“Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God”
January 26, 2006 · Print This Article
Someone recently commented: “Incarnate Integration & Investment,” isn’t that the way Jesus did it? Is the example He set that hard to see?” and it made me think of this quote by the great Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855):
“The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we as Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. My God, you will say, if I do that my whole life will be ruined. How will I ever get on in the world?
Herein lies the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming to close. Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.”
As well as this one by Christoph Blumhardt (1842-1919):
“Nothing is more dangerous to the advancement of God’s kingdom than religion. But this is what Christianity has become. Do you not know it is possible to kill Christ with Christianity?”
To those who cringe (as I once did) to Soren Kierkegaard’s comments, I ask, “How big is your God?”
Commitment to social justice & structural change may be more about individual faith than community paradigm shift, but that is where it starts. It starts with those who believe structural change can happen, with those who exercise expectation and faith.
The results remain God’s. One cannot undertake the tasks of structural change “thinking” they will accomplish much. One must enter “knowing” much will be accomplished and this can only be known by giving the results to God.
For Thought: Did God instruct us to minister to the poor and oppressed for the purpose of building our character? Or…did he intend for us to minister with results?
Acts 10:38 (NLT)
“And no doubt you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the Devil, for God was with him.”
We have the same anointing.
I John 2:27 (KJV)
“But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.”
Same Anointing - Same Power
I John 4:17b-18
“…our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life–fear of death, fear of judgment–is one not yet fully formed in love.”
The results belong to God and God’s results are always exponential.
I Cor. 3:6-8 (NLT)
“My job was to plant the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God, not we, who made it grow. 7The ones who do the planting or watering aren’t important, but God is important because he is the one who makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work as a team with the same purpose. Yet they will be rewarded individually, according to their own hard work. We work together as partners who belong to God. You are God’s field, God’s building–not ours.”
Eph. 3:20 (NLT)
“Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.”