6th of June, 2007
voice of the day
Posted by greglarson in quotes at 7:36 am | 
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Make no mistake about it, this drama and this Kingdom’s agenda is at the center of the meaning of cosmic history and your own individual story. Like a grand conductor who calls in the flutes at just the right time, your Father has brought you into the Cosmic Symphony at your unique place in time and space so you can be a vibrant outpost in your sphere of influence. In short, you are here to be an apprentice of the Lord Jesus to learn how to live your life well as part of God’s broader purposes. This is your calling, this is your destiny, this is your only chance to have a life of genuine, full human flourishing.” - J.P. Moreland, Kingdom Triangle (Zondervan, 2007)
6th of June, 2007 at 10:15 am
Caveat: I’m a skeptical, slightly cynical, person. Hence, I tend to look mildly askance at “once more into the breach” speeches, partly because they remind me a bit too much of Tolkien-ish interpretive girds placed onto the redemptive narrative.
I guess one question I have is how this kind of rhetoric (and I’m using “rhetoric” without the pejorative sense that often is implied) is supposed to be assimilated by someone whose life mostly revolves around barely surviving (e.g., working insane hours in order just to pay bills, feed a family, etc.).
I see how this more or less romantic view can be assimilated by people like you and me, but I wonder what this is supposed to mean to people who don’t live a life filled with “spiritual leisure time.”
7th of June, 2007 at 7:50 pm
Great question Dan, I like your honesty. I did think it was a bit humorous — your term ’spiritual leisure time’. Never really looked at it that way before. Anyway, I think we think alike in some ways, as Michelle says she is surprised that I am in ministry some times — because of my skeptical and cynical side also. This quote I actually used at the very end of a message that I just gave at Kairos, and so there was a lot to say leading up to this quote. This blog, is not a place for sermons, but more or less - pictures, travelogue, quotes, pithy little statements, etc. & so I cannot/dont go into much explanation of quotes.
Actually, to get to your point — a person who is ‘barely surviving’ needs thoughts like this more than anyone in my opinion. To know that there is a kingdom (how Dallas Willard uses the term), at work - outside of the only kingdom that they can see - can give hope, when there seems to be so little in the world.
I’m running out of room to respond — but please do email more thoughts/questions.