I met up with a few friends this afternoon to talk about the book, "The New Conspirators", by Tom Sine. I read it a few years ago and really enjoyed it. I happened to have to give a book review about it, which I'm glad about now because it means I've got several pages of notes on it (and don't actually own a copy). ANYWAYS... that's besides the point. It was good to chat about some of things we noted or were challenged by in the first couple of chapters. The issues raised are things I've been thinking about quite a bit recently but it's good to step out of my head a bit and consider them with people that I am in 'community' with (we're part of the same church). Especially since the focus of the book is (in a simplified nutshell): an exploration of how the church engages with the world and a challenge to rethink what this could look like.
There was a paragraph that stood out to us and summarised a lot of our conversations this afternoon:
"God has called us to live lives of difficult paradox, a painful negotiation between conflicting and competitive values, of seeking to cooperate with God wherever He is at work. Such a position, full of ambiguity and irony, is also full of faith and hope" (p.73).
And this made me wonder, is this the 'narrow way' that Jesus referred to? - This not being swept along in the tide of current culture and all of the pressures and priorities that go with it whilst at the same time not withdrawing totally from the world around us and becoming irrelevant or invisible. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it (Matthew 7:14). I've never known quite what to make of this verse, because to me following Jesus is also a whole lot about freedom, and space, and grace, and for all people. SO maybe I'm wrong, but maybe it's more about this balance, which can sometimes feel like a tightrope, as we navigate our way through life, doing our best to love God and love people.
There was a paragraph that stood out to us and summarised a lot of our conversations this afternoon:
"God has called us to live lives of difficult paradox, a painful negotiation between conflicting and competitive values, of seeking to cooperate with God wherever He is at work. Such a position, full of ambiguity and irony, is also full of faith and hope" (p.73).
And this made me wonder, is this the 'narrow way' that Jesus referred to? - This not being swept along in the tide of current culture and all of the pressures and priorities that go with it whilst at the same time not withdrawing totally from the world around us and becoming irrelevant or invisible. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it (Matthew 7:14). I've never known quite what to make of this verse, because to me following Jesus is also a whole lot about freedom, and space, and grace, and for all people. SO maybe I'm wrong, but maybe it's more about this balance, which can sometimes feel like a tightrope, as we navigate our way through life, doing our best to love God and love people.
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