GroshLink

How does one deal with the saints who have only recently gone before us . . . leaving living reports from family, friends, and co-laborers? Betty Smartt Carter's review of Son of a Preacher Man: A memoir by Frank Schaeffer raised this question for me in a strong manner. A few hours before reading the article, I had chosen to play an American Girl Doll board game with Ellen and Hayley. I stepped into their world of interest. They shared stories which brought me up to date as we unpacked and stepped into this challenging Christmas gift (thank-you Groshes). While we played the one van was in the shop for an inspection, I had a printer to hook-up, expense reports waited in the to do pile, relatives floated around, and the phone kept ringing (one letting us know an American Girl Doll book was ready for pick up at the library).

The girls have heard (and witnessed) much about the Kingdom of God at home, in our family, as part of a local assembly (and the larger Body of Christ, not to mention various mission weekends), on campus, in the community, around the globe, through time/eternity . . . As we spend time together around American Girl Doll and daily devotional readings, my prayer is that I reflect Christ, the Spirit moves/breathes in our midst, and the Father draws all of us closer to Himself. Today my prayer has been that I would become more like a child, knowing I can't do it on my own . . . extending my arms out to receive strength from the One through whom I live, move, and have my being.  The One who makes me whole again, as I was intended to be, in His image . . . cleansed from the flesh, the devil, and the world. 

How about these words from Francis Schaeffer regarding the Gospel we share and live out (Death in the City, Downers Grove, InterVarsity Press: 1969, p.93, quote passed on from Miller the other day):

I am convinced that many men who preach the gospel and love the Lord are really misunderstood. People make a “profession,” but because they haven’t understood the message, they are not really saved. They feel a psychological need and they want psychological relief, but they don’t understand that the Christian message is not talking only about psychological relief (though it includes that) but is talking about true moral guilt in the presence of a holy God who exists. The real need is salvation from true moral guilt, not just relief from guilt feelings. And I am certain many men who make a profession go away still unsaved, having not heard one word of the real gospel because they have filtered the message through their own thought forms and their own intellectual framework in which the word “guilt” equals “guilt feelings.”

The saints which go before us are fallen, such is what we read in the Word of God and the history of the people of God.  But they have much to share and we're not perfect either, let's stop griping and with discernment, take the good while discarding (or modifying/upgrading) that which falls short.  Join me in making that a daily resolution for each day of the coming year.

Earlier posts on the Schaeffer family include:

Francis Schaeffer: A Student's Appreciation of a Distinct Approach
The Schaeffers and being Crazy for God
L'abri Today