Jesus is Dignifying

Throughout history we’ve seen people who identify as Christians rallying together around their common hate towards a specific group of people. We’ve seen Christians define “other” groups of people in order to create division. We’ve routinely seen an “us” versus “them” mentality with Christians versus non-Christians. Christians have identified more with what they don’t do, who they aren’t, what they disagree with, or what group they aren’t a part of. They’ve been known more for what they are against than what they are for. This isn’t all Christians, but historically, we can point to cases where this is clearly displayed.  It is in our fallen, sinful nature that causes us to default to this kind of behavior. Rather than identifying with Christ, who he is, and who he made us to be, our identity becomes more about the world around us. We may believe that rallying around common hate towards an opinion, ideology, people group, or belief would bring unity, but hate can never bring unity. Christ is the only one who can bring true unity. While the enemy would try everything in his power to divide us, Christ unites us under one identity in him. He gifted us this new identity through his death on the cross on behalf of our brokenness. Now, the only way to achieve the unity that he calls us to is to give that same kind of sacrificial love to others. The minute we look at other groups of people with disgust is the minute we have forgotten how Christ could have done the same with us. We cannot comprehend the measure in which we have been forgiven. When we do start to comprehend, we will love sacrificially and welcome all kinds of people into unity under Christ. Reflection/Discussion Question: What groups of people or beliefs do you tend to take on an “us” versus “them” mentality?

In today’s world of “Churchianity”, it’s easy to place the name of Jesus on a lot of rituals and beliefs that have nothing to do with truly loving Jesus. We’ve gotten so good at doing church that we believe “doing church” is synonymous with loving Jesus. We have settled for a life of going through the motions in place of a life marked by the love of Jesus. We are more concerned with whether or not we liked the worship songs than we are with submitting ourselves in worship to God. We are more concerned with whether or not the sermon inspired us enough than we are with turning our eyes to the truth of God’s Word. We busy ourselves with volunteering in the same spot every Sunday, rather than pursuing the lost people in our midst. We would rather settle for “Churchianity” than full submission to Jesus. We think that loving Jesus is a warm feeling in our heart while living our lives relatively the same, but Jesus won’t settle for this imitation. In Luke 9, Jesus says, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God” (NIV). If we are committing to Jesus, we are committing to taking up our own cross and dying, daily. We are committing to gripping the plow and not looking back.  Jesus wasn’t just a nice guy with good advice on how to live our lives — Jesus is the savior of the world. He defeated sin and death and calls us to be ministers of his love to the rest of the world. To love Jesus is to live the same kind of radically sacrificial life that he lived when he walked on this earth. Reflection/Discussion Question: Are your definition of loving Jesus and Jesus’s definition of loving him the same?

I have a friend who shared some family issues and I tried to encourage her and we prayed together. She told me the next day for the second time that she so appreciated it. God is awesome, because even though the situation has not changed she felt comforted, by the Lord. I am really bad at asking for help, because I ask the Lord when I am struggling. There has been times when I have asked friends to pray for me due to medical issues or I feel overwhelmed. God is always gracious to give me His peace.

I pride myself in being Superwoman at work. I can take on more than other people, while doing it better and faster! Arghhh! Do you hear the pride in that !? This week, I reached out to my bosses and staffing office to say “help! My boat is taking on water! I’m going under! My mouth is filling with water! Can you help me?! Will you take some of this off my plate?” This was hard for me to admit, much less to show to others that I am not superhuman after all! They did kindly help me and vowed to keep the water bailed out as I am busy training my new partner and we move at half (superhuman) speed. Yesterday they added 2 more buckets of water to my boat instead of keeping it bailing! I pray that I can continue to ask for help instead of my knee jerk response of “sure! Pile it on! I’ll Git R Done!”