Last week I had the privilege of attending a counseling class offered by a great program in the US US
The Gap between Calling and Condition
We all have a gap in our lives between what/who God has called us to be, and how we actually live out our bottom line beliefs. Some call this what we “say we believe” and what we “really believe.” Or you may think of it as areas of our lives where the gospel’s promises have not yet permeated our hearts. And we all have strategies we use to deal with this gap… Here are 3 common ways of dealing with the gap:
1) Compulsive and compliant. If I try really hard, I can ‘stop doing that.’ If I work really hard, I can force myself by virtue of good discipline to do what I ‘should do.’ But these types will eventually tire out.
2) Lowering expectations. These types are distant and defiant; actively or passively angry… “I can’t do it; I won’t try.” Eventually they tire everyone else out who tries to rescue them, fix them, etc… but they can’t.
3) Minimize the gap—it doesn’t exist. This is the party person who asks “What gap?” These people are always happy but don’t seem authentic; their lives and vanilla, dutiful, boring with no impact.
If you pretend there is no gap, you don’t need the gospel.
“An honest discussion of a soul will never be boring, because God doesn’t write boring stories.”
How do you close the gap?
(I’m definitely all over #1.)
3 comments:
Tracie,
I'd love to talk to you more about this - Iris and I had a good conversation in the fall mainly about #3. I definitely incline toward #1. How is your progress going through To Be Told? I just got it for Christmas but decided to wait til I get back to start it.
I would enjoy that too Gina. To Be Told was one of the textbooks for the class so I finished it. He didn't talk about the book much the whole tenor of his lecture and the small groups was about story. Did you get the workbook too? It goes into a lot more detail. I haven't gotten that far. Hope to see you soon!
Of course I'm all over #1. Great thoughts...I like this delineation...it helps me know how to better understand and help people (and myself!) LOVE the quote. Can't wait to hear more of what you learned. Thanks for sharing the wisdom! Love the new site design, too. :)
Post a Comment