Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Racing
Broken Bonds//Loosed Chains managed to bring new light to an old scriptural illustration.
This process still occurs, but the word "examination" is never heard and it is sold as a "party." The Session voting to accept the members is "by consent" - that is to say if no one says anything to the pastor as the party winds down, it is assumed....
In this day and age such examination and approval seems offensive to our egalitarian minds, and perhaps it should, but must we jettison the idea of standards and accoutability at the same time?
Neil is right - being Christian is more than attaching a label. It is a life long effort and most importantly, experience of grace.
Related Tags: race, sanctification, grace, life, labels
That last sentence is an interesting one... "I have to keep running if I'm going to be known as a runner, let alone call myself a runner." You see, other people were calling me a runner several months before I was willing to call myself a runner. In fact the biggest influence I had in calling myself a runner was that others had already identified this trait in my life. Imagine if we weren't allowed to call ourselves Christians until other people were referring to us as followers of Jesus? Are we known as followers of Jesus or is it just a title we give ourselves?This leading to the inevitable scriptural citation
"Not that I have... already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me... But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining to what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:12-14 (TNIV)I remember when I underwent confirmation. Before I was a member of the church, I had to undergo examination by the Session (the ruling body of elders for those uninitiated in the ways of Presbyterianism). I was scared - would I measure up? In the end it was a reception, but I never relaxed expecting one elder or the other (my father!) to come over and start "casually" quizzing me.
This process still occurs, but the word "examination" is never heard and it is sold as a "party." The Session voting to accept the members is "by consent" - that is to say if no one says anything to the pastor as the party winds down, it is assumed....
In this day and age such examination and approval seems offensive to our egalitarian minds, and perhaps it should, but must we jettison the idea of standards and accoutability at the same time?
Neil is right - being Christian is more than attaching a label. It is a life long effort and most importantly, experience of grace.
Related Tags: race, sanctification, grace, life, labels
