Simply Sacred by Gary Thomas

Author:Gary Thomas [Thomas, Gary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-310-58675-3
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2011-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

GOD MADE REAL THIS?

I’ve always loved movies, but movies are not always a safe recreation. So in this activity, Lisa acts as a sort of conscience for me. For some reason that I’m not proud of, I suspect that my standards would be even lower if I knew that Lisa wouldn’t be in the room watching the movie with me. Even after almost two decades of marriage, watching a movie with Lisa feels a little like watching it with God. I can imagine her thinking, “You rented this?”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer shocked the theological world when, as a Lutheran theologian in the early part of the twentieth century, he began advocating that Protestants reinstitute the practice of confession. He did so not because he felt confession to a fellow human was necessary in order to gain forgiveness from God, but because human confession has a practical purpose: it makes our sin seem more real to us.

If you question this, ask yourself: Why is it much easier to confess sins to God than to your pastor? Why is there more shame when another sinful human being observes my weakness than when I pronounce them before an all-holy God?

Could it be because God’s presence is so weak in our lives? If we truly understood and cherished the beauty and holiness of God, we would shake a bit more when approaching him. But his invisibility often creates a buffer, thereby softening the impact of his presence.

In and through our spouse, God becomes real to us in human form. There is a flesh-and-blood person sitting next to me who flinches when she sees what should make me flinch, but doesn’t — and I see my hard heart exposed by her soft one.

We can help each other become aware of God’s presence by gently encouraging each other toward growth in holiness. Yet we need to be sure to undertake this with extreme caution. We want to bring God’s presence into the other’s life, not our own judgment. Pointing each other to God’s presence is a fundamental spiritual discipline for spouses.

Sacred Marriage, 239 – 40

July 4

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