Powerful words from Charles Colson

I just finished reading an old book by Charles Colson called Who Speaks for God? Like other books by Colson, it has lots of good thoughts. Here are some.

1. Blessed by unprecedented affluence, Americans concluded there must be more to life than material prosperity, but were beguiled into believing the answers they craved could be found by looking deep enough within. . . The search for fulfillment through self-discovery has always been doomed from the beginning. First, because the human heart is deceitful, impenetrable. Second, what if we do succeed in seeing ourselves for what we are? We come face-to-face with the evil within, caught in the most deadly predicament of all: the discovery we are trapped by our guilt, with no way to find forgiveness. Third, a bi-product of searching for meaning within the four walls of self is this – the search inevitably excludes the community of which we are a part. . .  The root issue is that secular humanism by definition recognizes only a godless universe, one limited to the temporal realm of human existence. Since nothing above the human scope exists, one must find ultimate truth in self and human reason . . . I find that God has a sovereign plan for our lives which we discover, not in seeking ourselves, but in seeking his will. . .This is why Christ tells us we must lose our life for his sake in order to find it. We discover meaning and purpose not in the search for self, but in surrender of self, in obedience to Christ. In right relationship with our Creator, knowing we belong to him, we pour ourselves out in service to others.

2. (When asked what should be the lessons of Watergate) If man is corrupt and Christ's redeeming power is the only rescue, then we as a nation and as individuals will never be saved by intrinsically sinful human governments. Watergate should make us skeptical – but not with a cynicism that scoffs at all authority. No, I speak of a different skepticism. It is based on a healthy realism about man and his institutions – and the solid assurance of God's grace.

3. (From an article on Christmas) We sing in one of our Christmas carols, "O come let us adore him . . .Christ the Lord." Down through the centuries the Christian assertion by word and deed that Christ is Lord has been the chief cause of hostility to the gospel. Today that resistance is not less, simply more subtle; secular society seeks to reduce Christianity to a private affair, thus neutralizing it completely.… The greatest challenge facing the church today is to reassert the Lordship of Christ. The Scriptures make clear the totality of Christ's claims upon us. If we really understand what being Christian means – that this Christ, the living God, actually comes in to rule one's life – then everything must change: values, goals, priorities, desires, and habits. If Christ's Lordship does not disrupt our own lordship, then the reality of our conversion must be questioned.