I’ve mentioned previously that one of the tasks of Christian teachers and pastors is to continue to shape the imaginations of Christian communities by creatively capturing gospel realities through new and faithful expressions.

When we use the same old speech patterns to speak of Christian realities, those realities become less and less compelling.  We lose sight of the life-giving and hopeful character of being Christian.

A colleague of mine, in the middle of a discussion yesterday, made the following statements.  I quickly wrote them down because I thought he captured growth in Christian grace in such beautifully simple terms.  This is what he said:

To grow in grace is to learn to love, to hope, to unify, and to trust, and no longer to separate, manipulate, manage, and control.

It is to move from self-regard and self-protection to other-regard, growing in flexibility in relationships and in openness to others.