Culture in our office is that you bring cream cakes in on your birthday. Now there's about 350 people here, so the way it is done is that you buy enough for your team and close friends, and then a few extra.
You then put the cakes on a tray near the aisle, in full view of everyone. You tell your friends and team to dig in, and you might also send out an email to a wider group of friends. (One guy today sent a global email to the whole office).
Your friends and team therefore get all the cake they want, sometimes seconds as well. But if anyone you know and forgot to invite passes by you give them a shout 'come and have a cake'. The cakes are also next to a communal area, so anyone that doesn't know you can also have a cake. If you don't know the person, common courtesy is that you check its OK before grabbing. Usually the people that don't know you, walk on by and don't ask. But if they do it will not be refused and you have a new friend.
This is how I see the Biblical doctrine of predestination. When you buy the cakes you know who they are for, but anybody can have one. Those that love you, that the cakes are intended for, take them eagerly. But you will be very happy if others accept the open invitation and become your friends too - they are not excluded.
Christ died for everyone. Some he has predestined to be saved, others will reject the open invitation of salvation and friendship. There is a theoretical category of people who have not been predestined who do take up the offer, but I'not sure how this works theologically and in practice I think this category is virtually non-existant. People who do take up the open offer usually discover afterwards that they were in fact already on the list, so to speak. And those that reject the open offer were not excluded from the opportunity, its just that they tend to be those who did not want the friendship anyway.
Any illustration is bound to be full of flaws, but this is the best way I have come across for explaining how I understand predestination.
That's an interesting take on it.
ReplyDeleteOther see it as "Those who have cake are predestined to get full." I.e. having the cake is the predestination for fullness, rather than being one of your chosen friends being the predestination for fullness.
Mmm. You're making me hungry.
This is a good point. I would respond that fullness is not the objective of taking a cake. the objective is communion or bonding with the giver. Animals fight over food, humans share it. Therefore, giving food says 'I value you and give myself for you'. Taking the food accepts the gift and indicates being part of the same social group. It is about bonding, not filling.
ReplyDeleteSo using your language we could say "Those who have cake are predestined to get bonded"
Taking this back to the beginning of the illustration, the team already had a bond, which is reinforced by the shared food. Others can join the bonded group by partaking, but this is a negligible proportion of the passers by.