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{"id":445,"date":"2010-06-08T12:03:36","date_gmt":"2010-06-08T18:03:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/raincitypastor.wordpress.com\/?p=445"},"modified":"2010-06-08T12:03:36","modified_gmt":"2010-06-08T18:03:36","slug":"the-paradox-of-contentment-and-not-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/richarddahlstrom\/2010\/06\/08\/the-paradox-of-contentment-and-not-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"The Paradox of Contentment and “Not Yet”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Someday I\u2019ll overcome my penchant for self-destructive choices that seem to afflict me from time to time, like eating dessert for lunch and skipping out on any real food, or watching TV instead of exercising, or disengaging from an honest conversation out fear. \u00a0Someday I\u2019ll make the right choice every time, but not yet.<\/p>\n

Someday we\u2019ll live in a world that\u2019s more equitable<\/a> and less consumeristic, where there won\u2019t be so many billions living on less than two dollars a day, while the wealthiest minority consumes vast resources on extravagence instead of sharing our resources and helping those without experience a fuller and richer life. \u00a0Someday, but not yet.<\/p>\n

Someday the environment will be restored, justice<\/a> will be real, health will be vibrant<\/a>, diseases will be cured<\/a>, food will be glorious<\/a>, and d ivisions will be ended<\/a>. \u00a0Someday, but not yet.<\/p>\n

One of the great challenges in our faith is that we\u2019re called to embody now, in this present moment, some measure of the God\u2019s future reign. \u00a0This is what makes us people of hope. \u00a0We are the light of the world according to Jesus, and as such it\u2019s our calling to allow that light to shine. \u00a0But there are two gaps between light and darkness with which we must deal:<\/p>\n

1. There\u2019s the gap in my own life.<\/strong> Paul writes about in Romans 7 when he laments that his good intentions don\u2019t consistently lead to good actions. \u00a0I want to live well, but don\u2019t always do so. \u00a0This gap needs to lead to confession, not condemnation, which is why Paul follows his lament in Romans 7 with the promise of Romans 8 that there\u2019s no condemnation for those who are in Christ. \u00a0When we fail, we shouldn\u2019t lower the bar and make failure the norm. \u00a0Neither should we beat ourselves up and drop out of God\u2019s story. \u00a0We simply confess and get on with it, realizing that we\u2019re \u201cnot yet\u201d whole.<\/p>\n

2. There\u2019s the gap between the way the world should be and the way the world is.<\/strong> If you click on the words \u201cmore equitable\u201d above, you\u2019ll discover that you\u2019re wealthy. \u00a0You already know that all of us are part of an unsustainable system, whereby we, 5% of the world\u2019s population, consume 25% of the world\u2019s resources. \u00a0The inequities, pollution, genocide, human trafficking, AIDS crises, illiteracy, and tribal wars are collectively numbing, and it\u2019s tempting to either live in a state of denial and apathy, or despair and rage, all the time. \u00a0Instead, we\u2019re called to \u201cabound in hope\u201d \u00a0right in the midst of all this rubbish.<\/p>\n

We can only find hope by recognizing the reality of trajectory. \u00a0We\u2019re moving towards a just, healed future. \u00a0But we\u2019re not there yet. \u00a0In the meantime, we\u2019re invited to live as fully present in the midst of the mess. \u00a0This requires finding contentment, even though we\u2019re nowhere near our destination of God\u2019s good reign made fully visible. \u00a0Our contentment, ironically, comes from realizing that we\u2019re not there yet, that we\u2019re still travelling, that we are, as Hebrews says, \u201cstrangers\u201d. \u00a0Cancer is foreign. \u00a0So is the insane poverty and pollution. \u00a0So are suicide bombers, and loneliness and infidelity.<\/p>\n

With both the personal and collective gap between the now and the \u201cnot yet\u201d, I find that contentment comes from my confidence in the trajectory. \u00a0I believe that God is changing me, and that God is going to change world. \u00a0Contentment also comes from celebrating the signs of hope that are all around us every day, functioning as foretastes of God\u2019s future reign. \u00a0We see, we celebrate, and our hope abounds.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll write about one of those signs of hope tomorrow\u2026 in the meantime, I pray that, right in the midst of our personal and collective failures, we will find the grace and faith to \u201cabound in hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cheers\u2026<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"