Life is a mess. And theology must be lived out in the midst of that mess.
Interpretation
Life is chaotic, and our understanding of theology must be applied even in difficult situations.
This quote by Charles Colson emphasizes that life is inherently messy and complex, filled with challenges and uncertainties. In such a tumultuous existence, it is vital to practice and embody one's theological beliefs, integrating them into everyday situations rather than retreating to simplicity or avoidance. The quote encourages engagement with life's messiness rather than seeking escapism.
In practice
In a speech about overcoming adversity, this quote highlights the importance of faith in challenging times.
The life function of [the local church] is to love the God who created it - to care for others out of obedience to Christ, to heal those who hurt, to take away fear, to restore community, to belong to one another, to proclaim the Good News while living it out. The church is the invisible made visible.
Moral crusaders with zeal but no ethical understanding are likely to give us solutions that are worse than the problems.
Tolerance once meant that we could use our reason to discern good and evil in open debate. Today tolerance has been used to call good evil and evil good.
People who cannot restrain their own baser instincts, who cannot treat one another with civility, are not capable of self-government... without virtue, a society can be ruled only by fear, a truth that tyrants understand all too well
One of the most wonderful things about being a Christian is that I don't ever get up in the morning and wonder if what I do matters. I live every day to the fullest because I can live it through Christ and I know no matter what I do today, I'm going to do something to advance the Kingdom of God.
I learned one thing in Watergate: I was well-intentioned but rationalized illegal behavior. You cannot live your life other than walking in the truth. Your means are as important as your ends.
p.61 He [Roark] was usually disliked, from the first sight of his face, anywhere he went. His face was closed like the door of a safety vault; things locked in safety vaults are valuable; men did not care to feel that. He was a cold, disquieting presence in the room; his presence had a strange quality: it made itself felt and yet it made them feel that he was not there; or perhaps that he was and they weren't.
If you could meet your grandkids as elderly citizens in the year 2100 ⦠you would view them as being, basically, Greek gods⦠that's where we're headed.
A creature who has spent his life creating one particular representation of his selfdom will die rather than become the antithesis of that representation
Prayer is the vital breath of the Christian; not the thing that makes him alive, but the evidence that he is alive.
This is the mystery of the riches of divine grace for sinners; for by a wonderful exchange our sins are now not ours but Christ's, and Christ's righteousness is not Christ's but ours.
The Indwelling of Christ by faithis to have Jesus Christ continually in oneβs eye, a habitual sight of Him. I call it so because a man actually does not always think of Christ; but as a man does not look up to the sun continually, yet he sees the light of it. So you should carry along and bear along in your eye the sight and knowledge of Christ, so that at least a presence of Him accompanies you, which faith makes.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.