W. W. N. T. D.

I’ve been reading the book Simply Christian by N.T. Wright. While it would be fairly great to really dig into a book by N.T. Wright, I just wanted to point out a sentence or two for the moment. I was out at a coffee place last night when I read this. I have to say I laughed out loud, which is a bit unusual when reading Wright. Maybe not. Maybe some would say ol’ N.T. is hilarious enough to host a talk show.

But this is what I read: “Watching Richter play the piano or Tiger Woods hit a golf ball doesn’t inspire me to go out and copy them. It makes me realize that I can’t come close and never will.”

I don’t know who Richter is but it really doesn’t matter too much when you put it in the context that our friend Mr. Wright is talking about here. He’s talking about how disheartened a person could get by observing the example of Jesus. Jesus demonstrated what a life of complete love and devotion to God and to other people would look like, but N.T. Wright makes the point of saying that our primary need as a part of humanity is not to see this exemplary life so that we could try and copy it. It’s about “the finding, the saving, the giving of new life – in Jesus.”

So, there is a certain comfort in knowing that “I can’t come close and never will.” But I am not about to start a bracelet campaign or anything like that . . . I. C. C. C. A. N. W. W. W. .J. D.