LOSING OUR LIFE

Elton Trueblood 1900-1994) American Quaker author and theologian wrote:

“The church is never true to itself when it is living for itself, for if it is chiefly concerned with saving its own life, it will lose it. The nature of the church is such that it must always be engaged in finding new ways by which to transcend itself. Its main responsibility is always outside its own walls in the redemption of common life. That is why we call it a redemptive society. There are many kinds of religion, but redemptive religion, from the Christian point of view, is always that in which we are spent on those areas of existence that are located beyond ourselves and our own borders.” (Source: Called to Community)

(Note: Elton Trueblood is one of the authors that influenced me greatly when I was young and searching for answers to my questions. He wrote many books (33) and these especially formed me early: The Incendiary Fellowship, The Trustworthiness of Religious Experience, The Predicament of Modern Man, Alternative to Futility, Signs of Hope, The Logic of Belief, Philosophy of Religion and others. What a wonderful man.)

“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” Jesus