I was a fundementalist Christian once. It lasted a summer.
I believed if word got out about grace, the whole church was going to turn into a brothel.
"He didn't know how to live within a system where nobody owes anybody else anything. God was his loan shark, so to speak. THough he understood that God wanted nothing in return, his mind could not communicate this fact to his heart, so his life was something like torture."
..."he heard God say to him, 'Your life is not your own, you have been bought with a price,' and at this point he felt a certain peace. Rick told me he understood, cognitively as well as emotionally, that his role in his relationship God was to humbly receive God's unconditional love."
If I cannot accept God's love, I cannot love him in return, and I cannot obey him. Self-discipline will never make us feel righteous or clean; accepting God's love will. The ability to accept God's unconditional grace and ferocious love is all the fuel we need to obey Him in return. In exchange for our humility and willingness to accept the charity of God, we are given a kingdom. And a beggar's kingdom is better than a proud man's delusion.
(all quotes taken from the book by Donald Miller)
No comments:
Post a Comment