My C.S. Lewis

I have never read a book by C.S. Lewis.  So when everyone around me quotes him and raves about him, its magic is lost on me.  Sure, I may have heard one or two quotes by Lewis that I thought were pretty good, but none of them have been life changing for me like they have for some.  My C.S. Lewis would be Brennan Manning, author of The Ragamuffin Gospel.  I love Manning because he is a recovering alcoholic and he admits to it.  He mentions it a few times in his books as examples to emphasize the message he is trying to get across.  He admits his failures and shows his vulnerability.  He admits to being one of the biggest ragamuffins out there.  Each one of his books takes a while to read because there is so much knowledge and wisdom on each page.  I don't have a single book by Brennan Manning that doesn't have a page with something underlined or highlighted in it. 

Today I started reading The Signature of Jesus by Brennan Manning.  The subtitle describes the book as "A path to living a life of holy passion and unreasonable faith."  I've only read the opening word and the first chapter and so far it's awesome!  I've put stars next to a number of lines that I wish to expound on, perhaps in my blog or perhaps in my personal devotion.  One of said starred-lines is as follows:

"However hidden and undramatic your witness may be, I pray the you will be daring enough to be different, humble enough to make mistakes, courageous enough to get burnt in the fire, and real enough to help others see that prose is not poetry, speech is not song, and tangibles, visibles, and perishables are not adequate for being signed with the blood of the Lamb." (Manning p. 15-16)

This stood out to me because I've never thought my witness or testimony to be that good.  There really isn't a great story to it.  Simply, a numerously broken life that has been continuously forgiven and revived by God.  But, what Manning is saying is that despite the seemingly boring tale of your convictions and passions, live Christ anyway!  Realize it's ok to make mistakes; use them to teach others and to make yourself stronger.  Take chances with your spirituality no matter what friends you may lose or whose toes you may step on.  And don't belittle yourself to thinking that you are incapable of teaching someone.  If you are a Christian than you are called to live a life that is a testimony of Christ, not a testimony of yourself.  So with every word that you say and every action that you do, teach love and forgiveness.  

In the same chapter, Manning presents two questions:

1) "Why do we so seldom hear in our day what the old lawyer said of John Vianney 1 , "An extraordinary thing happened to me today.  I saw Christ in a man."?

2) "Why don't our contagious joy, enthusiasm, and gratitude infect others with a longing for Christ?" (Manning p.19)

He explains the absence of these questions with this:

"The specter of our actual unbelief persuades us that it is not the experience that is real but, rather, our explanation of the experience.  Our beliefs - which William Blake called 'the mind-forged manacle' - distance us from the grip of personal experience." (Manning p. 20)

Mannings point to fixing this absence of experience is thus:

"Jesus, as the revealer of the Godhead, defines God as love.  In light of this revelation, we have to abandon cankerous, worm-eaten structure of legalism, moralism, and perfectionism that corrupts the Good News into an ethical code rather than a love affair." (Manning p.21)

1 John Vianney: a French parish priest who became a Catholic saint and the patron saint of parish priests

Manning, Brennan. The Signature of Jesus. Multnomah Books. Colorado Springs, Colorado. 1996.