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What did Jesus mean who said, "Whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many.”

by Roland Clarke

Jim Elliot said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose” thus echoing Jesus words, “whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me...will save it.” Emulating Jesus, Jim Elliot and his four teammates laid down their lives as martyrs so the Waodani people could hear and receive eternal life. Interestingly, the paradox of 'saving/losing' one's earthly life has wider application. As Solomon wrote, “Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.” Jesus also said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” A modern Kurdish proverb echoes this paradox, “What you give away you keep,” as well as Arabic proverbial wisdom, “If you do charity your house will always be rich.” So what is the outcome of living this way? Cherokee (& Persian) sages came up with an interesting proverb, “When you were born you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.” (cf. Book of Ecclesiastes 7:1-5)

  • 8 November 2022
  • Author: Guest Blogger
  • Number of views: 1118
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Tao and Tawheed is dedicated to exploring the mysteries of faith, reason, and meaning. We aspire to provide articles and videos that stimulate the serious consideration of truth as seen through the lens of these and related ideas: logic, purpose, order, beauty, hope, love, morality, happiness, natural law, intelligibility, science, and divine revelation to expand the list. Our presupposition is that all these things exist and create the tapestry of reality. They are so fundamental they both govern and drive us whether we know it or not. And through the art of good thinking, metacognition and civil discussion they are discernible to us as the rational beings that we are. This is what makes humanness wonderful. To ask questions or start a conversation send email to scott@taoandtawheed.com.


But why "Tao and Tawheed"? Because it's mysterious? Yes. But also because of what they mean to us. Tao is an eastern idea for which the religion of Taoism is named, although we are not Taoists. It refers to the comprehensive order and harmony of the universe despite things that seem chaotic. (In fact, we hold that there really is no chaos.) The late British philosopher C.S. Lewis used the notion of Tao to refer to natural law, or the moral order that permeates all cultures everywhere. Tawheed, or Tawhid, is Muslim concept that captures the idea of absolute unity. specifically the unity of God, or Allah. But we use it more broadly. To us it suggests that no matter how much diversity we see in the universe it is always still one. The opposite is also true, of course. Further, although we are not Muslims there is a powerful rational for monotheism that we embrace. Together we think they capture something profound: Faith, Reason and Meaning. 

But there is another word embedded in our emblem, do you see it? It's the Greek word "logos" from which the word logic derives. It is a very broad concept that by itself captures all the meaning of Tao and Tawheed together. Logos is a word that the ancient Greek philosophers used to refer to 'the logic of everything' or the 'order of all reality' consisting of both particulars and universals. Centuries later the New Testament writer John also used it in the very first sentence of his gospel. Without abandoning the earlier philosophers' notions, but with the claim of divine revelation, John appropriated 'logos', in word and principle, to Jesus the Messiah. This website recognizes and celebrates that. Therefore, our intent is to hold all ideas up to the light of the Logos personified.

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