Those who have attained everlasting life in the vision of God doubtless know very well that it is no mere bribe, but the very consummation of their earthly discipleship; but we who have not yet attained it cannot know this in the same way, and cannot even begin to know it at all except by continuing to obey and finding the first reward of our obedience in our increasing power to desire the ultimate reward. Just in proportion as the desire grows, our fear lest it should be a mercenary desire will die away and finally be recongized as an absurdity. But probably this will not, for most of us, happen in a day; poetry replaces grammar, gospel replaces law, longing transforms obedience, as gradually as the tide lifts a grounded ship. – C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
Pursuing the Real God?
We must have something to focus on, to glorify, to worship. We pursue either the real God or a created surrogate. We see these scenarios being played out over and over in the worldly world. Consuming and absorbing concerns, to while all else is subordinated, vary from person to person. If people are not pursing the real God, their passions will be for power of pleasure, money or fame, domination or drugs, ease and comfort, or a mingling of them all. their desires fill their thoughts, aspirations, and plans. They fret and fume and sometimes fight when deprived of their idols. Never do these created experiences fill their empty hearts, nor can they completely dull their inner ache and void that lurk under the surface of their lives.
~ The Evidential Power of Beauty, Dubay
Should Pastors House X-cons?
Read about the story and my response here.
Should Art be Evangelism?
Artist Makoto Fujimura answers the following question in a great interview at The High Calling.
How then do you see art as evangelism?
There are many attempts to use the arts as a tool for evangelism. I understand the need to do that; but, again, it’s going back to commoditizing things. When we are so consumer-driven, we want to put price tags on everything; and we want to add value to art, as if that was necessary. We say if it’s useful for evangelism, then it has value.
And, there are two problems with that. One, it makes art so much less than what it can be potentially. But also, you’re communicating to the world that the gospel is not art. The gospel is this information that needs to be used by something to carry it. Only, that’s not the gospel at all. The gospel is life.
The gospel is about the Creator God, who is an artist, who is trying to communicate. And his art is the church. We are the artwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works. If we don’t realize that fully, then the gospel itself is truncated; and art itself suffers.
Read the rest here.