I recently had an e-mail from Facebook (FB) with a link to \u2018Privacy Basics\u2019 – so I thought, having been a FB user for a few years, “Right I\u2019m going to take some time to understand about privacy, who can and can\u2019t see what and about likes and tagging and who can do what and what can be reviewed and deleted and how\u2026. all that stuff.” After a simple click, what came up was a lovely simple step by step introduction to privacy, nicely presented, click by click, step by step. But did I feel any the wiser after doing this for 20 minutes? HARDLY, NO!<\/p>\n
OK I learned about one or two buttons which can do this or that, but what I\u2019ve never got in my head is the \u2018architecture\u2019 of the whole thing and how all the bits relate to one another. I don\u2019t really get the relationship between profile \/ news feed and timeline (please don\u2019t respond to this e-mail with a long screed of information to explain, I\u2019m just sharing in an honest way that I\u2019m a child of my time). All that I don\u2019t get I\u2019m happy to label \u2018mystery\u2019, happy to trust others who do get it to point out stuff I need to know (thank you, you know who you are) and for those I upset because I don\u2019t get it, please be forgiving if I inappropriately tag you or comment or whatever. If you\u2019re not happy with this arrangement please unfriend me – how do you do that?!<\/p>\n
I suspect that this sort of trusted \u2018unknowing\u2019 is how many Christians view the bible. They don\u2019t really get the architecture of the whole thing: how the OT and NT relate to each other, how the different covenants connect, who is friends with whom and why, who is in charge of this or that at a point in history, and how \u2026. and so on. One of the privileges of having done some theological training is that I\u2019ve had a chance to study the architecture of the bible. I\u2019m no expert but at least I\u2019ve a working knowledge of how it all hangs together – if you ever get the chance for some sort of theological study, I recommend it!<\/p>\n
We\u2019re just approaching Advent, the season in which we connect the 1st coming of Christ with the 2nd coming of Christ and see \u2018writ large\u2019 God\u2019s salvation plan – past, present and future – our Father God demonstrating his justice and grace. It\u2019s hard to make sense of it all, the deep shape of things, the architecture is complex, but it\u2019s worth persevering with because it throws up awesome insights into the nature and ways of God that are enough to blow your mind and bend your knees to the floor.<\/p>\n
FB will come and go, hey ho, but our God is eternal, glorious and just, may your Advent be blessed as you ponder these deeper things.<\/p>\n
Yours in Him Stephen (Gunner) Girling<\/p>\n