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With children in the family, and coaching Under 12s in basketball, I have discovered that it is not enough to simply turn the light on. Many family conflicts emanate from a discussion where two people standing in the same room are clearly not seeing things the same way. Similarly with my basketballing boys. We can run through a drill (on more than one occasion) at practice, yet when they come to the game simply act as though we had never practised it. Occasionally, though, the light goes on...
I saw it quite clearly in a game situation... the young lad under pressure from the defense stopped, thought, and then perfectly executed the pass we had practised in a drill. What made the difference? Not the light from the outside, but from the inside.
It is one thing to bring people into the light, it is quite another for the light to be switched on in them. If I am honest, I would have to say the same about myself.
Juan Carlos Ortiz, in a book called Disciple commented that Western Christians are educated to an average of three years beyond their level of obedience. Impossible to prove, but the imagery is poignant. We have the light on the outside, but it doesn't impact from within.
As a parent, a teacher, a pastor, a human being, the challenge I often face is to lead people into the light. But I can't turn the light on from the inside. That is the work of the Spirit.
And of course the danger facing the church is that we spend so much time trying to turn that light on for others that we neglect it for ourselves.
Posted by gary at March 5, 2005 09:11 PM
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