Hindus describe how man lives using a story about four ages of man.
- Youth simply enjoys life
- Young adults use their powers to achieve
- More mature adults seek ways to contribute
- Then, finally, some people seek ultimate meaning
What story do we Christians tell about life? I would call it the “living as if” story. Christians live
- As if everyday reality is much more than what it seems on the surface
- As if God is present and active in our lives
- As if love is the most fundamental force in the universe.
The question is, how do we live as if our story is true when the world around us tells a different story? The world tells us to live
- As if everyday reality is exactly what it appears to be
- As if God, if He exists at all, is remote and not active in our lives
- As if energy is the most fundamental force in the universe
It seems to me that the purpose of church is to help Christians live their ‘as if’ story. A good way to measure whether this is happening is to look at the ‘fruits’ of the church. Paul describes these this way: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. . . Since we live by the Spirit let us keep in step with the Spirit.” [Galatians 5: 22-25]