Day 05: Seeing life from God's viewpoint

We are asked to identify a metaphor for our life. I think this is a valuable exercise and one that could be a real blessing to believers. It is so easy to 'sleep walk' through life in 'survival mode' that it sometimes takes real effort to stop and say "what is my life?" Mind-sets are curious things; they develop without us noticing but then have the power to shape us powerfully. There is a story told about Winston Churchill who when consulted as to the the architecture of a post-war-damage refurbished main debating chamber of the House of Commons said, "Be careful. We shape our building but thereafter they shape us." The House of Commons is based on confrontation with Government and Official Opposition. The two sides have a space between them that is wider than the length of two swords so that all confrontation must be with words and not arms. It produces, for better or worse, the confrontation politics of the British system of government.

I have worked on large projects which embraced a 'metaphor'; they can be liberating or confining. Sometimes people would not consider a different way of operating because it was 'outside the metaphor'. The metaphor becomes the foundation for all future planning. When metaphor becomes so fixed it can be more hindrance than help, but at this level the challenge "what is the most appropriate metaphor for my life" is bracing but helpful.

This chapter speaks of two such metaphors; the test and the trust. These are both helpful ways of examining our lives and are thoroughly biblical. This could make a good 'end of year' meditation. In what ways have I been tested this year and how have I faired? And then, what was trusted to my care this year and how do I stand as I am required to give an account of my stewardship? I am reminded of David's wise words... “O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have prepared to build You a house for Your holy name is from Your hand, and is all Your own. I know also, my God, that You test the heart...” (1Chr 29:16-17 NKJV)

Day 04: Made to last forever

I am beginning to get a little impatient for some 'meat'. However, I do understand that the book is written primarily for folks who are at the beginnings of their pilgrimage of faith and as such it will serve that purpose well. Rick Warren claims that "The reason we feel we should live forever is that God has wired our brains with that desire". I am beginning to wonder if God has wired my brain differently to Rick Warren's? Perhaps this is just a culture thing. The style of the shopping mall demonstrator selling the latest vegetable slicing gadget doesn't naturally appeal to me. How many different ways can you say 'you were made to last forever'?

But 'Eternity in human heart' is a great theme. We are the only creature that seems to have any interest in our past or our future; history and destiny are uniquely human preoccupations. It was worth the read to get to Matthew Henry's rather more economic expression of the truth; "It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for our final day", although Matthew Henry's gospel was much fuller than this simple aphorism.

Day 03: What drives your life?

I am beginning to feel a little uneasy. I have just read eight pages (twice as much as the previous two days) and have become aware of an omission; there is a word which is now conspicuous by its absence. I have read that the 'driving forces' of individual lives are guilt, resentment and anger, fear, materialism, and the need for approval. The word I was expecting to find is 'sin'.

TPDL makes the same fundamental mistake that troubles so much modern preaching; the notion that 'guilt' is a feeling. 'Guilt' biblically is 'blame-worthiness'. The court judges the man to be culpable and he is thus 'guilty' even if he whistles his way to the gallows. 'Guilty' is a verdict not an emotion. The word to describe our own consciousness of culpability is 'shame' not 'guilt'.

It is true that many are driven by these forces but the reason we are susceptible to such controls is that we have come under the 'driving force' of another spirit and have crossed the line in our personal choices again and again in clear defiance of what we knew to be the right thing to do. The lives of human beings are 'sin driven' These others are really just so many different symptoms of the one disease; man is separated from God.

Jesus Christ did not come into our world to make us happy but to 'put away sin'. The consequence of his 'putting away sin' will be, among other things, happiness but it was never his 'driving force'. He came to reconcile us to God through his own death and the reason that this was necessary was not because our lives were driven by wrong purposes but because our lives were out of sync with God.

The danger of symptom-based remedies is that they can leave the underlying disease uncured. The direction seems to be being set by today's 'point to ponder'; "Living on purpose is the path to peace." I have just returned from a Buddhist kingdom which is famous for its calm and tranquility. A Bible verse was constantly in my thoughts; “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.” (Luke 11:21 NKJV) Apparently peace is not always good for us.

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Day 02: You are not an accident

I really like this chapter. Over the years I have discovered that there are considerable numbers of people who have regarded themselves as 'unwanted' or 'accidental' children. It is a demoralising mood to carry through life. 'The Purpose Driven Life' (from now on TPDL) deals well with this constant pain.

The chapters all have a 'question to consider' and this chapter's question is...

"Knowing that God uniquely created me, what areas of my personality, background, and physical appearance am I struggling with?"

I'm a little uneasy with this question. If this book is intended for 'new readers' I am anxious that some may confuse personality with sin-states. Perhaps this will become clearer later. As it is this assertion that we are not superfluous to requirements but part of God's intention is much needed in our 'bin-it' age. So far, so good.

