God’s Gift of Our Own “Inner Ring”

In Psalm 133 it declares, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity…For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore. As Christians, there are many aspects that we hold to as important foundational characteristics of our faith. In his book Engaging Gods World Cornelius Plantinga Jr. emphasizes the importance of living together in community, “What we must see, now, is that successful living in God’s world depends not only on taking responsibility for our own realm…Success also depends on meshing our kingdoms with the kingdoms of others….” Community or as C.S. Lewis might call it the Christian “inner ring” is a gift and a blessing, which must never be taken for granted. As we continue through college, learning what community is, how it is practiced here at Calvin College, the consequences of a community free lifestyle, and the relationship of community to other important areas of the Christian walk, we will be able to better fulfill Gods calling for us as his instruments of service.
In I Corinthians 12:12-26 we are presented with one of the greatest analogies of the truth of Christian community in the church. In verse 12 Paul states, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many they form one body. So it is with Christ.” This idea of the community being compared to a body hits on two central parts of the idea of what true Christian community is. These two are responsibility and unity.
Inside the body there are thousands of parts that are responsible for specific duties. Likewise responsibility inside of community is the idea that each person of the community has his or her role in the plan of God. God calls us to perform specific aspects of his will not only in our earthly vocation, but also in our every day actions. When we disobey God it is not only us that suffer, but the whole body that suffers. This brings forth the idea that each part depends on the other. Christians need one another through struggles, pain, sadness, and temptation. God places us together for that reason. In verses 17-18 Paul states. “If the whole body were an eye where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear where would the sense of smell be?” God calls every part of the body, even those we don’t get along with. Each of those parts is special to Him, and each of them has responsibility placed before them by God. These verses stress the fact that every person we view must be seen through the spectacles of community. It is crucial that we look at each other this way. For it gives the devil great satisfaction, as well as grieves God, when His community is not unified.
Unity is the second crucial identity of what a Christian community is. Paul stresses this importance in his analogy in verse 13, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body whether Jews or Greeks slave or free and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” How are we all united? What brings us together as Christian brothers and sisters, and separates us from the wickedness of the world? The answer to this question is found in the head of the Church, Jesus Christ. Plantinga states, “Christian hope centers on Jesus Christ the Lord of the whole cosmos, the one through [whom] God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things.” We all are united by that one central head of the church. The body must work together as one body; each unit with its special function serves the whole, not itself. Just as the limbs on your body do not disobey you, or look out for their own selfish interest, so also the functions of individuals in the community of Christianity must focus centrally on Christ and the activities of the church.
So what is this “inner ring” of community? Is it just doing your part for the body, or is community more complicated? The fact is that while community takes effort, continued action, and sacrifice for the body of Christ, the power of our Christian community is that we are united to one perfect head. The power of Christ over the body creates a community that not only does the actions, but does it to the glory of His name, with the attitude of thankfulness. The question then arises as to how do we live this community in our life here at Calvin?
Calvin College’s “Expanded Statement of Mission” states, “However likeminded or diverse its members may be, the community exist to enact a purpose; in the case of Calvin College that purpose is to shape hearts and minds through higher learning for Christian living.” The community at Calvin College is unique from other colleges in that you are immersed in the ideas of Christian culture. The fact that the foundation of Calvin College is based on the ideas of the Reformed faith, and the tenants of creation, fall into depravity, and the redemption through Christ gives us a distinct community. This emersion in Christian society is a powerful part of Calvin College, and it provides for the blessings of Christian brotherhood, as well as, the dangers of falling behind in our Christian callings.
The idea of Christian brotherhood covers a wide expanse of the community at Calvin College. At Calvin we strive to develop both our hearts and our minds in a willingness to give our all for the sake of Jesus Christ. In his essay Learning in War Time C.S. restates this idea by saying, “We are members of one body, but differentiated members, each with his own vocation. A man's upbringing, his talents, his circumstances, are usually a tolerable index of his vocation. If our parents have sent us to Oxford (or Calvin), if our country allows us to remain there, this is prima facie evidence that the life which we, at any rate, can best lead to the glory of God at present is the learned life.” What makes Calvin so special is that we do this together. The reality is that God has blessed us here with a community of brothers and sisters to help us on the path God has placed us on. The blessings of community at Calvin are many. Firstly, we should see the love of everyone towards one another. In his book The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis puts it practically, “Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our life.” The Bible allows no room for hatred of one’s brother and the worship of God at the same time. In first I John 4:20 is states, “If a man says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn't love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” Hatred of a child of God is something that is unacceptable to God, and is truly wrong. At Calvin love of everyone is stressed, no matter their race, color, or gender. Secondly, students immersed into the Christian community find that living the Christian life is much more bearable. The factors of accountability and encouragement go a long way in the community of Calvin College. It is amazing when, your faith can be built by the input and devotion of others, or when you can share and develop your faith with other Christians. With all of these blessings of a true Christian community, what more could a Christian student want? In Weight of Glory, Lewis states, “And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner—no mere tolerance or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.” The benefit of living in a cushioned Christian community, however, comes with some dangerous side effects.
