I've been wanting for sometime to do this series and decided to finally just jump into it. Hopefully I can address these with some consistency over the next few weeks. There are certainly more cliches than I will touch on (if you have some that you'd like to get my take on, feel free to send them my way), but these are fairly prevalent in most Christian circles. I would like to preface the series by noting that I do not intend for the spirit of these posts to be overly negative or critical. I know that I have personally said misguided things in the past (and possibly also the present!) as well. This is a part of our journey as we grow in Christ. None of us are infallible. Thus these shouldn't be used to beat up on fellow believers, pastors, or teachers. I am troubled, however, by how un-nuanced evangelical Christian thinking often can be. There are, of course, many reasons which contribute to this: how we frame and weaken the gospel, easy believism, the common dichotomy in Christian teaching between "being saved" and "sanctification" (as if one happens without the other), etc. I'm not as concerned with the sources of the ideas as the ideas themselves. I hope these will be constructive rather than destructive.
So, Faulty Christian Cliche Number 1: God has a wonderful plan for your life. Now, I know what you're thinking. What kind of heresy am I about to drop here? How could that phrase possibly be misguided?! I think it is on one level, which is the context in which it usually occurs, and yet is completely true on another. Let me address the misguided usage first. Most of the time when we hear this phrase uttered, it occurs in a "seek God's will for your life" context (a notion I will address later in this series). The implication of the utterance is usually that God wants to do big things through you as an individual. Big, successful, incredible things to fulfill all of your hopes and dreams. Fancy house, nice job, picket fence type ambitions. So what's the problem? This idea simply isn't biblical. It fits with the American prosperity view of God, where God is there to bless our enterprises (such as a Super Bowl halftime show performance). But this God isn't the God of biblical Christianity. God isn't our personal Santa Claus waiting to help us in our personal endeavors. Does this mean God doesn't care about those things? Of course not. Too often though, we view them as ends rather than means. God may want to bless you, but likely so you can bless others, not horde the blessings for yourself. So is the phrase redeemable? I think so, if sufficiently nuanced. When the Bible speaks of God's "plan" for our life, there are some important contextual pointers which must not be overlooked. First, the root of the misapplication of this phrase likely comes from a common misinterpretation of Jeremiah 29:11. This verse is usually taken to mean that God has a wonderful plan (i.e., American dream) for us. The problem is that this doesn't fit the context of the verse. The context is God's plan to restore the exiles of Israel. It thus has a covenantal and a collective emphasis in view, two things noticeably missing from the common use of the phrase. Second, when the Bible focuses on God's plan for His people, this collective program is more concerned with the kind of people they are than with their material success. Romans 8:28-30 provides an excellent example. Here God's predetermined plan is to conform His people to the image of His Son. And that really IS a wonderful plan for us. As the Pauline writings assert, Jesus is the image of God (Colossians 1:15 among other passages), so to be conformed to the image of the Son means to be restored to the very image of God. God's plan is to heal and restore humanity. That is GOOD news, WONDERFUL news! I would suggest then we can redeem this phrase if we put it in a proper covenantal, collective, and restorative context. God's plan for our lives is to conform His people to the image of His Son. To bless them so they can bless others. To mature them so they can point others to maturation. Not to get the promotion I want or to drive the car I've always wanted. His plan is to restore us, renew us, transform us, and send us. God has a wonderful plan for your life, so let's not sell it short by turning it into an individual, materialistic, and narcissistic endeavor.
1 Comment
Adam L
3/13/2015 01:31:51 am
I've said before "God doesn't have a wonderful plan for your life, God has a wonderful plan to give you life and has fulfilled that plan." In view of salvation, what more could we ever need? What comparison does material prosperity have to an eternal life? I look forward to your series Prof. Thornhill
Reply
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
October 2016
Categories
All
|