the call os guinness 1998 chapters 10-18. 2 our utmost for his highest still (chapter 10) ...

The Call

Os Guinness

1998

Chapters 10-18

2

Our Utmost for His Highest Still (Chapter 10)

“…there is no higher or more ultimate passion than a human being ablaze with a desire for God.” (p. 75)

3


“…God’s calling is the key to igniting a passion for the deepest growth and highest heroism in life”--Pascal (p. 78)

4


The Fall of HeroismDebunking—Nietzsche, Marx, and

FreudFewer Heroes—media creations

“A big name rather than a big person, the celebrity is someone for whom character is nothing, coverage is all” (p. 78).

“Death of God”

5


The Secret of Growth & Key to HeroismThe Challenge of God’s Call

Singled out -> sent out -> standing upImitating God

“Be imitators of me as I am of Christ”--Paul (p. 81).

Is NOT self-help spiritualityGod is Original; we are imitationsImitation is real, live action

6

Where the Buck Stops, There Stand I (Chapter 11)

“The notion of calling is vital to the modern search for a basis for moral responsibility and to an understanding of ethics itself” (85).

7


R-E-S-P-O-N-S-I-B-I-L-I-T-Yfor or to?our life = response to God= obedience (p. 86-87)

8


MoralityCommunity standardsAnonymityAudience of One (p. 88-89)

9

People of the Call (Chapter 12)

“…the call of Jesus is personal but not purely individual; Jesus summons his followers not only to an individual calling but also to a corporate calling” (p. 93).

10


Community in Modernityshift from voluntary to involuntarybias against institutionsvoluntary associations

shift from moral agency from institutions to individuals

(p. 93-95)

11


Called to Community“the people of Israel” (p. 96)denominationalism

12


Challenging Individualismattend worship servicesThe “Christian Way”Reformation(p. 97-99)

13

Followers of The Way (Chapter 13)

“Calling reminds Christians ceaselessly that, far from having arrived, a Christian is someone who in this life is always on the read as a ‘follower of Christ’ and a follower of ‘the Way’” (102).

14


Objections to ChristianityFormalizing and RoutinizingChristians

“Jesus, save me from your followers” (p. 102).

15


Life as JourneyFollowers only when we follow

“Why do you call me, “Lord, Lord,” and do not do what I say?” (p. 105).

Life is a JourneyDifferent stages of the Journey (p. 105-108)

16

There But for the Grace of God Goes God (Chapter 14)

“The reverse side of calling is the temptation of conceit” (p. 112).

17


“All truth in a fallen world is vulnerable to distortion” (p. 113).

Chosen, Gifted, Special

18


PRIDEvice or virtue?

Synonyms:“egotism, arrogance, hubris,

selfishness, vanity, haughtiness, presumption, boastfulness, big-headedness, self-satisfaction, self-centeredness” (p. 116).

There is no “I” in Grace

19

What is That to You? (Chapter 15)

“The truth of calling touches closely on the link between giftedness and desire and the almost inescapable temptation of envy” (p. 122-123).

20


Revenge of Failure“if we are not inclined to submit to

the rigors of the discipline, we destroy the standards and pass ourselves off as acceptable”—Henry Fairlie (p. 123)

21


EnvyCancer of EnvyEnvy changes the questionEnvy meets at the crossroads of

gift/desire/callCompetitionDistorts the perception of the call of others (p. 124-125)

22


Follow ME“Comparisons are idle, speculations

about others a waste of time, and envy as silly as it is evil” (p. 126)

23


Follow MEJohn 21

http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2021;&version=31;

24

More, More, Faster, Faster (Chapter 16)

“…calling, which played a key role in the rise of modern capitalism, is one of the few truths capable of guiding and restraining it now” (p. 129).

25


“…unless there was vigilance, a sense of calling would bring forth prosperity, only to result in prosperity’s destroying the sense of calling” (p. 128)—Cotton Mather

“Originally…the menace of unrestrained economic impulse was held in check by the Protestant ethic—people worked in response to their calling. But now, with this ethic dissolved, including its moral attitudes toward hard work and saving, only hedonism remains” (p. 128-129).

26


“No one can master money without mastering the meaning of money” (p. 129). MammonAvariceSingle-mindednessOther “needs”Being consumedCommodity Inability to purchase desires

“Just a little bit more”—J.D. Rockefeller, Sr. (p. 132)

http://biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=mammon&qs_version=9

27

Combating the Noonday Demon (Chapter 17)

“…calling is the best antidote to the deadly sin of sloth” (p. 139).

28


Sloth4th deadly sinMost misunderstoodCharacteristically modern

29


SlothSpiritual dejectionInner despairNoonday demon

30


The Modern SlothLoss of Faith in God

Bartleby’s “dead-end passivity” (p. 141).

Cultural—creature comforts“Better barbarism than boredom!” (p.

142)—Theophile Gautier

31


Discouragement through failureSuccess/significanceNot secular v. religious but

inspired gifts & calling v. career

32

A World With Windows (Chapter 18)

“…calling directly counters the great modern pressure toward secularization because the call of Jesus includes a summons to the exercise of the spiritual disciplines and the experience of supernatural realities” (p. 148)

33

A World With Windows (Chapter 18)

Science and Technology (p. 148)Managing without GodCall v. Secularization

Kingdom lifeSpiritual Discipline

Busy LivesSustaining the CallWork, Play, Worship ???

34

Coming up . . .

November 15: Guinness chapters 19-26

On the horizon:11/22: Critical Essay #3 (PPT format)

the call os guinness 1998 chapters 10-18. 2 our utmost for his highest still (chapter 10) ...

Documents