Wednesday, January 25, 2006

A Lot To Digest

Today I finished reading N.T. Wright’s book, The Challenge of Jesus – Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is, to which I first alluded in a post yesterday. I feel like I’ve just eaten a monster meal, like a Thanksgiving feast, but it’s all still a big bloat in my (already distended) mid-section. I need some time to digest and process what I’ve taken in before I can blog much about it.

I can, however, make some initial observations that do not need to be interpreted in light of the book. First, I cannot easily come to grips with the fact that I have lived virtually my entire life as a “Christian” but have not really investigated sufficiently nor understood comprehensively the mission of the person whom I purport to follow.

Secondly, (also to my own discredit) I have always practiced Christianity more or less as an exercise of mental assent, rather than as a participator in a glorious – albeit risky and thorny – journey.
This wonderful author has stimulated some eyelid action on my part in this regard.

Thirdly, after reading the book and watching Dr. Wright clearly and definitively lay the all-important groundwork and then build a compelling case for being involved in the cause of the kingdom – and all of what that means – I cannot at this point find any valid reason for non-involvement.

Through the years, it has been far easier for me to discuss and debate interpretations of various Christian viewpoints rather than take some personal risk and experience how it might actually work in my everyday world.

Oh, don’t jump to any quick conclusions and think that I’m saying that I’ve suddenly found Nirvana. What I am saying is that when I process the message of this author and begin to try to effect it in my life, I’m likely to be just as questioning, confronting and deliberating as ever. But at least I now have a more enlightened understanding of the commitment and of the journey I really want to make and take.

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