Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Grab What?!?!?
Russ Smith at Eagle and Child writes on Carpe Deim
As Russ points out, we are indeed to have life abundantly, and the idea of Carpe Diem sounds very abundant indeed. However, our abundant life comes not from seizing the day, but being seized by Christ.
How little we understand ourselves. We talk so often about sin being a defiance of God's created order. But it is more, it is a defiance of our own nature! Sin is rebellion against God, and since we are made to be in subjication to Him, we defy self to sin.
Carpe Deim is about self-satifaction, which is oxymoronic. we cannot satisfy ourselves, we were created, made, only to be satisfied in service to the Other. Our nature is not control, but to be controlled.
You think you know yourself, but you do not, because you are not made to know yourself - you are made to know Him and He may or may not choose to reveal something of yourself to you.
I agree with Russ here, if we want to seize the day we should allow ourselves to be seized!
Related Tags: carpe diem, Jesus, self-satisfaction, self-denial, sin
The difference lies in this -- the romantic notion of Carpe Diem is about consuming all you can -- the Christian notion is about subjecting yourself to Christ and finding yourself filled. Jesus tells the woman at the well "...whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." Then when she makes the request for this water, Jesus confronts her with her own sinfulness (a call to repentence) and then issues the call to worship in spirit and in truth. Worship is many things, but one key thing is the recognition that God is the object of worship. Worship is not about consuming an experience, like we would consume a movie or a theatrical performance -- worship is about coming before the living God in subjection -- and strangely He fills us and heals us and sanctifies us and sends us. When we kneel, he heals.What an excellent point!
As Russ points out, we are indeed to have life abundantly, and the idea of Carpe Diem sounds very abundant indeed. However, our abundant life comes not from seizing the day, but being seized by Christ.
How little we understand ourselves. We talk so often about sin being a defiance of God's created order. But it is more, it is a defiance of our own nature! Sin is rebellion against God, and since we are made to be in subjication to Him, we defy self to sin.
Carpe Deim is about self-satifaction, which is oxymoronic. we cannot satisfy ourselves, we were created, made, only to be satisfied in service to the Other. Our nature is not control, but to be controlled.
You think you know yourself, but you do not, because you are not made to know yourself - you are made to know Him and He may or may not choose to reveal something of yourself to you.
I agree with Russ here, if we want to seize the day we should allow ourselves to be seized!
Related Tags: carpe diem, Jesus, self-satisfaction, self-denial, sin
