Monday, December 08, 2008
Great Metaphors!
Metaphors can be so instructve, and Douglas Groothius has hit on a whopper:
"The cross is not a recliner."Jesus said:
Being a Christian is neither passive nor is it painless, and I grow ever so weary of a church that attempts to portray it as both. More, I grow impatient with "Christians" that wish it to be so. Christ assured our victory, but He did not remove from us the necessity of going to war. Sitting in our recliners only avoids the inevitable and makes it that much harder.
Take hold of the assurance of victory that is offered and join the fray - you may actually find it far more comfortable than the recliner.
Technorati Tags:recliner, cross, metaphor, pain, progress, victory
Generated By Technorati Tag Generator
The Cross is not a recliner. If you are comfortable in your Christian life, something is desperately wrong. If you are not desperate for righteousness--your own first and foremost--you are comfortable with complacency and compromise. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness," said Jesus--righteousness in yourself, in others, and in your society. [emphasis added]Groothius then goes on to list a number of non-complacent Biblical figures and things in our world that we should; likewise, lack complacency concerning. He quotes numerous scriptures, but neglects one that I think is key to that great metaphor concerning the cross:
Gal 2:20a - I have been crucified with Christ;...Too many people think that Christ hung on the cross precisely so that we COULD sit in recliners, but nothing is further from the truth. Christ lead the way. He pioneered the path. He turned the fatal into the merely difficult. But He did not eliminate the journey.
"The cross is not a recliner."Jesus said:
Matt 16:24b - ..."If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." [emphasis added]If we take the call of Jesus Christ on our lives seriously, we are not called merely to accept our salvation and relax, we are called to join Him in His mission, in His sinlessness, and on His cross.
Being a Christian is neither passive nor is it painless, and I grow ever so weary of a church that attempts to portray it as both. More, I grow impatient with "Christians" that wish it to be so. Christ assured our victory, but He did not remove from us the necessity of going to war. Sitting in our recliners only avoids the inevitable and makes it that much harder.
Take hold of the assurance of victory that is offered and join the fray - you may actually find it far more comfortable than the recliner.
Technorati Tags:recliner, cross, metaphor, pain, progress, victory
Generated By Technorati Tag Generator
