The Big and Little Picture
 
One of the appealing facets of Biblical Christianity is the fact that it deals with life from the perspective of the Big and the Little Picture.  But what else would you expect from a Faith that has a God who is both imminent and transcendant at the same time?  God is over all creation, but yet personally with it at the same time.

  I think this aspect of Big and Little Pictures is expressed in the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism:

Q.1  What is man's chief end?

A:  Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. 

God's glory is the Big Picture.  Our enjoyment of Him is the Little Picture.   Biblical Christianity encourages one to relate to God on an individual basis, but also encourages us to see ourselves as part of the larger picture of what God is doing in time and eternity.  Both aspects are important to a mature Christian walk.  We cannot neglect the personal aspect of faith in Christ by chasing after intellectually appealing doctrines without causing that personal aspect to wither on the vine from lack of communion with Christ.  We also cannot expect anything but a truncated spiritual growth if all our attention is focused on "what Christ means to ME"  to the neglect of where we operate in the Body.

Sometimes  our attention will be drawn to one aspect more than another.  In recent days I have been focusing my attention more on the individual aspect of faith.  This is finding some of its expression in music; not that which I make myself (alas for piano lessons that were never put to good use), but that which others make.  One of my favorite CD's to listen to recently is one called Thrive, by the Newsboys. 

The other day I posted some lyrics to one of their songs from this album and subsequently deleted the post because it provoked a number of calls and inquiries about my spiritual state.  It goes to show you how different people can interpret different things.  To many who inquired, it was a post written in despair.  But really, it was a post written with a reflection of thanksgiving and hope that is reflected in the chorus.

Rescue

 

Old as the hills, new everyday

It's in the bones like it's DNA

First taste is sweet 'til it rots in your mouth

Another old friend who rats you out

All of the time in this life

Can't loose the ties that bind

They shackle our feet, we trip, we fall

We crawl

I was born in the mess of it all

 

Chorus

Then You rescued me, rescued meLord,

with a touch of Your hand

Another captive free again

Who else in heaven could do this but You?

You rescued me, rescued meLord,

with a love out of mind

Oh, You know I love it when

Everyday I am rescued again

 

Over the years your nature's way

Is turning wrongs into roles you play

Caught in a spell that's overcast

You gain perspective, it doesn't last

All of the time in this life

Can't loose the ties that blind you

They're new everyday, old as the fall

The fall

And I was born in the mess of it all

 

Chorus

 

Every day, every way, every

Every cheap imitation

All of my imagination

Even my self-preservation

Is yours in time

 

Chorus

 
Now this song speaks eloquently to me of the Little Picture.  It is a snapshot of what the Westminster Confession of Faith says in Chapter 5 on Providence, which I posted a few days ago.  God sometimes allows us to look deep into the darkness of our hearts and to see the terrible depravity and wickedness that lurks there ready to spring into action, but for His restraining Hand.  Proverbs tells us that a man without self control is like a city without walls;  there is no defense.  And yet how often does God supply the defense for us when we would do otherwise?  Let's face it:  whenever we are defended, it is GOD who does the defending, not our weak, faulty, and puny wills.  So the song above is a song of hope to me.  For every day I am rescued again from myself.

Another song from this CD that really speaks to my soul lately is the title track.

Thrive

Down here in the valley

Every shadow You see

Has its own story

Down here in the valley

Every puddle of mud

Comes from tears and blood

And it's so hard just to get warm

That the chill turns into despair

 

Chorus

Will You lift me up with tender care?

Will You wash me clean in the palm of Your hand?

Will You hold me close so I can thrive?

When You touch me, that's when I know I'm alive

 

Down here in the valley

Nothing's able to grow

'Cause the light's too low

Folks spend their days

Digging 'round for diamonds and gold

'Til they just get old

And they don't know anything else

They don't know they're breathing bad air

But I'm tired of living like this

And my soul cries out, "If You're there...

 

Chorus

 

Call me up to Your side

Draw me up to Your light

Let it blind me

Lord, refine me

Refine me out of my mind

 

Chorus

 
Music by Peter Furler / Lyrics by Peter Furler and Steve Taylor

The lyrics in the verses express the hopelessness and despair of life in a sin-wracked world.  It expresses the longing of the soul for communion and life with the only One who can wash us and rescue us from the hopelessness and despair of life under the sun.