Imitating Christ
I am a failed Christian. Those in the religious hierarchy above me would probably agree. Though my husband and I conformed to their rules and were faithful to the ministries assigned to us, our children did not grow up and enter the ministry and as of yet, have not chosen Christ. Their rebellion has tarnished our image and we are not quite the ministry trophies we once were. I have also had health problems and as a result of each, we have become peripheral attenders and are no longer active in church ministry. Though I have failed at church this still is not the failure that I am speaking of. The failure that pricks my heart is that of not truly living a life that imitates the life of Christ.
Jesus was not well educated and did not need an education because He did not seek out His own personal success. He did not have the blessing of the religious leaders in His community when He entered the ministry. He did not study psychology so that He would be prepared to understand the flock He would lead one day. He was not a great theologian and He did not pit one theology against the other attempting to gain notoriety in the religious world. He did admonished the common folk to do as the religious leaders taught but not to do what they do because of their hypocrisy. Jesus was a humble man and not like those who love the lime light and the honor of other men. Jesus set aside His own Will, even His own life, to do the Will of His Father in Heaven.
Jesus had no home during the years of His ministry on earth. He could not even be certain where His next meal would come from. Jesus was a homeless, uneducated, sojourner Who turned the world on its ear. This Jesus, the most insignificant among the men of His time, is now proven to have lived the most significant life of any human being. He did not pontificate upon the holiness of God, He lived that holiness with every thought and action. He set aside everything that this world has to offer that mankind could be reconciled to God and through Him the Will of God accomplished upon the earth.
I have lived my Christian life in much the same manner as most of the Christians of my era. I have spent much time patterning myself after the Christian hierarchy that I might gain their approval and sanction. I have given many hours and much money to the ministries of my particular church. I have been zealous for right doctrine and values. I have sacrificed time with family and friends to carry out these ministries. I have separated myself from the world in an attempt to make myself holy and my testimony valid but I have not lived my life as Jesus lived His.
Sadly, much of what I have done in the name of ministry is in opposition to the life that Jesus lived. Rather than setting my life aside so that God's Work could be done through me upon the earth, I have sacrificed my life to do what pastors or the church expects of me when it would have been more spiritual for me to do otherwise. Though I insist that Jesus lives and that He lives in me, I have often made Him no more than a teaching. I am not the only Christian to reduce the living Jesus to only doctrine. I am not the only Christian to teach that Jesus turned the other cheek while I doggedly bicker over religious minutia with the brothers and sisters that I am to love. I am not isolated in teaching that Jesus ate and drank with sinners only to turn my nose up at those outside of Christ being fearful of what others might say or what I might be led into. Oh, that I were the only Christian to teach that Christ's church is known by its love for one another to behave cliquishly and divide the brethren! How many of us who teach that worship is to be in spirit and truth turn and resist the Holy Spirit's goading by accepting as worship that which is second best and according to the traditions and the desires of man?
As we come nearer to the end of this present Age of Grace, I wonder, will Christ find the faith upon the earth when He returns? Will He find among those Who call upon His Name any through whom He actually lives? Will there be men and women who have truly experienced God in their lives or only a form of godliness in man-made and contrived religion? Has the Power gone out of the faith called Christian? Has the salt lost all of its savor or has the Light of the world only been hidden, awaiting to be unveiled in faithful, slumbering hearts?
I am not sad that I have failed at church, at the game of religion. I am not even any longer sorrowful at what I have lost by playing that game. I am thankful that God has shown me the difference between dead religion and the Living Jesus. I am sorrowful that I have not always set my will aside that Jesus might become God's Will in me. Even now, I am not sure of the cost but I know that in Christ I can do all things. I desire to trust my heavenly Father just as Jesus trusted Him. Today's worry is sufficient for today and God will supply all my needs.
Today, dear Jesus, I open my heart fully to You and ask that You live Your life in me. May You never again be to me words on a page in the Bible or Biblical principle for a successful Christian life. May you never again be a way to an end for my own life but indeed, be the very substance of my life. Through me may God's Will and not my own be done upon the earth as it is in heaven. Lord help my unbelief! Amen.
Jesus was not well educated and did not need an education because He did not seek out His own personal success. He did not have the blessing of the religious leaders in His community when He entered the ministry. He did not study psychology so that He would be prepared to understand the flock He would lead one day. He was not a great theologian and He did not pit one theology against the other attempting to gain notoriety in the religious world. He did admonished the common folk to do as the religious leaders taught but not to do what they do because of their hypocrisy. Jesus was a humble man and not like those who love the lime light and the honor of other men. Jesus set aside His own Will, even His own life, to do the Will of His Father in Heaven.
Jesus had no home during the years of His ministry on earth. He could not even be certain where His next meal would come from. Jesus was a homeless, uneducated, sojourner Who turned the world on its ear. This Jesus, the most insignificant among the men of His time, is now proven to have lived the most significant life of any human being. He did not pontificate upon the holiness of God, He lived that holiness with every thought and action. He set aside everything that this world has to offer that mankind could be reconciled to God and through Him the Will of God accomplished upon the earth.
