Living Outside the Equation: Faith as Math or Art, by Bob & Joel Kilpatrick
Guest post by Bob and Joel Kilpatrick, authors of The Art of Being You: How to Live as God’s Masterpiece.
God is not trying to solve the problems we call “ourselves.” He is not attempting to repair us. God is more than a mathematician or mechanic. God is an artist. He is preparing the greatest art show ever staged, and we are the materials of his art, the grandest expression of his creativity. The art show he is preparing transcends canvas, clay, chords, or cinema. He has expressed his creativity in you and me and is making a living display out of the whole human race.
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Too often, instead of enjoying the beauty our Maker is creating in and through us, we view God through the lens of our personal weakness. Our theology is shaped by what we lack rather than by who God is. For example, if we see ourselves as a problem needing a solution, we want God to be a mathematician. If we see ourselves as broken and needing repair, we want God to be a mechanic. If we see ourselves as lonely, we want God to be a friend. If we see ourselves as ignorant, we want God to be a teacher. It’s as if we are all lining up to visit the Wizard of Oz, each with our own deep deficiency, and the wizard becomes to each of us what we need
If the Christian life were an equation — Problem + Solution = Happiness — we would have solved it long ago. But we haven’t. All the self-help programs that advertise a better life in six easy steps, or thirty days to a new you, or ten habits that will change you forever are trying to solve the problem that you think you are. They are trying to grant you happiness through an equation.
