Theologian John S. Dunne tells of a group of early Spanish sailors who reached the continent of South America after an arduous voyage. Their caravels sailed into the headwaters of the Amazon, an expanse of water so wide the sailors presumed it to be a continuation of the Atlantic Ocean. It never occurred to them to drink the water, since they expected it to be saline, and as a result some of these sailors died of thirst. That scene of men dying of thirst even as their ships floated on the world's largest source of freshwater has become for me a metaphor for our age. Some people starve to death spiritually while all around them manna rots.
People shake their heads in despair over the state of the world despite the fact that by many measures -- literacy, nutrition, clean water, housing -- things have decidedly improved in the past fifty years.
He goes on to mention the fall of the iron curtain, the ending of apartheid in South Africa, the great revival taking place in China (over 100 million Chinese now claim the name of Jesus).
We tend to get bogged down over a couple of issues in America -- and see nothing but gloom and doom. Please don't hear me saying those issues are not important. But let's not become so obsessed that we lose sight of the bigger picture. The Kingdom of God is advancing in this world. Let's look for His movement -- and join Him there.
1 comment:
That's a wonderful illustration by Dunne through Yancey. I've never heard that before. Thanks for sharing.
This concept is fresh to me as I have just begun to really understand it and embrace it: joining God where He is already at work. Looking for the path and blessing in places I used to not consider. Rather than charting my own course for work in the kingdom, I find it is much more satisfying and effective to try to understand and act where God has already begun "making things grow." (1 Cor. 3)
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