"Modern conversion brings Jesus into our lives rather than bringing us into His" ~ Jim Wallis, in The Call to Conversion.
"The most common question in evangelism today is, "What can Jesus do for me?".
Potential converts are told that Jesus can make them happier, better adjusted and more prosperous. Jesus quickly becomes the supreme product, attractively packaged and aggressively sold to a consuming public.
The prophet undertakes his vocation out of love for the people and a deep desire to see them restored to the Lord. In order to free the captives, the captivity has to be named. And in America, in our day, our captivity is to the prosperity gospel."
~ Brennan Manning in The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus.
Philippians 3:10 "All I want to know is Christ and the power of His resurrection and to share in His sufferings by reproducing the pattern of His death."
To say that our lives should be free from suffering and pain is to invalidate the suffering of those Christians who daily love Jesus at risk of torture, death or imprisonment.
Those brothers and sisters in Christ who suffer from generations of poverty, mental illness and hereditary disease or life situations that all but destroy their human spirit.
To say that they have not embraced the full gospel and must be harbouring sin or unbelief in their lives.
No; our lives should be poured out in expecting that as Christ suffered, we, in our place in this world, will suffer in some way. But in this baptism, this knowing Christ through and in our sufferings, Christ will be glorified.
Suffering in itself is pointless. But suffering from the motive of love; is redemptive. Jesus modelled this.
"Why do we have a theology of recovery (eg; from pain) than a theology of suffering.
Which offends you more? Your ongoing pain or your ongoing sin? Which do you value more? Healing or forgiveness? We have lost the idea that ongoing struggles with things such as low-self esteem and loneliness may be God's means of drawing us into a closer relationship with Him.
When we pursue the satisfaction that God provides more than we pursue God - we get neither."
Larry Crabb from Inside Out
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