"What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn't work. So I quit being a "law man" so that I could be God's man. Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that. "
I had a couple conversations this week at work that ended up leading to me sharing an observation as to why I feel there is such a difference in the way my relationships with others feel at this time in my life as opposed to in the past. The best way I know to describe it is this....the agendas are gone. Well, except for one. To love others.
What I shared from the apostle Paul at the beginning of this post is from Galatians 2 from The Message. It speaks to me of an agenda free life...a life lived in freedom from all the demands that distract us and that turn out to be an adventure in missing the point, that in turn keeps the point from ever becoming a lived out reality in our lives. To love others.
God (the One who is Father Son and Spirit) is about setting us free from the performance-rule keeping-work-your-head-off-to-please-God-and-others-life. It really is stunning what happens when we begin to find freedom from that old life once we realize that Christ is the one now living in us. He is very much into being available for people...agenda free...other than loving them into new life/freedom.
11 comments:
Your timing is great with this post. Our family returned from a few days of camping yesterday and were all out in the driveway unloading our stuff. When down the street comes a strolling a couple of Mormon missionaries. My boys (11 and 8) were with me when I walked out to visit.
Now a few years ago this would have been a great time for the lawman in me to get out my big study bible and man up for a game of pound the Mormon. As a result of the relaxing that Father is helping me to live in the last couple of years, this time it went a little differently.
The missionaries (girls about 19) said they were out sharing about the Book of Mormon with folks and did I know anything about it. I said yes I did and then they wanted to know if I wanted some other missionaries to come over for coffee and share more about it. I said I thought maybe we could try something else. That since they have their beliefs and certainly felt they were right and I have beliefs that might not all be the same, then the basis of our relationship would be our disagreements. Instead why don't we see if we can find something we agree on. I said we both probably believe that we have a Father who loves us and wants to relate to us. They agreed with that. And that this Father wants us to love each other. They agreed with that. I said why don't we just stop there and live in the middle of those two agreements and they seemed genuinely pleased with that. I said that they would be able to report that they had a nice agreeable conversation and I would be able to enjoy a visit with some more of God's kids on the planet.
My wife heard some of this and said she could imagine their conversation as they walked away. So, do you think he is a Christian? I don't know, he sure didn't sound like most of the Christians we meet.
All I know is when they walked away, they were smiling and I was smiling. I really felt close to my Father at that point. Used to, being right was the most important thing to me and a couple of my my more Apologetics minded friends think I did not do my Christian Duty and let a couple get away without warning them of their error, but I have really started to believe that Jesus knows the raod they are on too, and can find them the same way he found me.
Sorry this was so long but your thoughts really struck quite a chord today. Blessings to you.
Do not apologize for sharing that at all.
I was laughing out loud...and not mostly due to it being funny. That is beautiful and so profoundly relational. Can you imagine what happens as we continue to grow in that?
Relationship/love trumps apologetics any day in my book.
Thanks you for sharing that.
Wow, that was good. Yes, thanks for sharing that Kirk.
Although, I'm still learning to let my own family have their own ideas and beliefs while Holy Spirit sorts us all out. This is quite a journey, isn't it?
Thanks for sharing your experience, Kirk. I think that is what Father has in mind. Relationship, pure and simple.
I'm finding the moccasins of grace much more comfortable than the boots of religion. Back in my "lawman" days, I went through many a pair, complete with spurs!
I'd like to think I got rid of them all. But, on quiet days when the air is still, I swear I can hear those spurs jingle in the closet. Reminds me that this is a journey, not a final destination. Reminds me that as He loves me, so am I privileged to love others.
Carolyn, I'm hearing similar stories to Kirk's coming from people all over the country.
It is quite the journey.
It was really the most comfortable thing, despite those spurs going jingle jangle (mercifully now in the back of my mind instead of the front).
Todd, the moccasins analogy is perfect. Thanks for that.
What a great post, and what great comments! Those spurs jingling in the back of the closet - sigh. That is just part of the bundle of what we are, is it not? In a way it is good - it keeps us from falling too far into the ditch that says we can do it all ourselves without God's help (a ditch I do love to mind trip to it has to be said, blergh :)
I loved this Galatians verse. Wow! Talk about bringing forth some of the things that are a bit more hidden in the other translations. This is so crystal clear, the difference between the two ways of being.
This is such a good thing for me to read at the moment. I am in the process of setting into place boundaries which certainly need to be there so that people do not walk all over me and I do not live spitting with resentment. It is an ultra difficult thing to do. One of the many reasons why it's so difficult is that there is the temptation at times to think I am behaving "unlovingly" by setting these boundaries in place (on a family member who molested me when I was younger, no less, so as you can understand there are many boundaries violated in the past and many that need to be enforced right now). It's funny that when we live with our egoes not central, but live in the life that is Christ-given life, oftentimes that means saying no to people. Funny, huh?
Thanks for posting everyone. Edifying reading this morning for moi :)
Thanks Sue for adding to some wonderful things being expressed by everyone...
and set all the boundaries you feel you need to set. Soemtimes love does say no.
And that passage from The Message and the way Peterson interpreted it for us has been one of the most helpful passages for me over the past couple years. Talk about a leg sweep to all the stuff religion told us.
I'm a Johnny-come-lately to the conversation here, but still want to jump in.
Kirk, your story brings back so many memories of debates I felt obligated to stage, and the animosity I no doubt displayed to various Mormons, JWs, Moonies, etc. over the years, because I was an apologetically equipped hyper-evangelical duty-bound to set them straight! Walter Martin was my hero.
Boots and spurs vs. moccasins: what a great metaphor. I know it is stereotypical, and may or may not have any basis in reality, but as I read the comments about moccasins, my mind couldn't help but go back to how we were told that Native Americans walked in their moccasins: toe-heel, toe-heel. Whenever we'd play cowboys-'n-indians, those of us in moccasins would try to walk this way... and it was so counter-intuitive. It felt like a backwards way to get anywhere, whatever advantages were supposedly ours in terms of stealth!
For someone who's been clanking around in boots and spurs for far too long, it is just that much harder hang them up, and then to start walking toe-heel, toe-heel, yet so fits the paradoxical ways of the Kingdom of Jesus!
Thanks for stimulating my thinking, as per usual here!
thanks to you all.
Todd, thanks for popping in here.
That's a great story Kirk, when you were talking about the 'lawman' I kept hearing this line from a very old song in my head:
"Lawman said get him dead or alive
Now it's for sure he'll see me dead"
Strange how the mind makes those connections :-)
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