03.04.24
Hey everyone!
It’s been a very long while since I’ve written something for this website, but I’m back again with a book discussion.
As some of you may know, I got baptised on Easter Sunday!
I’ve also been reading a lot of Christian literature recently, something that I never used to do.
Currently, I’m reading Stay Salt by Rebecca Manley Pippert. It’s a book about evangelism, which is defined as ‘the spreading of the Christian gospel by public preaching or personal witness.’ To be honest, it’s not a book that I would purchase to read. This is because although I’m a Christian, I feel like I want to deepen my faith, and honestly I don’t feel like I’m ready to evangelise!
But here’s the thing. This book has actually taught me so much that I didn’t know, which is why I’m writing this article. I want to share the things that I’ve learnt about God on here! And also, Pippert says that a lot of Christians feel the way I do- inadequate to spread the message, but we must never wait till we feel adequate, just as we must never wait to feel adequate to be baptised. The point is, we are inadequate! We were made by God, to rely on God. We are weak, we are imperfect, and we can only live in this world by putting all of our trust in God and relying on him to carry us!
Well anyway, here are some of the things that I’ve learnt. They may actually be quite obvious to a lot of Christians (and unbelievers!), but I found this way of looking at things very interesting.
So here we go. Number 1. The actual definition of sin. And, I know, I know. I may lose you now, because let’s face it, no one likes to hear about sin. But I’m not trying to condemn anyone here. To be honest I just found this really interesting and I guess I didn’t know that this is what sin actually was, which is: ‘the deliberate refusal to believe in and worship God as God, and it is the prideful claim of the right to run our own lives.’ (Stay Salt, page 102) You see, I’m not sure I saw sin as this. If you had asked me before, I’d have probably said something like, sin is disobeying God. That is true, but looking at it from this angle has helped me to understand it more.
Pippert states that one way of describing sin is that we have a God complex: ‘we keep getting ourselves and God mixed up’. Honestly seeing things this way was a very new approach to me. I initially thought about myself, and I thought, well- I acknowledge God! I know that He is greater than me, and I would never want to have His power. But as she explained, I realised. I realised that I seek to control my life every day, and to be honest, maybe one could say that’s natural. I mean, it’s my life, right? I have control over it, I choose what I eat, what I do today, my friends, my degree, job etc. But as C.S. Lewis states, ‘The real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it. It comes the very moment you wake up each morning. All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other larger, stronger, quieter voice come flowing in. And so on, all day…’ (Mere Christianity, pages 168, 169). I’ve started doing this. When I wake up in the morning, I tell God, ‘Lord, may your will be my will. I give my life to you, I give this day to you, I give every moment to you. May everything I do be done for your Glory.’ And this is why many Christians start their day with bible reading and prayer. It helps us to start the day off ‘on the right foot’ as it were. It helps us to be grounded in our faith, to dedicate our day to God and to place Him first.
I also like the way Pippert talks about how essentially, we, as human beings, all want two things: to be loved and to be known. We are needy, and we seek to find love and recognition in many different places and through many different ways, be that a relationship, having an active social life, a big social media following or some other way. What Pippert says is that God actually made us this way, and it was his intention. Wanting to be loved and to be known isn’t a bad thing. But the point is, we were made to be fulfilled through God! And if you think about it, when we have relied on other things to make us happy, how often have they let us down? How often does a person who you know and love fail to respond or be there for you, how often does a partner in a romantic relationship let you down, or even worse, break your heart or lead you into a toxic situation. How often does Instagram get to you, and you start comparing yourself to other people’s lives, beauty, social life and achievements. I’m not saying that friends and romantic relationships and social media etc aren’t good things. But they’re not perfect, of course they can’t be! And what’s the point of looking to something just as good as, or worse than yourself to be fulfilled. It will never fully satisfy. But God is perfect. He never makes mistakes, He is all-loving, He will never let you down. How amazing would it be to put your trust in Him! How amazing would it be to go to Him for your purpose, to go to Him for your identity, to go to Him to receive infinite love that you can enjoy and spread to others. This is what I am working on. Not putting myself first. Putting God first. Putting others first. For the two greatest commandments are: ‘Love your God with all your heart’ and ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ (Matthew 22: 36-40).
How amazing would it be to centre your life on Him, the one who we can truly tell, ‘My frame was not hidden from you, when I was made in secret…Your eyes have seen my unformed substance and in your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.’ (Psalm 139 v 15-16).
I also love how Pippert talks about how we shouldn’t be expecting a feeling when praying or reading the bible or doing some form of worship. This was new to me. To be honest, every time I’ve prayed and done the above, I have never ‘felt’ God. Some people can actually hear God’s voice, my grandma saw visions of God (I feel like I should put this in a separate article because they are so amazing!); some people feel overwhelming peace. This has never been the case for me, and it’s made it quite difficult for me to pray, as I feel like I’m speaking to thin air. But our faith is not faith by seeing, or feeling. It is blind faith. We can trust that God is with us. 2 Corinthians 5 v 6-7 tell us, ‘therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight.’ (NIV). Furthermore, Hebrews 11 v 1 states, ‘now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’ (NIV). This is what Pippert has to tell us about it: ‘as Christians we are not alone, no matter what we feel and whatever our circumstances. We do not wait for the sensation of God’s presence. The sense of God’s presence is an added gift we may ask for, and we are grateful when it comes. Walking in the Spirit or abiding in Christ, simply means that we walk by faith, not feelings. We trust Jesus’ words: ‘I am with you always, even until the end of the age’ (Matthew 28 v 20) (Stay Salt, page 68). Now that is such a beautiful thing to believe in.
Ok and the last thing I want to mention here is another concept that Pippert introduced to me. She states that unbelievers chose to go to hell, saying, ‘hell is simply one’s freely chosen path to go on forever’ (Stay Salt, page 156). ‘Those who have refused God’s offer of grace and tragically insist on living apart from God’s presence will, in effect, have their desire granted.’ Tim Keller backs this up by saying, ‘They get in the afterlife what they most wanted- either to have God as Saviour and Master or to be their own saviours and masters’. And this is so true! It makes a lot of sense. You have the choice now. Choose God or don’t. But it is a choice. If you’re reading this, now you know about God. And you are free to make that choice.
Anyway, that’s enough from me for now! I do have more to write about regarding this wonderful book. I hope to be discussing issues of identity, justice and today’s culture in my next article.
Also before I go, I do just want to say that this article has simply been me writing what I learnt and found interesting and very valid in human life. At the end of the day, all I hope is that you’ve done the same- learnt something new, found something interesting and maybe gained some food for thought. I’m always here if you want to contact me to discuss any of the topics that I’ve covered- ask me all the questions you like 😊
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