Sunday, August 21, 2005
Is Jesus A 'Personal" God
Earlier this week, a guest blogger here commented
Well, it turns out an op-ed contributer to OpinionJournal has found a great example of that misapplication, a book called "Dinner With a Perfect Stranger." he op-ed peice looks pretty hard at the idea and concludes this way
To my way of thinking, the problem is not the idea of a personal encounter itself -- that's a good thing. That idea moves 'religion' from being something akin to a political party, to something that actually transforms my life. Jesus did not come to just build a religion -- He came to change me!
The problem arises when we dare to think He came merely to be our friend, and not to change us. I personally think the idea of a friend that does not seek the best for me, which in many cases means asking change of me, is a pretty lousy idea of a friend anyway.
"Dinner With A Perfect Stranger" probably does fit a little too conveniently into our lives, but "Intimate Dinner With The God Of The Universe" - now there's a meal I'd like to enjoy forever.
Kirkegaard's idea of a personal encounter with God is also fairly pernicious, but only because it's been misunderstood and misapplied. It makes American Christians sound especially silly. They have a personal computer on their desktop, personal hygiene spray in their medicine cabinet, and a personal lord and savior in their jeans pocket.I like the idea of a personal encounter with Christ, but I let me guest blogger go because of his caveat about the idea being misunderstood and misapplied.
Well, it turns out an op-ed contributer to OpinionJournal has found a great example of that misapplication, a book called "Dinner With a Perfect Stranger." he op-ed peice looks pretty hard at the idea and concludes this way
So it is, as well, in a modern America marked by the increasing demands of work, strain between the generations, political acrimony, international uncertainty and peripatetic lifestyles. Into such a culture a Christian message stressing the possibility of an enduring--and often less demanding--personal relationship with the loving Creator of the universe sounds very appealing. But does such an adaptation retain enough of historic Christianity's other dimension? Or does dinner with a perfect stranger fit a little too conveniently into our lives?That phrase I highlighted is the key.
To my way of thinking, the problem is not the idea of a personal encounter itself -- that's a good thing. That idea moves 'religion' from being something akin to a political party, to something that actually transforms my life. Jesus did not come to just build a religion -- He came to change me!
The problem arises when we dare to think He came merely to be our friend, and not to change us. I personally think the idea of a friend that does not seek the best for me, which in many cases means asking change of me, is a pretty lousy idea of a friend anyway.
"Dinner With A Perfect Stranger" probably does fit a little too conveniently into our lives, but "Intimate Dinner With The God Of The Universe" - now there's a meal I'd like to enjoy forever.
