Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Quoting Moltmann (new weekly feature)
"A Christian's being is in becoming. His becoming is a continual repentence, a continual new start in a new direction. It is a new start from sin to righteousness, from slavery to freedom, from doubt to faith, and from past to future. That is why the Christian's being is still hidden in the womb of the divine future. 'It does not yet appear what we shall be' (I John 3.2)...Because it is still hidden, and because being a Christian has a future quality about it, it is usually easier to say what a Christian is not, rather than what he is. In this passing and transitory world the true Christian is a [person] without a name, an extraneous element, a mysterious exception, a lonely harbinger of God's future."
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3 comments:
Adam,
A weekly quote from Moltmann will surely be a good thing! He is a provactive thinker and a little bit of a meddling preacher!
This quote reminds me of Paul's admonition for the Philippian disciple's (and us by extension) to "live up to what we have already received!" Sometimes I wonder if I am making progress....
"...it is usually easier to say what a Christian is not, rather than what he is." That's a lovely quote for those of us who are having trouble defining ourselves as we attempt to recover from toxic Christian circumstances.
Mike,
I think that maybe you missed the first part of the quote (or perhaps I'm assuming it gives more context that it does because I've read the entire book). I skimmed your blog, and from what I can tell, you still carry a lot of anger from those "toxic church experiences" that you reference. My heart is with you. The reason for many of those kinds of experiences is a corporate identity of self-justification rather than one that assumes a continual attitude of repentance/becoming. I think you would actually find a lot of hope in Moltmann. Stop back by as often as you can. I'd really enjoy the dialogue.
AE
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