Poetry: Lost and Found

I missed him when the sun began to bend;
I found him out when I had lost his rim;
With many tears I went in search of him,
Climbing high mountains which did still ascend,
And gave me echoes when I called my friend;
Through cities vast and charnel-houses grim,
And high cathedrals where the light was dim,
Through books and arts and works without and end,
But found him not – the friend whom I had lost.
And yet I found him – as I found the lark,
A sound in fields I heard but could not mark;
I found him nearest when I missed him most;
I found him in my heart, a life in frost,
A light I knew not till my soul was dark.

George MacDonald
1824-1905

Review: The Gift of Being Yourself by David G. Benner

David Benner’s book, The Gift of Being Yourself:  The Sacred Call to Self-Discovery is a call to transformation through seeing oneself as God does.  The main weakness of the book seems to be its title – in this self-centered age, it may sound as if the book’s contents focus on a more narcissistic type of self-discovery, rather than a call to spiritual growth.  Benner himself clarifies this possible misconception early in the book, noting that finding our identity in Christ is radically different than the type of self-fulfillment described in secular psychology.

The Gift of Being Yourself is primarily a book about living out of an authentic identity in Christ, shedding the pretense of false identity through confession and accepting God’s love and forgiveness.  Benner writes that one’s true identity can only be found in God; the book begins with a chapter on knowing God.  He recommends both meditation on Jesus through the gospels, and searching for God’s presence in all of life through a daily pray of self-examination as two ways to learn to know God at a heart level.   Benner states that knowing God in this way must be experiential, and that this knowledge of God is the prerequisite to true self-knowledge.

We are graven on the palms of God’s hands and never out of the Divine mind. All our knowledge of God depends on God’s sustained initiative in knowing us. We know God, because God first knew us, and continues to know us. Genuine self-knowledge begins by looking at God and noticing how God is looking at us. Grounding our knowing of our self in God’s knowing of us anchors us in reality. It also anchors us in God.  (Kindle location 341)

After discussing developing a heart-knowledge of God, Benner then writes about the steps in knowing oneself, and developing an identity that is grounded in Jesus.  He first talks about the process of self-acceptance.  Self-acceptance, however, is not covering over or denying sin; rather, it is acknowledging the reality of sin and failure in the light of God’s presence and love.  Benner sees this, rather than “self-improvement projects” as a first step to true transformation.  Then, he writes about the processes through which the false self- the identity we wish to project to the world- is developed, and the need to become free from the patterns of thought and root sins surrounding the false self.  He writes,

Our basic style is often built around the things that were reinforced for us as children. It usually starts with the things we do well. Over time our repertoire of competencies grows, and we learn to live in a way that we think will work for us. This becomes “our way,” or what we simply think of as who we are. . .   But God wants something better than fig leaves for us. God wants us to be aware of our helplessness so we can know that we need Divine help. God’s deepest desire for us is to replace our fig leaves with garments of durability and beauty (Genesis 3:21). Yet we cling to our fig-leaf false self. We believe that we know how to take care of our needs better than God. (Kindle locations 602, 674).

In the final chapter, Benner discusses how vocation can be formed within the true self, living out one’s calling in relationship to God.  He contrasts the way in which people strive after happiness and fulfillment end goals, with the true joy and fulfillment that comes from living life in Christ.  Benner writes that life lived rooted in Christ leads to happiness and fulfillment in our true self- not the false selves of our own making.

In the final chapter, Benner concludes by writing,

The self is not God. But it is the place where we meet God. There can be no genuine spiritual transformation if we seek some external meeting place. God’s intended home is our heart, and it is meeting God in our depths that transforms us from the inside out. (Kindle location 914)

Authenticity is a major theme of The Gift of Being Yourself.  Patterns of image-making and a lack of confession are a barrier to authenticity.  Benner provides a path for growth through knowing God, being truly honest about one’s own nature, and pursuing transformation in the light of both truth and love.
The Gift of Being Yourself: The Sacred Call to Self-Discovery

