The Call

Os Guinness

1998

Chapters 19-26

2

Locked Out and Staying There (Chapter 19)

Staying out of church to demonstrate Jesus is lord over your whole life (p. 154)

3

Locked Out and Staying There (Chapter 19)

“…’What is your struggle next to my bitter cup?’ His service is so exalting and glorious”—Abraham Kuyper (p. 155)

4

Locked Out and Staying There (Chapter 19)

“calling directly counters the great modern pressure toward privatization because of its insistence that Jesus Christ is Lord of every sphere of life” (p. 156)

5

Locked Out and Staying There (Chapter 19)

Launch Out Into the DeepPrivatization—”privatization is the

process by which modernization produces a cleavage between the public and private spheres of life and reinforces the private sphere as the special arena for individual freedom, fulfillment—and faith” (p. 156)

6

Locked Out and Staying There (Chapter 19)

…Into the DeepReligion “invading” public lifePrivatization lacks totality

Pocket-sized Jesus

“The problem with Western Christians is not that they aren’t where they should be but that they aren’t what they should be where they are.” (157)

7

Locked Out and Staying There (Chapter 19)

…Into the DeepPoliticization

Tension between allegiance to Christ and the political (158).

Political identification and activism without critical tension betrays Christ (159)

8

Locked Out and Staying There (Chapter 19)

…Into the DeepPillarization

Denies the transformation of faith (160)

9

Locked Out and Staying There (Chapter 19)

Calling: “resists privatization by insisting on the

totality of faith” “resists politicization by demanding a

tension with every human allegiance and association”

“resists pillarization by requiring an attitude toward, and action in, society that is inevitably transforming because it is constantly engaged” (161)

10

A Focused Life (Chapter 20)

“calling directly counters the great modern pressure toward pluralization because the call of Jesus provides the priorities and perspectives that are essential for a focused life in an overloaded age.” (p. 164)

11

A Focused Life (Chapter 20)

Life is too short…Pluralization—”technical term for the

third great pressure the modern world exerts on faith” (p. 164).“the process by which the proliferation

of choice and change rapidly multiplies the number of options. This affects the private sphere of modern society at all levels, from consumer goods to relationships to worldviews and faiths” (p. 165)

12

A Focused Life (Chapter 20)

Choicenow a value, priority, and a rightaddictiveness of choice (p.165)

13

A Focused Life (Chapter 20)

Calling is counter to fragmentation and overloadCalling vs. Idolatry of Choice

Choice conquered by being Chosen

Calling = continuity not fragmentationCalling helps us to focus (p. 166-168)

God’s immutable call (p. 170)

14

Dreamers of the Day (Chapter 21)

“Calling, by breaking through with an outside perspective on the present, is a prime source of Christian vision and Christian visionaries” (p. 175).

15

Dreamers of the Day (Chapter 21)

With Fire…“The Caller may be unseen and the

destination unknown, but those who follow his call have a voice above and vision ahead that subverts every status quo and unsettles every resting place” (p. 176)

16

Dreamers of the Day (Chapter 21)

With Fire…Vision

Watch out for false visionsWatch out for the shoalsWatch out for mimics

Reaching beyond our grasp(p. 177-181)

17

Patches of Godlight (Chapter 22)

“…calling transforms life so that even the commonplace and menial are invested with the splendor of the ordinary” (p. 185).

18

Patches of Godlight (Chapter 22)

“Unpleasant realities recede while distaste for unpleasant realities grows. The result is our modern fastidiousness. We are too important to appreciate the commonplace and too refined to handle drudgery ourselves” (p. 186)

19

Patches of Godlight (Chapter 22)

Reminded of our audiencelittle things

See things as they areFallacy of workDefinition of Amateur

Drudgery is included“be exceptional in the ordinary

things” —Oswald Chambers (p. 191)

20

Patches of Godlight (Chapter 23)

“calling is a reminder for followers of Christ that nothing in life should be taken for granted; everything in life must be received with gratitude” (p. 195).

21

Patches of Godlight (Chapter 23)

Ungrateful bipedIngratitude and forgetfulnessWorld without God = People without

gratitudeNo dependency and indebtedness

WITH forgetfulness and ingratitudeWhat did you receive? 1 Cor 7:4Self-conceit (p. 195-198)

22

Patches of Godlight (Chapter 23)

Calling and GratitudeGivers of grace

Moralism Removes grace Reduced to moral rules

Gratitude first response(p. 200)

23

Everybody’s Fool (Chapter 24)

“calling entails the cost of discipleship. The deepest challenge is to renounce self and identify with Jesus in his sufferings and rejection” (p. 204)

24

Everybody’s Fool (Chapter 24)

Fools for Christ 1 Cor 4:10Bonhoeffer

Types of martyrdom Red Green White

(p. 206-207)“Thy Will Be Done”

Counterculture

25

The Hour Has Come (Chapter 25)

“…calling is an essential part of the sense of timing that characterizes a successful life” (p. 216)

26

The Hour Has Come (Chapter 25)

Jesus and Our CallingRelying on God (p. 221)

Jehoshaphat 2 Chron 20:12

Don’t use bad methodologyReadinessResolution(p. 221-223)

27

Last Call (Chapter 26)

“Calling is central to the challenge and privilege of finishing well in life” (p. 227)

28

Last Call (Chapter 26)

Journeying PurposefullyTermination vs. Vocation

Unemployed but not uncalledGod is in control

29

Coming up . . . November 22:

C&P Ch 31-3411/22: Critical Essay #3 (PPT format)

On the horizon:Dec 6 Lunch with Dr. Griffith