The Christian steers by two stars:

 

• commitment to God’s intentions

• trust in God’s lovingkindness.

 

Without acceptance of God’s intentions our faith becomes accommodation and sentimentality.

 
Without embracing his lovingkindness, we grow censorious and hard-hearted. The Christian does not bend the rules, make excuses nor accept compromises. These will prevent growth.

To excuse or accommodate our weaknesses is to manufacture a god in our own image.
Instead we must face the challenges and trust God. The way of the Christian

The elements of the life God intends are here in the ‘present age’ but are fractured and dissonant. Christians make it whole. And yet

This way of living is essentially and radically different from that of ‘the present age’, that is, the life that is encouraged by current accepted norms of behaviour.