The Journey of Desire (6)

"The sea lion was not entirely alone in those parts. For it was there he met the tortoise. Now this tortoise was an ancient creature, so weathered by his life in the barren lands that at first, the sea lion mistook him for a rock. He told the tortoise of his plight, hoping that this wise one might be able to help him. 'Perhaps,' the tortoise mused, 'this is the sea.' His eyes appeared to be shut against the bright sun, but he was watching the sea lion very closely. The sea lion swept his flippers once against his side, gliding to the end of the water hole and back. 'I don't know,' he said. 'It isn't very deep.'

'Isn't' it?'

'Somehow, I thought the sea would be broader, deeper. At least, I hoped so.'

'You must learn to be happy here,' the tortoise told him one day. 'For it is unlikely you shall ever find this sea of yours.' Deep in his old and shriveled heart, the tortoise envied the sea lion and his sea.

'But I belong to the sea. We are made for each other.'

'Perhaps. But you have been gone so long now, the sea has probably forgotten you.'

This thought had never occurred to the sea lion. But it was true, he had been gone for a long, long time."

(John Eldredge: The Journey of Desire)

There are people in our lives who have not tasted of the riches of God's kingdom. They may even call themselves Christians and they may be active in church. But they are people who tell us not to pay attention to our deep desires. They tell us that the key to the Christian life is right knowledge and right performance. Forget all your dreams for something more. Those dreams are lying to you and distracting you from what you should be doing.

Someone commented the other day that very often, when a Christian first comes into a church, one of the first things others do is to ask them to get involved in a ministry. People are seen as tools to keep the activities going. They are not encouraged and allowed time to listen to the call of the Spirit in their hearts. They are quickly taught the 'correct' doctrine, and shown the 'correct' way to proceed. Well, that seems to work for many because they prefer to just conform and give up trying to discern the Spirit's movements in their life.

It is so easy to listen to the 'wise tortoises' because after all they have come a very long way and they should be 'right'. But there is a word of caution: they may indeed be 'weathered' but at the same time have 'old and shriveled' hearts; people who can no longer feel the deep stirrings that are part of the kingdom life.

John Eldredge asks whether our lives as Christians are attractive to those around us.

"People aren't exactly ripping the roofs off churches to get inside. We see the enemy's ploy: drain all the life and beauty and adventure away from the gospel, bury Christians in duty, and nobody will want to take a closer look."

Rather than judging the life of others, the question falls back on ourselves: do I lead a life that presents the gospel of Jesus Christ as the 'true' life?

I know with my whole heart that I do. However there are still many areas that the Lord is remoulding in order that his light is reflected in a more complete manner.