Section 9
characteristics and philosophy. The Chinese may pride themselves on their philosophical ethics, whereas Americans may boast of their frank ness and openness. Hardly any Christians are willing to drop their national characteristics in order to live out the divine life. Although we may be willing to put so many other things to death, we hold these national characteristics as a price less treasure. If we do not treasure these char acteristics consciously, we do so subconsciously. As a result, a basic element of our natural life is not put to death. This element then becomes a huge rock hindering the release of the power of Christ's resurrection from within us.
Treasuring part of our natural life creates a serious problem with respect to the experience of Christ. We are not willing for a certain part of our being to be put to death and conformed to the death of Christ. Thus, this part of our nat ural life remains as a frustration to the release of the divine life. This is the reason that, after years of seeking the Lord and experiencing Him, we may reach a place where we find ourselves stopped and unable to go on. In the early stages of our Christian life, we may have grown rather quickly. But because the "rock" of our national characteristics remains within us, our growth in