In his book ‘One. Life,’ Scot McKnight has analyzed what Christian’s life is all about and also explains the aspect of following Jesus. McKnight states that following Jesus tends to change the ways in which we conduct our daily activities and how we live in aspects of love, community, sex, justice, and peace. Through the book, he tends to try and open the reader’s eyes to the immensity of what it really means to be a Christian. He explains through giving real-life examples and verses from the bible to help the reader get the full aspect of Christianity and have a better understanding (McKnight, 2010). This paper will therefore emphasize the readings from chapters 11 and 14 and provide a summary of the various ways that individuals are supposed to live in accordance with Christ’s ways.
In chapter 11 McKnight analyzes how the vocational life of individuals should be such that it is important for individuals to do what matters. Commonly, everyone dreams of engaging in a certain career when they grow up after school. This means that students especially in college engage with courses that relate to their dream career. People have different perceptions of the features f a perfect career or vocation. According to McKnight, today’s college students tend to have a certain view regarding the jobs that they want to engage in. First, the students while looking at different careers focus on making a lot of money hence choose careers that are known to be well paying. He continues to state that the students in choosing their jobs and careers prefer careers that tend to be a combination of fun and also challenging activities.
Thirdly McKnight states that students in the new generation prefer careers that involve doing things that are important in a worldly perception and they also want to experience growth in their careers while finding more joy while they advance to the greater levels of their vocational life. According to McKnight in this chapter regarding what really matters, I would advise the friend that it is okay to do what one does well as it is what matters than what we perceive to really matter. God has provided everyone with different gifts which we should put to good use as it is what matters (Cronshaw, 2018). They should therefore learn to enjoy what the Lord has provided them with as it is what matters and at all times allow God’s kingdom to swallow up what they do.
In Chapter 12, McKnight (2010) has emphasized the aspect of the Eternity of life. He starts by stating that he believes in the existence of Jesus, heaven, and hell. He claims that a person that believes and accepts to live in the light of eternity is considered to be wise. McKnight, therefore, uses several verses such as Matthew 25:41in explaining that Jesus believed in hell. The verse states, ‘Then he will say to those on his left, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (McKnight, 2010). ‘ These were the words of Jesus while he was explaining that after death, everyone will account for the lives that they have led on earth (Jeffrey, 2019). Several individuals believe that hell is just an intolerable notion and the people are less likely to believe that God who is known for grace and love is capable of punishing humans endlessly.
On the other hand, other people tend to perceive hell as a place filled with pain and suffering which tends to continue eternally for endlessly cautious humans. The third group tends to find a fundamental injustice at work in the view of hell. According to Scot, the ‘New Heaven and New Earth’ refer to a city on an earth that has transformed and tends to embody everything Jesus spoke of while he dreamed of God’s Kingdom. It is different from the people’s perception as they believed that heaven is a place where individuals will be flitting around with angels in ethereal existence. In Jesus’ view, those who have lived in accordance with the will and ways of God will go to heaven in their afterlife.
In chapter 13, McKnight (2010) has focused on love life in an aspect of the love that God has towards his creation. Many people have a perception that if someone love’s them, then they should not let them suffer in any way. Therefore, even though many individuals believe in a God of love based on what they have heard from the teachings and parables of Jesus in the bible, they have a hard time accepting that God really loves them due to the issues and problems that they may be facing (Shrader-Perry, 2018). Affirming that God is love means that we should be seen to overcome fear and create peaceful conditions and an environment for everyone in the community.
It means looking at all the good things that have happened in our lives and seeing them as an opportunity and love from God as we do not live righteous lives as required by God. The parable of the prodigal son is proof of love considering that even though the two sons were provided with everything they required, the younger son went ahead and claimed his possessions, squandered them, and came back with nothing. Instead of his father criticizing him, he went ahead and accepted him back as he asked for forgiveness. Some people may see this as the essence of the gospel as it teaches that despite what we do, God is always there to accept us as his children back when we acknowledge our sins, repent, and ask for forgives,
In Chapter 14, McKnight focuses on the Cross life and Resurrection life of Jesus Christ. Repentance according to McKnight means the ‘twofold prong of owning up to our way of injustices and failures to love and starting all over by living justly and also lovingly’ (McKnight, 2010). He interprets the aspect of the cross as the scene where Jesus takes up the human distress and suffering, agony, injustices, and the systematic evil that human beings have created (Sinclair, 2020). Dietrich Bonheoffer is a German theologian and McKnight has used his account as he was a true believer and he stated that even though the people saw this death as an end to him, he perceived it to be a beginning of a new life which gives an aspect of resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead according to McKnight (2010) is a sign and symbol of a second life where Christians can repent their sins to God, be born again, and live new lives.
Based on the four chapters, for individuals who wish to be follower’s of Christ, McKnight suggests that it is important to do what really matters, affirm that God is love, seek the will of God in our everyday lives and activities, listen to what the Lord constantly, and commit to the Kingdom of God’s work through seeking empowerment from the spirit of God and entering into fellowship with other believers of Christ.
Reference List
Cronshaw, D. J. (2018). The Relational Teacher: Sharing Life as Vocational Essence.
Jeffrey, A. (2019). Hope in Christianity. C. Blöser, & T. Stahl, The Moral Psychology of Hope, 37-56.
McKnight, S. (2010). One. Life: Jesus Calls, We Follow. Zondervan.
Shrader-Perry, J. (2018). Who Wants a God Who Suffers?. Say Something Theological: The Student Journal of Theological Studies, 1(2), 5.
Sinclair, S. G. (2020). The Resurrection of Jesus and Christian Faith: Five Conferences for the Monks of New Camaldoli, Big Sur. This work is published from: United States.
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