New World View
For a long time, I've viewed Christianity as being "upside-down" from what the world expects.The world says "Me first." Christ says "God first."
The world says to give what you have at the end of your paycheck to charity. Christ says to give first to God.
The world says that evil deserves evil. Christ says to repay evil with good. Even more, he says we should love our enemies!
The world says we should strive for personal gain and glory. Christ says that all glory and honor belong to the Lord.
The world shrugs its collective shoulders and rolls its collective eyes when they hear that "the last shall be first and the first shall be last."
Dallas Willard calls this concept "The Great Inversion" and makes the smack-your-head-in-disbelief-that-I-never-saw-it-this-way point that it is, in fact, the world which is upside-down!
When I see this, when my perspective comes from this vantage point, I realize that my work in bringing others to know Christ isn't as impossible as it seems. It's simply a matter of turning them right-side-up. As Willard puts it, "to become a disciple of Jesus is to accept now that inversion of human distinctions that will sooner or later be forced upon everyone by the irresistable reality of his kingdom."
posted by Thurman8er @ 8:46 AM
3 Comments:
Once again the professor from southern california (can't remember if he's from ucla or sc, but he's an anamoly for almost any professor anywhere) hits a homerun.
It so easy to think like the World. That why we need to put God in focus in all aspects of our lives. Thank you for this reminder.
Here is a good video that reflects your blog some...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScWdek6_Ids
Greg - That's why he draws so many "Intentional Walks."
Good thoughts Steve. I think our "Church Leadership Model" should be upside down as well.
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