Rob Monti,
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Monday, October 17, 2005
On surrendering to Christ
"The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become, because He has made us. He invented all the different people that you and I were intended to be. It is when I turn to Christ, when I give up my self to His personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own." - C.S. Lewis
If Lewis is near to the mark (and I think he is), a healthy sense of self is rooted in one's surrender to God. Such surrender does not consist merely of one's deeds (e.g., I want to do X, but I will do Y because that is what God is commanding of me). God is not so much after our time, our deeds, or our finances -- although we ought to steward these things in accordance with His will -- as He is after our selves.
The idea and priority of Christ's lordship over our lives is primarily over my person, my identity, my self. If my soul, the very essence of my being, is submitted to God, then that will eventuate in His lordship over my deeds. So His lordship over the way I spend my time, the way I spend my resources, the way I think, live, and treat other people, doesn't develop in a vacuum. Obedience in these matters is derived from a genuine, day-by-day surrender of the self to the Maker.
This means that I -- who I am, as I am -- must be surrendered to the Father on the most granular, fundamental level possible. My innermost being must be His. As the psalmist put it, He desires truth in the inward parts.
Thus, the base currency of lordship is relationship. As I relate to God an exchange occurs: I become more myself to the degree that I become like Him. I think of how we often "imprint" on certain individuals -- a parent, a teacher, a friend -- who influence us in ways so profound that we are actually shaped by them. What we each call "me" forever bears their unique stamp. The same thing happens when we spend time with God; but as our Creator, His stamp is the fundamental key to unlocking who we are and what we are supposed to be. It is in Him that we live and move and have our being.
I find that I tend to think of Christian discipleship primarily as a commitment that is demonstrated in our actions. This is biblical, or course, but one-dimensional. What God calls for is for us to allow our very life-essence to be His. If I belong to Him in my person, then my deeds will follow suit. Paul states that we are the workmanship of God, created for good works in Christ. Discipleship, then, is allowing the craft and skill of Jesus to mold us from the inside out -- from the micro to the macro level -- so that the inner surrender of the self to God becomes light shining outwardly through us. Then, men will see our good deeds and give glory to Him.
Blessings,
Rob
aka The MonT-SteR
"The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become, because He has made us. He invented all the different people that you and I were intended to be. It is when I turn to Christ, when I give up my self to His personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own." - C.S. Lewis
If Lewis is near to the mark (and I think he is), a healthy sense of self is rooted in one's surrender to God. Such surrender does not consist merely of one's deeds (e.g., I want to do X, but I will do Y because that is what God is commanding of me). God is not so much after our time, our deeds, or our finances -- although we ought to steward these things in accordance with His will -- as He is after our selves.
The idea and priority of Christ's lordship over our lives is primarily over my person, my identity, my self. If my soul, the very essence of my being, is submitted to God, then that will eventuate in His lordship over my deeds. So His lordship over the way I spend my time, the way I spend my resources, the way I think, live, and treat other people, doesn't develop in a vacuum. Obedience in these matters is derived from a genuine, day-by-day surrender of the self to the Maker.
This means that I -- who I am, as I am -- must be surrendered to the Father on the most granular, fundamental level possible. My innermost being must be His. As the psalmist put it, He desires truth in the inward parts.
Thus, the base currency of lordship is relationship. As I relate to God an exchange occurs: I become more myself to the degree that I become like Him. I think of how we often "imprint" on certain individuals -- a parent, a teacher, a friend -- who influence us in ways so profound that we are actually shaped by them. What we each call "me" forever bears their unique stamp. The same thing happens when we spend time with God; but as our Creator, His stamp is the fundamental key to unlocking who we are and what we are supposed to be. It is in Him that we live and move and have our being.
I find that I tend to think of Christian discipleship primarily as a commitment that is demonstrated in our actions. This is biblical, or course, but one-dimensional. What God calls for is for us to allow our very life-essence to be His. If I belong to Him in my person, then my deeds will follow suit. Paul states that we are the workmanship of God, created for good works in Christ. Discipleship, then, is allowing the craft and skill of Jesus to mold us from the inside out -- from the micro to the macro level -- so that the inner surrender of the self to God becomes light shining outwardly through us. Then, men will see our good deeds and give glory to Him.
Blessings,
Rob
aka The MonT-SteR
Labels: C.S. Lewis, Christianity
Monday, February 23, 2004
A slice of the MonT-SteR's journal
An entry in my personal journal from February 1, 2004:
Here's a personal musing on C.S. Lewis from my own Christian perspective:
Food for thought ...
Blessings,
Rob
aka The MonT-SteR
An entry in my personal journal from February 1, 2004:
In my earlier days as a believer, I majored on the miraculous power of God. My constant hope and expectation was to see the might of the Most High crash dramatically through barriers of human limitation and demonic machination. With time and growth, I came to witness the unrelenting subversiveness of the quiet, patient exercise of His power. Even the trickle of the tiniest stream has the ability to carve canyons over time.
I think, however, that my pendulum may have swung too far in one direction. A fellow student in one of my missions classes said, "I'm tired of a powerless Gospel." That's the way I feel today. Whether it comes by trickle or tempest, God's power is available to His children. I've lost sight of that. I don't live as though it's true.
No more.
Here's a personal musing on C.S. Lewis from my own Christian perspective:
Friday, January 10, 2003
I'm reading Mere Christianity right now, and had a few thoughts on the timelessness of God. C.S. Lewis says that reality for God is beyond any sort of timeline, i.e., past, present, and future. For Him, all is Now. Anything less would cause God to lose some of His reality. Once present becomes past for us, it is no longer something we can experience or know directly. Reality, for us, is limited to the instant. For God, all is current reality. What we call tomorrow and cannot see, He calls Now�to Him, it is just as visible, just as experiential, as the instant is to us. The same goes for the past. Hence, as Scripture says, 1000 years with the Lord is as but 1 day, and vice versa.
I mention all this in relationship to prophecy. Since God is timeless, the knowledge He bestows to His people is timeless as well. Thus, predictive prophecy is made possible. Since tomorrow is Now for God, He can give us tomorrow's information Now. The gift of prophecy can often be the means by which the timelessness belonging uniquely to God breaks into the time-bound reality we all know. The prophet's lips can be a window on the timeless, and his words harbingers of the eternal. God uses those who prophesy to minister His own unique perspective (one which we cannot gain on our own) to the Body of Christ. It is the inbreaking of the eternal on the finite�an opportunity for time-bound humanity to see tomorrow Now with some of the clarity that God alone enjoys.
Food for thought ...
Blessings,
Rob
aka The MonT-SteR
Labels: C.S. Lewis, Christianity, The MonT-SteR
