The Relinquished Life - Oswald Chambers

We must relinquish all pretense of being anything, all claim of being worthy of God's consideration (31).

What a challenge!! Mr. Chambers is definitely living up to his reputation.  This statement matches up with things C.S. Lewis writes about in Screwtape Letters and The Great Divorce...the most dangerous sins are the sins of pride.  But there is such a fine line between righteousness in a good sense and righteousness in a bad sense!  I can definitely sympathize with the Pharisees.  They tried so hard, only to find that "the first shall be last" and "blessed are the poor in spirit."  It's downright aggravating.

And I think of my friends who have not yet submitted - or admitted - to Christ.  Chambers says, "The higher up you get in the scale of natural virtues, the more intense is the opposition to Jesus Christ" (34-35).  Does this mean that folks who are smoking pot, having unsafe sex and cussing out their coworkers are closer to Jesus than those who are striving for social justice, stewarding Creation with love, and being faithful to their partners?  That's really hard to swallow.  What can be done to humble the pretentious, including me?

One comforting thought comes from Chambers' interpretation of Galatians 2:20: "Have I entered into the glorious privilege of being crucified with Christ until all that is left is the life of Christ in my flesh and blood?" (33, emphasis added)  I love this image, because it implies that Christ was there, in our flesh and blood, all along.  We do not have to do the work of bringing Christ in, of "asking him into our hearts."  We just have to wash away the pretense - the thought that everything good in ourselves comes from ourselves.  When we do this, the good remains; it is simply given its proper name, Christ.