If the Christian churches decided to build a city enclosed with thick walls, which allowed only Christians to live in what would you think? I assume you would think that was silly, but why? The first reason that we as Christians cannot just isolate ourselves from this world is that we are called by God to be models of Christ to not only each other, but the world. We seek, as Plantinga would say, to reach out and preach the “shalom” of Christ in the sinful world. This includes anything from witnessing to the job we are called to. Secondly, living constantly in the midst of other Christians carries the danger of taking for granted the beauty and blessing, that is the communion of the saints. It can be problem when we begin to take for granted the community that we have, while others have died in an effort to reach this type of Christian community. Finally, we fall in danger of becoming complacent in our faith. The idea that we live in a place where most of what we believe really goes unchallenged is something we must be aware of. When we leave college, we will face a world that not only disagrees with our faith, but challenges it every day. Compliancy is an easy thing to fall into, and is a sin we must flee from.
The community of Calvin College must be seen as something special and unique. Community is something that God has blessed Calvin with. The gift of the love of brothers and sisters in Christ around you, and the ability to grow with them in love and faith with God is truly beautiful. With its blessing must come a firm awareness of personal faith, as well as, the well-being of others both Christian and non-Christian outside the community. There are the powerful effects gained by living in a community like Calvin’s, but what are the consequences for a Christian student intentionally living outside the Christian community?
When an individual chooses to put himself in the company of those who reject the Christian community, he is not only forfeiting all of the benefits of the community, but placing himself in a situation that rest entirely on selfishness and worldly values. At Calvin the goal and sole purpose of the community is to grow together in Christ. So when a student rejects that community he is not only rejecting the values of a Christian community, but is turning himself away from Christ. Another strong difference between students who live in the community and students who live outside the community is that students in the Christian body are working not only for themselves, but for other members of the body, towards the end goal of the glory of God. Students who reject that community do so out of selfishness, and work not towards God’s glory, but their own. This selfishness does not only affect that individual. When students actively reject the community God has placed them in, it has negative effects not only on the Christian community, but also the world looking in.
The choice to reject a community like the one found Calvin College, carries with dangerous possibilities. If a student is willing to turn his back on the small community found here at Calvin, what is the next step? In his book The Screwtape Letters, C.S. touches on a powerful idea that relates well to the Christian student rejecting the Christian community, "The safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts." Does the thrill of looking out for self slope to a power that encompasses your whole Christian walk? What type of example is that individual portraying to the rest of the world on the outside? Open rejection and separation from the body of Christ is the opposite of the type of example we are to live as servants of Christ. We work together for Christ, not as individuals or in our own clicks to satisfy selfish glory. We work with each other as units of the body of Christ, not as selfish individuals. Working together as a community takes important attributes from all aspects of the Christian foundation.
Like every foundation the tenet of a Christian community relies heavily on the other aspects of Christian life such as discernment, justice, responsible freedom and vocation. The individuals in a community must be discerning in what they do, and the type of things they choose to support. They must be discerning because the things they do, music they listen to, and things they watch all represent the community of Christ. Christians in the community must also be responsible with how they pursue their freedoms. Christians inside community, have the ability to have spiritual freedom, not just freedom of the will. Spiritual freedom is the understanding that freedom is not necessarily doing what you want, but instead the ability to limit your actions to Gods glory, without the persecution of others. This freedom leads to mistakes, and initiates the importance of justice inside the Christian community. All of our actions have consequences, and as community members that fact must be remembered. The choices we make not only affect us, but the community around us. God has placed us where we are as citizens. We are as Plantinga states prime citizens, citizens with a calling and a zeal for Gods kingdom. We are citizens of God’s kingdom, to carry out His will. That is our primary vocation in the community. God then calls us into jobs or as Plantinga calls them “lesser kingdoms” and other actions to fulfill this vocation.
Community is a part of the church of God. The “inner ring of Christianity” is a body that God uses to fulfill his will for the church. The parts of this body must all work together not selfishly, but for the glory of God. When one part suffers the whole body suffers. As students at Calvin we are blessed in a unique Christian community, whose member’s actions can greatly affect the community. That is why these actions must be coupled with the discernment of mind, the action of responsible freedom, the consequence of justice, and the understanding that our vocation is to serve God as prime members of His kingdom. In his essay Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis comes to a beautiful conclusion which ties together not only Christian vocation and community but also the glory of such a unity, “The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken.”





