Borrowed.
There are a million thoughts in my mind, but I thought this guy’s words were definitely worth sharing. No, seriously, read this.
right now, is your life a wartime or peacetime? i’m not talking about that bullshit on tv and in the newspaper. don’t get me wrong, i pray about the state of the nations, i really do care about all those people and how things play out. but i also care about the state of the neighborhood and the people around me right now. God is in control anyway, doesn’t matter what we choose to worry about(foolishness). piper explains one of the marks of this peacetime mind-set is what he calls an avoidance ethic. “in wartime we ask different questions about what to do with our lives than we do in peacetime. we ask: what can i do to advance the cause? what can i do to bring the victory? what sacrifice can i make or what risk can i take to insure the joy of triumph?” this idea of risk-taking is key in piper’s theology, we must risk ourselves and our comfortable whatever we think is comfortable for something better. Truth. so these ideas of ‘wartime questions’ or decisions or searching are the more obvious of dangerous warfare. any of these decisions or consciousnesses are battles between good and evil for your heart. here’s what i don’t really consider to be dangerous, but he’s right: “in peacetime we ask, what can i do to be more comfortable? to have more fun? to avoid trouble and, possibly, avoid sin?
if we are going to pay the price and take the risks it will cost to make people glad in God, we move beyond the avoidance ethic. this way of life is utterly inadequate to waken people to the beauty of Christ. avoiding fearful trouble and forbidden behaviors impresses almost no one. the avoidance ethic by itself is not Christ-commending or God-glorifying. there are many disciplined unbelievers who avoid the same behaviors Christians do. Jesus calls us to something far more radical than that.”
Tags: radical
By Nate, March 22, 2006 @ 9:01 am
Good thoughts. Reminds me a comment about whitewater rafting I left on another blog last night: when you spend all your focus on not-hitting something, chances are you going to hit it, because that’s where all your attention is. The trick is to focus on where you should be, not where you shouldn’t.
Wierdly enough, I actually was inspired recently about taking risks from my FIFA 06 video game (I plan on blogging about this more in-depth sometime) - I know, I’m a dork. But one of the commentators on the game says something like, “You’ve got to be willing to miss a goal before you can make one.” In other words, you’re not going to score if you don’t kick the ball, and you can’t be scared to miss or you won’t kick. Who knew video games could be so enlightening? And all I this time I just thought they rotted your brain…
By wizard, March 25, 2006 @ 3:43 am
very interesting thoughts.
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