T H E R E A R E N O S T RO N G P EO P L E
T H I RT E E N : D I S A P P O I N T M E N T W I T H ‘ O U R O W N ’ I S D E VA S TAT I N G
And then out comes our secret weapon. Not ropes. Not a gun, or a fiery death.
our human condition in one word: we’re sheep – and sheep aren’t known for their intelligence.
Labelling machines.
And if anyone should understand that we humans are fatally flawed, it’s Christians. The gospel rips aside the curtain of human endeavour, the notion that we’re naturally evolving into something better, and offers us the liberating knowledge that we are made in the image of God and yet we are sinners. God’s treasure is in us: but it’s contained in some very flawed and plain earthenware. Lowering our expectations doesn’t have to be the result of a cynical heart.
Liberal. Unbiblical. Unsound. Heretic. Of course, not all of these people are right – but do we want to gag them all, whether they are right or wrong? –
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Just a realistic one. So keep calm. And carry on.
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Perhaps Samson felt the sting of the men of Judah’s words more keenly than the cut of their ropes. Disappointment with his own might have introduced a fatal virus of hopelessness into his soul. If he had had vague hopes that one day Israel might rise up, the army of 3,000 sent to capture one of their own dashed that dream into a thousand pieces. If you’re a dreamer, a reformer, a radical then you need to mingle realism in with your dreaming, lest you fall victim to the cancer of cynicism.
Don’t bet what you know to be true on the good or bad behaviour of others. Don’t be surprised when Christians do sad, stupid or overtly sinful things. After all, the Bible sums up
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