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Day 01: It's not about you

Book drying out nicely. The opening sentence is a great starting point although the rest of the day's reading does seem to concentrate on 'fulfillment'. I think we have to be fair here and ask who is the intended reader in the mind of the writer. I would guess, at this point, that he is addressing a generation of Christians and non-Christians who have been taught by 'sermon and song' that 'it IS all about me'. This 'it's not about you' may come as a shock to many 'Christians' as well as to 'non-Christians'.

And yet most of this chapter is 'anthropo-centric'; man centred. This is not necessarily always wrong. (How about that for 'fence sitting'?) We know, according to the scripture, that 'no one is seeking God' (Rom 3:11) and that 'no one' includes Jews and Gentiles. By first instinct we are all 'seeking something FROM God'; this is our creature instinct, we have needs. Christ's claim was that His anointing was to enable him to 'meet needs' (Luke 4:18,19). There is nothing wrong with realising that, as long as we don't slip into the notion that Christ is a solution-dispensing-machine.

One of my favourite older writers is Paget Wilkes who wrote books which usually started with the words "The Dynamic of...". If any reading this can get a copy of "The Dynamic of Service" (or tell me of an online version) I would heartily recommend it. He identifies the conditions of the 'natural man' and shows how God has addressed himself to being an all embracing Saviour.

Although I don't really like the title of the book it is true that all lives are 'driven' and, in fact, they are mostly 'purpose driven' or 'hunger driven'. I am suspicious of the title simply because it sounds as though we are going to substitute one compulsion for another. It is shaping up as an explanation of why we should have a different 'driving force'. That still sounds a bit as if 'it IS all about me'.

Existentialism and its daughter post-modernism claim that life is literally 'meaning-less'. Life is 'non-sense' and purely random. There are no big answers because there are no big questions. There is just life without explanation but, in spite of the media's propagation of these philosophies, there remains a lurking suspicion in the minds of most people that there 'must be' some purpose. For such this chapter is a good starting point.

I can see one issue already surfacing and that is the phrase 'the Bible says' followed by various translations of the scripture. Sometimes it just doesn't!

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Day 00: I just dropped Rick Warren in the bath

Not from shock, just carelessness. But why take 'The Purpose Driven Life' there in the first place? I get asked lots of questions and from time to time people are curious about my opinions. One question that comes up from time to time is Rick Warren and the Purpose Driven phenomena. 'What do you think?' folks ask. I generally try not to comment on things I have not had personal experience with, so my comments have usually been restrained and somewhat negative. Why negative? Well I have a couple of prejudices. Like all prejudices they have some reasons and lots of gaps. I have two potential areas of problem; the Merchandising of Christianity and 'How to' Christianity.

Franchising is an effective marketing methodology. It gives the product a high profile and the power of any exposure is thus acculmulative. It produces the 'one size fits all' phenomena of MacDonalds and Starbucks. It also produces the kind of thinking which thinks that the whole world wide church should be marching to the sound of a single drum. After all, 20 million Christians can't be wrong. (20 million copies of The Purpose Driven Life have been sold) The book of the Revelation contains messages to 7 churches. Each church was distintively different to every other and the word of God was carefully tailored to each separate church. No 'one size fits all' here. God's physical creation doesn't support this model; there are no two blades of grass the same and in the whole of creation there is scarcely a single straight line. The New Testament refers to the 'variagated grace of God'. Perhaps I'm just a congenital non-conformist but I love 'difference'. I am also deeply suspicious of mega-buck generating Christian enterprises.

When I was much younger there was a popular TV programme called 'The 6 million dollar man'. The plot was a test pilot who suffered a major accident and whose body was pretty well mangled. As the opening shots showed the event and the rush to the surgery we hear the famous words, "we have the technology, we can rebuild him'. It was part of the 'can do' philosophy of the USA during those years; the worship of 'method' and 'projects' and 'technology'. My own opinion is that this philosophy has had a devastating effect on genuine Christianity and has substituted method for Spirit.

Still I hate to judge a thing before I have examined it and a 'free' copy came my way so I determined to give it a fair crack of the whip. So I determined to, at least, make a start and thought a blog might be a useful way of recording my reactions. I doubt that I will manage a full 40 day immersion but I will give it a try.

I have a single criteria in reading and commenting... the book 'The Purpose Driven Life'. I am not going to comment or judge the Rick Warren juggernaut, just this book. I will try to react and respond to what it says and not to what I have heard Rick Warren believes or does, or his friends and associates believe and do. This is to be Biblebase and the Purpose Driven Life! So we were all ready to make a start... when I dropped the book into the bath! So we have a short pause while it dries out and then we will see where it leads.

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