I’ve been having some conversations lately with a couple of good friends and people I really admire and respect who have been living life beside me for awhile and I have to confess – I’m troubled.
Lately God has been doing a lot of moving and shaking in my heart – dust is flying off and new doors are being opened and it is a lot to be taking in.
I’ve been struggling with Romans 12 where Paul calls Christians to “not be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” What does that mean? How do I apply this to my life?
What does it mean to live in todays world – be a part of a community yet also be a Christian who is “set apart.”
What distinguishes us from everyone else?
I think essentially it all revolves around humility and forgiveness. Humility and forgiveness…
I mean think about it, humility and forgiveness is totally countercultural. They are things that go against every grain of our nature because we are fundamentally driven by pride – we are – lets just openly confess it to each other. The stink of it is – pride is the original sin – wanting to be like God.
Everything we are taught in the states from the second we leave our mother’s womb is to embrace our pride – “go for it” and “be all you can be” – you will accomplish anything you set your mind on! Parents and teachers and tv and internet tells us that we are important and that we can make something of ourselves. Even our economy is structured in such a way that we want more – we want more wealth, more prestige, more respect, more significance – more more more!
Pretty much everything we do is for the bettering of our lives and leaving a legacy behind.
Yet Christ’s example was self-denying and an other focused existence.
Think about what Christianity could look like if we stopped being so self-obsessed. What would the world do if every Christian stopped trying to make themselves look good or sound smart, humbled themselves to a place where they realized it’s not about them?
What if we decided to live simpler lives and consume less – instead we give more resources away instead of spending money on useless stuff.
What if we stopped obsessing over twitter updates (myself included), facebook wall posts, and having that new outfit for next weeks party and took a step back and said to ourselves, “its really not about me”?
And I realize its hard and I openly confess that I have a hard time going here. I do – I like stuff. If I could check myself into a “stuffanynonomous” program I would! But…what if I just started walking with God. What if I started opening the scriptures every day and just immersing myself in the story of God – His revelation to mankind about who He is and His intentions for those who love and follow Him.
What if by doing that – I would truly be set apart because the Word was impacting my life.
What if I started following Christ’s example of self denial and being focused on others first?
What if…
Filed under: Personal, Reflection, Religous
Before I read your post I replied to Sekan in another post about being too worldly. You are not the only one who likes stuff. I’m a “don’t touch my stuff kind of person but after many years of hunting and collecting I now have given away so much stuff. We had a huge family crisis, a mammoth wake up call that life isn’t really about ’stuff’ I gave away heaps of stuff. Stereos , furniture, bedding, clothes, dishes your name it I’d put it on ebay and “GAVE MOST OF IT AWAY” when they came to collect. I used to put ‘pay on pick up’ but when they came I’d give it to them. I didn’t give a lot to the Salvos because here, they sell it to them. I’m not gonna get rich of $20.00 or $30.00 here or there. I had genuine needy people come. A guy who had lost everything in our bush fires bid $50.00 on my washing machine and was happy to come and to pick it up. I gave it to him and he was shocked. He thought I was crazy. I told him to just take it as I bought a small one for two as the other was huge. He came back a few days later with some chocolates and I honestly didn’t need for him to do that. But it made him feel good so I accepted his chocolates graciously. How did he know I’m a chocoholic?
Now I have only the STUFF I need. I don’t go buying nearly as much as I did. I had 27 doona covers, all new because I liked them. Now I have about 6. I did give them to the Salvos though.
I still shop at the Salvos and buy a couple of blanket each month for about $10.00 each as my daughter does a soup kitchen programme through the Catholic School she teaches at. They have sandwiches and soup for the poor on a Friday night and people ask her if she has any blankets so I make sure she has a couple each time she goes out. Their teeth are gone so they have toothache and can’t chew properly. She makes sure there are some soft ones like egg for them. She carries oil of cloves for their toothache. Their teeth are stuffed through all the drugs. It’s cold ,they sleep in parks. Nobody cares about where they or how they are living. i knwo sone of it’s choise but most of it isn’t. She wishes she could do it all the time but she has to pay the bills so she can’t. They are young too and her husband is a dentist and is trying to establish his own business. Costs and things are high, rents are too so one day he will no doubt he rolling in it. Having said that he has time set aside where he does teeth for ’special’ people, free of charge. Now these guys don’t brush, floss or adhere have any kind of oral hygiene so “he’s a better man than me” You have to give to the less fortunate in your community. This is a cruel “WORLD’. Off load some of that stuff to the needy and you’ll feel better.
It’s not always about stuff or receiving We have to ‘give’ too.