Spiritual Engineering

People have the notion that Christians are control freaks. We want to tell you how to live, and what you should do, and take all of your freedom away. And certainly there are Christians like that. (Pick any sin you like, there are Christians who exemplify it—and that’s no surprise, it’s just what you’d expect if you understand Christian teaching.)

But really, we aren’t meant to be control freaks. At our best, we should have no desire to tell others just exactly how they should live.

That doesn’t mean we don’t have opinions. But look at it like this: a structural engineer doesn’t tell you what your house should look like. He doesn’t tell you how many rooms you should have, or whether you should have gas or electric appliances, or what the color of the drapes should be, or whether you should build a cozy cottage or a majestic castle.

Instead, he tells you whether the house you’re designing is going to fall down or not. He tells what you need to change to keep it from falling down. His interest is in a certain, narrow area, and it’s all about not wanting to see you crushed under the debris.

And that’s my attitude toward others, towards Christians and non-Christians both. The Church, I believe, has some things to say about what to change so that the house of my life doesn’t collapse in the long run. My motivation for blogging, these days, is to share those things with others—because I don’t want to see them crushed under the debris.

As to the architecture of their lives, their tastes in decorating, their preferences for warm and cozy spaces or grand and majestic halls—and even as to whether they take my advice or not—well…that’s not for me to say.