Night two saw Mark continuing in the theme of 'the big picture', but (especially in the 2nd half of the lecture) also making more practical suggestions of how this might play out in life.
Here are some highlights:
(the 'BIG' ideas)
Life >> Unity and Diversity
-very influential answer to this: Plato - dualism (matter doesn't 'matter' - only ideas)
-Bible has a different starting point & framework (namely, that creation is GOOD)
-early Christian thinkers reacted to dualism, but slowly adopted parts of it
-Augustine: God is single, unitary, unchanging, immovable, etc.
-(which led to this assumption) Unity of God >> truth singular /certain people hold keys to truth
17th and 18th century (ideological developments)
-huge philosophical reaction to this - the Enlightenment
-Essence of humanity
-particular people/things lost in universal ideas
-crtiteria and source of truth located in us
-Time = limitation; imitate eternity >> I.R. & management (control)
-Science = saviour & angel of death
-Art >> elite or >> meaningless (nothing = art; everything = art)
-Ethics stuck between rights & responsibilities
Value of a person
1. Individual disappears into faceless 'universal principles'
2. Individual lost in conformity to regimes (marxicism)
3. Individual pumped to 'be an individual' while lost in faceless fashions
Scriptures on Father, Son & Spirit (Trinity)
-Let 'us' make...
-In the beginning was the Word...
- I and the Father are One...
-He who has seen me has seen the Father...
-No one knows... only the Father... not even the Son...
-I will send the Spirit...
-The Lord is the Spirit...
-In Him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form...
Father, Son, Spirit >> Creation
-In Him we live, move and have our being...
-Summing up all things in Christ...
-filled to all the fullness of God...
-in Him all things were created and hold together...
-to reconcile all things to himself...
-creation was subjected to futility...
Trinity
-analogy
-three close friends; identities SO bound up in relatedness, that they can't tell their OWN story without telling the others two friends' stories... (like that with God, but much further!)
-the 3 persons don't exist first and THEN relate, but their existence IS their relationship!
-God is as much 3 as He is 1
Man & Woman (image of God)
-humans find their true being in communion with others
-Gen. 1:26-28
-true being in "the communion-in-otherness that is male & female" - Marriage
-this mystery is seen in ALL close relationships
-plurality, relatedness & community
After the break, Mark shared a song with us ("Lies" by Stan Rogers - lyrics here), told a story about a disabled (but still a brilliant reflection of the Creator) person that inspired him, and then led us in the following exercise...
-think of a 'moment' when you felt 'fully alive'...
-think what that 'moment' means to you as a human being...
-try to finish the sentence (in light of the moment) 'I am one who...'
Those are my notes, I'd love to hear your thoughts, reflections, and more! (Mark himself often comments as well...) Comment away!
8 comments:
good ideas and the poin you made out there about the value of a person i aggree with you good artile keep the good work up and be in touch
regards Biby - Blog
Thanks Biby,
The value thing is very interesting indeed.
I have to admit, when Mark asked us to think of our 'moment' when we felt fully 'alive'/etc., I realised that the reason (or at least part of it) that I found it hard was because I didn't think that 'moments' where 'I' had done something good 'counted'... I automatically looked for moments when good things 'happened' to me, and not for moments when I felt 'this is why I was born', etc.
I suppose that might have something to do with false humility, navel-gazing, insecurity or a bit of all three...
:)
Cheers,
-d-
Overweening pride is ugly. Denial of gifting is sad.
The gospel does not call us to a middle way but to something far more counter-intuitive and liberating:
to know the full-blown wonderful truth of who we are and the magnificence of the gifting and brilliance God has lavished upon and within us (beyond any sunset, mountain top or starry night - see Ps 8)
to pursue our extravagantly gracious God in his extravagant shaping of our lives the 'double knowledge')
to know the joy of placing all this gifting and brilliance at the service of others
AND
to hold it all lightly knowing that it is the sheer wonder, love and grace of Father, Son and Spirit that has made it all so.
In the end it is all for worship. To deny who we are, to walk away from knowing, to shrink from blessing others with the full weight of our humanity, is to refuse the generoisty of our Creator and King and to withhold praise.
This, I suggest, is a far cry from both a great deal of conventional Christian wisdom, and from the vacuous exhortations and shallow comforts of most on the motivational circuit.
Wow Mark,
There's definitely some quote-able lines in that one!
The one about worship and 'withholding praise' would bring a smile to the face of John Piper, no doubt! But very well put... I had never thought of it that way...
For me personally, it is becoming clearer that I don't need to play the (false) humility card with my musical/song-writing gifting...
This, for me, doesn't mean bowing down to the idol of star-dom/popularity, but rather being willing (even eager?) to share my gifts with those who could be blessed/encouraged/etc. by them...
-d-
Loved the evening - and love the extra comment above from Mark. After 25 years of "Christianity" I am only starting to collide with the liberating idea of being fully alive, or should I say being 'allowed', or 'allowing myself' to be fully alive. There is such a freedom available in this way of thinking which can shape true worship out of us.
What is scary is how little reflection is given in our modern Christian practices, as to why we are doing what we are doing, and how much of it is God-honoring and reflective of the Creator.
I think Mark partly referred to a quote from Marianne Williamson on the night, which is a favorite of mine, and I have thrown it below... I see in my own children the uninhibited love and ambition of life, which gets so dampened in the contrived realism of adulthood...
Keep up the great work - Ash
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so
that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other
people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others."
Marianne Williamson
something i found when i thought about those 'fully alive' moments was how society tries really hard to stop me from experiencing those moments.
Aswell as my own body and christian culture.
My moments involved outdoorsy adventures that i've had with close mates, or experiencing sunrises on mountains, or scoring centuries in cricket. Yet i really have to hold these experiences lightly because a life given to pursing these things would be possibly selfish or impossible given my recurring knee injuries...
Its interesting how God can make us for one thing but also hold us back from that thing so that we appreciate it all the more when we have it and so we focus more on the giver than the gift ( thats a bit cliche haha)
It's a magnificent poem. I have used it many times in leadership workshops with kids, school teachers and corporate types.
Ash, thanks for the honesty of your story. Justin too. You are not alone.
Really great to see people commenting!
It's funny how you can believe things that make you do the strangest things...
...like NOT tell everyone about the Easter presentation I wrote (called - 'The Kingdom Surprise: The upside-down gospel') that is happening Palm Sunday (Apr. 1) at my church (Northcote Baptist)... 10:15am AND 7pm...
:)
(perhaps in light of the conversation, the above truly is a 'shame-less plug'???)
:)
-d-
Post a Comment