Hey people,
I'm home. After one heck of a semester I've packed my life up again and plopped it back in Unionville for a couple weeks. I'll be shipping it overseas in a few weeks, but until then I'd like to offer some thoughts.
We are always learning. All the time. Even if it's just directions to somewhere, how your friend's night was, or philosophical postulations on divine foreknowledge, the world is a never-ending book to learn from. Rather daunting, if you think about it. But still very exciting. So all of that to say, I learned a ton this semester. Much of it I would like to share with you, and lucky for you, I can! I spent much of the semester studying different theories of psychotherapy and internally wrestling with their implications for faith. At the end of it all, I wrote a whopper of a paper on my views of human nature and problems and solutions for mental health (which I am quite proud of). So if you're interested in learning about the "Bodenian" approach to therapy, you can find it here. Personal Counseling Theory
Alright. That's enough of that.
There is one thing I would like to say, and it deserves much more thought than what I have time to give it right now. It concerns the Gospel, the Good News, the Christian message, or whatever you would call it. I would like to share with you what months of philosophical-postulating, theological-pondering, and thoughtful beard-stroking has taught me. Through my Philosophy of Religion class and personal investment in the topic, I quite literally dissected every facet of my faith in Jesus Christ, held it up to every lens of logical scrutiny, and somehow tried to stuff it back into my heart, where it must reside and guide my life.
The Gospel, the core of Christian belief, the saving message of God is this -- to know God.
To know him. To truly, intimately, deeply, emotionally, intellectually know God. That's simple, you may think. Perhaps to you it is. But for those of us who find ourselves thinking often about God, talking about him and learning about him, how radical and revolutionary it is to realize that we can talk to him. God is not a distant star to study, but a person to know.
For me, that is what it means to be a Christian. Know God. Funny concept to boil it all down to two little words, but those words are the starting point for all the intricacies and compulsions of belief. Once we know God for who he is, how can we but love him with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength? Once we have known him, how can we but read his Word and pray and sing and live for him?
To know God is to realize our own position before him. We deserve nothing, yet he loves us lavishly. We defy him daily, yet he forgives us undeservedly. We are crafted pottery, eternally cherished by an eternal Potter and created for his glory.
So when we say we are "saved", what does that mean, exactly? We are saved from our crippling, sinful ignorance, and brought into redeeming knowledge of the Saviour. That's amazing.
In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul says that God has called us into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ. That's what we are called to. Not just to Church or youth group or church potlucks or to be a good person and to do Christian things. But we are called to know God, and be daily transformed by that knowledge. To fellowship with Jesus Christ and grow everyday as branches drawing nearer to the vine.
1 Corinthians 13:12 "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."
- jmb
