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45
everyday life. They are the ideas that define the way things
are and demarcate the possibilities of life. 38
Gay presses the issue by suggesting that one of the most
important ideas embedded in modern institutions and habits is the
idea that ―God is largely irrelevant to the real business of life.‖ 39
He suggests that the structural coherence of our world probably
depends less on religious or theological understanding than at any
previous time in history. So, he says, we are tempted to live as if
God does not exist, a temptation to practical atheism. Yet because
these practices are so much a part of our daily lives, Gay reminds
us, the implications are not immediately evident and may go
unnoticed. 40
Insensitivity and arrogance may be rooted in such attitudes
of neglect. One may argue to the contrary and with some
plausibility in regard to new or naïve believers, yet the obligation
of every Christian is to discern the will of God and obey it. Unless
there is a commensurate effort to study the Scriptures and glean the
riches from our Christian heritage, we shall remain oblivious to
these obligations, but our ignorance does not excuse our
responsibility. When we fail to measure up to God‘s expectations,
we are culpable of disobedience.
In recent Christian history, the Puritans exemplified a high
commitment to reflect on these things so that God would be
honored in the details of daily life. The same determined effort is
needed today if we are to truly obey God and glorify him.
Kierkegaard stressed this concept of expressing the sublime in the
pedestrian. 41 We do well to follow this example and pursue
obedience in the copious but ordinary details of life.
38
Craig Gay, The Way of the (Modern) World, Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B.
Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998, p.1.
39
Ibid., p.2.
40
Ibid., p.12.
41
Soren Kierkegaard, Fear and Trembling, New York: Penguin Books, p. 68f.