I'm sick of it all.
I'm getting it from so many angles.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Master vs Father
We spent last week at Sr Hi Camp, doing the annual thing... my kids had a blast, but not cause of the traditional things: we didn't really jive with the band, and the speaker was great, but he had a distinctly different style than me, so my kids were having a hard time following things sometimes.
But the interesting thing was that all this allowed for us to have wonderful discussion times: after the speaker got done, we went off as a cabin or a youth group (depending on time of day) and talked about what he's launched!! It was really cool.
The theme we focused on Monday night--that followed us through the week--dealt with the concept of how we view God: Master or Father. In Jesus' day, he refers to God as Father often... But we often view God as Master. Funny thing is that it doesn't really matter how I VIEW Him, He is who He is. Just cause I have a distinct perception, does not change who He is and what He's about.
So rather than try to fit God into our box, we need to figure out who He really is and what He's really all about. Freedom comes when we see God appropriately--as a father figure: Today, not all fathers are good examples, many fail to love their children, and many abandon their families... as a result, many today might rebel against the idea of God as Father, and yet, that's the analogy given, so we may as well get used to it and figure out what it really stands for: We can contextualize what the Father analogy stands for... you lived with your father for the rest of your life in Jesus' day. You followed in your Father's career path unless you made it as a rabbi. There's more, but that's a decent start.
But we often view God as master... we seem to think that if we fail in some aspect of our 'duty' He's going to withhold something... The analogy I used last week had to do with my own dad: I called him the morning of Father's Day to ask him out for lunch, not cause I had to so that he'd buy me a Christmas present, but because I wanted to... Had I forgotten and remembered the next day, he would have laughed when I called, and wouldn't have cared... God's the same!! I don't live for God because I think somehow He's going to abandon me if I screw something up... I live for Him cause I want to Love Him Tangibly.
Rambling... Out.
But the interesting thing was that all this allowed for us to have wonderful discussion times: after the speaker got done, we went off as a cabin or a youth group (depending on time of day) and talked about what he's launched!! It was really cool.
The theme we focused on Monday night--that followed us through the week--dealt with the concept of how we view God: Master or Father. In Jesus' day, he refers to God as Father often... But we often view God as Master. Funny thing is that it doesn't really matter how I VIEW Him, He is who He is. Just cause I have a distinct perception, does not change who He is and what He's about.
So rather than try to fit God into our box, we need to figure out who He really is and what He's really all about. Freedom comes when we see God appropriately--as a father figure: Today, not all fathers are good examples, many fail to love their children, and many abandon their families... as a result, many today might rebel against the idea of God as Father, and yet, that's the analogy given, so we may as well get used to it and figure out what it really stands for: We can contextualize what the Father analogy stands for... you lived with your father for the rest of your life in Jesus' day. You followed in your Father's career path unless you made it as a rabbi. There's more, but that's a decent start.
But we often view God as master... we seem to think that if we fail in some aspect of our 'duty' He's going to withhold something... The analogy I used last week had to do with my own dad: I called him the morning of Father's Day to ask him out for lunch, not cause I had to so that he'd buy me a Christmas present, but because I wanted to... Had I forgotten and remembered the next day, he would have laughed when I called, and wouldn't have cared... God's the same!! I don't live for God because I think somehow He's going to abandon me if I screw something up... I live for Him cause I want to Love Him Tangibly.
Rambling... Out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