Work Cited
Plantinga Jr., Cornelius. Engaging Gods World. Grand Rapids, MI: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2002.
Lewis, Clive S. Four Loves. New York: n.p., 1960. 80-81. Web. 26 Jan. 2010.
Lewis, Clive S. The Weight of Glory. N.p.: THEOLOGY, 1941. 8-9. Web. 12 Jan. 2010.
Lewis, Clive S. "Learning in War Time." Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Oxford. . Web.
Lewis, Clive S. Screwtape Letters. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2010.

January Series "Rich Devos"

I was recently privileged to attend the January Series, which featured Mr. Richard Devos. Mr. Devos spoke mainly on the power of words and motivation. He was speaking in regards to his new book Ten Powerful Phrases for Positive People. I was first intrigued with the charisma of the speaker. He approached each phrase with excited poise, especially considering he is in his mid eighties. I found his points and ideas captivating. He went through each one of the phrases that he wrote and described in the book throwing in heavy amounts of comic relief, to make the speech both captivating and light hearted. One of the phrases that he stressed heavily and even got emotional about was “I am wrong and I am sorry”. He stated that one of the main things in the way of making yourself successful, was yourself. He gave the idea that pride will only hold you back, and that learning to admit you are wrong and that you are sorry, is crucial not only in your interactions with customers, but also employees. Another phrase that he focused on was “you can do it”. Motivation is crucial in any good relationship. We depend on one another for many things, but we especially need each other’s support. Another important phrase was “thankyou”. So simple, but also so powerful, it is often so underestimated the importance gratitude has in any relationship. It is crucial to make someone feel that they are appreciated, not only so they continue in what they are doing, but feel good about doing it. A final phrase that really stuck with me from Devos’s speech was” I love you”. So often we reserve such a phrase for our families or spouses, but love exist and should be expressed in every relationship that we form.

