August 16, 2010
Polarizing
One of the pieces of public art on display in town is a large, ugly fish made out of rusted pieces on metal. The tile of the exhibit is Trash Fish and community art critics all seem to agree that when it comes to appreciation there is no in between, you either like it or hate it. Interestingly the new rusted metal siding on my house is getting similar responses. The comments range from, “It’s really distinctive…, It’s a bold move…I wasn’t sure I liked it, but the rockwork has pulled it all together…, It’s different.” I like the fact that the house is visually set apart from other houses, but I wasn’t quite prepared to actually have it critiqued by the general public. I think there is a lesson for me in this, when I apply it to my Christianity. As a believer we need to be distinctive, bold, and different…and we also need to expect the critique that comes with it because we are set apart from those who are in the world.
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Gail;
-----Being distinctive and different is important. But it is also dangerous. Humanity was made ill by the quest for distinction and difference offered to Eve at the Tree of Knowledge. Immediately we can perceive two unique applications of this concept of distinction and difference. Both hinge on the God created human trait of autonomy.
-----On one side of autonomy is the uniqueness of each individual. It is a necessary trait of God’s creatures, because from it comes the willing actions of love which interrelate us amongst one another and to God. Each of us have feelings, thoughts, situations, and possessions uniquely our own that only we ourselves are best able to use and dispense. It is in these we are boldly to be distinct and different.
-----But there is a rationale common to all because it is given by God. This rationale forms guidelines and limits concerning the use and dispensing of what is our own. We do not seek distinction and differentiation away from this rationale. But others do. They try to make the Word of God to be the artful musings of man so they can distinguish their own feelings, thoughts, situations, and possessions by guidelines and limits fashioned from their own distinct and different musings.
-----But the Word of God stands as what it is: God’s processes of norms, principles, and laws forming guidelines within which we distinguish our own situations as unique. Then within those processes we autonomously act, creating distinct and different feelings, thoughts, and actions of love towards others and God.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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