Friday, February 16, 2007
Sanctifying The Ordinary
Back in January Justin Taylor quoted Martin Luther on sanctifying the ordinary. It was a great post, but on the surface, it appeared to be contra a post I did at about the same time. The devil is in the details.
Justin's quotation of Luther addresses specifically the duties of family life. My post on the other hand addressed the "Christian workout" fad. In my post I attempted to say that the fad was trivializing of God's blessing and not a sanctifying of the ordinary. I hope when I have laid it out like this the difference in obvious.
In the situation Luther addresses, the person is encouraged to do for the other. Luther is quoted
God indeed sanctifies the ordinary, not for us, but for Him. We gain sanctification not by self-improvement, but by self-sacrifice. I think Christ said it best (DUH!)
Related Tags: sancitification, ordinary, service, sacrifice
Justin's quotation of Luther addresses specifically the duties of family life. My post on the other hand addressed the "Christian workout" fad. In my post I attempted to say that the fad was trivializing of God's blessing and not a sanctifying of the ordinary. I hope when I have laid it out like this the difference in obvious.
In the situation Luther addresses, the person is encouraged to do for the other. Luther is quoted
O God, because I am certain that thou hast created me as a man and hast from my body begotten this child, I also know for a certainty that it meets with thy perfect pleasure. I confess to thee that I am not worthy to rock the little babe or wash its diapers, or to be entrusted with the care of the child and its mother. How is it that I, without any merit, have come to this distinction of being certain that I am serving thy creature and thy most precious will?Note the words here - "not worthy" - "serving." Now contrast that with a quote from the article I commented upon:
Ben Lerner, author of "Body by God," says his workout has staying power.No language of serivce, no language of sacrifice - it is self-centered, not God-centered.
"The bottom line is that if you're a Christian, you go to heaven," he said. "There's no weight limits, there's no height limits, nothing like that in heaven. But the bottom line is we are called to honor God with our bodies."
God indeed sanctifies the ordinary, not for us, but for Him. We gain sanctification not by self-improvement, but by self-sacrifice. I think Christ said it best (DUH!)
Luke 22:42b - ...yet not My will, but Thine be done.When will we stop trying to get God to somehow bless what we want and instead start doing what He wants?
Related Tags: sancitification, ordinary, service, sacrifice
