Again Lusk on the inescapability of religion:
…religion is always already there because God is always already there and religion is simply our way of interfacing with and interacting with God in our moment by moment existence.
Secular Space
Rich Lusk observes in his insightful On Being the Church in America:
Secular space had to be imagined ex nihlo and then constructed from scratch in order create a sphere of human life which would be governed by “pure reason,” free from the dogmatic prejudices of “religion.” Or to put it another way, a “private religion” (under the guise of “Christianity’) had to be invented in which the religious life was fully severed from public and political life.
The Christian Marriage
In light of the upcoming book I am editing, I hope to be able to post a few quotes:
The Christian marriage is a Spirit-filled song and dance; as with all dances, the man leads and the woman follows. Together their lives blend into one, as they make the music of the Spirit.
–Rich Lusk, What is Marriage for?
Lenten Quote, Day 12
Christians are walking dead men. The Christian life is a kind of living death. We are learning to be broken, even as Jesus was broken. We are learning to give ourselves in costly sacrifice, even as Jesus did. We are learning to live the cruciform life. We are learning to give life to others by dying to ourselves, our desires, our agendas. Yes, the reality of bodily death awaits us. But having already died in Christ, we can approach our bodily death with hope, knowing that while death remains a foe, it is a defeated foe, and now serves our ultimate good. Death has defeated death, so, dying we live. Lent emphasizes that we live our whole lives under the sign of the cross — and in this sign we conquer! When you’ve already died, you have nothing left to fear. You are prepared to fearlessly serve God. You are set free to live for the glory of God and the good of your neighbor. You know ultimate victory over death is secure. You know nothing that can happen to you without serving your ultimate good. –Rich Lusk
Imaging the Triune Life; or Living Perichoretically
Because we are made in God’s image, God is the model for humanity. The Father, Son, and Spirit mutually indwell one another’s lives (Jn. 13-17). The theological term for this is “perichoresis.” “Peri” is Greek for “around.” We get the word “choreograph” from “choresis.” The idea is that the three persons of the Godhead “dance around” or “dance within” one another. Their lives are totally intertwined. They move in lockstep with one another because they abide within one another. But this is precisely how we are to live in Christian community. We are to open our lives to others so they can indwell us, but we are also to seek to “move into” the lives of others, abiding in them. In this kind of community, as we indwell one another and live “perichoretically,” we image the life of the Triune God. —Rich Lusk