al dente (or slightly hard to chew) issues
Another tiring yet lovely weekend. Woke up early to serve in church, then got treated to a Swensen's Nutty Mighty Sundae by G before an intellectual and extremely enjoyable debate with J and Yf (facilitated somewhat by Tariquet 2006 with Edam, followed by a fantastic dinner at Al Dente).
Beef carpaccio salad and roasted rack of lamb at Al Dente - la presentazione era magnifica!
Merlion watching over the Marina IR
Over the course of dinner we came round to the topic of religious belief. I shared how in the Alpha course I've been attending, Nicky Gumbel likened the Christian life to a game of football. Players are free to play ball within the boundaries of the field and the rules of the game, just as Christians have dominion over the Earth as long as they make Christ the centre of their lives. Some people have issues with this premise of faith, however. (Granted, it is much more complex than a simple pledge to say a prayer before eating each day, and sacrificing a couple of lambs every year. Jesus claimed that his yoke was easy and his burden light, and yet in the same year warned his followers to be ready to deny their family and possessions. Definitely not an attractive option to say the least... yet what about this man perpetuated a set of beliefs and believers that are still around a good two thousand years later? But that's a topic for another day.)
I think we should acknowledge that without these rules, the human race would have no game to play at all (one need only turn to the current economic tsunami to understand the effects of an unregulated stock market). God is a jealous lover, demanding ultimate fealty and surrender of control but also promising everything - health for our bodies, fruit for our spirits, and a home for our souls. But God is also a gentleman who understands that love must be both ways, and will stand at the doors of our hearts knocking, entering only when we ask him in (yet another topic for another day).
In any case, questioning the rules of the game and kicking up the turf (why is there still suffering?) would be missing the point entirely. No one is able to meet all God's standards (one who so much as looks at a woman with lust is guilty of adultery); the plagues and punishments of the Old Testament exemplify what we deserve for sin (God's justice), while the New Testament shows us His grace in providing Jesus to be a scapegoat on the cross. God's central message is, was, and will always be to love - Him first, then all his people as an effortless overflow of that love. Going back to Gumbel's analogy, I think it is evident that God doesn't just offer us life as a sort of game to play, but 'life more abundantly', a gift to be seized and reveled in with 'much singing and dancing', so that even in hard times Christians are supposed to rejoice based on their faith (a good opinion of God).
Argh. Apologies for the heavy post... Wish I were more eloquent putting down my thoughts, I've probably mangled the whole message. In any case, C. S. Lewis (esp in Mere Christianity and The Problem of Pain) and Lee Strobel (The Case for Christ and The Case for Faith) are convincing enough for me.
Beef carpaccio salad and roasted rack of lamb at Al Dente - la presentazione era magnifica!
Merlion watching over the Marina IR
Over the course of dinner we came round to the topic of religious belief. I shared how in the Alpha course I've been attending, Nicky Gumbel likened the Christian life to a game of football. Players are free to play ball within the boundaries of the field and the rules of the game, just as Christians have dominion over the Earth as long as they make Christ the centre of their lives. Some people have issues with this premise of faith, however. (Granted, it is much more complex than a simple pledge to say a prayer before eating each day, and sacrificing a couple of lambs every year. Jesus claimed that his yoke was easy and his burden light, and yet in the same year warned his followers to be ready to deny their family and possessions. Definitely not an attractive option to say the least... yet what about this man perpetuated a set of beliefs and believers that are still around a good two thousand years later? But that's a topic for another day.)
I think we should acknowledge that without these rules, the human race would have no game to play at all (one need only turn to the current economic tsunami to understand the effects of an unregulated stock market). God is a jealous lover, demanding ultimate fealty and surrender of control but also promising everything - health for our bodies, fruit for our spirits, and a home for our souls. But God is also a gentleman who understands that love must be both ways, and will stand at the doors of our hearts knocking, entering only when we ask him in (yet another topic for another day).
In any case, questioning the rules of the game and kicking up the turf (why is there still suffering?) would be missing the point entirely. No one is able to meet all God's standards (one who so much as looks at a woman with lust is guilty of adultery); the plagues and punishments of the Old Testament exemplify what we deserve for sin (God's justice), while the New Testament shows us His grace in providing Jesus to be a scapegoat on the cross. God's central message is, was, and will always be to love - Him first, then all his people as an effortless overflow of that love. Going back to Gumbel's analogy, I think it is evident that God doesn't just offer us life as a sort of game to play, but 'life more abundantly', a gift to be seized and reveled in with 'much singing and dancing', so that even in hard times Christians are supposed to rejoice based on their faith (a good opinion of God).
Argh. Apologies for the heavy post... Wish I were more eloquent putting down my thoughts, I've probably mangled the whole message. In any case, C. S. Lewis (esp in Mere Christianity and The Problem of Pain) and Lee Strobel (The Case for Christ and The Case for Faith) are convincing enough for me.
aethyrs made a splash at 11:46 pm
0 wave(s)
Post a Comment
<< Home