Conversely, there is the fire-and-brimstone, "we're all damned and doomed to hell" view. This is an equally dangerous focal point, because when we exempt the good in a situation, we don't leave that option open for ourselves. So suffice it to say that focusing on one extreme viewpoint is not a good thing. C.S. Lewis notes:
"The most dangerous thing you can do is to take any one impulse of your own nature and set it up as the thing you ought to follow at all costs. There's not one of them which won't make us into devils if we set it up as an absolute guide."
What's interesting is that you have to view both ends of the spectrum, and yet follow one single path. You cannot completely omit the good or completely omit the bad and retain a holistic view of the faith, yet there is only one set of rules you need concern yourself with. This is an interesting paradox that remains absolute in Christianity. Jesus says, "I am the Way, the Truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me." So you have to concern yourself with the Holy Trinity - the God of creation, the Christ of salvation, and the Spirit that moves in life - yet focus on the single path, the narrow one. As Frost would say, "I took the one (road) less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."
People's interests are greatly divided in today's world. We can see a perfect example of this in the typical day-to-day schedule; work at 7 AM, lunch at 1:30, pick up the kids at 3:00, take Billy to soccer at 4:15, dinner at Starbucks at 5 - there's not a single moment of serenity, much less any allotted section for time with God. This seems like an uneasy way to live - and our constancy proves this to be true. We need to step back and realize that while we should never stop moving to forward His Kingdom, we should take a breath once in a while - in fact, as often as possible - and ask the Dude Himself for help and guidance.
Part of the problem is that we are bombarded with options. In the modern world, we can literally choose whatever we want. Phone plans, buffets, relationships - anything that doesn't work for us, we can let it go and just have it remain in the back of our minds, in a sector of forgotten guilt. We cannot be focused on a sinful world and be mindful of Heaven simultaneously. C.S. Lewis writes, once again, a great quote on this, speaking of Heaven and Earth:
"Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither."
This is a wonderful representation of the situation, as he also says one cannot take "the smallest souvenir" of Hell into Heaven. However, this does not mean we can ignore a hellbound world. We are meant to capture it into faith, not save it from salvation. This is often mistaken in a world where Christians rarely provide true, unadulterated, Christ-driven service to the truly needy. Sorry, guys, but giving 5 grand to a megachurch to buy new animal crackers isn't better than giving two cents to go towards a growing third world nation. Like Jesus explains in the parable of the woman with the two coins, who gave everything she had, even though it was less than the rich guys' cash-cade.
At times, it seems that God has a split personality. There's the angry God who damns us all to hell and the loving Jesus that died for our sins. One of the best ways to explain this is that "God IS love, but God has anger." I'll leave it at that for now, but this is possibly one of the most complete and comprehensive explanations of the anger vs. love of God dilemma.
I suppose in my life, I don't consciously attempt to devote 100 percent of myself to God - although I should. We all should. Instead, we split our minds into two halves - potentially even less than half on God's side - one section for the world and one for God. God comes in when it is most convenient for us, when he "fits in" to our schedule. The truth is, He IS our schedule, or at least should be. We should revolve our lives around Him, not squeeze him in when we see fit. He should be the center of our lives, definitely not an afterthought.
The hard truth is, we cannot be half-Christians. We must either stay dirty sinners or complete the transformation. ...Okay, that might have been a bit of an overstatement, but you get the point. We must completely give ourselves over to God, completely die to ourselves, completely live a God-centered life. This isn't easy to swallow, but it sure is right. The right thing is almost never easy.
"One Man, One Path" describes the outset objective of this blog. It is to live a radical, controversial lifestyle as it aligns with God's Word. This isn't to say I want you to burn down houses of pagan worship or snipe atheists. I want you - and probably more so, me - to live a loved, God-centered life as we spread His Good News. Otherwise, what else is there?
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