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John Piper Reminds Me of a Muslim: God is the Gospel
I know I freak people out sometimes with my writings, but I found this short story in the book, Pilgrims of Christ on the Muslim Road by Paul Gordon Chandler. This reminds me much of some of what Piper is getting at in God is the Gospel. Read and tell me your thoughts. I find it quite beautiful:
I recall the example of Rabia al Adawia, a mystic in the first Islamic century. She carried a burning torch and a bucket of water in the streets of Basra. And she was asked why she was carrying a burning torch and a bucket of water. She responded by saying that she wanted to burn heaven and put out the fire in hell, because she wanted people to worship Almighty God not because they fear hell or want the reward of heaven. For in destroying heaven and hell, God is the only end - the only reward. She thought of God as so beautiful that he deserves worship for no reason other than who he is.
2 comments:
Well that is on the money man. Never thought about it that way, but I love it.
Yup, you do freak me out sometimes with your posts. The title of the post first (J Pipes reminds me of a Muslim) and then a book that speaks of a "Muslim road" to Christ; reminds me of something Jesus said about there NOT being multiple roads to Him.
As for the quote, i suppose it has some similarities in the message Piper has preached viz. heaven is not full of people who are afraid of hell it's full of people who love Jesus. So, sure, Jesus is our ultimate goal not "fire insurance" or whatever. But beyond that, the analogy breaks down pretty quick when you see that Jesus speaks of heaven as the place where He dwells and where He longs to take His own to enjoy Him forever (not sure i want that burned down) and hell as the place where God's justice is forever poured out on the unrighteous. Remove God's just punnishment of sin and Jesus died for nothing. This reminds me of the well intentioned foolishness of Peter when He tells Jesus that HE won't suffer and die. The heart behind his words is good (just like this Rabia al Adawia) but the message is foolishness b/c it goes against God's plan - as Jesus rebukes him he says, 'you have only in mind the things of men and not God'. Something to think about anyways in relation to this story.
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