I have lived my Christian life in much the same manner as most of the Christians of my era. I have spent much time patterning myself after the Christian hierarchy that I might gain their approval and sanction. I have given many hours and much money to the ministries of my particular church. I have been zealous for right doctrine and values. I have sacrificed time with family and friends to carry out these ministries. I have separated myself from the world in an attempt to make myself holy and my testimony valid but I have not lived my life as Jesus lived His.
Sadly, much of what I have done in the name of ministry is in opposition to the life that Jesus lived. Rather than setting my life aside so that God's Work could be done through me upon the earth, I have sacrificed my life to do what pastors or the church expects of me when it would have been more spiritual for me to do otherwise. Though I insist that Jesus lives and that He lives in me, I have often made Him no more than a teaching. I am not the only Christian to reduce the living Jesus to only doctrine. I am not the only Christian to teach that Jesus turned the other cheek while I doggedly bicker over religious minutia with the brothers and sisters that I am to love. I am not isolated in teaching that Jesus ate and drank with sinners only to turn my nose up at those outside of Christ being fearful of what others might say or what I might be led into. Oh, that I were the only Christian to teach that Christ's church is known by its love for one another to behave cliquishly and divide the brethren! How many of us who teach that worship is to be in spirit and truth turn and resist the Holy Spirit's goading by accepting as worship that which is second best and according to the traditions and the desires of man?
As we come nearer to the end of this present Age of Grace, I wonder, will Christ find the faith upon the earth when He returns? Will He find among those Who call upon His Name any through whom He actually lives? Will there be men and women who have truly experienced God in their lives or only a form of godliness in man-made and contrived religion? Has the Power gone out of the faith called Christian? Has the salt lost all of its savor or has the Light of the world only been hidden, awaiting to be unveiled in faithful, slumbering hearts?
I am not sad that I have failed at church, at the game of religion. I am not even any longer sorrowful at what I have lost by playing that game. I am thankful that God has shown me the difference between dead religion and the Living Jesus. I am sorrowful that I have not always set my will aside that Jesus might become God's Will in me. Even now, I am not sure of the cost but I know that in Christ I can do all things. I desire to trust my heavenly Father just as Jesus trusted Him. Today's worry is sufficient for today and God will supply all my needs.
Today, dear Jesus, I open my heart fully to You and ask that You live Your life in me. May You never again be to me words on a page in the Bible or Biblical principle for a successful Christian life. May you never again be a way to an end for my own life but indeed, be the very substance of my life. Through me may God's Will and not my own be done upon the earth as it is in heaven. Lord help my unbelief! Amen.
5 Comments:
I trust you are having a wonderful day in the Lord,
These words dug deep into my heart:
"May You (Jesus) never again be to me words on a page in the Bible or Biblical principle for a successful Christian life."
That really struck home with me, as God continues to refine me I am convinced God call us to be faithful, which in my understanding is not always successful. Thanks for sharing the words on your heart. This definitely put my heart at attention to always be faithful to Jesus, and not consider the ramifications.
Hi Scot,
Yes, I am having a very encouraging day in Christ. I heard a good sermon this morning and spent the afternoon with close Christian friends that ended with heart felt prayer. What could be better?
All we need is Jesus and not all the things we want to add to Him. We put so much weight of our Christian walk upon ourselves when our success as a Christian depends whole upon God. The only thing we can add that is of importance is surrender of self. If the body of Christ is to function, each member must be getting instructions directly from the head that is Jesus and not from one another. Religion's uniformity impedes the functionality of the body of Christ by treating all the various members the same and expecting the exact same thing from all of them. Individual faithfulness to Christ, as you have stated, is truly where it is at.
God bless you, Scot.
I find it staggering sometimes, the level of effort I put into furthering my career, my public image, my peripherals ... I have trouble envisioning Jesus to lift a finger to do any of those things. I think he might have gone to school, but a lot of people would have overlooked his true greatness for something else. And I don't think he would be as restless about it is we tend to be.
I think there are a lot of people in your generation (my parents definitely) -and during highschool I'd include myself- who really burned out on doing programs without really ministering in the New Testament sense. The important part is to overlook what other people want and to see what God has put on your heart. Thanks for the reflection!
"This definitely put my heart at attention to always be faithful to Jesus, and not consider the ramifications." Scot
Amen!
BB,
I'm not anti-ministry and maybe, I didn't express myself clearly enough on that point. There is nothing wrong with a program that enables Christians to make contact with persons in the community with the opportunity to share the gospel with them. That is our purpose after all. What I wanted to get across is that Jesus isn't just a teaching or philosophy but He is a living person and if one has not experienced God in their life through Jesus then that person has not experienced salvation. Even after we have had that initial experience with God it is easy to drift backward and become overly focused upon doctrine rather than living a life that is continuing experience of Christ in our life. As far as my paterning myself after those I considered to be better than I am that is my own personal sin problem that was the result of some pretty hefty phsychological scarring in my childhood. I really didn't understand this until about three years ago and God used the negatives of my church experience to reveal this to me. We are often very blind to the sin that besets us above all others and mine has been a long pattern of the lack of self respect and confidence and also thinking that in any bad situation can be fixed by changing myself and conforming to others. God is giving this back to me by showing me in a very real way that I am only to conform to Him and no other. It is hard to change at 51 but through Christ, I can do all things.
I hope I did a little better that time.:0)Of course, I'd never come to it as simply as you stated it but that's because I'm me and you are you. I complicate everything and I never miss a single detail!
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