Religion says earn your life. Secular society says create your life. Jesus says, 'My life for your life.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the contrast between religious, secular, and Christian perspectives on the purpose of life.
Timothy Keller presents a thought-provoking contrast between three views on the meaning of life. Religion often implies that one must work hard to earn their existence, while secular society encourages individuals to shape and define their own lives. In the Christian viewpoint, however, Jesus's message transcends self-creation and earning; it points to selflessness and sacrifice, suggesting that the essence of life is found in giving oneself for others. This highlights a deeper, relational understanding of life that goes beyond personal ambition.
In practice
During a philosophy lecture on purpose and meaning in life.
Falling in love in a Christian way is to say,'I am excited about your future and I want to be part of getting you there. I'm signing up for the journey with you. Would you sign up for the journey to my true self with me? It's going to be hard but I want to get there.
Only in Jesus Christ do we see how the untamable, infinite God can become a baby and a loving Savior. On the cross we see how both the love and the holiness of God can be fulfilled at once.
All human problems are ultimately symptoms, and our separation from God is the cause.
While your character flaws may have created mild problems for other people, they will create major problems for your spouse and your marriage.
To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.
God's Kingdom is "present in its beginnings, but still future in its fullness. This guards us from an under-realized eschatology (expecting no change now) and an over-realized eschatology (expecting all change now). In this stage, we embrace the reality that while we're not yet what we will be, we're also no longer what we used to be.
Capitalism is out of control, thanks in no small part to Citizens United, the Supreme Court decision which said that a corporation is a person, even though it doesn't eat, drink, make love, sing, raise children or take care of aging parents. You can't have a people's democracy as long as corporations are considered people.
The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.
The real history of consciousness starts with one's first lie.
Trust and start walking. We are not alone in the dark, our path will unfold as we move.
When a legislature decides to steal some of our rights and plans to use police force to accomplish it, what's the real difference between them and the thief? Darn little! They hide behind the excuse that they're legislating democratically. The fact they do it by a majority vote has no moral significance whatsoever. Numerical might does not constitute right, no more than a lynch mob can justify its act because a majority participated.
When we preach the love of God there is a danger of forgetting that the Bible reveals not first the love of God but the intense, blazing holiness of God, with His love at the center of that holiness.
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