I read this today, and it made me hungry for more.
I have no additional words; the text speaks clearly enough for itself. All I can say is I hope the faith I bank my life on and portray here and elsewhere is something far more than facts and data. What I believe and how I came to believe must be breathtaking. Or it isn’t worth the sharing and living of it.
“For centuries prior to our Modern Era, the church viewed the gospel as a Romance, a cosmic drama whose themes permeated our own stories and drew together all the random scenes in a redemptive wholeness. But our rationalistic approach to life, which has dominated Western culture for hundreds of years, has stripped us of that, leaving a faith that is barely more than mere fact-telling. Modern evangelicalism reads like an IRS 1040 form: It’s true, all the data is there, but it doesn’t take your breath away. As British theologian Alister McGrath warns, the Bible is not primarily a doctrinal sourcebook: ‘To reduce revelation to principles or concepts is to suppress the element of mystery, holiness and wonder to God’s self-disclosure. “First principles” may enlighten and inform; they do not force us to our knees in reverence and awe, as with Moses at the burning bush, or the disciples in the presence of the risen Christ.'” —The Sacred Romance, John Eldridge and Brent Curtis
Hi Michelle. I came to know Christ when I was 23-years-old after having witnessed the suicide of my beloved best friend and brother, Robert. I RAN to God and clung to Him for dear life. What I was told was that if Jesus were to heal me of my fear and sadness, I would have to comply with “certain” Scriptures. I was full of fear, so “perfect love casts out all fear.” Therefore, I must not have perfect love. I was deeply depressed (and suicidal myself), but this had no place in the prosperity gospel. Christ “had already” healed us. I just needed to learn how to “walk” in it. I almost didn’t make it through…but Jesus romanced me, tenderly and lovingly. He came through for me over and over again, in ways that made no sense to those around me. When my father committed suicide three years later, I felt His presence as if I was wearing Him like a beautiful and heavy robe around my shoulders. A year later, someone came to me and told me that He had woken them in the middle of the night and told them to tell me that “the days of my mourning [were] over.” Within three months, it had completely lifted. That was 34-years-ago, and these days I am working with individuals who have lost their will to live. He’s a mystery, and His ways are so much higher than ours. I love that about Him.
Oh-so-beautiful, Linda. Thank you for sharing your story here, and trusting us with it. I’m in awe of Him.
C.S. Lewis wrote a space trilogy that embraces that romance. I highly recommend them!
Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, & That Hideous Strength.
One of the few Lewis books I haven’t read. Thanks for the reminder!
Thank you for additional affirmation of my experience. I spent a year of discontent, near despair, about 10 years ago and that summer Jesus totally romanced me back into his care in a way that I had not experienced prior. Since that time, my faith has been solidly established, not to be moved and dependent on his ever sustaining grace!