Yes, God is in all of these things but I can't just stay in bed all day and expect God to go ahead and take care of everything. I have been called to do my best at these tasks so the best and worst of who I am becomes a part of each process. Cause and effect rules all I do.
Is it no wonder we have to keep being taught the Gospel again and again?
You are totally validated and accepted by Christ regardless of your performance. Can we even truly grasp that? It is so foreign to the way we are taught to deal with the world around us.
Religion says obey and you will be accepted. The Gospel says you are accepted and that is why you should obey. I have posted the following video clip before but it is worth watching again. In fact, I think it is worth watching every day because it is so easy to slip back into what we know all too well...which only takes us further away from what God has already done for us. This world may accept or reject you based on your successes or failures. But God accepts you because Christ has rescued you from your failures to make you a success in His eyes.
The fact that the Gospel is so incredibly opposite from my (and your) daily experience. In almost everything I do, there is success and there is failure, based on how I perform. In my personal stock account, I make money or lose money based on my decisions about what stocks I buy/sell, how I manage risk and how well I control my emotions and have the right perspective. My job performance is based on how much I get done in a given day and how well I do it. The health of my friendships is based, to a large extent, on how much time and thought I put into them. My physical health is greatly impacted by my diet and exercise habits. Even softball tonight was influenced by how well I played and whether or not I put people in positions where they could be successful. So how well or poorly everything goes in a given day comes back to me, either directly or indirectly. Yes, God is in all of these things but I can't just stay in bed all day and expect God to go ahead and take care of everything. I have been called to do my best at these tasks so the best and worst of who I am becomes a part of each process. Cause and effect rules all I do.
Is it no wonder we have to keep being taught the Gospel again and again?
You are totally validated and accepted by Christ regardless of your performance. Can we even truly grasp that? It is so foreign to the way we are taught to deal with the world around us.
Religion says obey and you will be accepted. The Gospel says you are accepted and that is why you should obey. I have posted the following video clip before but it is worth watching again. In fact, I think it is worth watching every day because it is so easy to slip back into what we know all too well...which only takes us further away from what God has already done for us. This world may accept or reject you based on your successes or failures. But God accepts you because Christ has rescued you from your failures to make you a success in His eyes.
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