The Wisdom of Arni

"Money doesn't make you happy. I now have $50 million but I was just as happy when I had $48 million." Arnold Schwarzenegger

A New Analogy for Atonement?

Okay in the last post I suggested Substitution as a pretty crappy analogy for Jesus death and resurrection. Not only because as far as analogies go it is pretty flawed but because it can also romanticise suffering. Often I have heard Xns talking about what it must be like to live in a country where Xy is actively persecuted and almost secretly wishing they were there, as it would make them feel better about being Xn.

Firstly I think forgiveness is different from being saved from sin. God already forgives in the Old Testament and there I can’t see why with much mercy God would not continue to do this. Perhaps, however we are saved from sin or more specifically a sinful way of living because Jesus shows a new way of living. Of which Jesus death is crucial because it shows us that it is possible to live a life of love that is not oppressive where a just life of love is rewarded with eternal life.

The original Matrix film tries to work in the whole death and resurrection thing into it’s narrative when during the final battle Neo dies and then after a 3 seconds rises to life. Perhaps a better death and resurrection an analogy maybe the eat the red pill or the blue pill scene. It is here that Neo leaves his world (dies to it) and later he is resurrected when he returns to the Matrix.

Neo sees his world in a new reality and lives accordingly. We don't have to conform to the sinful ways of this world because we see a new reality we live a life free from sin.

It's time to Substitute Substitution

1) Most Xns believe that Jesus took our punishment by dying on the cross for us.
2) Most Xns believe that God is a loving God.
3) Most Xns would argue that we should lock up and throw away the key for any father who would kill their own son as a way of settling a score with an independent third party who was unable to pay up.
4) Most non Xns just don't get the whole God is a loving God but kills the innocent Jesus instead of us thing.

Let's face it the whole substitution analogy is actually a really bad way to explain how Jesus death bring us back into relationship with God. It's time for a new analogy.

Any ideas?

Skating for Jesus

I got to stand next to a stall today that in part was spruiking about some guys who were "Skating for Jesus" and it just didn't sit right with me. And this is not the first time it hasn't. I smiled in the movie Saved when Patrick, who had been on an evangelism mission skating for Jesus, confessed that he didn't really do much saving of souls he was really just there for the skating. It's not the "hey we Xns can be cool too" that bothers although that is kind of irksome. It's the elevating of a lowly secular activity to something worthy by saying that we're doing it for Jesus. Where as the reality is “skating for Jesus” is like “lying on the beach enjoying the sunset for Jesus”. The only reason you would have to add the "for Jesus" to anything is that deep down you believe that that activity in and of itself is not a worthwhile pursuit and that's what bugs me.

Things Jesus lived without: (3) the car

Surely this is the great scourge of our modern age. My problem with the car is this 1) They cost heaps to buy 2) They cost heaps to run 3) They cost heaps to repair 4) They cost heaps to the environment At the moment my job necessitates me having a car. It would take over three hours to get there by public transport and it takes me just over 20 minutes by car.

I use a car so I can... get to work, visit friends (I have no friends in walking distance and the nearest bus is half hour walk) and go shopping (nearest shops near bus).

Any ideas on how I could cut out at least one car in my life (my wife and I have two) would be greatly appreciated.

What do you do when you stop?

It's 1pm and it feels a little be late to rock up to work today. After working a 13 hour day yesterday I don't really care. I'm feeling very much on the bottom of the food chain at the moment working a job where I have to be available out of hours because that's when my customers are available. Yet if I ever want anything done it has to be done in strictly office hours. I spent 2 hours putting some little thing back on my stupid car. Mechanics is not really my forte but paying a mechanic a weeks worth of wages to do it is even less my forte. So now I have the ignition barrel fixed, the automatic choke go on thing fixed (hopefully) and now once the solenoids on the battery is fixed it might all work, and perhaps even long enough to sell the stupid thing.

Any way I'm a bit over the whole work consume die thing. Now that I am calling this a day off I can't really think of anything to do. Everything is just thoroughly uninspiring… playing music, fixing up crap around the house or cleaning stuff that really doesn’t need cleaning that badly. So what do you do when you stop doing all the other meaningless crap? Particularly at 1:08pm on a Tuesday afternoon?

Time for a good lie down