Tag Archives: love

Beauty, Grace, Worldview & Truth

Beauty: The Divine Embrace

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“Whatever things are… lovely… think on these things.”
Philippians 4:8

During the three and a half year siege of Sarajevo, as buildings smoldered, and graveyards swelled, one sensitive soul diagnosed the despair, and scattered seeds of healing across the traumatized city.  Vedran Smailović, principal cellist of the Sarajevo Symphony, carried his  instrument into places of death and destruction, gifting the city with beautiful music among the ruins.      

As the maestro wove his melodies through the streets, root hairs of hope sprouted in the hearts of the people.  God’s gift of beauty opens the heavens, chases away the ugliness, and pours healing into the soul.  It is what theologians might call a “prevenient grace” that flows – like rain – upon the righteous and the unrighteous alike. It is a gravitational force that draws us towards the Creator.

Beauty is a rose on the doorstep of humanity.  The Lover-God has visited our tenement and left His calling card.  The rose is not Him, but it is an expression of Him that declares His intention: “I love you.” “I see you.” “You have captured my heart.” “I am extravagant in my resolve towards you.”

Tragically, many of Adam’s race have become jaded and blind.  We’ve traded beauty for novelty, shock, and adrenaline. Beauty has become maligned, twisted, distorted, cheapened and commercialized to the point where we shuffle past the flaming bush with nary a glance.  But Moses – he turned aside to see this marvelous sight that burned, yet was never consumed. And God met him there with grace.

Those of us who have encountered the Lover will recognize the gift, remove our sandals, and cherish the unmistakable invitation. “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.” – Psalm 27:4

Discipleship, The Kingdom

The Kitchen Door

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Did you know that when Jesus reminded the multitude that they were “the light of the world, a city set on a hill”, and “the salt of the earth” He was not speaking to born-again Christians, but to a motley crowd of Galileans? (After all, He had neither died on the cross, nor been resurrected at that point). And do we also realize that when he declared, “The Kingdom of God is within you”, (Luke 17:20-21), He was speaking not to his disciples, but to Pharisees?

So what’s going on here? Certainly Jesus wasn’t confused. These were human beings he had brought into existence, and He knew them better than they knew themselves. But perhaps this is a key to understanding. Unlike today’s church, which typically begins the gospel with a declaration of our sin and rebellion, Jesus seems to be going round the kitchen door and making his entrance from the other side. The truth is, we were designed for the Kingdom, and most people have at least a faint awareness that yes, there must be more.

Paul tapped into this pattern in Acts 17:28 when he declared to the pagan men of Athens that “We are God’s children.” Do we see that sometimes people, even unbelievers respond to a tender reminder of their design? Maybe this “kitchen door” approach calls more upon the heart, and less upon the conscience. This in no way diminishes our need to “turn and believe,” but it’s rather a hardware / software issue. The hardware of the human race is designed for destiny. That’s who we are, and there are faint echos of that strewn across the consciousness of the human race. But we have a software issue, a need for an operating system of faith in the One who designed us. Only turning to Jesus will activate the life and light of our design.

To call upon that part of man that deep-down knows he was created for significance can be a powerful tool for bringing our friends to faith. In the moving words of Fanny Crosby, “Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter, feelings lie buried that grace can restore; Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness, chords that were broken will vibrate once more.”

Discipleship is all about learning the beautiful ways of Jesus. In a world where so many have lost sight of the path, perhaps this “kitchen door approach” is a key to reaching them with the good news.