More Random Morning Thoughts

So, I've been toying with a term for the Christian life and practice as Paul and John describe it in the New Testament, "Voluntary cooperative possession." It is where Jesus Christ takes control by your permission, and only by your permission, to act and speak through you intertwined with you. Or more accurately, The Father speaks and acts through Christ who then speaks and acts through you, Jesus Christ acting as a mediary connection between the Father and the Christian through the Christian being joined to Christ by baptism, and surrendering the will to Him. An illustration I've used before is of riding in a car on the road with God. God is driving. The second you try and take the wheel and say, "I've got this," God takes His hands off the wheel and says, "okay." That's when the car runs into a tree. We aren't just to be like Christ or to attempt a poor imitation of Him, we are to surrender our own wills and lives to His life within us that He might act and speak through us.

For the Christian, there is one simple question that needs to be asked,"Is it Jesus, or is it me?" That is, "Is it Jesus doing or saying this through me, or did it originate with my own biology, my own desires, fears, attachments, etc?" And if the answer is not Jesus, then that action or saying needs to seriously questioned if not stopped altogether. "Whatever is not from faith is sin." That is, whatever does not originate with Jesus Christ within us, originates with our own malfunctioning biology, malfunctioning fears, aggressions, attachments, etc. Paul wrote several lists or guides to help answer this question in his letters. Anger, lying, envy, jealousy, adultery, etc. are all indicators that the origination point for our words or actions is not Jesus Christ, whereas love (especially love), joy, peace, patience, etc. are indicators that it is. John wrote that whoever says he remains in Christ is obligated to walk just as Jesus Christ walked. That is, if you claim Jesus Christ as the origination point for your actions and words, then your behavior and speech should mirror Jesus Christ's because it is Jesus Christ doing it.

One of the things I hear and read frequently in response to what I've said about remaining in and surrendering to Jesus Christ is "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" and the context is usually trying to provide an excuse as to why someone doesn't or doesn't need to. While it is true that remaining in Christ is a discipline which takes practice, for the Christian, I don't believe it to be optional. Neither Paul nor John, nor even Jesus Himself ever described it as being optional, and Jesus Himself said in John 15 that those who did not remain in Him would dry up and be burned like dead branches. Either we, as Christians, surrender to His life within us and through us, or we don't. Either we continue to pursue Him, stumbling along the way, yes, but always getting back up and continuing the race, or we don't. And if we don't, we are described by John as not knowing Him. If you are baptized into Christ, you are on the racetrack one way or the other. Either you continue to run, or you sit on the track and are disqualified.

Yoda said, "there is no try." In many ways, this applies to remaining in and surrendering to Christ. There really isn't an "I'll try." It's a conscious decision to ask Him to act, speak, love, and live through you. And once you do, it's a conscious decision to cede control to Him. There is no "try" on our part. There is only the choice to cede control to Him or not.

The rule for the Christian is not what is "law" but what is love. It is not what is "legal" but what is compassionate. The rule for the Christian asks not "what if it were me?" But "What if it was Jesus?"

For the Christian, there is no other but Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ within and Jesus Christ without. Jesus Christ acting and speaking through me, and Jesus Christ to whom I am speaking and acting. Jesus Christ in front of me, and Jesus Christ behind me. Jesus Christ to my right, and Jesus Christ to me left. Jesus Christ above, and Jesus Christ below. There is no "other", there is no "self," there is no life but Jesus Christ, and there is no death, there is only Jesus Christ. In everything and in every way, at every turn, no matter which way you turn, unless you choose to ignore Him, unless you willfully close your eyes to Him, you will see Him staring back at you. This is what it means to be Christian. Nothing less.