None of my business
So, I'm still at TMI - still missing my wife - and still reading through "A New Kind of Christian". It's a very interesting read. One of the chapters today was called, "It's none of your business who goes to hell?"
Also, it was a very interesting series of arguments that followed.
Essentially, McLaren says we get so concerned with getting everyone into heaven, but what if that's not the ultimate goal, but rather a by-product? What if living out your purpose in Christ is what you're supposed to be doing and heaven/hell is merely a by-product?
So, we just need to serve people and let God sort out the rest - don't worry about their (or our eternity). Just do what we need to do. If we were needed to be a judge, I'm sure we would have been apointed such.
What I'm realizing (read: what I'm coming to terms with) is that I have a lot of 'knowledge' about Christianity. Much of it, however, is Christianity with the spin of how people have lived for the past 500 years (i.e. intellectualism, scientific answers to question). In other words, my understanding is by no means pure. It's Christianity inside the envelope of modernism.
Time to open it up.
Grace.
PS (Jennifer): I'm not familiar with Christian Hedonism . . . so I'll have to read up on it. For the rest of your question, that may be the next post.
1 comment:
Hey Des,
I find it interesting that I decided to check out your blog the day I finished reading Blue Like Jazz.
Why is that interesting? you may ask.
My response is this:
I read that book...oh...must be going on two years ago now. At the time, I didn't really understand it, and I think it may have been because I really was just an arrogant childish Christian who wanted to seem intelligent. Anyway, I digress...the point is, that book screwed up some of my thinking, to the point where I was considering the Bible to be of little value. Sad, really.
Anyway, this isn't making much sense, so let me get to the relevant part. I read Blue Like Jazz today, and, though it's a very different style than A New Kind of Christian, it has some very similar grounds - Christianity has a bad name because of our past, because of what we've made it. Don Miller says he doesn't defend Christianity because it doesn't have a solid definition...it means different things to different people. He defends Jesus, because he's for everybody.
If you haven't read Blue Like Jazz, (which I hope you have, because it would make this comment make a lot more sense) I think you would really like it. It's seriously put a lot of things into perspective for me.
I hope you're well and that God's doing cool things through you.
Say hi to Kristy for me.
-Jillian
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