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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, : Sunday School Lesson \ (Continued from Page 2) we can ourselves. The call of God is a call to battle, not a summons to hide. | | For some persons God is confined to the church. I heard a theologian suggest that many of us by our attitude may be agreeing with those who have claimed that God is dead. When we feel we must enter a particular building to be near God, we may be saying that God is dead and the church is his tomb. This idea is food for thought. Solomon, in his prayer of dedication for the Temple, declared: "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have builtt" (1 Kings 8:27) Does Our Idea of God Really Matter? I Our idea of God is important because it has a great deal to do with the way we live our lives. If we see God as little more than conscience, we will be inclined to do that which makes us feel good inside and avoid that which makes us feel bad or uneasy. Of course, we should enjoy serving God and receive satisfaction from that service; but if we think of God just as conscience, we can often convince ourselves that what we want to ,do is right. We can maintain that sincerity is enough. But the sincerity with which we may hold a particular belief is no guarantee of its truth. | un the other hand, if we see God as the creator and sustainer of the universe actively ruling the world he has made, we will live very differently. Our lives will become less self-centered, and we shall see ourselves in a relationship with God. If we put too much emphasis on God's transcendence or "otherness," we may think of him as so far removed from us that he takes little notice of our condition and needs. Consequently, we may feel that we must work out our destiny with little reference to God, assigning to him a very minor role in our lives. However, another danger is introduced when-we lay so much stress on God's immanence or "presentness" that we see him only as an enlarged reflection of ourselves. We may come to feel so intimate with God that we think of him as a crony or pleasant companion whom we knpw thoroughly. ETHEL'S BAKE SHOP L9X6-ZLZ ?noqa IMJtS n*JJ?0 826 1971 THE If we lose sight of the otherness of God, we lose the sense of his majesty. On the other hand, if we forget that he is always near ? immanent ? we tend to think of him as unrelated to life as we experience it. We must struggle to hold both views together, for one without the other presents a distorted picture of God, and this distortion leads to distortions in our lives. Only as we have a true understanding of God can we live in a manner he can approve. Thinking Theologically Thinking theologically may seem difficult, but it simply means to take God into account in our lives ? to reckon seriously with the fact that God is presently involved in his world. Many of us go about our own business, pursuing our selfish concerns (as individuals and as nations), acting as though we were quite alone and free to do as we please. Can it be that our failure to think theologically has brought us to these present! difficult days? Can it be that the' only way out of our present dilemma is for us to find our way back to God and to take seriously the fact that all of life comes from and through him and that he is therefore concerned with everything that happens in this world? We must honestly face the fact that for many of us God plays little or no part in our Scheme of things. True, we believe in the church and support it. But have we been willing to let what we have heard and accepted on Sunday radically affect the way we live the other six days of the week? Does not much of our devotion amount to little more than lip service? Do our actions conform to what is being said by the church? To put it bluntly, Do we practice what we preach? If we cannot give the right answers to these questions, we are not thinking theologically. Acting Theologically Important as thinking theologically is, it will amount to : nothing if we do not act theologically. We have the freedom j to respond to God either in dis- | obedience or in obedience. We | may choose good or evil. But | only if we choose to follow God's j will for our lives, will we find the happiness we long for. We need to recognize (1) that this is God's world and (2) that ] E FUTURE OUTLC we must live in it in accordance with his will or we will not live at all. All of life is a dealing witi God. He is inescapable. That L what the psalmist who wrote Psalms 139 said so beautifully For example, read verses 9-10. The psalmist knew that Goe was in his world and was ac tively engaged in working to his good and the good of al men. Thus the psalmist wa thinking and acting theological iy. We do not like to talk abou the fact of God's judgment, bu this refusal does not removi its reality from our lives. Goe always comes in judgment whether we like it or not. The world in which we live te}da: manifests this judgment. Our wars are the judgment o God upon our failure to hea: the word of Jesus: "Blessed are the peacemakers." Hunger stalk: the earth and children starvi because we seek to hoard God' bounty and keep it for ourselves In the poem used at the be' ginning of the lesson God is pictured as being sad, and he mus be sad when he contemplate; our earth. It shows him as i little weary of putting up witl us. It shows him prepared alsi to act in judgment, to smite thi earth. But then the little man stand up to say: "You must not strik; it, God; I'm in the way." Am God replies: "Dear child, I fear ed that you were dead," and si he "stayed His hand." Over and over again the Bibli and the church tell us that it i not our merit but God's mere; that prevents our total destruc tion. We are, according to somi persons, headed for oblivion; bu it need not be so. God will sta; his hand if we rise from th< deadness of our living and tak< God seriously and try to fulfil his will and purpose in our lives We must live theologically. What Can We Do About It? We are living in a day thai calls for action. But action without careful planning and cleai recognition of the problem does not help. During this quarter's lessons we will be learning what the Bible teaches about God. Move than this, we will be seeking tc understand how we may appl} these insights to our living. We are confronted today by problems large enough to stagger the strongest mind. We need to cultivate an awareness of God ir >OK i our Individual lives and then ! strive to become aware of his activity in the world about us. i In every crisis situation we > shall endeavor to discover God's _ will in that particular situation. This task will not always be j easy, but we must make the ef_ fort. Once we have determined r what that will is, then we must j at whatever cost prepare ours ? WEU COLLEGE </ a ? I ^I I USE OUR EASY H.&H.CI Ladles' and Gents' R 131 S. Davie St. ? Phor THREE selves to carry out that will. We will not always agree completely as to what precisely is God's will, and each of us will have to walk by the light he has and do what he feels is God's will for him. But, above all, we must seek to open up our lives that God may reveal to us his will and purpose. (Continued on Page 7) :ome STUDENTS 1 CREDIT TERMS a otmng Co. eady-to-Wear Clothing le 272-2564 ? Greensboro
The Future Outlook (Greensboro, N.C.)
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Sept. 3, 1971, edition 1
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