{"id":8958,"date":"2021-03-23T14:13:20","date_gmt":"2021-03-23T19:13:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedisciplemaker.org\/?p=8958"},"modified":"2021-03-23T14:13:20","modified_gmt":"2021-03-23T19:13:20","slug":"becoming-all-flame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/becoming-all-flame\/","title":{"rendered":"Becoming All Flame"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div>\n<p>I want to grow in what the ancient men and women of faith often called \u201cunion with God\u201d\u2014that state of being where God is so present to and alive in us that it is difficult to know where God ends and we begin. Where by grace we grow into \u201cGod-likeness.\u201d Where we become like the burning bush of Exodus 3\u2014on fire with glory, but not consumed. <em>Burning but not burned up<\/em> . .\u00a0.<\/p>\n\n\n<p>\u201cGlory\u201d was one of the apostle Paul\u2019s characteristic ways of talking about this state of being. Addressing a group of believers in the ancient city of Corinth, he wrote:<\/p>\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><em>We all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord\u2019s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.<\/em>[i]<\/pre>\n\n\n<p>I love that. Paul is saying that as we face the living God, something profound happens to us\u2014we are transformed into his image, his likeness, with glory that always increases and never stops. Ever. We keep changing and expanding both to <em>look more like God<\/em> and to <em>contain and display more of his glory.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s a story told in <em>The Sayings of the Desert Fathers<\/em> that illustrates this dynamic beautifully. Abba Lot said to Abba Joseph, \u201cAbba, as far as I can I say my little office I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<p>In answer to Lot\u2019s question, Joseph \u201cstood up and stretched his hands towards heaven.\u201d As he did so, \u201chis fingers became like ten lamps of fire\u201d and he said to Lot: <\/p>\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p><em>If you will, you can become all flame.<\/em>[ii]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n<p>\u201cAll flame.\u201d Christianity insists that the destination of the human life is glory. God\u2019s glory. Surrendering to the work of the Holy Spirit, we can become aflame with the love and goodness of God. We can be holy as he is holy.<\/p>\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve seen it with my own eyes. I\u2019m sure you have too. One of the great joys of growing up in the church is that, for all the ugliness I\u2019ve seen, I\u2019ve also been witness to the lives of people who were marked by undeniable goodness, beauty, and others-preferring, ego-abandoning, utterly humble and hopeful holiness. People who made knowing God their highest aim in life and became radiant as a result. People whose wisdom and virtue and compassion and joy routinely left me inspired and provoked\u2014that my own life would similarly reflect God\u2019s glory.<\/p>\n\n\n<p>In the church of my childhood we often said that \u201cGod is no respecter of persons.\u201d I still believe that. I do not think that this is the special call of a select few. Or that God makes it easier on some than others. I think this is on the table for all of us. I believe that in my bones. We\u2014all of us\u2014can know God. We can, like Jacob, see him in the stuff and substance of our lives. In all the struggle of being human, we can recognize that at the depth of it all, what\u2014no\u2014<em>Who <\/em>we are really \u201cstruggling\u201d with is God. And we can be changed by it all, to look more like the God in whose image we are made, who calls us into glory.<\/p>\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-coblocks-author\"><figure class=\"wp-block-coblocks-author__avatar\"><img class=\"wp-block-coblocks-author__avatar-img\" src=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/ARNDT-Author-Photo-bordered.png\" alt=\"Andrew Arndt\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-coblocks-author__content\"><span class=\"wp-block-coblocks-author__name\">Andrew Arndt<\/span><p class=\"wp-block-coblocks-author__biography\">is the lead pastor of New Life East, one of seven congregations of New Life Church in Colorado Springs. He is the host of the Essential Church podcast, a weekly conversation designed to strengthen the thinking of church and ministry leaders. Andrew received his MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and has written for\u00a0<em>Missio Alliance<\/em>,\u00a0<em>Patheos<\/em>,\u00a0<em>The Other Journal<\/em>, and\u00a0<em>Mere Orthodoxy<\/em>. He lives in Colorado Springs with his wife, Mandi, and their four kids.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/tag\/andrew-arndt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">More from Andrew<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/3cdKJrA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/AllFlame_PNG-833x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7675\" width=\"600\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:9px\"><strong>Sources<\/strong><br \/>[i] 2\u00a0Corinthians 3:18.<br \/>[ii] Benedicta Ward, Sayings of the Desert Fathers (Kentucky: Cisterian, 1975), 103. An \u201coffice\u201d was a form prayer that many of the ancients used, and many people still use today, as a help to prayer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I want to grow in what the ancient men and women of faith often called \u201cunion with God\u201d\u2014that state of being where God is so present to and alive in us that it is difficult to know where God ends &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"Becoming All Flame\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/becoming-all-flame\/#more-8958\">Read more<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Becoming All Flame<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":8963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[38,46],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Becoming All Flame - The Disciplemaker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/03\/becoming-all-flame\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Becoming All Flame - The Disciplemaker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I want to grow in what the ancient men and women of faith often called \u201cunion with God\u201d\u2014that state of being where God is so present to and alive in us that it is difficult to know where God ends ... 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