Jedd sits down with Kelly Kapic, author of the new book, You’re Only Human. The two explore the freedom and other gifts found in embracing our human limitations and finiteness. Rooted in a rich vision of both creation and the incarnation, the conversation also offers practical ways to cultivate gratitude, rest and faithful service.
In this episode, we'll explore:
- How both Creation and the Incarnation affirm our human limitations as a gift rather than a deficiency.
- How acknowledging our finitude helps us delight more in others and their gifts.
- Why making productivity the highest value in our lives undermines our capacity to love.
- The importance of realistic expectations and awareness of different seasons in life.
- Why Christian humility is not foremost about sin, but our healthy dependence on God and others.
- The importance of community to living healthfully as finite creatures.
- What it means to live faithfully amidst limitations.
- Practical choices that help us live with a light-hearted sense of our own finitude.
Key Quotes
"Denying our finitude cripples our ability to love."
"Efficiency and productivity are not bad, but when they become our highest values, they rule out love."
"We think of ‘dependence’ as a bad word. But the reality is that even before the Fall, God created us to be dependent on Him, on one another, and on the earth."
"Since the very first temptation, we have chafed against our limits and finiteness. The first temptation was, ‘You shall be as gods.’"
"The fact that God is not embarrassed to enter into and become one with us as humans means that we should not be ashamed of our physical, finite bodies."
"Simply telling myself ‘I’ve done enough’ just never seems believable. But if I have another human look me in the eye and say, ‘Kelly, you need to be done…’ I can do it."
"If we look at all the needs of the world all on our own, we will always be overwhelmed, crushed."
"What God expects of the Church is more than any of us can do. And the way to solve that is not by me doing it all, nor by pretending that God doesn’t have these important things for us to do. The way to solve it is to see that it takes the entire Church, not just an individual, to do these things together."
"How you and I think about and experience sleep and rest is a great indicator of what we think God expects of us and what it means to be human."
"Sleep is an act of faith."
Husband, father, respected writer and speaker… beloved professor
