-And so what does this worthy walk look like, this conduct which is in keeping with our lofty calling? In the end, as we are about to see, it is all about how we relate to others in the Body, those walking beside us who have received the same call that we have, following the same Jesus we are on the road less travelled.
-It begins with humility, low-mindedness. We are not better than anyone else who is following Jesus, not by our education or our intellect or our looks or wealth or whatever flavor of doctrine or practise we espouse. In Christ, we have been given a level playing field, we are equals, and yet even still we do not relate as equals - we get on the road-less-travelled and go further and go low. We do exactly what Jesus did and we empty ourselves, we let go of our rights and our status and we take the very form of a slave. We become servants. Others-first, others-better. This one who sits across from me on Sunday morning - she is better. I serve her. That one who greets me with a smile each week, that one who lovingly teaches my child each Sunday morning, that one faithfully cleaning the bathroom stall for me every week, even this one who lives across from me and who goes to a different building than I do each week - these are all better. Nobody lives like this, right? But if you and I are following Jesus, then I am your humble servant. And in fact it is with ALL humility we are to walk. How much is that, one might ask? More than enough, flowing out to those around me at all times, always.
-ALL gentleness as well. Christ said, ‘blessed are the gentle (meek), for they will inherit the earth’ (Matthew 5.5). One would assume on the contrary that the earth would go to those who don’t back down and are aggressive and dominant and assertive and strong in taking what they deserve and what is theirs (along with what is not). But that is the wide path - taken by many - which leads to destruction. No, ours is a different strength, it is strength under control. It is strong enough not to fly off the handle in anger nor retaliate in kind when provoked or offended. Not weak nor mousy or timid, this. Like the One we follow Who was gentle to the core (Matthew 11.29) and not afraid in the least, gentleness is strong enough to turn the other cheek (Luke 6.29), to go the extra mile after being forced to go the first, to have someone take the coat off our back and then to give them our shirt as well. It loves grace and mercy and hangs out with forgiveness and restoration and thus firmly allies itself with love. And make no mistake, gentleness goes hand-in-hand with the low-mindedness. Far less gentle are we when dealing with those we deem inferior. Think about it - the gentleness I could readily conjure towards the president or the queen evaporates all-too-rapidly when I am dealing with my kids or my spouse or the hapless clerk in the store/restaurant or to the bumbling ‘servants’ (leaders) in the local church who have let me down and fed me up, those whose job I know I could do better.
-To this we add patience. Long-suffering. Willing (and able) to wait. How long, how much? Macro. As long as we need to. As long as it takes for God to do what He do. Those things and people which let us down and aggravate us and offend us and make us wait and make us want to pull out our hair in anger or frustration - we wait. Patiently, gently - strength under control, not flying off the handle. We wait on the Lord. We wait for Him to show up and do His thing. Love is patient first and foremost, right (1Corinthians 13.4)? The fruit of the Spirit is patience, right (Galatians 5.22)? Here again we follow the One Who is the Supreme Example, perfectly patient, Who has always waited on us with such long-suffering patience and mercy and grace, enduring our weakness and waywardness and mistakes and manifold imperfections (2Peter 3.9). All kinds of circumstances and people will conspire to try our patience, but here Paul is thinking primarily about the need to be patient with one another, with our fellow Christ-followers, those in our local assembly, the ones who will have more opportunity to try my patience simply because we are part of the same church. I must wait on them with the same long-suffering the Lord shows to me each and every day. Do I lash out, or leave, or do I love? Of course there is but one option, the road less travelled...
-And so this long-suffering goes hand-in-hand with forebearance. It is a holding towards, enduring and putting up with, a bearing with, as in difficult people or situations or words - Luke 9.41, Acts 18.14, 2Corinthians 11.19-20, Colossians 3.13, 2Thessalonians 1.4. I hold on and hang in there. Invariably when I belong to any institution which is comprised of imperfect people, I will be thrust face-to-face with people who are fallen, well-intentioned (mostly) yet nevertheless selfish and difficult (just like me). They will try my patience and offend me and even wound me. There will be decisions and habits which annoy and anger me. And no, this is not what it is supposed to look like, but I’m not yet what I am supposed to look like either (precisely where some of that all-low-mindedness comes in handy). But absent a quick-fix most likely my flesh will begin to pine for greener pastures, easier circumstances, an escape clause. The old man is loathe to hang in there and wait. Tragically, leaving has become the norm. Far easier to leave than to hang in there, to go low, to turn the other cheek and go the extra mile, to love him who seems unloveable, to forgive what seems unforgiveable, to endure what seems unbearable. If I don’t like it, I can leave. Everyone’s doing it, right? It is true in Christian marriages, people who promise before God and witnesses to love until death they do part, and yet they do part. It is certainly true in the Church. Who in their right mind would hang in there in a marriage or a church when they are unhappy? Oh, how far we do fall, willing (yet unwitting?) accomplices of the thief who comes to steal and kill and destroy, stealing and destroying our love, our would-be-worthy walks which might otherwise make a lost world stand up and take notice. The world doesn’t want to know about our leaving - that’s all too common for them already. They will want to know how - and why - we hang in there and wait with a love that is uncommon, unheard of, so unnatural because it is in fact supernatural. THIS is what it is supposed to look like.
No comments:
Post a Comment