Hey, Y'all,
A quick thank-you goes out to our brother Paul M. who pointed out that this is actually a quote of G.K. Chesterton's:
"The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult, and left untried."
It's interesting, I've only had a chance to read a little bit about Chesterton generally and about the context of this quote specifically (it's from his book entitled "What's Wrong With The World" originally published in 1910)--he apparently was a pretty fascinating guy, and it turns out that here he is referring to "The Christian Ideal" not just in terms of us as individuals; he states that, through the last couple of millennia, The Church has often (corporately) failed to live out the Christian Ideal--interesting...and of course, unfortunately true.
Now mind you, the church corporate is still made up of individuals, so it's a question you still must answer for yourself: what is The Christian Ideal fundamentally? Am I living in a manner consistent with it? If I am not, then what's the problem? I mean, I say that it's a better way to live, right?
Got to talking about this with some friends over the weekend--our semi-conclusion: unselfishness, altruism, humility, kindness, service--all traits that are totally valued and nurtured by our culture, right? How about your church: manifesting these characteristics or not? And you--how 'bout it? Hmmm...
You've been prayed for today...
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