To Abide

           Although my original purpose in creating a blog was simply so that I could pass my Honors Orientation class, I've found that sharing my thoughts has been instrumental in helping me to process my own questions. So with my first semester of college behind me and two weeks of Christmas break ahead, I have plenty of things to ponder and a great amount of time in which to ponder them. 


          The greatest of these things is the idea of abiding. More specifically, abiding with God. 
         
          In my Writing from Faith class, I was suddenly made aware that the word "abide" is "Christianese" and should not be used because it narrows the audience that is impacted by  writing. My professor told my class again and again that, "Christianese turns off unbelievers and makes believers stop engaging the idea that you are presenting." So I've been left wondering when did abiding cease to be an action of obedience and become cliche'? 


         As evidenced by my past posts, the idea of resting in God's presence and abiding in Him is not a new concept to me, but rather something that I've struggled to do successfully for a long time. I've wrestled with the question, "How exactly are we supposed to abide in God's presence as we are instructed to do in John 15:4?" 


        In this verse, Jesus said, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me" (KJV). Rereading this, it struck me for the first time that abiding isn't something that we alone are told to do, this is also something that Christ is doing in us. We aren't left on our own to strive to abide in God; we've received a promise that when we make an effort to spend time with God, we will be filled with more of Him. 


        For me, the greatest thing that hinders me from making time with God a priority in my life is worry and stress. It's easy for me to focus only on the things that I have to accomplish during the twenty-four hours of a day and completely forget to rely on Him for my strength. 


        But, I've realized that if I'm stressing, I'm not trusting.


        I'd like to share a couple of lines from the book by Sarah Young, "Jesus Calling" that have expressed this idea more poignantly than I am able. 
        
        "Take time to be still in My Presence so that I can strengthen you. The busier you become, the more you need this time apart with Me. So many people think that time spent with Me is a luxury they cannot afford. As a result, they live and work in their own strength - until they become depleted.... How much better it is to walk close to Me, depending on My strength and trusting Me in every situation" (p 378).


      As for me, I have to choose daily to not be cliche' about abiding, but make a conscious effort to listen to and talk with God and read His Word. Surrendering my stress is not easy, but I believe it is worth the struggle to trust, to rest... and ultimately, to abide.
       


        

“Scandal of the Evangelical Mind”

Simply attending a Christian college does not do the work of applying Noll’s “life of the mind” concept. Noll says, “An evangelical life of the mind is the effort to think like a Christian – to think within a specifically Christian framework – across the whole spectrum of modern learning.” The individual alone is responsible for thinking as a Christian in whatever vocation or field he or she goes into. The university is not required to teach in such a way that every student learns how to use their mind for Christ. It may be the faculty’s goal or hope, but it is the individual’s choice what and how they learn while in college, even a Christian college. While a Christian education may help one learn how to think well in a Christian framework, one does not automatically fulfill the requirements of an “evangelical life of the mind” by attending a Christian college. Perhaps the assumption that it does has led to the “scandal of the evangelical mind” of which Noll speaks.

Questions:

1). How does the idea of an evangelical life of the mind connect to the concept of creation, fall, redemption.

2). How can one practice redemption of the evangelical mind in everyday life?