CoD V.1.4.3- War.
Let me begin by clarifying- although I personally thought It would've been clear- when I write CoD on the titles of my posts, I use it as an abbreviation for Chronicles of Dan, not, in fact, in reference to the delicious and nutritious fish, scientifically known as Gadus Macrocephalus, which is such a stalwart alimentary staple of Portugal, Norway, and New Foundland; and which happens to be the most delicious species of fish to be eaten battered and with chips.
Now that that's clear, on to the post.
A few days ago I borrowed and began reading this book that I'd been wanting to read for a while. Two days later I heard back from AIM, and learned that this is one of the two books I have to read before my orientation. Coincidence? Or the workings of an Unseen Hand? Ooooooh...
The book in question is yet another book by John Piper- one titled "Let The Nations Be Glad- The Supremacy of God in Missions". I have read a wide variety of writers, but have yet to find one who is more palpably passionate than John Piper; and doubt whether I will find many such persons (Maybe Jonathan Edwards though... hmm, I'll post about him later). The passion that burns in this man's heart glows incandescent through his writing- I highly recommend him if you haven't read him yet.
One of the arguments he makes in this book- reiterating what I'd already read in "Don't Waste Your Life", is that this world, today, is at war. This war however, is not against barbarian invaders or opposing city-states. It is not a crusade against people from a different religion, or a war of conquest over 'pagan savages'. It is not a war against Nazis, Communists, or Terrorists. But it is a war that has outlasted all these, a war that is much more invasive and insidious than any before it, and a war whose stakes are infinitely more important- the eternal happiness or perpetual damnation of all mankind (Forgive me, there are dozens of scriptural references Piper gives in support of this argument, but if I were to state them all, this post would be unreasonably long. You could trust me that there is enough for an ironclad argument, you could email me and have me email you all the references, or you could buy the book and read it yourself you lazy bum). Warfare, according to Piper's understanding of the Apostle Paul (and I concur!) is not just a part of life. The Christian life is war.
Most people, however, do not truely believe this.
Humans are, by nature, selfish; and if you disagree, just hang around children until you lose your hair or go gray. From infancy, our natural tendency to want the best and the most for ourselves is nurtured and encouraged. By the time we reach adulthood, if we encounter people whose lives do not pursue all that is best for them, we are very puzzled, and tend to dismiss them as fools, or be concerned for them. Few circumstances serve to effectively change, even if temporarily, so strong a motivator in humans. One of these circumstances is war. War is infamous for bringing out the worst in human nature; but coevally (ha! I hadn't come across this word until a Philosophy class in University- but I linked a dictionary and thessaurus to this blog so you can check it out if you haven't taken Joe Gonda's 'Introduction to Social Theory'. I use the word here in a meaning akin to concomitant), few circumstances have brought out more sacrifice, selflessness, and compassion than war.
In peacetime, people go about their business at ease- they seek the fulfilment of their needs, followed their reasonable wants, and then pursue desires and luxury. Wartime, however, lends an austerity of form and purpose to life. For example- during the second World War, people at home began sacrificing metal and rubber for the war effort. Children would have drives where they collected scrap metal and anything else that might be needed at the front. After a while, gasoline was rationed, and people began proudly driving at the 'victory speed' of 35 mph (60 km/hr) to conserve fuel, because it was needed at the front. As the war progressed, people sacrificed their meat and their sugar. Canned goods and milk were also later needed at the front, and people sacrificed gladly, knowing that their sacrifices were helping a cause greater than themselves.
In war, selfish, thoughtless people just like the ones who cut us off on the roads and who are rude to us in malls everyday (not that I meet that many rude people, but you know what I mean) thoughtlessly threw themselves over live grenades, or got shot and died trying to rescue or heal wounded fellow soldiers. And this is not to mention the thousands of young men who asked not why, but did, and died- selflessly giving up their present to ensure the future of those back home; knowing that they did what they did for something much greater than themselves.
Yet here and now we are faced with a cause ten thousand times more important than American Freedom and Democracy, but people show by their casual approach to spiritual things that they believe we are in peacetime, not wartime.
