In Episode #4199 of Day1 Classics, Rev. Dr. Tom Lengthy sits down with host Rev. Dr. Katie Givens Kime to unpack what it means to dwell as Christians with “double imaginative and prescient.” Collectively they mirror on the enduring relevance of Rev. Dr. Theodore Gill’s 1963 sermon Our Lover’s Quarrel with the World.
From Carl Jung’s thought of the “crucifixion between opposites” to real-life encounters in a Maryland homeless shelter, Dr. Lengthy reminds us that religion calls us to carry rigidity, seeing each the brokenness and the wonder on the earth. Dependancy, despair, and systemic sin are actual, however so is God’s unwavering grace.
Rev. Dr. Katie Givens Kime
Tom, I’ve, in one other context, heard you sharing just a few methods of being Christian proper now and the twin imaginative and prescient that we’re known as to have. Are you able to say extra about that?
Rev. Dr. Tom Lengthy
Yeah, there’s a theme within the New Testomony, particularly of apocalyptic understanding of the world, and, to be temporary about it, an apocalyptic imaginative and prescient sees issues in sharp contrasts. It is both of God or not; it is both of the world of evil or of the world of excellent.
And I believe it is necessary for Christians to have that form of imaginative and prescient, however to carry it slightly loosely.
For instance, in case you stroll into the native department financial institution and squint, you’ll be able to see that it’s the company of a worldwide financial oppression. That is the financial institution, and it is part of the capitalist system that destroys—
Rev. Dr. Katie Givens Kime
And dehumanizes.
Rev. Dr. Tom Lengthy
—dehumanizes, and you then open your eyes and there is Mrs. Birdsong, the teller, and he or she’s giving lollipops to the youngsters. And each of these visions are necessary, in order that we do not villainize Mrs. Birdsong as a result of she works on the financial institution.
However we do not preserve our eyes closed to the evil that permeates all of our life—even the nice issues, even faculties or the church. For those who squint and take a look at them, they will turn into brokers of oppression. We see them for what they’re, and you then open your eyes and also you take a look at them one other approach.
Rev. Dr. Katie Givens Kime
, I really like Carl Jung. He would name for the “crucifixion between opposites.” That is the place we dwell—that we’re held—to dwell in that rigidity. Once we can handle to dwell in that rigidity, that is once we can expertise life most totally, have essentially the most truthful sight.
To see the each… Oh, nevertheless it’s onerous!
Rev. Dr. Tom Lengthy
It’s… I am concerned in slightly city in Maryland with the homeless shelter, and a lot of the friends on the homeless shelter are mentally ailing, and lots of of them are addicts.
And it’s totally straightforward to villainize them as a result of they current with their dependancy, and once they current with their dependancy, what you may see is an evil individual. However in case you look with one other angle of imaginative and prescient, you start to see a creature of God who’s been made captive to one thing they can’t totally management.
And I believe the gospel that Ted Gill was preaching right here within the sermon at this time is we’re all addicts. We’re all enthralled by that which retains us captive and makes life smaller, and God loves the world a lot, He won’t abandon—won’t abandon—us. That is the message of the sermon.
This clip challenges us to apply what Dr. Lengthy calls a “double imaginative and prescient” of religion. In a world full of dependancy, injustice, and struggling, we’re invited to not shut our eyes to brokenness, however to additionally acknowledge magnificence, dignity, and God’s presence inside it.
Jung’s “crucifixion between opposites” is just not solely a psychological perception, but additionally a deeply biblical name to discipleship. Residing in rigidity—between sin and beauty, despair and hope, condemnation and redemption—is the place genuine Christian religion takes root.
For preachers and lecturers, this imaginative and prescient is crucial. It calls us to evangelise with honesty concerning the realities of life, whereas all the time pointing towards God’s promise of restoration. For congregations, it means studying to see folks not as issues to repair, however as beloved kids of God.
Explore Rev. Dr. Theodore Gill’s full sermon from episode 4199 >>>
