Senior 31: Christianity, religiosity, Halloween, and metaphysics

FOR THOSE WHO WEREN'T aware, I'm leading a D-group this semester. I love it; the four guys in that group are great and I so enjoy meeting with them. The following reflection is drawn from Tuesday evenings' meeting:

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IN CHRISTIANITY, THERE IS sometimes a tendency to fall into a system of expectations and rewards. As much as we may desire to love God for His own sake, to act selflessly from pure motives, there always seems to be lurking in the wings the idea that 'if I do x then I will get y. ' Perhaps y is God's favor or material rewards or peace of mind or healing of relationships or personal fulfillment or eternal life in heaven. My friend, Caleb, in D-group this evening, helped me to realize and remember that this is the inevitable end of all systems of "religiosity." Religion always turns into 'if I do x then I will get y.'

But Christianity is not about religion; rather, it is about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That is a familiar refrain that has become cliche for many--but I am seeing it in a fresh way. Christianity is--and must always be--about interacting with a person. Loving God for God's sake begins with loving God as a real, living person. Serving Him from selfless motives begins with the recognition that our actions are for Him and received by Him. And I suspect that many of the other pictures of the Christian walk begin to make sense when we realize that we are not so much called to action or practice as we are to a relationship. (The actions and practices are subordinate to the relationship. On the other hand, we can do very little--if anything--in the way of growth in our relationship with God that is not accompanied by and expressed through action. That is the flip side of the coin; I do not mean to neglect that side, but am excited to share with you the one realization I had.)

And if you're worried that your motives are not completely pure, God's grace is sufficient for that as well. Just keep pursuing that relationship with Him.

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ALSO THIS EVENING, I watched Mystery Science Theatre 3000 - "The Brain that Wouldn't Die" with Josh and Tirzah and Tyler. That was so much fun, and, I think, a great way to celebrate Halloween.

A couple weeks ago (I don't think I mentioned previously) I attended the APU Theatre Program's production of Dracula (another 'horror' piece, though not on as many levels as "The Brain...") It was very well done and thoroughly enjoyable. I was struck, in particular, by Bram Stoker's commentary on the limits of scientific inquiry and the reality of the spiritual realm. The novel was originally published around the turn of the twentieth century during the Industrial Revolution. At the next opportunity I shall have to read the novel.

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AND, FINALLY, ONE MORE random recollection from the last couple of days...

From my readings in early 20th Century philosophy, I realized that metaphysics has been hard-pressed for some time by opposition from both sides of the philosophical spectrum. On the one side is the analytic critique which asserts that metaphysical statements are devoid of meaningful content. On the other side, the continental philosophers charge metaphysics with constructing artificial, arbitrary systems and oppressive meta-narratives. Given these two opposing critiques--I told my philosophy professor on Monday--I conclude, based on Aristotle's principle of the golden mean, that metaphysics must be the absolutely correct course.

Isn't philosophy wonderful?

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ALRIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH FOR now. I was excited to share that first reflection on Christianity with you all... and then all the other stuff just followed. But it's late now and time to sleep.

Blessings all,

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God is in this place,
And that reality, seen and understood by the grace of God in Jesus Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit, makes all the difference in the world.