In wartime, writes Piper, we are on alert. We are armed. We are vigilant. In wartime, we spend money differently- there is austerity, not for its own sake but because there are better ways to spend money than on new curtains, new tires, or an Xbox. In wartime, we ask not what is the most I can get away with short of betraying my side, or what is the least I can do and still be called patriotic. We ask instead what is the most I can do for this cause? What can I sacrifice, that will help? How can my effort make a difference? The war effort touches everybody.
Very few people, Piper continues, think that we are in a war that is greater than World War II or any imaginable nuclear war. Few reckon that Satan is a much worse enemy than any earthly foe or realize that the conflict is not restricted to any one global theater but is in every town and city in the world. Who considers that the casualties of this war do not merely lose an arm or an eye or an earthly life but lose everything- even their own soul- and enter a hell of everlasting torment? (You can distinguish between Piper's words and mine by a distinct lack of commas in his writting, and an abundance thereof in mine). If we truly believed and lived this, the church in North America would have a much greater impact for God's kingdom in this society than it currently does.
Very convicting words to me- I look at my life and see so much waste- so little sacrifice. I have spent so much money freely, I have wasted so much time readily; there is so much more I could have been doing, better ways I could have been preparing, but I have not been. Well, I cannot redeem that which has been spent, what's done is done. However, I can and do commit, from the moment of my conviction and realization onwards, to be wiser, to try harder, to make it count- to do the most I possibly can, and be faithful to my trust.
In the end, God will win this war- there is no other outcome. He can do it by using us, or not. It is the greatest desire of my heart to be used for God's glory.
Now that that's clear, on to the post.
A few days ago I borrowed and began reading this book that I'd been wanting to read for a while. Two days later I heard back from AIM, and learned that this is one of the two books I have to read before my orientation. Coincidence? Or the workings of an Unseen Hand? Ooooooh...
The book in question is yet another book by John Piper- one titled "Let The Nations Be Glad- The Supremacy of God in Missions". I have read a wide variety of writers, but have yet to find one who is more palpably passionate than John Piper; and doubt whether I will find many such persons (Maybe Jonathan Edwards though... hmm, I'll post about him later). The passion that burns in this man's heart glows incandescent through his writing- I highly recommend him if you haven't read him yet.
One of the arguments he makes in this book- reiterating what I'd already read in "Don't Waste Your Life", is that this world, today, is at war. This war however, is not against barbarian invaders or opposing city-states. It is not a crusade against people from a different religion, or a war of conquest over 'pagan savages'. It is not a war against Nazis, Communists, or Terrorists. But it is a war that has outlasted all these, a war that is much more invasive and insidious than any before it, and a war whose stakes are infinitely more important- the eternal happiness or perpetual damnation of all mankind (Forgive me, there are dozens of scriptural references Piper gives in support of this argument, but if I were to state them all, this post would be unreasonably long. You could trust me that there is enough for an ironclad argument, you could email me and have me email you all the references, or you could buy the book and read it yourself you lazy bum). Warfare, according to Piper's understanding of the Apostle Paul (and I concur!) is not just a part of life. The Christian life is war.
Most people, however, do not truely believe this.
Humans are, by nature, selfish; and if you disagree, just hang around children until you lose your hair or go gray. From infancy, our natural tendency to want the best and the most for ourselves is nurtured and encouraged. By the time we reach adulthood, if we encounter people whose lives do not pursue all that is best for them, we are very puzzled, and tend to dismiss them as fools, or be concerned for them. Few circumstances serve to effectively change, even if temporarily, so strong a motivator in humans. One of these circumstances is war. War is infamous for bringing out the worst in human nature; but coevally (ha! I hadn't come across this word until a Philosophy class in University- but I linked a dictionary and thessaurus to this blog so you can check it out if you haven't taken Joe Gonda's 'Introduction to Social Theory'. I use the word here in a meaning akin to concomitant), few circumstances have brought out more sacrifice, selflessness, and compassion than war.
