Skip to main content

We were made to thrive?

The other night riding home in the car, I turned on the local Christian radio station.  The song playing had the following chorus:

  Just to know You and
To make You known
We lift Your name on High
Shine like the sun make darkness run and hide
We know we were made for so much more
Than ordinary lives
It's time for us to more than just survive
We were made to thrive

Now I don't want to throw stones at the group that sings the song because, the whole, they are more theologically sound than most.  However, the one line really bothers me.  Why do we know we were made for so much more than ordinary lives? 

What about all of our brothers and sisters who are suffering persecution around the world?  For them surviving is a daily miracle in the hostile environment in which they live.  I am afraid that the line reflects the narcissistic North American mindset that makes Christianity about how great we are rather than how great Jesus is.  "We are not ordinary," we crow.  "We are world-changers."  "We are significant."

I guess this really bothers me for two major reasons.  First, it misses the point. that the primary promises of Christ are not for now, but for eternity.  Jesus tells us that in this world we will have trouble but that He has overcome the world (John 16:33).  This is not our best life.  Our thriving will ultimately find fulfillment in eternity.

Second, it despises small things.  Our ego drives us to be world-changers and difference-makers.  Yet the standard of our God is that we be faithful in the small things.  The widow gave her mite.  The little boy gave his tiny loaves and fishes.  The faithful stewards are commended for be faithful with the small things.  In fact, faithfulness is that standard by which our stewardships will be judged (1 Cor. 4:2).  In North America we are awed by size, by numbers and by success.  God is not.  He desires to see faithful obedience in the everyday, ordinary living of life.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Something a Little Deeper for Christmas

Why the Jewish Messiah is the Most Important Individual in History by   Eric Davis What Christmas commemorates is big for many reasons. With the incarnation comes the Savior. For those who repent, there is justification, adoption, redemption, reconciliation, regeneration, sanctification, and, one day, glorification. But if we back up a bit, with the incarnation, there is the arrival of the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. It’s difficult for a 21 st   century audience to appreciate the century-long yearning which the Hebrews had for the Messiah’s arrival. But why? What is the significance of the Jewish Messiah? Read the Article HERE .
Post a Comment
Read more

The Lord's Prayer

"This prayer begins where all true prayer must commence, with the spirit of adoption, "Our Father." There is no acceptable prayer until we can say, "I will arise, and go unto my Father." This childlike spirit soon perceives the grandeur of the Father "in heaven" and ascends to devout adoration, "Hallowed by thy name." The child lisping, "Abba, Father," grows into the cherub crying, "Holy, Holy, Holy." ----Charles Spurgeon
Post a Comment
Read more

My Sheep

I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.  I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD. (Eze 34:14-15 ESV)   This has been our western view from our cottage this week in Scotland.  The peak is Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in the U.K.
Post a Comment
Read more