As I’ve shared before, I’m still reading at a progressive rate and it’s not unusual (as the Prophet Tom Jones once shared in song) for me to have a number of books on the go. I have something called a Wednesday book, which I’ve only tended to read on a Wednesday. (See how it works? Awesome, isn’t it?)
Of late that book is Tim Keller’s The Reason For God. Thanks to my sister for getting the book for me birthday and thanks to my dear friend Jason for recommending it to me. So far it’s proven t be a worthwhile read and I hope to get a review of it when I’m done.
In the second half of the book, Keller addresses some reasons for God particularly in considering the issues of sin, the crucifixion and the resurrection. Something Keller uses got my interest in particular. That was the device of using works of literature, art and culture and relating to important biblical concepts. Whether it was Les Miserables or Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the fusion of the story to the reality of Christ would often be thought provoking and highly illustrative.
From time to time I am also wont to make connections between Kingdom realities and the hints around us in culture and society as well as nature. It’s almost as though someone else had that happy knack of making parables out of the everyday issues.
In that pondering though, there is something that also resonated strongly was the difference between a good story that can be heart-warming and emotionally moving, but have little difference to the state of the heart itself.
Yeah, I’ve read some thing and seen some things in fiction portrayed in print or on film that have left me in a puddle of my own tears. (A small one obviously. Don’t say it loudly, of course, I’ve got a reputation to protect.) It’s not unusual for some moving issues to come across that can stir the emotions and even change the mind for a while on an issue, but the actual state of the heart remains little changed or perturbed.
That’s where Andrae Crouch’s song comes into it’s own. The story of Jesus is not just a story. It’s not just a story and in as much as I love prose and narrative and storytelling, it moves beyond that in being a force of truth and the gust of Spirit that actually brings about the transformation of the heart. In saying that we need new life – Jesus is not saying we need reformation, He is saying we need transformation. That only comes about through engaging with the truth of His mission, His life, His teaching, His death, His resurrection and His Kingdom. That is not something that is just a story, it is something far richer than that, which is hinted at in the confines of storytelling.
The truth of the proclaimed good news of Jesus Christ is the precursor to that force transforming lives – not just having an emotional effect, or a temporary change of mind. This news is the most radical element to ever hit our current experience of humanity.
It’s on coming across that reality again that I’m even more emboldened to share this good news and to again marry the glimpses He gives in culture, as an opening and opportunity to share that rich, pleasant life-giving news of the reality of Jesus Christ.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
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