The Christian life is not about us

I’m spending Mondays working on my thesis, which is how to preach theocentrically. Right now I’m in the literature review. Nice to find gems like this, from Eugene Peterson in Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology, that put the topic so well:

…the Christian life is not about us; it is about God. Christian spirituality is not a life-project for becoming a better person, it is not about developing a so-called “deeper life.” We are in on it, to be sure. But we are not the subject. Nor are we the action…

The great weakness of North American spirituality is that it is all about us: fulfilling our potential, getting in on the blessings of God, expanding our influence, finding our gifts, getting a handle on principles by which we can get an edge over the competition. And the more there is of us, the less there is of God.

Instead, Peterson says, we’re called to join “God and his actions in us and in the world,” participating in what God is doing.

Christ Plays looks like one of those books I’m going to read more than once.

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