"[There is] the notion that I have to be something; [the truth is that] I have not. I have to be absolutely abandoned to Jesus Christ, so one with Him that I never think of myself apart from Him. Love is never self-conscious." -Oswald Chambers (from Biblical Ethics, p. 97)
Ultimately, there are only two philosophical positions in the world: either everything is all about our self, or it is all about God. When it is about our self, we can never truly enjoy anything or anyone because we are never truly seeing them. We have warped their mirrors to reflect ourselves, and we have no light to illuminate either them or us. When it is all about God, however, then we can finally enjoy all things, for we finally see them for who and what they are in the light of His glory and grace.
Do not misunderstand. This is not about unconsciousness, nor is it about treating people and things as no better than tools. Rather, it is about making God (His presence, promises, and power as revealed in Christ and the Word) the absolute center of your life. Once that happens, everything and everyone else are not lost. On the contrary, they (like us) have finally found their place, and thus we are finally able to enjoy them (and they us) for all the unique ways that they alone glorify and enjoy God.
-Jon Vowell (c) 2011
So true, and a concept that is no longer taught in the "feel good" religious atmospheres in most churches. No wonder Christianity has lost it's impact on modern culture; we have become self-absorbed like the unsaved and are indistinct as Christians.
ReplyDeleteTuuuuurn your eeeeeyes upon Jeeeeesus. Great entry.
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