Transform
I’ve often seen the words “Jesus: King of All” or “Gospel: Power to Transform” emblazoned on church banners in spangled letters. When I see these things I feel a kind of disquiet. Not because I doubt the Kingship of my savior or the transforming power of his gospel, but because the words seem to defy the reality of daily life. Jesus is king of All and yet we ignore his precepts without shame, the Gospel has the power to transform and yet we wither in stagnancy. Why is this?
Firstly I think it is a problem of the heart. Like with our earthly rulers, we want all of the benefits of citizenship without the costs of taxpaying and bother of elections. We want to have our cake without the expense of buying or the time invested in baking it. We feel, to put it simply, that Salvation really ought to be a free gift. And isn’t that what we were told?
We make our attendance in church little more than the hassle of making insurance payments. It ceases being about transformation and is instead replaced with the duty of maintaining something we feel we’ve already won: that being salvation.
I wonder how this looks to the outsider. Do they pity or despise us for our hypocrisy? Because, let’s be honest, that’s what it is.
Not that all hope is lost. I still believe those words, that the Gospel can transform and Jesus is King. The problem is that we forget what it means. We boil the Gospel down to a short story, the virgin gets pregnant, she has a son, time passes, he dies a brutal death, we can go to heaven now praise God, amen! But is that really the Gospel? Isn’t it also the story of God wooing mankind, of a Kingdom on earth, of us ourselves as Christ’s hands and feet? Isn’t it about an enduring hope that we can see love here on earth, that the poor can be fed and the victim uplifted, and aren’t we a part of that ongoing story? Isn’t part of the cost of being in God’s kingdom our own possessions and lives? Don’t we have to pay our dues, so to speak?
And if that is the gospel,if we are a part of it, doesn’t that mean something? Doesn’t that give you hope? Life? Light? Don’t you start to see every bad moment in life as an opportunity for God’s love to be demonstrated, and doesn’t it take your breath away that you can be the one to be God’s hands? I feel this sense of awe and honor every time I think about the fact that I am the one with the duty to show God’s love to the people around me, that I have won this privilege simply by being open to hearing God’s voice in my life.
And I’ve seen it, I’ve seen the poor fed and the weak made strong, I’ve seen it and I’ve felt it.
That makes it hard to have just another Sunday in the pews. It truly does.
Sarah replied:
“…..and doesn’t it take your breath away that you can be the one to be God’s hands? I feel this sense of awe and honor every time I think about the fact that I am the one with the duty to show God’s love to the people around me, that I have won this privilege simply by being open to hearing God’s voice in my life.”
What a powerful and beautiful statement! It makes me pause and think of all the little things we do for each other without asking or being asked for his love. We are on “stage” in the stage lights every second of our lives, being examples of the caring brother in Christ in what ever we do or don’t do. The point is not how much, or how grand is our example, it’s just sitting beside someone holding their head or hands, getting them something to drink; watching their children, so they can have a minute to themselves. Being available; that’s what our hands of God can do for others.
Peace,
April 29, 2008 at 7:26 pm. Permalink.
PolitiPornster replied:
Welcome back Shushie, we’ve missed you, terribly!
Awesome and inspiring post - thank you.
April 29, 2008 at 7:52 pm. Permalink.
anita replied:
Shush is back Shush is back Shush is back! It’s time for the happy dance! Oh. I suppose commenting on the content of your post would be appropriate but I’m sorry…I’m just thrilled you’re back! I’ll read the post again when I calm down
April 29, 2008 at 10:55 pm. Permalink.
Robert replied:
You appear to be a kindred spirit of sorts, at least on this subject. I sometimes find myself getting really disheartened when I see all the things the Church is not doing. But then I get over it… I don’t want the feeling to keep me on the sidelines.
I was discussing evangelism with a group of friends a few weeks ago when the writer’s term, “show, don’t tell,” came to mind. People want to know who Jesus is, and we waste our time telling them about him. How much more effective would it be if we were to show the Jesus? Anyway, isn’t that what we’re supposed to be doing? Not even for evangelism’s sake; I believe that if all we did was model Christ to everyone we encountered, our faith would evangelize itself.
Loved your post!
April 30, 2008 at 11:05 pm. Permalink.
shush replied:
Thanks everyone for the welcome back!
Sarah: Thank you for your comment- you are SO right!
Robert: We do seem to be kindred spirits- at least on this point!
May 1, 2008 at 2:14 pm. Permalink.
M54 replied:
Certainly, Jesus the Christ is the King of Kings and He does transform.
My current understanding (beliefe) is that upon “conversion” I am convicted of “gross sin” the willful wantant sinful things. It doesn’t matter the specific sin (they may be different for each person). Just that they are willful. We get that check from the Holy Spirit and make the decision not to act on that sin. More difficult are the underlying habits that cause the gross sin in our lives. What attitude do we hang on to that eventually explodes into anger and rage? What things do we allow our eyes to linger on that eventually leads us into lust, etc.
Like I said before, I believe upon conversion, repentance comes and our heart of stone is replaced.
Furthermore, I believe that there are a meriad of things that can be made on this Earth. I think the thing that is most difficult and takes the longest is too make that Christ-like human being.
May 7, 2008 at 1:31 am. Permalink.