Fear has been much forgotten...
Illustration
"Fear has been much forgotten -- both by the world and by Christians in general. We rush
toward angels unafraid. We approach the blazing furnaces of the seraphim with no more
apprehension than children who reach laughingly for fire.
"This fearlessness is not a sign of the character of God, as if God has changed through the centuries that divide us from Moses and Isaiah, from Zechariah and Mary and the shepherds. Rather, it is a sign of the character of this present age, of arrogance or of ignorance, whether or not one admits to a living God.
"Mindlessly, do the bells of secular celebrations jingle for Christmas. Meaninglessly, do carols repeat their tinny joys in all the malls in America. No richer than soda pop is every sentimentalized Christmas special on television. Fearless is the world at play with godly things, because godless is its heart.
"If God is a laughing Santy, why should we be afraid?"
(From Walter Wangerin, Preparing For Jesus [Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1999], pp. 59-60.)
"This fearlessness is not a sign of the character of God, as if God has changed through the centuries that divide us from Moses and Isaiah, from Zechariah and Mary and the shepherds. Rather, it is a sign of the character of this present age, of arrogance or of ignorance, whether or not one admits to a living God.
"Mindlessly, do the bells of secular celebrations jingle for Christmas. Meaninglessly, do carols repeat their tinny joys in all the malls in America. No richer than soda pop is every sentimentalized Christmas special on television. Fearless is the world at play with godly things, because godless is its heart.
"If God is a laughing Santy, why should we be afraid?"
(From Walter Wangerin, Preparing For Jesus [Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1999], pp. 59-60.)
