Hello ruwth . Thank you for entering this month's contest.

FORUM

Grill a Christian  (13+) What is your problem? Sin, pain, poverty, or false perspective? #2327636 by LightinMind

As the official Judge of this contest, I have the following comments to offer for "ruwth is writing..." 

Did you answer the question?

To be honest, this time round, you and Apondia were the only ones to give a full answer to the question. You understood what it meant to have a full conversation with God.

Use of quotes, proof-texting or AI - could I hear your voice?

I liked your McCloskey and Shaw quotes, which were well integrated into the text. I could hear a good Christian response here that covered all the main points even though your text was quite short.

How consistent was your argument?

There were no major inconsistencies or conflicts in your argument. These were the words of a believer properly using her Christian resources to describe how communication is possible. On a secular level, we undo Babel with listening. We can talk to God because Jesus opened a door for us to do that, because the Spirit enables us to do that and because God Himself authors that possibility in our lives.

My thoughts on the substance of what you said

This was too short, but it was really good and to the point. I wrestled with giving you the victory this time for simply answering the question better than everyone else. But the point of the Grill a Christian contest is to get non-Christians talking about faith, to open doors for them to walk through. You are already through the door. Also, the other entrants put a lot more work into their entries, and there was far more creativity in style in the two non-Christians. Yours and Apondias' entries presented me with a quandry, though, as you both accepted that God was real and both have active prayer lives. Can I award a non-Christian who writes brilliantly but is ultimately asserting misconceptions about the Divine and has not yet been redeemed from sins that separate them from God over a Christian who gets what talking to God is all about? How can someone who does not talk to God or indeed listen to Him win a contest on communication?

In the end, I chose to award sincerity and beauty over accuracy and true faith because this contest is more about opening doors to those outside the church than it is about affirming those within it. My motive here is love and a desire to see people saved.

That said, thank you for your entry.

One thing I missed in your entry was how being made in the Image of God unites people both with each other and with God. Because we all image the same God, because we have His attributes built into us we have an innate capacity to understand each other. This capacity has been marred by sin but is still the basis of mutual understanding. We were created to relate to each other and God.

You identified the problem in terms of God confusing the languages at Babel and thereby scattering the peoples across the planet. In doing so, he confounded the arrogance and self-sufficiency of a humanity that blasphemously sought to usurp Him. You did not explore the why of this so much as the fact of Him doing this. Ultimately, it was our sins that created the communication barriers between us, and Babel is a consequence more than it is a cause. This is also why Pentecost, which follows the redemptive action of the cross, is so interesting and significant. Here, the Spirit brings together people who speak different languages in a shared event that unites them in the Body of Christ. He undoes Babel, because the sacrifice for our sins has been made, and makes possible a global church that reaches out to every nation.

You could have said more about how the incarnation of Christ on earth revealed God to us, opened eyes to the Divine and demonstrated God in action in human history. God's presence with us was the ultimate act of communication showing us what is means to know God, making sense of the scriptures and teaching us His ways.

You quoted scriptures well here, and the verses you used were well chosen. I especially liked the reference to Romans where we are told that the very groaning of our hearts are listened to by God. Also that we can ask God to open our eyes and ears to Him, to forgive us our sins and free us from all unrighteousness. God is indeed the author of our salvation and everything we need to know Him has already been provided in our design, in the sacrifice of the cross which undoes the sins that separate us from Him, in the gift of the Holy Spirit who dwells in His church and in the scriptures which show us how God sent His very Son to be with us and reconcile us to Him. God speaks to us by His presence, word and action and all we need to do is listen, obey and share to begin that conversation with Him.


Mechanical issues

if you become gifted in a the rare act of listening

...turn to Him and say, "Heal me.[,]" and we can trust...

We are His Workmanship [workmanship].


Thanks again for entering.
LightinMind

STATIC

My Philosophy of Rating and Reviewing  (E) How do I assess people's work when reviewing? #2259390 by LightinMind

My review has been submitted for consideration in "Good Deeds Get CASH!" .