He asked the following question, (I'm going to put it in quotes but you understand it's probably not exact....this is how I remember it) "How do we embody Christ if we sit in church on Sunday morning, worshipping God, and then act rude to our waitress at lunch?"
I call them "heart twinges" but, honestly, it's gotta be guilt. I do come to church and worship on Sunday! I check all the boxes. Dress appropriately? (check) Say "Hello, how are ya?" to my fellow members? (check) Ask an obviously lost visitor if I can help them find their way? (check) I'm nice. I love God. I worship. That all makes me feel real good......
Do I embody Christ the other 110.5 hours a week? (Formula: 24 hrs X 7 days = 168 hrs - 56 hrs of sleeping = 112 awake hrs - 1.5 hours of church= 110.5 hours/wk I'm awake and not in church).
The dictionary says that "embody" means "represent" or "materialize". Synonyms include "actualize", "complete", "demonstrate", "epitomize", "exemplify". The one that really speaks to me is "stand for". Do I "stand for" Christ? Would the average person I run into on a daily basis know that I "stand for" anything? Much less Christ? I would hope so. And before you think I'm beating myself up too much, I think most days I do okay. I try to treat others the way I would want to be treated. I try to consider what Jesus would do in a situation and emulate that. I try to consider the fruits of my actions and life in relation to the Holy Spirit - do my actions bring or show love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness or self-control? (some of these 'fruits' I do better than others:)
It's easy at Church. My question is this.....do I live my faith outside of Church? Do I "embody" Christ? Do I behave like a child of God in my everyday life?
Here is where it comes to. I live in a place where people assume that if you are a Christ follower you believe certain things. Some of these people are pretty rabid about this notion. I don't always agree with them about what Jesus would have found to be important. I don't think Jesus would care about illegal immigration (after all, his parents fled to another country when he was a baby to save his life). I cannot believe that Jesus would care two figs for our economy. (he was an itinerant preacher) I can't believe Jesus would get caught up in arguments about stem cell research, birth control, gay rights or abortion. Matthew 25:31-46 tells me exactly what Jesus values. We are told that Jesus would care about the poor, the prisoner, the sick, the homeless and the hurting. What separates the sheep from the goats? Not if they went to church or where they stood on some political parties platform. It's how you treated "the least of these" (v. 40 & 45) This is a story that convicts me. This is where my guilt comes from. It's not enough to be nice and come to church. To embody Christ is to care about others in a way that is unusual for our times and culture.
I want to close by saying that I believe church is important. I think community is invaluable. Worship with other believers is food for our souls. But beneath it all let's not let our attendance at church make us feel better than or above _________ (you fill in your own blank). Let's not check off that box and feel satisfied with our own innate goodness. I'm grateful that God cares for sinners because I are one! I'm very grateful Jesus came to bridge the enormous gap between me and God because of my sin. I want to live a life that embodies Christ. I want to "stand for" Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment