I perceive there will be superior value to
the topic if I personalize it. So, I am writing to Christians today. This is a
cue, an incentive to a segment of the Christian community. In the earlier critique I expressed an
opinion that we may be living like practical agnostics. It's possible. We are
not 'practical' agnostics in the sense of being 'almost' agnostic or virtually
agnostic. Of course not, because we do genuinely believe in the large
constructs of Christian truth. Rather, during the weekdays, we have minimal
explicit contact with God. While the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are factual
within our theological framework, we are out of touch. We know that prayer is
the network that links us with the divine, but prayer takes time and
discipline. We know when we are honest with ourselves that we apply both time
and discipline to online social networking, to watching our favourite TV shows,
and to daily exercise. So, we must admit
we are slackers. We have not prioritized prayer.
An agnostic is characterized by
uncertainty. While we believe in the merit of prayer, we may be uncertain about
the effectiveness of prayer. Possibly,
our journals contain slim accounts of answers to specific prayers. We do not
doubt God's ability to hear prayer, or to respond to great challenges. We are
uncertain that God will answer our request. Our asks have been made before
without a response. We don't want to be disappointed any further. Our request
seems so trite and selfish so we hesitate. Strangely we are not open and
transparent before God who is all knowing.
We worry about a job, about money, about our children. We struggle with
our sexuality, with addictions, with attitudes and moods, but we refer none of
these to God because we have not successfully integrated our theology with our
lives on planet earth. The incarnate Jesus spoke to his Father, and advised us
to call God Father. Father loved us (humanity) so much he gave us Jesus. Jesus came here to do what he needed to do to
provide a relationship for us with himself and the Father. Jesus assured us that in his physical absence
he would not leave us comfortless, but rather he promised to give us another
comforter, divine like himself, namely, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not
only with us but inside us, where character and spirituality are developed so
that we can reflect the image of God, that is, be Christlike.
(I
will pursue this subject for in a few posts in the days ahead)
No comments:
Post a Comment