Comments on: “Time” or “Green Letters 2″ http://blog.joelmaust.com/2005/08/time-or-green-letters-2.html The season of wading is over; now's the time for full immersion Wed, 17 Aug 2011 03:15:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: Joel http://blog.joelmaust.com/2005/08/time-or-green-letters-2.html/comment-page-1#comment-103 Joel Wed, 24 Aug 2005 22:41:19 +0000 http://blog.joelmaust.com/?p=205#comment-103 I think there is a really fine line he drew that you just crossed. He said nearly word for word in the second quote what you just asked, except for your "not" and his "rather than." Your phrasing excludes struggle while his orders them. So, my answer to your question is yes, he is pretty much saying that, but not exactly what you said. Let me explain. I didn't come away from reading the chapter with the impression that he doesn't think we grow through experiences and struggles. I think of scriptures like Romans 5:3-4 and James 1:2-4, which show the clear role trials play in our lives. They develop us and I can’t image Stanford would disagree. But it seems in this chapter he is asking us to recognize that the principle of growth supersedes “experience.” That no matter what is going on in the natural world, the spiritual path God has you on will trump it. If you’re in winter, probably no matter how many “good” things happen, you might not feel like you’re growing. And in summer, crap can happen every day and you won’t miss a beat. Quote 4 touches on that a bit. Anyway, the lesson I took away from this is more faith-in-the-journey based than meaning-to-the-madness based. I want to enjoy my discipleship-relationship with Jesus as much as possible. I don’t think franticly running from experience to experience trying to stimulate and/or seek out growth will help. But I do feel understanding the time element involved in becoming Christ-like will. I think there is a really fine line he drew that you just crossed. He said nearly word for word in the second quote what you just asked, except for your “not” and his “rather than.” Your phrasing excludes struggle while his orders them. So, my answer to your question is yes, he is pretty much saying that, but not exactly what you said. Let me explain.

I didn’t come away from reading the chapter with the impression that he doesn’t think we grow through experiences and struggles. I think of scriptures like Romans 5:3-4 and James 1:2-4, which show the clear role trials play in our lives. They develop us and I can’t image Stanford would disagree.

But it seems in this chapter he is asking us to recognize that the principle of growth supersedes “experience.” That no matter what is going on in the natural world, the spiritual path God has you on will trump it. If you’re in winter, probably no matter how many “good” things happen, you might not feel like you’re growing. And in summer, crap can happen every day and you won’t miss a beat. Quote 4 touches on that a bit.

Anyway, the lesson I took away from this is more faith-in-the-journey based than meaning-to-the-madness based. I want to enjoy my discipleship-relationship with Jesus as much as possible. I don’t think franticly running from experience to experience trying to stimulate and/or seek out growth will help. But I do feel understanding the time element involved in becoming Christ-like will.

]]> By: Sherry http://blog.joelmaust.com/2005/08/time-or-green-letters-2.html/comment-page-1#comment-102 Sherry Tue, 23 Aug 2005 16:44:43 +0000 http://blog.joelmaust.com/?p=205#comment-102 Is he saying that we grow because of the principle of growth and not by struggles or experiences? I need clarification. Is he saying that we grow because of the principle of growth and not by struggles or experiences? I need clarification.

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