Friday, January 21, 2005
TOO MUCH????
There does not seem to be much consensus on the topic of the day amongst the stuff I read, so I am going to comment on Peggy Noonan's piece in the WSJ today (link in title). She is not a fan of The President's Inaugural Address yesterday. She seems to think it was "too much."
In matters of faith, one must ask if there is such a thing as too much. The obvious answer seems, at first glance, obvious -- YES. Certainly it can be argued that the various Islamist terrorists are too much, but is that a function of too much or a function of the particular brand of faith that they are having too much of?
Jesus seems to call us to some pretty radical stuff:
John 3:33 "Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."(NAS)
Matt 19:24 "And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."(NAS)
Mark 8:34 "And He summoned the multitude with His disciples, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.(NAS)
That's pretty radical stuff. But Jesus does set limits on how radical:
Matt 10:14 "And whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake off the dust of your feet.(NAS)
Seems to me that in matters of personal devotion there is no such thing as too much, but in matters of spreading that devotion, there may be. Isn't that an interesting tension to live in? We are supposed to be radically devoted to Jesus, but not radical in sharing that devotion. Some of that tension is relieved in the next verse
Matt 10:15 "Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city.(NAS)
See, we may not be able to get too radical in sharing our radical devotion, but God is going to get real radical.
Ms. Noonan ends her piece with a reminder that the world is fallen and we cannot achieve perfection. I don't know if the President went too far -- that is for those more attuned to political realities than I am, but I do know that her reminder is a good one.
Do you have the faith to wait on God to be radical? My hope is that the more radically devotied I am to Him, the more my faith will supply me the strength to wait.
In matters of faith, one must ask if there is such a thing as too much. The obvious answer seems, at first glance, obvious -- YES. Certainly it can be argued that the various Islamist terrorists are too much, but is that a function of too much or a function of the particular brand of faith that they are having too much of?
Jesus seems to call us to some pretty radical stuff:
John 3:33 "Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."(NAS)
Matt 19:24 "And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."(NAS)
Mark 8:34 "And He summoned the multitude with His disciples, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.(NAS)
That's pretty radical stuff. But Jesus does set limits on how radical:
Matt 10:14 "And whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake off the dust of your feet.(NAS)
Seems to me that in matters of personal devotion there is no such thing as too much, but in matters of spreading that devotion, there may be. Isn't that an interesting tension to live in? We are supposed to be radically devoted to Jesus, but not radical in sharing that devotion. Some of that tension is relieved in the next verse
Matt 10:15 "Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city.(NAS)
See, we may not be able to get too radical in sharing our radical devotion, but God is going to get real radical.
Ms. Noonan ends her piece with a reminder that the world is fallen and we cannot achieve perfection. I don't know if the President went too far -- that is for those more attuned to political realities than I am, but I do know that her reminder is a good one.
Do you have the faith to wait on God to be radical? My hope is that the more radically devotied I am to Him, the more my faith will supply me the strength to wait.