Problem of Pain

I was very intrigued by Lewis’s ideas in the Problem of Pain. What I find so fascinating is perspective Lewis draws on, to formulate his ideas on the subject. I really like how Lewis begins the chapter on human pain. We often wonder why God would do something or how God could let something happen. What Lewis reminds us is that God did not create or author the pain we feel and experience. Like Lewis states prisons, bombs, and guns are vices of humanity exploiting the understanding of pain. If feel like Lewis’s incite has so much to offer us in this piece, not only for his philosophical and scholarly brilliance, but also because of his personal experience with such a traumatic experience with his wife. Lewis was able to look not only “along” death and the worst sense of human pain, but he also was able to look “at” pain, as he watched his wife slowly slip away to the woes of cancer. I also really enjoyed Lewis’s continuation of Newman’s idea that we are not only imperfect creatures, but we are stubborn imperfect creatures. We are like soldiers who must lay down our weapons.
The idea of mortification was also a powerful idea touched on by Lewis. I think the idea that our self-will must be constantly broken for us to truly learn things is a eye opening and profound way of thinking. I especially enjoy Lewis’s comparison of our will to new children in school, who stubbornness must be broken by their teachers. I also love how Lewis realizes in his life that he truly has only one treasure, and that treasure is Christ. Lewis describes the joys in his life as simple toys. Like Lewis states day by day we continue to become more and more dependent on God, and this is such a true once you realize he is your only treasure and truth.

Man or Rabbit

I am truly amazed as I enter the diatribe of Lewis's piece Man or Rabbit. The thing that I enjoy thoroughly about the essay is that he makes is so personal. I say this not meaning solely that it applies to me per say, but that Lewis in fact applies the ideas in this writing to the individual and not on a cooperate level. His gives the profound idea that an individual should not ask, and cannot really ask can someone live a good life without Christianity, but must instead as can I? This is fascinating as I find that I notice that people especially non-believers will make extreme effort distance themselves personally from any aspect of questioning of logic. I believe the idea Lewis gives about human nature is powerfully incite full. Lewis states, as he has in previous pieces, that one thing that separates humanity from the animals is our desire to know. He stands so much behind this idea that he goes as far as to say that someone who has lost this desire, has in fact become less than human.
I was thoroughly intrigued with Lewis idea about individual doing good or trying to good, and the simple logic used to emphasize such a powerful conclusion. The idea of individuals trying to help one another in a society. Lewis states that there are really two types of people. One group exercises his helpfulness our of christian obligation, while the other does his help for a belief in a societal happiness. The interesting idea is that these groups can coexist on some small level, but when it comes to making practical proposals the groups would greatly differ. Those whose end desire is happiness may be willing to sacrifice something like justice or honesty for the sake of the end happiness in the whole society, while a christian would simply deny such proposals as immoral.
As Christians we constantly strive to make the right choices, and live a "good" life, but as Lewis states this undertaking is so much more that we could have imagined. We can only constantly pray for the grace of God and his continual guidance.

Plantinga Vocation

I really liked how Plantinga did not end with redemption. As beautiful and wonderful as redemption through Christ is, it is by far not the end of the line. We can gather such and idea from the book of James where it states that "faith without works is dead". The verse by no means implies that to have faith or receive faith you must do good works, such a thing would cause Luther to turn over in his grave. The way reformed Christians understand such a verse is that out of a true faith works proceed. It is the same idea given in other scriptural passages where its states, that "by their (Christians) fruit ye shall know them". Our faith is evidenced by the fruits we bear, and just as a fruit tree is "useless" if it bears no fruit, so the faith of the child of God if he submits no work for Christ. This is why I find this final chapter of Plantinga so infusing. Plantinga reaches out to show that the fruit of God must be present in every aspect of our life, and no matter what vocation we are called to. Just as we are a body we are a garden. A garden of fruit trees working together for a production of a bounty for the great orchard of the kingdom. We work both with each other and on our own to pollinate the the gifts of God to us through out the world. We strive as prime citizens of the kingdom to forever hold the zeal of the kingdom of God.
I also agree with Plantinga that the will of God is not only subject to those who are elected to be his servants. God also instills his dominion over the unelect as well, and uses them for the furtherance of his kingdom. We must never be so quick as to judge individuals value for the kingdom, since we truly never know how or when God will use anybody.

