A Quest for More: Part 1

At Double Springs Baptist church, we are studying through Paul Tripp's helpful book A Quest for More. Over the next several weeks, I will provide a chapter by chapter summary for this class. Today we begin with chapter 1.

Chapter 1 discusses the desire in all people to be a part of something big. He calls this a desire for transcendence; that is, "a craving to be a part of something bigger, greater, and more profound than our relatively meaningless day-to-day existence (p. 14)." Sadly, however, the tendency in our hearts is to live for self-satisfaction and self-survival. Herein lies a tension. On the one hand, we feel a desire to be a part of something big. On the other hand, we relentlessly pursue our selfish and small agendas, which produces a good deal of frustration.

Tripp does not ignore or condemn our desire for transcendence; he explains it in terms of our original creation. In Genesis 1-2 it is apparent that Adam and Eve were not created for themselves. They were created for God. Another word for this experience used is glory. Drawing from the creation account, Tripp closes this with a discussion of 4 spheres of glory that are meant to bring "life-shaping focus" to all humans. The first, and most obvious, is God glory. Life does not define life. God defines life. We are created to see, know, and experience life in primarily in relation to God. Second, we are created for the glory of stewardship. Adam and Eve were "resident managers" in God's creation and so are we. We do not own our "stuff" in any true sense. God has entrusted us with such gifts to care for as an act of worship to him. Third, we are created for community glory. It was not good for Adam to be alone. He was designed to live with another in service for the glory of God. This truth extends to our relationships today. Our relationships are not merely about our relationships. Rather our relationships are part of a bigger story--God's story. Finally, we are created for truth glory. Thath is, we are dependent on God for direction, wisdom, and a right interpretation of our lives. Just like Adam and Eve--who opted to get truth from another source--our tendency to to look elsewhere for wisdom.

These f0ur areas of glory give shape and challenge to our lives. At every point we are tempted to forsake the greater for the lesser. And we shrink the size of our lives to the size of our lives. This book is about pursuing a different path--a godward path toward the glory for which we were created.