How Do We Get There?

For quite a while I’ve been surrounding by the gung-ho go get-them mentality.  Key themes of this thinking include: “Try it and see how it goes” and “Go forward and do something for crying out loud.”  Now the mentality like that is impressive because it shows dashing, dare and a sense of grabbing the initiative whenever it comes about.

For people who don’t have a sense of direction in life it is very reassuring to knock about with people who have a refreshing sense of direction, purpose and initiative.  For those who are somewhat inhibited, perhaps they were uncertain and looked for something to invest in, this is a dream come true, because come rain or shine there is something going on.

As you grow older, however, and realise how responsible you have to be for your own relationship with God whilst in community, this can actually become an unhelpful crutch.  Not because the direction is wrong necessarily, but because rather than be Christ-centred and growing into becoming what the Father creates you to be, you fit in the function that’s been given to you.  Whether or not that function fits in the vocation is largely irrelevant, especially as you’ve abdicated that vital responsibility.  This of course leads to frustration and ineffectiveness.

So then comes that crucial time in your relationship with Christ where His call to follow Him and not just others, or the initiative of others.  The tricky bit is though to figure out how you get to where you should go from where you are.  How do you come out of hum-drum mediocre living to the stimulating challenging life of following Christ?  How do you find out how you serve in the community in a manner that fits in?

Answering those kind of questions challenges the way we’ve related to God, His Word and His people. For example certain upbringing and influences has a reading of the Bible as if it is just written for the purpose of making us happy, content and prosperous.  Thus we’re not allowed to be sad, not allowed to suffer so much, unless it’s whilst waiting for the goods to come rolling in.  This reading of scripture and who God is works until reality kicks in.  There’s not much in this that alludes to the nature of God’s Kingdom as Jesus portrays it and how we’re to live it until He returns.  So what do we do?

Sometimes such states can be rather disconcerting.  It’s almost as though you have to start the faith journey all again starting from the beginning and working out what it is to follow Jesus.  It doesn’t have to be so drastic, but even if it is there’s usually nothing wrong with that if it gives the outcome of actually pursuing Jesus for yourself and not for others.

Doesn’t answer how you get there, does it?  Well here’s a point that’s helped in time past.  Actually reading areas of scriptures and the struggles of other people of God in relating to him and knowing where He is – David when his people have been taken; Elijah after receiving the death threat from Jezebel; Jeremiah … errr … his whole life!  Even areas of the New Testament like when you read of Paul in the second letter to Timothy and the situation he finds himself in.  All these show that the way to get to where we’re going is through prayer and other spiritual disciplines that promote a conscious awareness of God in everyday life.

It’s not always about the grand plan of where you’re going in life.  It’s just as much about the miniscule issue of what attitude you’ll need to deal with what to do when you’re bored, or how to handle annoying situations.  In a wonderful way the bigger and smaller picture work intertwine.  As He is interested in what we do in all of life and all of life is to be lived in His glory I cannot really stress the importance of developing that habit of having a conscious awareness of God in all areas of life.

It sounds pretty odd at first, but try it – how aware of you of God when you go shopping, when you’re watching television, in conversation?  I reckon if you’re honest – and you don’t have to be – there’s still that level of thinking that still thinks that these areas of life don’t come under the Lordship of Christ.

Sorting these basic ideas out in the light of what the Word has to say about all of life, especially based on how the life of Christ illuminates what the Old Testament was alluding to and indicates where the church was going, i.e. to Him, it’s a good start to answering those basic questions.

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

dmcd