Looking At Or Living In // Chris Holm

Sermon Summary:We just wrapped up our "Unstuck" series exploring the 12 steps, but a question remains: why do we get stuck in the first place? Why do we believe the right things yet live like they're not true? The gap between intellectual belief and lived experience is where we often find ourselves stuck. We position ourselves as observers of truth rather than participants in it.In 3 John 1:3-4, we see joy not in believers having correct theology, but in people walking in the truth. C.S. Lewis captures this distinction in his essay "Reflections in a Tool Shed," where he differentiates between looking at a beam of light versus looking along it. Looking at something is examination; looking along it is experience.Like a couple in love who experiences reality differently than a biologist analyzing their brain chemistry, there's a profound difference between analyzing truth and experiencing it. The most important truths can't be accessed from the outside – you must step inside them.Our problem? We're running on a secular operating system while trying to install kingdom beliefs. Romans 12:2 calls us to "be transformed by the renewing of your minds" – making our mental patterns new again and again. This isn't just reciting facts but transforming our imagination.Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as "the substantiating of things hoped for" – making future realities feel substantial now. The heroes of faith didn't just intellectually believe; they vividly envisioned God's promises, which transformed how they lived.When we get inside truths like Romans 8:18 – that present sufferings aren't worth comparing to coming glory – it changes everything. It expands our frame of reference, making current problems more manageable and giving hope in suffering.Our task is to regularly imagine eternity, not just believe in it theoretically. Let's be disciples of our minds, allowing truth to get inside us so we live as eternal beings in a temporary world.