Spectators And Participants

I was thinking last night about being a spectator as apposed to being a participant.

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." - Ephesians 2:4-10 ESV

We are spectators to salvation but participants in faith.

Believing is not a work. It is an orientation. Faith is the result of a paradigm shift in our thinking that gives us a viewpoint different than what we had before naturally. 'Paradigm Shift' is fancy term describing a simple idea. It is the change in thinking that happens when a person walks in someone else's shoes and sees things from a viewpoint that was closed to them before. The 'shift' part is what happens to them because of that new comprehension. They are moved and can't go back to what they thought before without the new viewpoint added to the mix.

Good theology declares correctly the things we should watch and the things we should participate in. The boundaries become clear to us. An ambassador must know the authority and responsibility her or she has. They are present in a foreign land for a defined purpose.

Wrong participation has different names. Interference. Meddling. Judging. Vanity.

By grace we now participate in God's love and enter into worship. We make righteous judgments as spectators of the cross. God participated in humanity to accomplish something wondrous.

We look on in awe of what He has done. It prompts us to raise our voices and assemble our instruments. We see that it is finished and that shifts us to a new place. It is not our power that brings us there. We see from God's perspective because He has moved us and shown us love in action.

--