Clean, Comfortable, and It Works
09/09/09 05:31 PM Filed in: Personal
I just walked past room #309 in the guys dorm and
read this sign on the door: "Computer Chair for Sale:
Clean, Comfortable, and it Works." As I walked on
down the hall it occurred to me, isn't that what we
usually settle for in the Christian life? We are ok
with a religion that is "clean, comfortable, and
works." Is that really how it should be? Is that
really enough? Don't you ever want to go deeper, just
to see what's really out there in the mystery of this
divine Being we call God? One of my favorite songs
has a chorus that reads:
"What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?"
And it's true. What do I really know of the deep nature of God, His holiness. I feel like too long I've been standing on the shore of the Ocean that is God. This works itself out in two ways: 1) I need to know Him more cognitively, and to that end I am studying here at GBS to learn as much as I can, but 2) I also need to know Him more experientially. Admittedly, this is blatantly subjective, but I think that's what the Bible requires. God's wants a meaningful, personal, and deeply intimate relationship with us (Eph. 5:25). The Christian life is all about balance, specifically between the cognitive and the experiential. Our problem is we often have too little of both.
As a corollary to this, I think that many times the reason for my unhappiness or ill-contentment can be traced back to a lack of cognitive and experiential knowledge of God. I vainly search and cry for happiness, all the while overlooking the venue to receive it. I like what C. S. Lewis wrote in "The Weight of Glory":
"If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."
I'm tired of being "easily pleased." Should this drive me to discontentment? By no means! It should drive me one place, and one place only; straight to the heart of God.
-Ryan
"What do I know of You
Who spoke me into motion?
Where have I even stood
But the shore along Your ocean?
Are You fire? Are You fury?
Are You sacred? Are You beautiful?
What do I know? What do I know of Holy?"
And it's true. What do I really know of the deep nature of God, His holiness. I feel like too long I've been standing on the shore of the Ocean that is God. This works itself out in two ways: 1) I need to know Him more cognitively, and to that end I am studying here at GBS to learn as much as I can, but 2) I also need to know Him more experientially. Admittedly, this is blatantly subjective, but I think that's what the Bible requires. God's wants a meaningful, personal, and deeply intimate relationship with us (Eph. 5:25). The Christian life is all about balance, specifically between the cognitive and the experiential. Our problem is we often have too little of both.
As a corollary to this, I think that many times the reason for my unhappiness or ill-contentment can be traced back to a lack of cognitive and experiential knowledge of God. I vainly search and cry for happiness, all the while overlooking the venue to receive it. I like what C. S. Lewis wrote in "The Weight of Glory":
"If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."
I'm tired of being "easily pleased." Should this drive me to discontentment? By no means! It should drive me one place, and one place only; straight to the heart of God.
-Ryan
|