Read the italicized passages of Scripture in Chapter 16.
Questions
- How is refusing to pick on a weak person because of shame and honour self-regarding?
- How is refusing to pick on a weak person out of regard for that person different from the shame and honour response?
- How is an ethic based on regard for others rooted in Christianity?
- How are the values and priorities in the kingdom of God different from the values and priorities in the kingdom of the world?
- How are we like Peter (189)?
- What makes Jesus’ revolution the first true revolution (189)?
- Timothy Keller points out that the failure of nearly everyone in the Garden of Gethsemane reminds us of the failure of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Jesus alone is passing the test set before him. But then Keller writes, “Jesus Christ as only an example will crush you; you will never be able to live up to it. But Jesus Christ as the Lamb will save you” (191). What difference will it make in your life between, on the one hand, regarding Jesus as your model for life and, on the other hand, regarding Jesus as your Saviour?
- Timothy Keller writes, “If you’re trying to save yourself, trying to earn your own self-esteem, trying to prove yourself, you’ll either hate money and power too much or love them too much” (192). Please explain how this is so.
- Timothy Keller tells us that the days of the kingdom of the world are numbered and it will, one day, be inverted (193). How will that happen?
- Timothy Keller writes, “When you understand what Jesus has done for you, it frees you. When you realize that you are made righteous by his grace and not by your achievement, and that you are loved in Jesus Christ, it changes the way you look at power, money, and status; they don’t control you anymore” (192). Describe how the kingdom of the world is being replaced by the kingdom of God in your life.
Closing Prayer
Farewell to Shadowlands 