Stealing from a fellow pastor’s blog, I paraphrase him in his recent statement that the redemptive work of Christ is “personal, but never private.” There is a lot of talk about a “personal relationship” with Jesus, and this is indeed a great way to put a profound statement into our simplistic way of thinking. However, all too often that “personal” relationship has turned into one that is only felt inwardly, and never shown outwardly. In a lot of cases, the ”transformed” individual has had a private conversion, and become sort of an undercover brother (or sister).
I believe that this undercover attitude takes place when we focus on the moment of conversion rather than the lifewalk that is the post-script of that conversion. You see, the simplistic part of the cross is that Jesus was there for us. We didn’t have to die the horrible death. The “moment” requires that we accept His sacrifice for us, and then we declare that Christ is now in charge of our life; that is to “confess… the Lord Jesus and believe He raised from the dead.” This is where the simple ends and the profound begins.
You see, salvation doesn’t just “tweak” us a little to make us a better version of the old; it does a complete and total heart and nature transplant to conform us into Christ’s image. There is an exchange of the old nature for the new. The problem is that the old nature, now dead and buried having been crucified with Christ, keeps trying to come up out of the grave. It grabs and clings like a zombie that will only stop with the taste of your flesh once again. Morbid thought, I know. One of our problems is that we don’t even run from the undead (the old man/nature), but we embrace it. We somehow get amnesia that leads us to think that this time it will be different. Once we blow it (or hopefully before), we again have to crucify the old flesh and keep moving forward. This is why the Gospel of Luke rings so true when it repeats the phrase “take up your cross” and adds the word “daily.”
You see, this personal transformation was NEVER meant to be private. I love the book of James because he emphatically declares, “You say you’re saved… Prove It!” This are my words, not his; but this is basically the book in a nutshell. There is nothing you can do to become saved, short of accepting God’s forgiveness through Jesus. However, there is everything that you can do to be saved. You live it. You show it. You are humbled by it and walk tall because of it. Others must see it, without it being shoved in their face. In short, you wear both the gospel, and the power it contains. You deny neither of them.
This is the nature of the disciple. Realizing that you didn’t deserve anything that you received, but since you received it you would give your last drop of blood to live for it.
On two side notes:
I remember standing a couple of weeks ago at the place of Peter’s denial in Jerusalem overlooking the very steps that Jesus would have crawled while in chains. The pastor standing next to me began to weep and said, “Bobby, I didn’t deserve any of that. I still don’t.” We wept together. Neither did I. Neither do I.
As for the second note, I have recently found a common voice in the blog of a fellow pastor. Jonathan, don’t know if you read this, but I am with you in all of it. For those who have a moment, check out http://jonathanmartin.wordpress.com/
Amen! In living out, “proving,” our faith in Christ’s GIFT of salvation, we have to be willing to give our all. Our ALL in some cases may not be such litteral “life blood” but the things we hold dear. Americans especially seem to hold time and resources as their most valuable commodities. So, in praying for God to use us and help us live our lives of faith in the world, we have to be willing to be “interrupted” from our busy, healthy, productive, beneficial routines.
ALL may be spending time you really”can’t afford”listening to others and sharing with them about what they are going through. ALL is stepping out of that place of our own satisfaction to seek to meet the lack of others’. We pray that God interrupts us with the “inconvenient” to move us into the power of His love IN ACTION.
In the past year I have been unattached to the local body. However, I wake early and my mind spends in meditation and prayer, as my body is often tired I am not sure that I can call it fervent, however it is consistent. I feel close and yet far away at the same time, if that makes any sense at all. I know it is more than being tweeked; that’s for sure. One thing for sure being fat and fifty, I know that I must die daily. I must decrease so that he may increase. I am thankful for this website, and your postings and the work you put into it.
It is to be sure, that to “feel close and yet far away” is exactly the integration that all should feel. There is a wrestling that takes place in the spirit (yours and mine) that is truly the beauty of Christianity. These struggles are not “against” each other, but work together beautifully to make you all that God wants you to be.
It’s a strange concept, but one that should be embraced by all disciples.
On another note, “fat and fifty” is a funny phrase.
Thank you for the encouragement on the site. I have determined to write and think even even no one reads or listens. I glad you do, though.
Your Pastor and Friend.
Bobby
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