Abraham and the Jesus Way

In chapter two of The Jesus Way, Peterson focuses on Abraham and God's test of his faith by asking him to sacrifice Isaac. He has some thought provoking ideas, I think, in the chapter, ideas that I have been thinking about.

Concerning sacrifice, Peterson writes

Sacrifice exposes spiritual fantasy as a masquerade of faith. Sacrifice scraps any illusion, no matter how pious, that is spun by the devil. Sacrifice plucks out the avaricious eye. Sacrifice lops off the grasping hand. Sacrifice is a readiness to interrupt whatever we are doing...A sacrificial life is the means, and the only means, by which a life of faith matures. (49-50).

I must confess that I wish things didn't work this way, but I know that they do. I can so easily lull myself into complacency and thinking things are going smoothly and all is well with me. I agree with Peterson when he says, "we cannot be trusted to test ourselves. We are too full of self-interest and self-deceit. We are too devious in devising ways of cooking the books to document the evidence that serves our illusions....Religion and spirituality is a bottomless pit breeding illusion, deceit, and oppression" (53). And so, according to Peterson, God tests us.