We suffer today from too much mere admiration of the gospel, too much treating of the gospel as a construct, as an idea, and too little understanding not simply of the truth of the gospel but the power of the gospel. We need to see the finished work of Christ is a deep well, beautiful and satisfying and eternally sufficient. 

What is needed by the Christian today for the undergoing of all things experienced by the Christian today? Is it a newer model of worship? A new set of instructions? The latest innovation in religious technology? A handbook of tips and skills and troubleshooting flowcharts? Do we need more inspirational pick-me-ups? Do Christians need more classes, more diplomas, more specialized training?

There is something the drudgery of daily living and the sporadic, special failures done by us and done to us have in common, and it is this: they require a vision beyond ourselves. In the age of Christian media saturation and the embarrassment of riches of religious resources, it is not just more information we need.

It is power.

As humans in every age have always needed, we have need of power. Great, enduring, supernatural and alien power. What we need cannot come from ourselves, and that is where most religious inspiration fails.

Should we go into God’s inerrant, infallible, inspired word looking only for things to do, we will come away with God’s good instructions for the good life but without the power to actually do them.

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