March Reading Log

Here is this month’s reading list, so far…

• Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
• Necessary Endings by Henry Cloud
• Give Me This Mountain by Helen Roseveare
• The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith
• The Gift of Being Yourself:  The Sacred Call to Self-Discovery by David G. Benner
• Discover the Mystery of Faith:  How Worship Shapes Believing by Glenn Packiam
• Love to the Uttermost by John Piper
• Teaching for Critical Thinking by Stephen D. Brooksfield

Snippets: Orthodoxy

Though published over 100 years ago, many portions of G.K. Chesterton’s book Orthodoxy sound as though they were written to address problems of the current day- revealing that many things do not in fact change as rapidly as we may think they do.  Discussing the topic of convictions, he writes,

But what we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place.  Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition.  Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be.  A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. (Kindle location 356-58)

Orthodoxy

Review: Helen Roseveare- Give Me This Mountain

Give Me This Mountain is Helen Roseveare’s autobiography, telling the story of her journey to the Congo, her work setting up hospitals and clinics, and her trials through the years of the Congo’s independence.  In the first part of the book she writes about her youth, focusing on her years in medical school, her conversion to Christ, and the journey that led her to work in the Congo.  She does not shy away from sharing her weak moment and failures, sharing openly how her faith is shaped throughout her journey.  Though her courageous actions during conflict in the initial years of Congo’s independence might, written less honestly, cause her to be perceived as “super-human”, her transparency in telling her story reveals her growth as God shapes her.

Writing about her early days training for missionary service, Roseveare tells of a cleaning assignment she pursues diligently, trying to impress her supervisor.  She is corrected, being told that,

If you are doing it for me, you may as well go home.  You’ll never satisfy me.  You’re doing it for the Lord, and He saw the first time you cleaned it. (Kindle location 850-51)

Later in the book, Roseveare writes of her adjustments to life in the Congo- the challenges she faces as her own desires are thwarted, and the successes she achieves as she opens medical clinics and hospitals in a vastly underserved area.  She also writes honestly of a period of struggle during a year at home in England, before returning to face what would be immense difficulty during the period immediately after Congo’s independence.  Her successes are inspiring– more so because they are put in the context of her less-than-inspired moments.

Near the end of the book, Roseveare summarizes what she has learned, writing,

Another deep truth I have learnt, and one we can all cling to, is that God is personally interested in us as individuals and that He will engineer our circumstances and daily lives so that He can thereby make us like Jesus.  This takes the sting out of much that could otherwise hurt.  He allows various accidents and happenings to occur, which will affect us deeply, perhaps, only so that, through them, we may be drawn closer to Himself.  (Kindle location 2164-67)

Give Me This Mountain is well-worth reading- especially for the honest portrait of how faith grows in an imperfect person, allowing them to do what otherwise would be impossible.
Give Me This Mountain

Chrysostom: Christ’s Sacrifice

For this Blood moulds in us a royal image, it suffers not our nobleness of soul to waste away, moreover it refreshes the soul, and inspires it with great virtue. This Blood puts to flight the devils, summons angels, and the Lord of angels. This Blood poured forth washed the world, and made heaven open. They that partake of it are built up with heavenly virtues, and arrayed in the royal robes of Christ; yea rather clothed upon by the King Himself.

Chrysostom. (Hom. 46. in Joan.)

Snippets: Simply Jesus

In N.T. Wright’s book Simply Jesus he explores the power and meaning of the resurection.  Discussing Luke 24, he writes about the way the resurrection paves the way for life in the new creation.  He writes,

 That is why, in Luke’s gospel, the risen Jesus tells his followers to go and announce to the world that a new way of life has been opened, the way of “repentance” and “forgiveness” (24:47). To us Westerners, that sounds a bit gloomy, as though it’s a perpetual act of contrition, dredging up our “sins” in order to hear someone declare them forgiven (until next time!). But it’s far, far bigger than that. The old creation lives by pride and retribution: I stand up for myself, and if someone gets in my way I try to get even. We’ve been there, done that, and got the scars to prove it. Now there is a completely different way to live, a way of love and reconciliation and healing and hope. It’s a way nobody’s ever tried before, a way that is as unthinkable to most human beings and societies as—well, as resurrection itself. Precisely. That’s the point. Welcome to Jesus’s new world.

Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters

Classic Reads: Mere Christianity

C.S Lewis’ classic book Mere Christianity explains the basic truths and convictions held by all Christians.  The book is divided into four parts.  The first section is a defense of the existence and nature of truth; the way in which we acknowledge the moral law of right and wrong points to the existence of truth, and affirms the basic principles of Christian faith.  The second section outlines the nature of the gospel, and the third outlines the way that Christianity is lived out in the believer’s actions.  The last section addresses the nature of the trinity.

In the third section, Lewis discusses the nature of Christian morality, constrasting it with other law-based systems of behaviour.

That is why the Christian is in a different position from other people who are trying to be good. They hope, by being good, to please God if there is one; or—if they think there is not—at least they hope to deserve approval from good men. But the Christian thinks any good he does comes from the Christ-life inside him. He does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us; just as the roof of a greenhouse does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the sun shines on it. (Kindle location 931).

Though Lewis talks of Christian virtues, he also discusses the true nature of what can easily become “acceptable sins”.  He contrasts sexual immorality with other types of sin, pointing out that the sins that we less easily recognize can be serious and soul-destroying.

All the worst pleasures are purely spiritual: the pleasure of putting other people in the wrong, of bossing and patronising and spoiling sport, and back-biting, the pleasures of power, of hatred. For there are two things inside me, competing with the human self which I must try to become. They are the Animal self, and the Diabolical self. The Diabolical self is the worse of the two. That is why a cold, self-righteous prig who goes regularly to church may be far nearer to hell than a prostitute. But, of course, it is better to be neither. (Kindle location 1367)

Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis Signature Classics)

Snippets: The Call to Joy and Pain

In The Call to Joy and Pain: Embracing Suffering in Your Ministry Ajith Fernando calls Christian leaders to maturity and growth by understanding the reality of suffering in service.  He focuses on the need to develop character, and does not avoid the realities of emotional pain and struggles that come as a result of service.  His challenge is to move past frustration, disillusionment, and bitterness to a stronger relationship with Christ, resulting in more effective ministry.

By opening ourselves to God’s comfort we also open ourselves to healing from bitterness. We are bitter when we think of an event in purely negative terms. If God has comforted us, even though the memory of the event is still painful, the bitterness will be gone because we have experienced a love that is greater than the harm done to us. Having experienced God’s comfort we are also able to face people, even people who have hurt us, with God’s grace, which is greater than all sin. So we can be a constructive presence in unpleasant and angry situations. Our bitterness is gone. Now our full energies are given to finding a resolution rather than showing that we are right or teaching the person who hurt us a lesson. (Kindle locations 312-316)

There are no shortcuts to developing depth. If you want to have a deep impact on this world, you will have to suffer. (Kindle location 994)

To impact people we need more than technical excellence. We need depth-producing frustration that comes out of an incarnational lifestyle lived among the people we serve. We should use our gifts out of a lifestyle of caring for people. We should do a little of a lot of things and also try to give time to work on our areas of giftedness. ( Kindle location 1249-52)

The Call to Joy and Pain: Embracing Suffering in Your Ministry

Snippets- The Divine Commodity

In his book The Divine Commodity:  Discovering a Faith Beyond Consumer Christianity Skye Jethani writes about the impact of consumerism on faith, and the ways in which we can choose to be free from cultural captivity in worship.  Contrasting consumer culture with silent reflection, he writes,

Consumerism, with its never-ending noise about its consumable god, has led us to believe that our words and notions about God are of supreme importance. It has made the church into a noisy orchestra without harmony and fearful of silence. But humble silence offers us liberation from our digital cocoons to experience wonder once again. Silence allows us the space to contemplate the vastness of the heavens and the God beyond them. Silence can shatter the trivialized deity that has occupied our imaginations and provide God the canvas to begin a new work in our souls. (Kindle location 833-37)

The Divine Commodity: Discovering a Faith Beyond Consumer Christianity