Here’s the question: How do we, as Christians, live an authentic, faithful, Jesus-centered life?
And here’s my humble answer: We live more consciously. We add another layer to our decision-making. Before making decisions, we take the time to rethink the assumptions and patterns that we’ve lived before. This added layer is a Jesus lens. Without this lens we live how the world does, which, I’d argue, is far less than faithful. With this additional lens we have a chance to recreate a life that actually cares about what Jesus taught and modeled. In order to insert this lens in our lives we must accept the call to live more consciously.
At the onset of this series I want to make something clear. If I had to identify one thing that God has been teaching me in the past year or so, it’d be this: The grace of God is not dependent on my actions. I can never earn grace. In fact, trying to earn grace is a horrible mistake and a grievous waste of life. God loves me and Jesus died for me while I was a sinner. Even if I completely change my life and follow 714 rules for faithful living, I will remain a sinner. And as I remain a sinner, God will remain a lover. Living consciously, whatever that will come to mean, will never earn anything from God. It’s simply an idea for more authentic living. I am a Christian loved and redeemed by God and I want that fact to be more than simply truth. I want it to change my life. Therefore, I want to live consciously with a Jesus lens.
If ever I seem to be straying away from that last paragraph and it sounds like I’m working for God’s grace, then I kindly ask that someone point it out and redirect me. I’m in the learning process of this whole grace thing and I’m sure I’ll stumble along the way.
Back to Jesus. Jesus was a Jew in a Roman world. I’m a Christian in an American world. Though I’m under-educated on the implications of such a statement, I propose that the two realities (Jesus and mine) are quite parallel. Jesus had harsh words for the elite Jews of his time and rejected a lot of Roman culture and influence. As we add a Jesus lens to our life, we too much take an inquisitive look at the Christian system (maybe Christendom is the right term here?) we participate in and refuse to blindly follow the cultural influence of the United States of America. We may live in this country, but we belong to the Kingdom of God. As we live consciously, our loyalties must lie above our human religion (Christendom) and above our human government (the USA) and find their home in God’s will.
So there, my blog series has been introduced. For the next while I’ll be sharing random thoughts and practical ideas about how living consciously looks in my life. I hope people stick with me and add their own comments and examples and stories and insights and wisdom that I could never possess. Let’s learn together with Jesus as our guide.
Great idea Daniel
ReplyDeleteGrace is wonderful but so often we try to earn it. I have found recently that reflecting on God's gift of sending Jesus to die for me each day is exciting and changes the day. But working together to live in grace helps us stay there.
Question How do I extend grace to those who I work with instead of just a set of rules?
That's a good question. Rules are important because they keep people safe and those people deserve to be loved and cared for. If rules are broken then it's a problem. The person who broke the rule needs to understand why the rule exists and who it gives value to. It's in that process you can extend grace to those you work with by forgiving them and moving on. Maybe that person then needs to learn to extend grace to the rule itself.
ReplyDeleteGood start to your series! This is, in effect, what the old story "What Would Jesus Do?" intended to get readers to think about -- to look at life with a "Jesus lens". Unfortunately, that well-meaning story got reduced to a catch-phrase, a fad, and ended up on bracelets and bumper stickers. Becoming a joke robbed it of its meaning... but the original truth remains.
ReplyDeleteYeah, WWJD passed through my mind as I wrote this. I don't know much history about the use of the phrase, but I've seen it overused and misused. My terms might not be as catchy, but they work alright.
ReplyDeleteIt comes from "In His Steps what would Jesus Do" by Charles M Sheldon. It is an interesting story read it years ago. The idea is good if you actually can find something from the gospels that is close to what you are experiencing, but people seem to just guess at what they think Jesus would do and it can be pretty far out. By the way you can get the book for $1 on Amazon Kindle
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