Basic Christianity by John R. W. Stott

Author:John R. W. Stott [Stott, John R. W.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Eerdmans Publishing Co - A
Published: 1981-09-01T04:00:00+00:00

This basic self-centredness affects all our behaviour. We do not find it easy to adjust to other people. We tend either to despise them or to envy them, to have either superiority or inferiority feelings. For we seldom think of ourselves with that ‘sober judgment’ which Paul urged upon his readers. Sometimes we are full of self-pity, at other times of self-esteem, self-will or self-love.

All the relationships of life are complicated - parents and children, husband and wife, employer and employed. Juvenile delinquency no doubt has many causes, and much is due to lack of security in the home; but the fact is that delinquents are (for whatever reason) asserting themselves against society. Hundreds of divorces could be prevented if people were humble enough to blame themselves more than their partner. Whenever couples have been to see me because their marriage was threatened, I have noticed that each tells a different story - a story sometimes so different that one would not guess they described the same situation unless one knew.

Most quarrels are due to a misunderstanding, and the misunderstanding is due to our failure to appreciate the other man’s point of view. It is more natural to us to talk than to listen, to argue than to submit. This is true in industrial disputes as much as in domestic quarrels. Many management-worker conflicts could be resolved if both sides first examined themselves critically and then examined the other side charitably, instead of which we are always charitable to ourselves and critical of others. The same could be said of complex international unrest. The tensions of today are due largely to fear and folly. Our outlook is onesided. We exaggerate our own virtue and the other man’s vice.

It is easy to write this condemnation of social relationships today. The only reason for doing so is to show how human sin or self-centredness is the cause of all our troubles. It brings us into conflict with each other. If only the spirit of self-assertion could be replaced by the spirit of self-sacrifice, our conflicts would cease. And self-sacrifice is what the Bible means by ‘love’. While sin is possessive, love is expansive. Sin’s characteristic is the desire to get; love’s characteristic is the desire to give.

‘Love ever gives,

Forgives, outlives,

And ever stands with open hands,

And while it lives it gives.

For this is love’s prerogative,

To give - and give - and give.’

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.