Last night we had #BibleHourUg on the TL and the focus was 'The Importance Of Christian Literature' in the life of the Christian. BibleHourUg simply uses the hour between 7:30-8:30pm to create an atmosphere for conversation around the word of God.
Anyway, back to Christian literature and it's importance. It is very easy to say we are dependent on the word of God and yet, in reality, we really are not. It is fancy Christian talk but when the rubber hits the rod, we quickly realize that we are more reliant on other things. We rely on 'experience;' both ours and that of other people and we give it greater importance than the word of God.
Is there a place for experience in our Christian walk? I would believe so. For how else are we drawn to our need for a Saviour except we face our humanity? How else are we drawn to the heart of God except we trust ourselves and fail? How else can we understand or get a glimpse of our frailty except we attempt to put our hope in our own ability to save ourselves?
We grow into a place of trusting God whenever we try on our own and fail. We once had this conversation in Bible study. Our focus was Job and we asked ourselves the question about our humanity. It emanated from Job's constant whining because of what he was going through and one of us said 'Job is just being human' but it took us down that road. What does it mean to be human? And the short answer is that it simply means to be fallen/ flawed/ imperfect.
But so many times, people will do things and then say 'I'm human; don't judge me' however, is that the essence of our humanity? To do things and then fall back on being human as some sort of excuse for our bad manners? Should this humanness point us to our need for a Saviour instead? Shouldn't our humanity cause us to realize that we really are helpless and therefore draw us to a perfect God? Shouldn't our weakness amplify His perfection? For in our weakness His strength is made perfect!
This is what it should mean to read Christian literature, no? The literature that we read should paint God as perfect for He is perfect and draw us to Him. If it takes away from the greatness of God and tells us how great we are/ how great we can be (by causing us to trust our ability), then it should be questioned. It doesn't matter how much scripture is quoted (we will not go into contextualization of scripture for now), anything that invites you to focus your eyes on yourself and not Christ will drown you. I mean, ask Peter what happened when he stepped out of the boat to walk on the water...
Don't get me wrong, I'm not rubbishing Christian literature/ other people's experiences. Instead I'm questioning it's motive and it's outcome, which you should too. In an era where self-help is very popoular, does this literature send you back to God (who surely is your help)? Or does it tell you that you can help yourself?
Is Christian literature important, yes BUT who does it point you to?
Anyway, back to Christian literature and it's importance. It is very easy to say we are dependent on the word of God and yet, in reality, we really are not. It is fancy Christian talk but when the rubber hits the rod, we quickly realize that we are more reliant on other things. We rely on 'experience;' both ours and that of other people and we give it greater importance than the word of God.
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| Comment from Pauline Kahuubire on the TL |
We grow into a place of trusting God whenever we try on our own and fail. We once had this conversation in Bible study. Our focus was Job and we asked ourselves the question about our humanity. It emanated from Job's constant whining because of what he was going through and one of us said 'Job is just being human' but it took us down that road. What does it mean to be human? And the short answer is that it simply means to be fallen/ flawed/ imperfect.
But so many times, people will do things and then say 'I'm human; don't judge me' however, is that the essence of our humanity? To do things and then fall back on being human as some sort of excuse for our bad manners? Should this humanness point us to our need for a Saviour instead? Shouldn't our humanity cause us to realize that we really are helpless and therefore draw us to a perfect God? Shouldn't our weakness amplify His perfection? For in our weakness His strength is made perfect!
This is what it should mean to read Christian literature, no? The literature that we read should paint God as perfect for He is perfect and draw us to Him. If it takes away from the greatness of God and tells us how great we are/ how great we can be (by causing us to trust our ability), then it should be questioned. It doesn't matter how much scripture is quoted (we will not go into contextualization of scripture for now), anything that invites you to focus your eyes on yourself and not Christ will drown you. I mean, ask Peter what happened when he stepped out of the boat to walk on the water...
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| Comment from NinnoJackJr also on the TL |
Don't get me wrong, I'm not rubbishing Christian literature/ other people's experiences. Instead I'm questioning it's motive and it's outcome, which you should too. In an era where self-help is very popoular, does this literature send you back to God (who surely is your help)? Or does it tell you that you can help yourself?
Is Christian literature important, yes BUT who does it point you to?
Comments
The literature I think shouldn't be taken as the "ultimate" help.