The Importance of Being Foolish

Ragamuffin Thoughts

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

“When all Christians surrender to the mystery of the fire of the Spirit that burns within; when we submit to the saving truth that we reach life only through death, that we come to light only through darkness; when we acknowledge that the grain of wheat must fall into the ground and die, that Jonah must be buried in the whale’s belly, that the alabaster jar of self must be broken if others are to perceive the sweet fragrance of Christ; when we respond to Jesus’s call of ‘Come to me,’ then the limitless power of the Holy Spirit will be unleashed with astonishing force upon the church and the world” (Brennan Manning, The Importance of Being Foolish: How to Think Like Jesus).

I think what we need is more Christians who are Christlike.

It sounds like a Captain Obvious statement, but so many Christians profess faith and live in such a way that denies that very faith. Your words are meaningless unless you back them up with actions. In other words, faith without good works is dead and useless.

I can say that because too often I’m one of those who say one thing and act another way. Unfortunately, the world is no longer buying our “Do as we say, not as we do” routine any longer.

It isn’t about trying harder or doing better. It’s about surrender. Raising the white flag of “I can’t but You can” and letting that flag fly free.

It’s about dying to your own desires and wishes and ways of doing things so that a new and better life takes root and takes over. That’s nothing less than the power of the resurrected Jesus in you.

That’s my prayer for me and for all of you, that we make a declaration of dependence and bow the knee in surrender once and for all.

 

An Early Saturday Morning Post

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

“You poor, you nobodies, you of little account by the world’s standards, you are blessed. It is my Father’s good pleasure to give you a privileged place in the kingdom– not because you worked so hard, and not because you are saying all the right things or doing all the right things or becoming all the right things, but because my Father wants you” (Brennan Manning, The Importance of Being Foolish).

I had this fantastic idea for a blog post earlier today. At least I believe it was fantastic. Not only can I not remember what I was going to write about, I can’t remember if it was average, good, great, or epic.

Sad.

What I do know is that tomorrow’s Saturday, which means I turn off my alarm and sleep in. The older I get, the more I fantasize about actual sleep– not sleeping with someone, but simply sleeping.

The older I get, I also realize that every day I get to wake up is a day where I’m blessed. More and more people I know didn’t get that privilege. Too many people I know won’t get to live to be my age, much less grow to be old.

I’m blessed not because I particularly deserve it, but because it was the Father’s good pleasure to bless me. It is the Father’s good pleasure to give me the kingdom simply for the joy of giving it.

I certainly have made poor choices in the last 24 hours, both in things done that I shouldn’t have done and in things left undone that I should have done.

That’s why I remain thankful for those mercies that are new each morning when I wake up. I’m grateful for God’s grace that sustains me through the days and weeks. Grace is what got me here, and grace is what will get me home.

 

 

A Book Review In Progress Of A Book I’ve Already Read

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

importance

“The great mark of a Christian is what no other characteristic can replace, namely the example of a life which can only be explained in terms of God” (Cardinal Emmanuel Suhard).

I’m re-reading a Brennan Manning book, The Importance of Being Foolish: How to Think Like Jesus. I started off not sure of whether I’d read the book or not, but soon started recognizing that I had indeed read it before. No matter. It’s worth a second (or third or fourth) read because it still speaks the same truth it did the first time around.

The book resonates with me because it is all about getting the Christian faith back to the basics. Actually, one basic: knowing Jesus. Not just in a ecclesiastical or theological way. Not knowing facts about him or memorizing his words to spout off in an argument. It’s about knowing Jesus, celebrating how he chose a nobody like me (or anyone else) to love and rescue and save.

This Jesus isn’t the feel-good type who’s telling everybody to be nicer to each other. He’s not only a wise teacher trying to make us better people with better morals and better ethics. He’s God in the flesh who says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.”

It’s both comforting and convicting. It’s comforting in that it’s about knowing a Person, not following rules and being good enough. It’s convicting, because I can’t know Jesus and stay the same. I can’t follow Jesus and not have to change radically.

I love this quote of Manning’s (from another book he wrote):

“The gospel is absurd and the life of Jesus is meaningless unless we believe that He lived, died, and rose again with but one purpose in mind: to make brand-new creation. Not to make people with better morals but to create a community of prophets and professional lovers, men and women who would surrender to the mystery of the fire of the Spirit that burns within, who would live in ever greater fidelity to the omnipresent Word of God, who would enter into the center of it all, the very heart and mystery of Christ, into the center of the flame that consumes, purifies, and sets everything aglow with peace, joy, boldness, and extravagant, furious love. This, my friend, is what it really means to be a Christian.”

That’s what I’m after. Are you?