Monday, August 18, 2008
The Opposite Of Faith...
Mark Daniels concludes a recent sermon this way:
Says Mark about worry:
Think about the number of products currently on the market to deal with potential germs. Water-less hand-sanitzers, disposable toilet bowl cleaners, disposable bleach based wipes, the list is endless. All designed to "prevent" getting the cold (that wasn't that bad to begin with) that you probably only got once a year, or less.
Worry sells. It sells products like we just discussed. It sells legislative action as we see in the chemical story, which means it can elect politicians. But the worst part - the absolutely worst, is we use it to sell the gospel. "Come to church so your kids will grow up as productive members of society." "Come to church and pray about your financial straights." And of course the ultimate, "Come to church so you do not have to worry about eternity any more."
We so often "sell" something other than the gospel because we fail to hold the gospel for ourselves. The gospel does not solve our problems, it does not mitigate our worries - it eradicates them. It changes us into people for whom such things are not handled, but non-existent. It could change the world in ways we cannot even imagine. Be we never seem to quite get there.
Maybe, just maybe, if we worried a little less about spreading the gospel, and lived it instead....
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The opposite of faith isn’t unbelief. The opposite of faith is worry. May we live in the assurance that God has given us eternity and so, free from worry, glorify the God Who gives us everything! May faith supplant fear. When we do worry, may God help us remember all His blessings, including our crucified and risen Lord. And may we, instead of worrying about tomorrow, learn to truly live.Words that make my heart sing with joy!
Says Mark about worry:
We worry, let’s face it, because we’re control freaks.Folks we could take a life time to unpack that! Just consider this Washington Post story on chemical regulation. It contrats the Europena approach to the American:
[...]
It’s good for us to make plans and it’s good for us to be engaged in trying to solve problems. But we need to realize that worrying about things solves nothing. The number one fact of the universe is that God is God and we’re not.
[...]
Okay, you may say, worrying is a bad thing. But what’s that got to do with my relationship with God? A lot!
You see, in the final analysis, worrying is a form of self-worship. Whether we express our worry by saying things like, “What am I going to do?,” seemingly expressing helplessness, or, by trying to amass more money and power than God, the underlying assumption behind my worrying is that my immediate problems and, by extension, the long-term good of the known universe, depends on me.
The new laws in the European Union require companies to demonstrate that a chemical is safe before it enters commerce -- the opposite of policies in the United States, where regulators must prove that a chemical is harmful before it can be restricted or removed from the market.The philosophical difference between those two approaches is tremendous. The European approach tries to remove all risk - IT IS PREDICATED ON WORRY ABOUT WHAT MIGHT GO WRONG. The American approach acknowledges there might be a problem, but does not solve it until it presents itself.
Think about the number of products currently on the market to deal with potential germs. Water-less hand-sanitzers, disposable toilet bowl cleaners, disposable bleach based wipes, the list is endless. All designed to "prevent" getting the cold (that wasn't that bad to begin with) that you probably only got once a year, or less.
Worry sells. It sells products like we just discussed. It sells legislative action as we see in the chemical story, which means it can elect politicians. But the worst part - the absolutely worst, is we use it to sell the gospel. "Come to church so your kids will grow up as productive members of society." "Come to church and pray about your financial straights." And of course the ultimate, "Come to church so you do not have to worry about eternity any more."
We so often "sell" something other than the gospel because we fail to hold the gospel for ourselves. The gospel does not solve our problems, it does not mitigate our worries - it eradicates them. It changes us into people for whom such things are not handled, but non-existent. It could change the world in ways we cannot even imagine. Be we never seem to quite get there.
Maybe, just maybe, if we worried a little less about spreading the gospel, and lived it instead....
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