My journey here at Off-The-Map has lasted about 2 1/2 years and it has truly been a good time. By “good,” I don’t necessarily mean “fun” (although it was), but rather “important” or “necessary” in the formation of my own spiritual character. The journey I have been on with y’all has truly been “good.” I don’t think I could ever list all that I’ve learned here. But I’m going to list a few. Read the rest of this news item »
I was listening to a message this week that touched on the global financial crisis, and how hard times like this global recession can reveal three different levels of conviction.
Public Convictions - These are the things you pretend you believe - or you wished you believed - or maybe you really do believe, at least on the surface - but really they’re little more than the right thing to believe. For example, “Real wealth is measured, not by the amount of money in your wallet, but the the number of friends in your heart.” I think we would all agree. But in reality, now that the financial market is taking a turn for the worse, it’s not keeping our friends that captures our attention, it’s our money.
Private Convictions - These are the things you really believe in your heart, that serve as a guide for how you live your life. For example, “I would never prioritize my job over my family.” All other things being equal, this really is a conviction you would try to hold to. But again, now that the market has soured, would you really never prioritize your job over your family?
Core Convictions - These are the convictions you find out you hold that you didn’t know you held until life took an unexpected turn. When you simply have to do what you have to do to survive, your core convictions surface and override your private convictions out of necessity. For example, “I know I said I would never prioritize my job over my family, but this is different.”
With that said, I think it’s interesting to see these in action around you. The political ads that we’re being bombarded with here in the U.S. show us the public convictions of each candidate. From that, we try to pick the candidate who holds similar private convictions as ours. And their track record shows what their core convictions really are.
On Tuesday, we’ll be electing a new president of the United States. We hear their public convictions. Will their private and core convictions line up? Time will tell.
Posted in A Cacophony of Posts, Mike O | 4 Comments »Last week, Duh-sciple wrote
I am a Christian in the process of becoming a Jesus follower.
I hear that a lot, but it’s hard to explain the difference to Christians because Christians assume they are Jesus followers. But I’m going to give it a shot.
When I was at the Born Again Church Tour a couple of weeks ago, one of the speakers (Todd Hunter, of Alpha fame) talked about bounded set vs. centered set Christianity. And I think that may be the best way to visualize the difference between being a Christian and being a Jesus follower.
A bounded set is a group of people defined by some membership criteria, or set of beliefs, that holds them together. Think of a circle - everything inside the circle is “in” the set and everything outside the circle is “out.”
A centered set is a group of people defined by a focal point that draws them together. Think of a point, towards which group members gravitate.
I think of Christianity, the religion, as a “bounded set” group of people. That’s not necessarily wrong because it provides definition for our faith. But a bounded set mentality requires an inordinate amount of time for “boundary maintenance.” Trying to figure out what is in and what is out, or who is in and who is out, the boundary becomes a focus rather than the actual reason we Christians in the first place.
A Jesus follower, on the other hand, would be less concerned with where the boundaries are for our faith, and more concerned with the reason for our faith. To me, it’s the difference between religion (what I believe) and lifestyle (how I live).
Posted in A Cacophony of Posts, Mike O | 5 Comments »