Recently we held a blog contest asking people to respond to the following Kuyper quote by sharing how this idea reframes your calling in life, “There can be nothing in the universe that fails to express, to incarnate, the revelation of the thought of God.”
We are excited to share with you the three winners of the contest. Our first prize winner is Travis Thomas and his full entry is below. Our two honorable mentions are James Berry and Katelyn Swiatek. Click on their names to read their entries.
It was exciting to see the participants wrestle with how God reveals Himself to us as we engage in the world that He has called us to steward. Be encouraged as you read the winning blog entries and make sure to follow these wonderful thinkers.
Abraham Kuyper: On Call in Culture
By Travis Thomas
Kuyper introduces the most basic revelation shared by all of humanity; that all things we see and understand have a beginning, and before we were, God was. And because God was, and because God is, we exist, and any and all activity we carry out is a result of His plan and/or, by His permission. When we have an electronic product that has malfunctioned we seek general assistance from someone more knowledgeable than us in the broad sphere of electronics. If their assistance fails we further refine our search to someone who may specialize in the specific category of our broken electronic product. If this effort fails, we continue to refine and extract all vagueness from our search in order to get as close as possible to the creator of the product as we can. Our motivation is to find a fix and the more refined, the closer we can get to the creator of our specified product, the higher the chance we can find the supreme fix. Mankind is broken and so are the faculties and systems we engaged in on a daily basis. We must first be fixed and then we can adequate assess what is broken around us.
”For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” (1 Corin.2:11 KJV)
Henceforth, within the human soul is the desperate inclination to find a fix. In every facet of the human life we find ourselves seeking to fix, enhance, and recreate what is, in order to create something better and more efficient. Just as forensic lights reveal stains hidden to the naked eye on a crime scene, remnants of an eternal creators fingerprints are evident in our beings when truth shines its light on us, revealing; a creator was here.
Kuyper’s perspective reveals that every human aspiration and tendency has its origin in the mind of God and thus falls under the sovereignty of God. Kuyper’s ideas show through our collective progression and understanding in the areas of human life we continually work towards piecing together a puzzle that originated in God’s mind. Having a heart and calling in the arena of law, with an understanding of Kuyper’s perspective I am impressed with the responsibility to not be the end all be all of Justice, but to make the biggest contribution to the cause that will eventually point back to Him. As we progress in our ability to create Governments that serve the greater good of all, we gain the revelation we are not only doing God’ work but attempting to recreate His original thoughts and will. As I bear the burden for justice in an unjust world I realize I have a unique role to play to the whole, simply recycling his vision for justice originally translated to mankind.
The truth Kuyper impresses upon the reader reveals despite the disarranged chaos seen in the world, God is very in control and only through the lens of his knowledge and truth can we steward adequately; for “there is no area of human life where Christ does not scream; mine!”
