A Ramble About the Man in the Mirror

Some time ago, the late king of pop Michael Jackson sang "I'm looking at the man in the mirror, I'm asking him to change his ways... If you want to make the world a better place take a look at yourself and make a change..." Whatever you may think of the song's author, he made a good point with it.


Jesus told us at the end of the Gospel of Matthew that, "as you go, disciple all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything whatsoever I commanded you..."


There are times when I keep feeling, "I'm ready to do this," and I get depressed at not being in a good position to go out and teach others the things I've learned. I watch friends that I went to school with go on and pastor churches, go out to foreign missions, and they all seem like they're doing everything I wanted to do with my life.


"What then would I teach, and who would listen?" I asked myself this morning. "Well, I would teach people about Christ and how to follow him," I answered. "Really, do you follow Him?" I asked myself. "Are you doing everything He taught? Are you really a disciple? Do you practice what you preach? More importantly, do you practice what He preached?"


It is necessary to send people to preach the Gospel to those who have never heard it, but it is even more necessary for those of us who profess to follow Christ to actually do it. The first person I must make a disciple of is myself, and no one else can do it for me.


Among the writings of and about the Coptic Desert Fathers, which date back at least to the fourth century, they had a keen understanding of this insight. When one of them was asked if he would teach someone, he replied that he had nothing of value to teach, and refused to take anyone as a disciple. If anyone wanted to learn from this humble, devout man, they had to be satisfied with observing him. He felt that he himself had not yet mastered the Gospel teaching well enough to be able to pass it on to others, even though everyone else thought otherwise and wanted to learn from him.


It is the man in the mirror that I must first disciple for Christ. It is the man in the mirror that I must first equip to follow Him. I must convince this man who stares back at me of the truth of the Gospel first. Then, and only then, when he has understood it and internalized it and put it into practice will he be ready to disciple anyone else. And, I'm just not that great of a judge as to when he'll actually be ready for it.


Being a Christian is about far more than going to church on Sundays, saying the right things, and telling yourself you believe the right things. It's about putting the life of Jesus Christ into practice, and that takes practice. It takes weathering subtle and not so subtle constant attacks from forces both seen and unseen. It takes acquiring humility, self-control, and yes, a voluntary poverty irregardless of how much you own. Most often, it also takes time. There are some who are given the Grace to breeze right through. The rest of us have to slog through it step by painful step with the Grace He allows us to keep us from flying too high too fast and subsequently falling too far too hard.


It all starts with a heart to heart conversation with the man in the mirror, just like M.J. said.