I contemplated titling this "Knowledge versus Belief," but I don't think that the two ideas are opposing, but rather complementary. In particular, I would like to examine this statement, which evangelical Christians know: God lives in me (Galatians 2:19-20, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20). What do we believe about this statement?
The divide between knowledge and belief is great, and yet the two correlate directly. Scripture repeatedly warns against those who know the law, know the message of Christ, know His redemptive nature, and yet do not believe. Knowledge of salvation is not belief of salvation.
According to Paul, our bodies are indwelled by Christ and the Holy Spirit. If you're reading this, you probably already know this. I'm challenging you to believe it. The God of the universe, the Creator, the Almighty, the Head of the Church, the Spirit of healing, the Spirit of a faith that moves mountains lives inside of you, me, His people.
When we make the leap from knowledge to belief about this particular idea, we begin to live our lives in a way that boldly proclaims Christ for we have received grace and apostleship to bring obedience of faith for the sake of His name to all nations (Romans 1). We also portray our lives literally being the hands and feet of Christ. We are not consumed on our needs, wants, and even desires. We live by faith.
Perhaps of greatest consequence of believing this statement is that we can love. Without the presence of evil within, Christ can dwell within (Psalm 5:4) and He may love through us so that when others see us, they see the fruits of the spirit, with the building block of love (Galatians 5:22-25). When we know Christ lives in us, we easily talk about it. When we believe Christ lives in us, people easily see it.
Christ lives in you. Believe and live that truth.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
The Waiter: Tyler
My great-aunt and I had lunch at a lakeside restaurant early this afternoon. It was a beautiful scene with delectable food. Our waiter, Tyler, was a college student studying business and psychology, as we would learn throughout the course of the meal. What we struck me as odd was not the fact that he was a waiter, for indeed this job was likely contributing to his continuing education. It was odd however how slowly and hesitantly he answered my aunt’s inquiries about his life. There are a few plausible explanations.
Tyler may have been a paranoid man worried about privacy and the fear of an 80-year-old woman stalking him. Let’s face it, this clearly is not a viable explanation. He may have had a bad morning and did not want to answer any questions about himself, which is possible, but unlikely since he had a clear smile and disposition about the beautiful day. The most likely explanation is this: Tyler compartmentalizes his life. When he’s at work, he’s at work. When he’s not at work, he’s living. Life and work don’t mix. There also may be a hint of the American way of keeping to oneself without vulnerability to only halfheartedly invest in people, but that’s for another discussion.
Tyler is not the only one to live this way. All too often, when we are working, we are working for the monetary gain, experience, or the like. We fail to include our job as a part of our life; either that or to the other extreme, we make our job our life. Perhaps this is due to the mentality while on the job: I am just an employee doing my job. However, this is an illogical way to work. No matter what setting, work, play, or school, I must live as an integrated person: a Christian, Hoosier, college student, employee, brother, son, friend, and on and on. To separate any part of who I am from the other would be to lessen my creation and worth.
Tomorrow morning, I will start a new job for the summer. Many college students will work the summer months only to return to “life” in the evenings or in the fall. I hope that I can work this summer realizing that wherever I am, whatever I am doing, that is the life that God has called me to live and I must utilize all of who I am at every moment, not solely for monetary gain or experience. My life is that which has been graciously given to me by the Father and whatever seed I’ve received, I must sow in the present, for the thought of tomorrow is a transient and earthly gain, not one set on things above.
Tyler may have been a paranoid man worried about privacy and the fear of an 80-year-old woman stalking him. Let’s face it, this clearly is not a viable explanation. He may have had a bad morning and did not want to answer any questions about himself, which is possible, but unlikely since he had a clear smile and disposition about the beautiful day. The most likely explanation is this: Tyler compartmentalizes his life. When he’s at work, he’s at work. When he’s not at work, he’s living. Life and work don’t mix. There also may be a hint of the American way of keeping to oneself without vulnerability to only halfheartedly invest in people, but that’s for another discussion.
Tyler is not the only one to live this way. All too often, when we are working, we are working for the monetary gain, experience, or the like. We fail to include our job as a part of our life; either that or to the other extreme, we make our job our life. Perhaps this is due to the mentality while on the job: I am just an employee doing my job. However, this is an illogical way to work. No matter what setting, work, play, or school, I must live as an integrated person: a Christian, Hoosier, college student, employee, brother, son, friend, and on and on. To separate any part of who I am from the other would be to lessen my creation and worth.
