- The Nebula He threw into place when the angels sang and shouted for joy.
The followers of Jesus are to be different-different from both the nominal church and the secular world, different from both the religious and the irreligious. The Sermon on the Mount is the most complete delineation anywhere in the New Testament of the Christian value-system, ethical standard, religious devotion, attitude to money, ambition, life-style and network of relationships-all of which are totally at variance with those of the non-Christian world. And this Christian Counterculture is the life of the kingdom of God, a fully human life indeed but lived out under the divine rule.
John Stott
As a discipler of others,
I wonder, are we merely indoctrinating our children–teaching them to “Be good” without giving them a compassion for the lost?
Jesus looked out on the multitudes and felt, not scorn, not criticism, not fear but compassion.
Teaching them to be responsible and to work hard and to make sound decisions instead of pouring their lives out to bring light to a dark world?
Abraham, not knowing where he was going, obeyed God.
Are we living by works instead of celebrating the grace of a God who never judges us by our failings and then extending this very grace to the unlovely in our lives?
The Pharisees piled gult and burden on the shoulders of the jews and Jesus scathingly rebuked them.
Are we living by faith that God can do the impossible and stepping out to risk ourselves for Him or just living by what is safe, what we can provide for ourselves–
The disciples said, “We don’t have enough fish and loaves.” The spies in the land said, “The giants are too big for us” and they became grasshoppers in their own sight.
I wonder…..because I am looking around me at hearts and wondering if they are fully alive to who He really is……….
Ouch. A lot of good food for thought, Sally. Thank you!
PS – I was in the hospital with my Ella (3) for a weird rash/infection for the past 2 1/2 days and I truly missed your encouragement here at ITJ. Thank you!
“Are we living by faith that God can do the impossible and stepping out to risk ourselves for Him or just living by what is safe, what we can provide for ourselves–”
I was reading Mark:35 this morning and wondering what this means in my day to day life. I probably won’t be asked today to sacrifice my life for the gospel but I can do exactly what you wrote about. I can step out in faith to take a risk for the kingdom rather than living by what is safe, what I can provide for myself. Thanks for the encouragement!
Amen!
Hi Sally, this isn’t a comment related to your most recent post but I couldn’t find where else to put it. I recently read a great book by Po Bronson entitled “What Should I Do with My Life?” In it he tells the stories of numerous people he interviewed who have found or are attempting to find ‘their true place in the world’ (I’m quoting the back cover). In one chapter he specifically tackles the difficulty of telling mothers’ stories. He writes “There’s a tendency – a gravitational pull – to deliver them in the same cadence as we tell career stories. We list projects and achievements that don’t have anything to do with nurturing our children. So twenty years of Mary Ann’s mothering is described by naming the committees she served on. The truth is, all those side projects were not nearly as much work as the daily attention required in raising four children.” Later on he poses the question again of why it is so hard to tell a mother’s story and shares 4 of his answers. The first two particularly resonated with me and I thought to share them with you as I finished re-reading “The Mission of Motherhood” just before reading Bronson’s book and I’ve also been getting regular doses of you through ITJ. Here’s what he wrote:
1) A culture that celebrates careers more than parenting doesn’t pick up on the subtlety inherent in a mother’s story. The subtle triumphs of a baby finally going to sleep, or a child learning a new letter, get drowned out by the noise of a big career advancement.
2) Mother’s lives are fractured. They don’t have one single project that makes for a simple, strong story line. They’re involved in their children’s lives, in their communities, in their schools, in their extended families. Mary Ann compared it to the painter Georges Seurat’s famous pointillist work “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte”. “It’s laid down one dot at a time. Rarely does anyone else recognsie the meaning of that one dot.” In other words, a mother’s life makes a great painting, but not a linear story.
I particularly love that analogy of the pointillist painting. Each day I am laying down dots, and many don’t seem significant but one day they will all come together in the finished product – my adult child. I guess it’s the same as the story of the bricklayers – one’s laying bricks, one’s building a wall and one’s building a cathedral. As mothers we lay lots of bricks – a hug here, a correction there, a lesson taught here, perspective provided there – but the point is not the laying of the bricks but what they achieve…. a cathedral to the glory of God.
Anyway, just wanted to share those thoughts with you – though you’ve probably used the painting analogy yourself before, which is perhaps why I thought so strongly of you when I read it. And also to thank you for being a blessing and encouragement and inspiration to me in my pursuit of being a godly mum (mom!) You have refreshed and guided me more times than I can count. God bless you!
Yes. A pointilist painting, a cathedral, and loving motherhood – worthy of admiration.
Love the painting analogy- thanks Samantha. Great post Sally too:) I agree with the OUCH:) A good refocusing for this morning.
My husband and I have had a huge wake up call. We were doing some of what you shared, though very unintentionally. We laid guilt and burdens on our older children to do right, and did not faithfully lead them to the Savior. Our hearts were to serve the Lord and do things His way, but we ended up sharing a gospel that relied more on works than solely on Christ. God is teaching us and showing us things that are at times painful and often difficult. But the Lord is so gracious at the same time. All we can do is fall on His mercy, get back on our feet and move forward, knowing that He is leading us and showing us the way.
Hi! Lately, I have been asking many of the very same questions. We’ve talked a lot in our local Charlotte Mason Homeschool group about this kind of moralized-Christianity. It is an epidemic. “Now, Jane, would Jesus want you to do that?” and “Now Johnny, be a good little boy… God wants you to be good.”
This is so unbiblical. We are not good. We are evil. We are only redeemed through grace and Christ. We so want our lives to reflect a true living-out of the gospel. Of course, we want to be obedient but this is not the same idea – and it comes about in a different way… hopefully, out of love for God. In our family, we’re RIGHT in the thick of figuring out what it means to be completely counter cultural and if it can even be done here in Canada. (Yes, I’ve asked that question). I think so few of us ever step out in faith because we just don’t need to. The idea is moving towards a place in life where we desperately NEED to step out in faith because everything we do is so crazy because we’re blindly and wholeheartedly chasing our Savior. What a journey, eh? Cassandra @ The Unplugged Family
Wonderful. Thanks.