Finally...#7

Well, most of you probably thought I forgot about my reading list, however I just got a little bogged down with my latest one (ok, and maybe a little lazy, but I hate to admit that). Anyways, I didn't get bogged down because it's a bad book. You do have to give it a chance though, as it was a little bit to wade through in the first few chapters. I also had to pick Rob's brain a little to help me out. So - it was Creation Regained by Albert Wolters, with a chapter by Michael Goheen. Like I said, I think I mostly had a hard time at the beginning but especially when I reached the last chapter (and there are only 5) and then read the postscript by Goheen I really got excited. The general gist is that we as Christians are called to redeem every part of our lives. Scripture is telling us one big story - the general outline being - Creation, Fall, Redemption, Consummation. Many people tend to segment their lives by having church, work, family, play etc. all come under different "headings". However, God has called us to live by the gospel in every area of life and it all fits into the big picture of the story of history. All was created good and has been tainted by sin. We have the opportunity as Christians to redeem it. The best way he described this process is through the words "structure" and "direction". Structure is just the general nature of something and direction is where we take it as fallen humans. This can and should apply to any area of life. I will use a very simple illustration. Food was created good for us by God. It has been created for us to enjoy according to scripture. It's structure is good. We can redeem food and eat it with thanksgiving to God worshipping through a simple act performed numerous times every day. We can also pervert and distort this gift by gluttony and eating for selfish reasons. This would be taking a good gift of God the wrong direction. The examples he used were very helpful and then the follow-up chapter by Goheen ties everything together in light of the gospel. I definitely recommend this book in challenging our thoughts as Christians living in culture and needing to constantly adapt and learn how to live on task according to the gospel in every area. One quote: "It is precisely in ...ordinary activities that the Christian community is called to witness to the gospel. The very shape of our lives needs to be a legible letter speaking of Christ and his rule. When we do explain the gospel, such a verbal presentation should be embedded in the warp and woof of our daily Christian lives which in their integrality testify to Christ's saving power."