In peacetime, people go about their business at ease- they seek the fulfilment of their needs, followed their reasonable wants, and then pursue desires and luxury. Wartime, however, lends an austerity of form and purpose to life. For example- during the second World War, people at home began sacrificing metal and rubber for the war effort. Children would have drives where they collected scrap metal and anything else that might be needed at the front. After a while, gasoline was rationed, and people began proudly driving at the 'victory speed' of 35 mph (60 km/hr) to conserve fuel, because it was needed at the front. As the war progressed, people sacrificed their meat and their sugar. Canned goods and milk were also later needed at the front, and people sacrificed gladly, knowing that their sacrifices were helping a cause greater than themselves.
In war, selfish, thoughtless people just like the ones who cut us off on the roads and who are rude to us in malls everyday (not that I meet that many rude people, but you know what I mean) thoughtlessly threw themselves over live grenades, or got shot and died trying to rescue or heal wounded fellow soldiers. And this is not to mention the thousands of young men who asked not why, but did, and died- selflessly giving up their present to ensure the future of those back home; knowing that they did what they did for something much greater than themselves.
Yet here and now we are faced with a cause ten thousand times more important than American Freedom and Democracy, but people show by their casual approach to spiritual things that they believe we are in peacetime, not wartime.
In wartime, writes Piper, we are on alert. We are armed. We are vigilant. In wartime, we spend money differently- there is austerity, not for its own sake but because there are better ways to spend money than on new curtains, new tires, or an Xbox. In wartime, we ask not what is the most I can get away with short of betraying my side, or what is the least I can do and still be called patriotic. We ask instead what is the most I can do for this cause? What can I sacrifice, that will help? How can my effort make a difference? The war effort touches everybody.
Very few people, Piper continues, think that we are in a war that is greater than World War II or any imaginable nuclear war. Few reckon that Satan is a much worse enemy than any earthly foe or realize that the conflict is not restricted to any one global theater but is in every town and city in the world. Who considers that the casualties of this war do not merely lose an arm or an eye or an earthly life but lose everything- even their own soul- and enter a hell of everlasting torment? (You can distinguish between Piper's words and mine by a distinct lack of commas in his writting, and an abundance thereof in mine). If we truly believed and lived this, the church in North America would have a much greater impact for God's kingdom in this society than it currently does.
Very convicting words to me- I look at my life and see so much waste- so little sacrifice. I have spent so much money freely, I have wasted so much time readily; there is so much more I could have been doing, better ways I could have been preparing, but I have not been. Well, I cannot redeem that which has been spent, what's done is done. However, I can and do commit, from the moment of my conviction and realization onwards, to be wiser, to try harder, to make it count- to do the most I possibly can, and be faithful to my trust.
In the end, God will win this war- there is no other outcome. He can do it by using us, or not. It is the greatest desire of my heart to be used for God's glory.
posted by dan at 8/24/2006 08:49:00 a.m.
2 Comments:
Dan, you have expressed that wonderfully! What a difference it would make (and with God's help, will make) in our lives, if we evaluated every single decision, breath, action, heartbeat... through the sieve of God's Word and line them up to pursue God's glory. Wow. Oh to see a generation of people like jars of clay, frail pots, so full of God's glory in the face of Christ, so hungry after His heartbeat... When you mentioned war, I was reminded of Paul's exhortation to Timothy: "no man that wars entangles himself in the affairs of this life, so that he may please him that enrolled him to be a soldier..." I believe, as well, that as we press in to the Lord, more and more each day, we will begin to see His glory more and more. Like with Moses, but with a glory that increases instead of decreasing, we will begin to shine more and more and more. Less of us and more of Him. And all the trivial things of this life fade into the background... the light and glory of God is too bright and too glorious to focus on those things. When I look at my life, I can see so many needless things as well. You are not alone. But with God's help I will resolve to live life and use what I have for God's glory. Thank-you for posting this amazing reminder, Dan. I need it. Blessings, bro.
Amen bro. Thank you for your comment. The verse from Timothy was indeed one of the many references Piper used- the entire New Testament is fraught with them.
Also, I received an email from a buddy- G, who did indeed take a class with Joseph Gonda. That was so cool! Gonda was a great philosophy teacher :P, and I'm sure G was a great philosophy student :D.
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