Miroslav Volf in Exclusion and Embrace speaks of the pseduo-reality that sin in its power and pervasiveness brings on people. At the heart of sin is the displacing of God from the center and placing ourselves as God. From that comes a false sense of justice and goodness. What is wrong in God's eyes is right in our own eyes, and the more we give into this false "reality", the easier it becomes to be deceived and taken in by it. It makes all the sense in the world to us, and God's way as revealed in Scripture and in Christ makes little or no sense at all, certainly none at all if understood as God intends.
This brings a false shalom/peace and prosperity, which may last for a time, but sooner or later reality will catch up with this pseudo-reality. God in love works in kind and in stern ways to bring one back to their senses (like the lost son).
When we know something is wrong or doesn't seem right this can be an indication that God is trying to get us to see that we're living in a fiction rather than in his Story in Christ. I'd rather experience a little of God's reality than all of the pseudo-reality, as good as it may seem for a season.
What would you share here?
Miroslav Volf of course is not responsible for how I may have misused what he was saying, describing it to some extent in my own thoughts and words.
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6 comments:
Ted, This is at the heart of the nature of God and Satan. God is described by Isaiah as "the God of truth" and Satan by Christ as "there is no truth in him....he is a liar and the father of lies"
So, our world view is tinged by whether we are deceived or pursue the truth. The difference is living a life imprisoned by deceit or liberated by the truth.
Yes, Kim. And I'm afraid that there can be a mixture of the two in a person's life. The problem with such a mixture, however is just like the problem of mixing the good and the bad together in a single glass, the drink is not good.
mirror mirror on the wall...false reality...some people believe that they bow to no one and would not accept a religion that would take away choice of free will. i however believe that we either bow to the Lord God or to satan. i do not know what to say to people that believe that having free will and freedom means being able to choose their way instead of believing that God knows what is going to happen. did that gobbldegook i just said make any sense?
“I am a Bear of Very Little Brain, and long words bother me.” Pooh
Nancy, I think you made good sense here. There is no middle ground and we're either in light or in darkness. Though I do think our vision can be obscurred. We are free to choose either life or death, as God says in his word.
I find it interesting to consider what false shalom looks like. The thing is, if we understand its attributes, it is very difficult to say we truly see it when it's not there.
Yet I know people do. I guess sometimes we get caught because we see one area flourishing (to the exclusion of another) and this fools us into thinking all is peace.
L.L., I think Volf is getting at a mind bent that justifies everything such as we found in Nazi Germany. And that sin tends to put us in a way that seems very right to us as fallen humans, though in reality it is the path to destruction.
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