Hey everyone, sorry for being out of touch recently. It’s summer so we are in the middle of camp season. It’s hard to break away for blogging. Anyway, this quote is rocking me so I wanted to hear your thoughts on it.
“I believe (in Jesus) because He fulfills none of my dreams, because He is in every respect the opposite of what He would be if I could have made Him in my own image.”
-W.H. Auden
And… discuss.
Todd
Wow, I read this quote in a book or article today–just can’t remember where because I’ve got several books going at the same time.
When I read it earlier, at first I thought Auden’s reason for believing in Jesus was pretty lame. But later I thought that if Jesus was someone who was made in my image, then he couldn’t be my Savior and he couldn’t be God, who is “other” or holy.
When I think of who Jesus would be if he was like me, there’s goes his unlimited mercy and sacrificial love, as well as all the other attributes of God that I don’t possess, but just sometimes reflect when I’m emptied of myself and filled with his Spirit.
I guess I can admit that most of my dreams have not been fulfilled by Jesus, but they have been transformed by him. Perhaps the only dream he really will fulfill is not really a dream, but the promise of being with him forever.
I think this quote is in a Tim Keller book Im reading. Like Brenda, I read it somewhere recently too. And she pretty much sums it up. All I know is that if God let go of me even for an instant my life would spiral out of control. Ive been a Christian almost my entire life and have also screwed up at points so bad that there was no outward difference between me and the world. I definetly dont want a Jesus like me. Thankfully, God has redeemed my wasted years and my walk with Him now is the most important thing in my life. But if Jesus was like me he wouldnt be a savior at all but a phony and a hypocrite. Thank God He is nothing like me. By the way Todd, my daughter Hannah is in Glorieta right now as we speak enjoying all your music at Centrifuge.
I’m so thankful Jesus doesn’t fulfill my dreams! I know that if the Lord fulfilled some of the dreams I’ve had for myself, I would not be in a very good place.
God sees the big picture, and knows what He needs to fulfill in my life for me to be in His perfect will.
Of course, there is still free will, and that’s just the stupid choices I make on my own. It’s not God fulfilling a dream that was never meant to be.
But thank the Lord for his infinite mercy and grace.
If I had the choice to make Him in my own image… well, that’s just scary.
Great quote. Thanks for sharing.
I felt that the person was confused about Jesus. My dream is to Glorify His Name in all I do. Its not what I can get but what I can give. We aren’t here for our own pleasures and worldly gain. We are here for him, to do his will.
This is really cool and just makes you stop and think, but is actually right where we all as disciples of Jesus need to be. We look for a teacher that will teach us what we want to know not what we need to know or the truth. We search for a God who will give us everything we always wanted, and not what we truly need. Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise for the Messiah, he is the one who will come and make everything right, they way God promised, not the way we want it. We have to remember that God works through our weaknesses – the places where we can not do it by ourselves! We have to rely on him. And when we rely on Him, the dreams that come to reality are going to be much better than the dreams we wanted to be fulfilled. Thanks for sharing.
A dream is something that has no business coming true. God is in total control of everything and when we recieve a happy outcome, it is because of God’s will for our life. When we truly believe in an image not like ours, but one that we cannot even fathom, an inner peace (kinda like dream fulfillment) will consume our soul and we can know who and what source that it came from. “We serve a good God. We serve and awsome God. We serve a God who loves us more that we could ever imagine.” This is a quote from Troy Racliff who preached the gospel at M-Fuge this Summer at Bel-mont. I now carry it wherever I go.
Radical truth… Thank you Jesus for being more than I could ever imagine! Incidentally, I was listening to “My Jesus” when I read this quote… Thank you Todd Agnew for being obedient and sharing your passion for His name!
What an interesting man, and what a tragic life. Sorry, I couldn’t resist looking him up.
He believes in Jesus “because He fulfills none of my dreams”? How sad is that? I like to believe that when we belong to God, He writes His dreams in our hearts. I also believe that He’ll give those dreams a home.
“He is in every respect the opposite of what He would be if I could have made Him in my own image.”
If God could have been made in the image of any man/woman He wouldn’t be God. He’d be subject to the creator. That God is the “opposite” of how the author would have made Him seems to reflect a self awareness of his own fallen state and how different that is from God’s perfection. How wonderful that He is so “other” compared to us.
I dunno. It kind of resonates with me. I don’t want a God who conforms to what I WANT Him to be. I’m much happier to serve a God who is who I NEED Him to be. And He knows that better than I.
Christ is set apart. He wasn’t the great military conqueror that was expected. And yet He conquered – ultimately. It’s kind of paradoxical.
Or that could just be because it’s 5:30am and I’ve been up all night.
I was just thinking of it in light of recent events in my life. I’ve lost 2 grandparents within 3 weeks. And I lost another back in January. If Christ was who I wanted, they’d all still be here. So would Mum and my brother. But then so many other things that ARE good wouldn’t be the way they are. Yep. I’m happy to have a Christ who is not what I WANT but a Christ who is what I NEED.
And the more I get to know and follow this Christ, the more my dream is ultimately being fulfilled. But if I’d started with the dream and tried to shape Him to it, it just wouldn’t be the same.
I hear you Carmel. I hadn’t really thought about it that way.
Think about David. His dream was to build a temple, a dwelling place for God. Great motives, he was a man after God’s heart, loved His people. But God told him no. David wanted to build a building. God was building an entire nation whom He would one day dwell in by his Holy Spirit. Our Lord is too big to fit into our dreams. Christianity is the only religion that mankind could not POSSIBLY make up. The egos of man could never have conceived the Bible.
We want to have a God we can control, one whom we can manipulate by behaving certain ways and force to perform for us, kinda like the pharisees when they were asking for a sign.
Six years ago I was a heroin addict because I had dreamed of peace in my heart. Then God saved me. Now I dream of eternity with a Holy, awesome God, looking him in the face and having an inheritance I will share with Christ Himself. Pain now, but glory in the morning. Thats the difference between our plans and dreams, and His.