The Inner Ring

Throughout high-school we all noticed or experienced social clicks. If Lewis’s piece could be broken down and simplified, it would be the perfect diatribe against those cliques we saw in high-school. Once you understand this “inner ring” Lewis describes you begin to see it everywhere; work, school, friends, and all throughout the general population. It is fascinating to look at this idea abstractly as Lewis does. Lewis looks at the situation surrounding the individuals in a “group’ not the individuals themselves. The idea of an inner ring in and of itself is neither bad nor good, it is neutral. What makes inner ring good or bad is not only those within, but those outside them. Lewis states that much of the time the desire to get into the ring is the true magic to an individual, and once they are in the magic is gone.
One idea that I really enjoyed was that if an individual enters into a ring without desire for gain or benefit, but purely for the desire of entrance, he will become a scoundrel. He will become a scoundrel mainly because he is willing to do whatever the ring asks of him purely to remain on the inside. What I also find interesting is one thing that makes rings dangerous is exclusion based on prejudice, pride, bias, selfishness, or anger. Self serving exclusion only serves to make the ring that much more appealing to those who desire to get into it. What I also find interesting is the difference between exclusion and discretion. As a flock or church body we do not limit our outreach to anyone, no one is excluded, but when it comes to the “inner ring” of the worship service or membership in the congregation we use discretion. This discretion is not only for our own churches protection, but also a protection of the sanctity of worship and the sacraments. If you think about it critically, if an unrepentant sinner continues to enter the church, with no desire to repent, his goal is obviously not to become a member of the church body, but to in fact sow discourse and make the church and its worship a mockery, and he should be excluded. If someone enters the church with the desire to repent and desires to become a member of the church, even if he struggles with his sin, his desire is sincere and must not be turned away. In the end such things have a way of working themselves out since, if someone does not truly desire to be in a ring he will leave eventually, not only because he becomes board and finds something new to prey on, but also because the appeal of the ring is the truest onset of the inward desire to be part of something, and since he really is just making a mockery of that desire it is short lived. Once again I would reiterate that we never cease in outreach, we continue to preach the desire for repentance, no matter what. We must also continue to protect the flock of Christ from wolves, who would walk amongst the flock not for membership or in repentance, but for death and lasciviousness.

Love at First Eros

Lewis’s in cite into Eros could be one of his greatest literary achievements of all time. The concept of Love has be played with, attacked, sung about, and lamented from the days of Lamech to the prose of Shakespeare. I found it quite fascinating the power and personality Lewis gives to Eros. Lewis takes the love which so many chalk up to be sexual gratification and the ever so familiar attraction between genders and makes it into an identity, a garden, a cosmic life force subject not only to human morality, but also human mortality. Lewis opens the door of understanding the true power behind Eros. The love is not by any means limited to sexual attraction, but foundationally and powerfully some much more. Lewis states that in fact Eros works outside of human biological luster and attraction and focuses solely on the person being the person. Lewis gives this profound and humorous analogy to show what Eros is not. A man walking down the street to look for sex is in fact not focused on finding Eros between another person and himself but merely attempting to satisfy a purely sensational aspect of himself, actuality the woman which he seeks is no more important than a cigarette carton. The carton is so excitedly purchased for the sensation within, and then is merely discarded as trash. So it is, if the love of Eros is viewed under such a particular looking glass. Truest Eros in Lewis’s eyes is like a garden. A garden is something that must grow and be taken care of, but also yield powerful and sufficient “produce” that is the pride of its owners.
Reading and listening to such an essay causes me to step back, and analyze how I view not only current relationships, but future desires of marriage and the aspects of such powerful bonds. Falling in love and being in love present such a different point of perspective on the idea Eros. The fact, as Lewis states, that the sexual component of Eros is impeded by all other aspects of the love is so counter to what we find in modern society. The very proposition that someone could be in love and not be happy, would throw many of today’s romantics for quite a loop. We can really only pray that the Lord will work in our heart, provide us a little extra agape love for Him, and give us the strength to find and fulfill the true love of Eros in our lives.