I've been enjoying my time in the Gospel of John lately and just the other day I came to chapter 14, where Jesus is laying some things out pretty clearly to His boyz. After He'd explained quite unambiguously that if they'd seen and known Himself, then they'd seen and known God the Father, Philip pipes in and says, “Jesus, just show us the Father and it’ll be all good.”
About half of Jesus’ response to Philip is in question form. One can almost sense the frustration in Jesus here. “I’ve been with you for the last 3 years and you still don’t realize who I am? Do you not believe me even when I explain it plainly to you?”
It would be easy for us to think poorly of Philip and say, “What a bonehead! If I was one of Jesus’ disciples I totally would’ve believed everything Jesus said. And then I would’ve smacked Philip upside the head.” However, I think what we see in Philip is a normal, s-l-o-o-o-w, human process of absorbing truth into our lives. Sometimes we get these “mutations,” where God cements his truth into our hearts such that it finally sticks and our character is formed in supernatural ways. But most of the time, it seems that we have to keep learning and re-learning the same things over and over again until they get absorbed into our lives and we begin to embody His truth. I wonder if a crucial part of our spiritual formation as Christ-followers is recognizing this process and adjusting our expectations accordingly, while continuing to be proactive in that journey.
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Dude, i agree.why the stink does it take so long for so many(to include myself)though?More specifically, what is it about Jesus's truth that American Christians can't seem to actualy discover or be conformed too?From my observation and experience the consistant character of American Christians seems to be far from that of Jesus.Check this out, this was recently published in the San Francisco Chronicle. . .
ReplyDeleteEvangelical Christian pastor Jerry Falwell has a message for Americans when it comes to celebrating Christmas this year: You're either with us, or you're against us.
Falwell has put the power of his 24,000-member congregation behind the "Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign," an effort led by the conservative legal organization Liberty Counsel. The group promises to file suit against anyone who spreads what it sees as misinformation about how Christmas can be celebrated in schools and public spaces.
Great... just great, but wait it gets better...
The American Family Association called Thursday for a Thanksgiving weekend shunning of Target stores, saying the chain was refusing to allow the phrase "Merry Christmas" on in-store promotions and advertising.
"I don't know where they're coming from," Target spokeswoman Carolyn Brookter replied. "We have no such policy on Christmas. You can see it in our stores."
At one local Target, in Colma, most of the in-store advertising offers a generic "Gatherround." One of the few advertising mentions of the C-word is above a Christmas card rack that says, "Celebrate Christmas."
That's not good enough for American Family Association President Tim Wildmon, who wants to see "Merry Christmas" signs displayed prominently "if they expect Christians to come in and buy products during this so-called season."
And he isn't worried if they offend people who aren't Christian.
"They can walk right by the sign," Wildmon said. "It's a federal holiday. If someone is upset by that, well, they should know that they are living in a predominantly Christian nation."
This is merely one example.What is it that we American Christians are lacking, bro?Perhaps it's the fact that we call ourselves American Christians rather then Christian Americans or Children of God who happen to reside in America.i don't mean to create an atmosphere of negativity, i just can't help but vent.i pray i can be proactive in shedding some light on some of these issues.
Thanks for the heads up, Ty. I think this is one for the "Screw-up Stories of Christendom" category. After my 2 1/2 year stint in the UK, I prefer calling myself "a Christian who happens to have been born in the U.S."
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