Monday, September 04, 2006

My Generation

The door has long-since opened, as culture shifts, for a revival and renewal of Christianity. It springs, I hope, at least as much from a true appreciation of the life and works of Christ as it does from a reaction to the sins of others. I feel like the church may be waking up from a tendency, although well-intentioned, to seem like we come not to save but to condemn.

Like those 20 centuries past who were looking for the Lion of Judah and got the Lamb instead; we have wanted to represent Christ as he will present himself at the second coming rather than as he did at the first. In short we have found it easier to judge than to forgive; easier to criticize than to love. I feel like my generation is emerging from that.
But with my gladness for this comes retiscence too, as I wonder what we are emerging into.

We still need a New Testament revival. Not a bunch of people who claim pleasure or worship music or fellowship or tolerance or pluralistic spiritualism as their god and call it Christ but a group who want to know and experience and express the self-giving, self-sacrificing, relentlessly loving, ardently Father-seeking Christ who has already come into the world.

In our love of grace we can't lose sight of what makes grace grace. We must be mindful of the next coming even as we strive to live the first. We must be humble, and as such we must obey. What I'm wondering is this:

My generation has shown that they will worship, but will they bow?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

It looks as though, they are woshiping, yet when the heart is not bowed to His Lordship, and the cost that once was considered, is non existent, it will be a sad day for they will say "Lord, "Lord!!!

Tony Tanti said...

What is this "cost that was once considered"? I'd be interested in hearing joanne flesh that out a little more.

Great blog Jon. We really can make parts of the church our 'god' and lose sight of the real God.

Jon Coutts said...

i wasn't sure whether to post this one. i wrote it for myself a long time ago. it sort of generalizes generations, which i've realized you just can't do. but it makes a point too, and i'm glad that comes through.

i took the "cost" she's talking about to be the "taking up our cross" part of the faith ... but i suppose she could explain better...

Tony Tanti said...

I think I got that, it's more the "that was once considered" part that confused me. Is she implying that the new generation doesn't consider or experience the cost the way Christians once did? I was going to say I disagreed with that but I'm not sure that's what is being said here.

Jon Coutts said...

in a way i guess i implied it myself though. its in the language of generalizations that we call into question certain trends. i certainly would not say that my generation has any less people truly bowing to Christ's lordship than the previous, or any other, generation.

in fact i find that one generation will find itself bowing in ways that the previous did not, even while losing some of what the previous did so well.

and even then, what can be said of a segment of the population can never be said of all. although pretty much everything can be said of me.

funny we have like 4 or 5 different conversations going on right now dave.

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