Thou Art My Loveliness, My Life, My Light, Beauty Alone to Me
I’m currently reading (2nd time) Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters by Tim Keller and wanted to share some things that I’ve come across with you. If you haven’t read this book, please pick it up and if you don’t have the $, I’ll buy it for you (seriously). I think it’s one of the best books ever written.
Throughout, Keller identifies things that we rely on to feel okay in this very challenging world. As the title of the book indicates, he specifically looks at money, sex (or relationships) and power, examining why we are drawn to them and then articulates their insufficiency to satisfy our deepest longings and needs. He doesn’t stop there… He then brings us to Jesus and reminds us of the true love that we were made for, the only hope that doesn’t disappoint, and the true Savior that truly saves. My take on what Keller is trying to communicate is this: God delights in us in Christ. If you are in Christ, you are God’s treasure. You are his beloved and he is absolutely pleased with you.
To give you a taste from the book, the following quote comes from the section on human relationships (p. 40)
The failure of romantic love as a solution to human problems is so much a part of modern man’s frustration… No human relationship can bear the burden of godhood… However much we may idealize and idolize him or her (the love partner), he/she inevitably reflects earthly decay and imperfection… After all, what is it that we want when we elevate the love partner to this position? We want to be rid of our faults, of our feeling of nothingness. We want to be justified, to know our existence has not been in vain. We want redemption – nothing less. Needless to say, human partners cannot give this.
Keller goes on to discuss what will rid us of our faults, our feelings of nothingness, what will justifies us, what does enables us to know our existence has not been in vain and where our redemption does come from. (p.45, 47)
Jesus took upon himself our sins and died in our place. If we are deeply moved by the sight of his love for us, it detaches our hearts from other would-be saviors. We stop trying to redeem ourselves through our pursuits and relationships, because we are already redeemed. We stop trying to make others into saviors, because we have a Savior.
Who can I turn to who is so beautiful that he will enable me to escape all counterfeit gods? There is only one answer to this question. As the poet George Herbert wrote, looking at Jesus on the Cross: “Thou art my loveliness, my life, my light, Beauty alone to me.”
