I want to pick a bit out of this post over at Randomize:

I see the Christian life more like refactoring code: God reveals more tests of faith, action, or feeling, we fail, and then He works at it until that test passes. Features are only added as they are needed.

i don’t know from programming, but I like this. It speaks to the working out of our salvation. (I’d bet any programmer who’s been up against a deadline can testify to the fear and trembling part.) It speaks to trial and testing. It speaks to process, to faith as action.

It speaks to community, a co-authoring between God and us. God is the programmer, and we are the end user. We try out his code, iLife (Have I mentioned lately that I really like my iBook?), in the real world, reporting back on our relational failures and circumstantial crashes. We re-connect to God, downloading updated firmware. We return to the field to try out the new version God has installed into us thru the latest update session.

Or perhaps (at the same time), God is the end user and I am the program. It is God who plans and purposes, putting me into the field to accomplish a Great Mission. Should I fail, I return to the lab for debugging; shoudl I succeed I return for upgrades necessary to take on the next task. I am transformed by the refactoring of the Spirit, and I am returned to the field once again.