Glass Bottom Boats
Note: This is actually a re-post of a note I wrote on Facebook. Please forgive my quasi-laziness.
Humor me for a moment would you? Imagine God sitting in a boat on the crystal sea in heaven; the boat has a glass bottom, and He is able to gaze in observance upon His creation. Is He pleased? Perhaps He sees what He always expected to see? Maybe He knew what He would see before He ever peered through the glass. Either way, can you even begin to feel what He must feel?
Now, don't some of you get ahead of me and puff out your chest and point your finger to the left and say "it's those liberals causing the world to spin out of control away from God," nor be too quick to cut your eyes to the right and say "it's those damned conservatives and their ancient ignorance." We have all played a fiddle in the devilish tune that causes the darkness to dance. I recently read "Mere Christianity," and in it, Lewis makes a point I find quite suitable for those of us who call ourselves evangelicals: he basically says that progress is only progress if it is the right direction, and that direction may not always be forward from where we are.
I am afraid all of us, Christians, think that progression lies just ahead of where we are, so we press on, ever forward with our own ideas and ideals and seek to impose them on society and the greater Church. All the while other members of the Body are doing the same. We are drawing and quartering the Body of the Living Christ!
How do we expect to penetrate the darkness, ransack the gates of Hell, save lost souls, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, and comfort the afflicted if we are pulling in different directions, in a dogmatic dog fight?
It is my opinion that when God looks through the glass bottom, He is not ashamed of the depth of the darkness, but the lack of Light.
If Creation is to be saved, redeemed, the Light must shine, and in this time of increasing darkness, the Light must shine with an illumination which would fade the sun. We must pull together, for we are His living body, His body that must go before the world, on behalf of the world as a sacrifice, despite ourselves!
Progression, progression for the Kingdom of God, comes only by the regression of our own understanding of self-preservation and the blooming of our understanding of selfless living. This is the gospel, and from it, the Body of Christ proclaims the Good News to all the world, the Light explodes with power and darkness disappears.
And God's view through the glass bottom boat is serene.
"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."
The Lord Jesus Christ--Matthew 5:16
CPT
Humor me for a moment would you? Imagine God sitting in a boat on the crystal sea in heaven; the boat has a glass bottom, and He is able to gaze in observance upon His creation. Is He pleased? Perhaps He sees what He always expected to see? Maybe He knew what He would see before He ever peered through the glass. Either way, can you even begin to feel what He must feel?
Now, don't some of you get ahead of me and puff out your chest and point your finger to the left and say "it's those liberals causing the world to spin out of control away from God," nor be too quick to cut your eyes to the right and say "it's those damned conservatives and their ancient ignorance." We have all played a fiddle in the devilish tune that causes the darkness to dance. I recently read "Mere Christianity," and in it, Lewis makes a point I find quite suitable for those of us who call ourselves evangelicals: he basically says that progress is only progress if it is the right direction, and that direction may not always be forward from where we are.
I am afraid all of us, Christians, think that progression lies just ahead of where we are, so we press on, ever forward with our own ideas and ideals and seek to impose them on society and the greater Church. All the while other members of the Body are doing the same. We are drawing and quartering the Body of the Living Christ!
How do we expect to penetrate the darkness, ransack the gates of Hell, save lost souls, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, and comfort the afflicted if we are pulling in different directions, in a dogmatic dog fight?
It is my opinion that when God looks through the glass bottom, He is not ashamed of the depth of the darkness, but the lack of Light.
If Creation is to be saved, redeemed, the Light must shine, and in this time of increasing darkness, the Light must shine with an illumination which would fade the sun. We must pull together, for we are His living body, His body that must go before the world, on behalf of the world as a sacrifice, despite ourselves!
Progression, progression for the Kingdom of God, comes only by the regression of our own understanding of self-preservation and the blooming of our understanding of selfless living. This is the gospel, and from it, the Body of Christ proclaims the Good News to all the world, the Light explodes with power and darkness disappears.
And God's view through the glass bottom boat is serene.
"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."
The Lord Jesus Christ--Matthew 5:16
CPT
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