Tomorrow morning, I will start a new job for the summer. Many college students will work the summer months only to return to “life” in the evenings or in the fall. I hope that I can work this summer realizing that wherever I am, whatever I am doing, that is the life that God has called me to live and I must utilize all of who I am at every moment, not solely for monetary gain or experience. My life is that which has been graciously given to me by the Father and whatever seed I’ve received, I must sow in the present, for the thought of tomorrow is a transient and earthly gain, not one set on things above.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Calculus, By Grace Alone
This semester, God blessed me, and/or tested my faith, with a class devoted to studying Calculus (a branch in mathematics focused on limits, functions, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series). Quite frankly, studying mathematics has never been a problem for me. I took a college Calculus class in high school. I only am taking Calculus again because, honestly, my Christian liberal arts college of choice does not recognize Calculus when aced from a secular university. All semester I saw this denial of transfer credit situation most negatively. However, my thinking changed today when I received my first C+ on any written work I have ever done, in my lifetime thus far. Quite a shocker to me since "I know Calculus," but what I realized is much more valuable to me than a perfected grade point average.
Our professor, a friendly, simplistic, introverted man nearing sixty, assigned the task to determine the source of mathematics. Two questions were posed: 1) Does God create mathematics and humankind merely discovers it? and 2) Does humankind create mathematics? If so, what is God's role (if any)?
At first when posed with these questions, I thought I had my answer: God created all things so mankind discovered Calculus. Well, that's a simplistic answer. This principle holds true to mathematical realism, which argues that humans do not invent mathematics, but merely discover it without attributing the original invention thereof to any deity, power, or source, which leaves a lot of doors open. While I still hold true to the principle of mathematical realism with the understanding of God as the creator, I believe that there is more. Mathematics, like all fields, holds truth to the wisdom and logic of God, so our discovery is imperfect and not comprehensive of the totality of mathematics since we cannot fully grasp the knowledge of God. In other words, as we grow in His likeness, we discover more and more about His infinite logic, but our understanding is limited.
I love mathematics because there is always an objective answer, procedure, and testable theorem, but today I realized that this is only a glimpse of the nature of God's creation of mathematics. Our continual discovery of His nature is never perfected in this life, so to believe that mathematics is discovered by man's own doing is quite false, for it is only by grace that He extends His hand to share just a drop of His understanding. I believe this holds true for all of our learning: it is not our discovery, but His grace extended to us that as we grow in His likeness He imparts bits and bits of His creation, logic, reasoning, art, and more.
And so, my Christian liberal arts college of choice does not recognize Calculus when aced from a secular university when the course is required for my major. Now, I do not despise the registrar for this decision. Instead, I am grateful for I realize that the same course I took last year means so much more to me when I took it this year through His eyes. No matter how much "I know Calculus," He created Calculus and it is infinitely beautiful to see just a glimpse of His logic, reasoning, and power through the study of this branch of mathematics. As I pursue lifelong learning, my prayer is that I would recognize that it is only by His grace that He shares these wonders with me and I praise Him for entrusting me with just a small fraction of His knowledge.
Our professor, a friendly, simplistic, introverted man nearing sixty, assigned the task to determine the source of mathematics. Two questions were posed: 1) Does God create mathematics and humankind merely discovers it? and 2) Does humankind create mathematics? If so, what is God's role (if any)?
At first when posed with these questions, I thought I had my answer: God created all things so mankind discovered Calculus. Well, that's a simplistic answer. This principle holds true to mathematical realism, which argues that humans do not invent mathematics, but merely discover it without attributing the original invention thereof to any deity, power, or source, which leaves a lot of doors open. While I still hold true to the principle of mathematical realism with the understanding of God as the creator, I believe that there is more. Mathematics, like all fields, holds truth to the wisdom and logic of God, so our discovery is imperfect and not comprehensive of the totality of mathematics since we cannot fully grasp the knowledge of God. In other words, as we grow in His likeness, we discover more and more about His infinite logic, but our understanding is limited.
I love mathematics because there is always an objective answer, procedure, and testable theorem, but today I realized that this is only a glimpse of the nature of God's creation of mathematics. Our continual discovery of His nature is never perfected in this life, so to believe that mathematics is discovered by man's own doing is quite false, for it is only by grace that He extends His hand to share just a drop of His understanding. I believe this holds true for all of our learning: it is not our discovery, but His grace extended to us that as we grow in His likeness He imparts bits and bits of His creation, logic, reasoning, art, and more.
And so, my Christian liberal arts college of choice does not recognize Calculus when aced from a secular university when the course is required for my major. Now, I do not despise the registrar for this decision. Instead, I am grateful for I realize that the same course I took last year means so much more to me when I took it this year through His eyes. No matter how much "I know Calculus," He created Calculus and it is infinitely beautiful to see just a glimpse of His logic, reasoning, and power through the study of this branch of mathematics. As I pursue lifelong learning, my prayer is that I would recognize that it is only by His grace that He shares these wonders with me and I praise Him for entrusting me with just a small fraction of His knowledge.
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