Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

Revolting Beauty

What If?

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What if this week were different? What if we approached tomorrow in a brand new way? What if we got so excited about doing life the way we are called to do it that we made a radical change in the way we lived? What if everything we did was done in honor of God? What if, before we go to bed tonight, we dedicated the rest of this week to Jesus? What if we didn’t stop at just words, what if we really meant it?

What if we rejected our pride and started actively seeking ways to serve others? What if we determined to love – truly love – everyone with whom we come into contact? What if we, once and for all, surrendered those things we have kept back from God? What if we stopped worrying if we had the latest electronic gadgets or the biggest TV? What if we stopped caring what kind of car we drive?

What if we skipped our own lunch and used the money to buy lunch for someone else instead? What if we took some time to speak to the homeless? What if we spared an hour to listen to someone who was hurting? What if we treated our families with the same courtesy and respect that we treat those outside of our inner circle?

What if we started living like Jesus was truly alive within us? What if we decided – right now – to set the world ablaze with the love of Christ? What if we just let go and let Him flow through us? What if we stopped being afraid and started trusting Him like we say we do? What if we started living as if nothing mattered more than pleasing Jesus?

What if this all weren’t just wishful thinking? What if we stopped asking all these questions and started to be the answers instead? What if?

Have you seen Him?

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When was the last time you saw Jesus? Better still, when was the last time you actually looked for Him? I’ll bet many of us saw him last Sunday… some may have even caught a glimpse of Him on Wednesday night. Perhaps we volunteered in some church ministry one night this week, and maybe, just maybe, we saw Him then. It almost seems that Western Christianity has determined we can only see Jesus when we are at our local church building. Is this really God’s dwelling place?

When I read the Bible, I don’t see Jesus being found in the local temple very often. More often than not He is wandering the countryside and local villages. He’s hanging out with prostitutes, thieves and liars. He’s touching those we wouldn’t dare to touch: the smelly, the diseased and the dying. I don’t see Jesus on the “right” side of the tracks very often. He’s hanging out with the homeless because, lest we forget, Jesus was homeless as well.

Why do we only look for Jesus in the setting of the church? Even worse, when did the Church become a building of brick and steel? As followers of Christ, we are the Church, not some extravagant, over-priced hunk of stained glass, carpet and wood. We need to be the Church throughout every moment we are alive. We need to look for Jesus everywhere we go, in everyone we come in contact with, and in everything we do.

Look for Jesus at your job, in your neighborhood, in your own house. How might you serve the next person you see? What needs of theirs could you meet? A simple smile, a gentle touch, a kind word can all do wonders for someone who is feeling lonely and lost. We need to go the places Jesus went, hang out with the people He did, and touch others with His love. If we can’t find Jesus anywhere around us, then it’s time we expand our lives and venture further out into the world until we do find Him.

Where will you find Jesus today; where will you look for Him? When you find Him, will you wrap your arms around Him in love? Will you serve Him at any cost simply out of gratitude? Will you do it if He is dressed as a homeless man? Will you do it if He smells or is rude? Will you do it if His skin is a different shade than yours? Our answer must be an unequivocal “Absolutely!”, and it must be backed up with action. Do you long to see Him every day or is Jesus just a guy who’s nice to see on Sunday? If we love Him, we have no choice other than to serve Him in remarkable ways – every day! Look for Jesus. Be the Church.

Endless Love

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By obedience to the truth, having purified yourselves for sincere love of the brothers, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again —not of perishable seed but of imperishable—through the living and enduring word of God. – I Peter 1:22, 23 (HCSB)

I have often thought of the”imperishable seed” as speaking only of our eternal life with Christ. Taking a fresh look at the passage above, it appears there is more to it than this. Peter says that we are to love each other from a pure heart, born of an imperishable seed. There seems to be an implication that we are to love each other with the same eternal love that Christ loves us. Few would doubt that Christ’s love for us is eternal, without measure or end. Having His seed in us means that we also should love without measure or end. It is easy to “love for a little while”, but then to stop when the object of the love continues to be unresponsive to that love. But just as we are to forgive someone seventy times seven times (Matthew 18:21-23), I believe we are to love them seventy times seven times as well. Ironically it was Peter who asked the question about how many times we should forgive someone; now he writes about how we should love one another. Perhaps his conversation with Jesus was on his mind. Regardless, the principle is clear: we are to love everyone without motive and beyond measure.

It is admittedly much easier to love those to whom we are closest; it is much harder to love our enemies. Harder still, it seems, is to show this patient, unconditional love to complete strangers. Yet we are commanded to show this love to the homeless, the hungry, the addicts, the poor, the murderers. For Christians, demonstrating this kind of love is not optional. If we belong to Christ, this love is the seed within our very soul. It isn’t that we should love in this manner, it is that we must. Let us approach each day with eyes wide open to the needs of everyone around us, and let us fill those needs with the love of Christ.

A Heart of Love

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I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place My Spirit within you and cause you to follow My statutes and carefully observe My ordinances. – Ezekiel 6:26, 27 (HCSB)

If we are truly followers of Christ, there will be evidence of a change in the way we live. God tells us that He will give us hearts that love. No longer will we be able to coldly look at the poor and homeless around us; we will have a heart that breaks for the injustice around us. We have a new heart, one full of compassion and mercy.

In the same way, God has given a new Spirit to guide us. Above all we will desire to follow all that Christ has told us to do. Again, what He has told us to do is to feed the hungry, care for those in need and free those who are oppressed in any way. Our implementation of these desires is often lacking but the point is that, above all, these are our desires.

God instills this new heart in all of His people. Having this new heart does not instantly transform us into perfectly loving people; as God has made us creatures of free will, it is still up to us to utilize the gift He has given us. For those of us who find it difficult at times to show love to others, we should be greatly encouraged to realize that love is our new nature. God has embedded His love into our core. If we truly love Him, if we truly seek to serve and live for Him, we will relentlessly strive to unleash that love onto the world around us.

Love From Within

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As He was speaking, a Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and reclined at the table. When the Pharisee saw this, he was amazed that He did not first perform the ritual washing before dinner. But the Lord said to him: “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and evil. Fools! Didn’t He who made the outside make the inside too? But give to charity what is within, and then everything is clean for you. – Luke 11:37-41 (HCSB)

How often are we as Christians guilty of being so focused on our outward appearance that we totally neglect our inward spiritual health? As long as people see us doing and saying the right things, as long as we look spiritual to those around us, we are content with our dedication to Christ. But this isn’t dedication at all; rather it is pharisaical. God has no more tolerance for such hypocrisy now than Jesus did when He walked among us.

It is time we rid ourselves of the kind of Christianity that is focused on ritual and tradition, the kind of Christianity that is focused on a list of do’s and don’ts. What matters to God is our inward cleanliness and our inward attitude. If we are seeking to love others and to serve them in that love, then we will achieve the outward appearance of holiness that we are so desperately trying to project by our current piety. Jesus never called us to strive to be worthy of Him; rather, He called us to love everyone we encounter, to serve them and show them mercy.

When we learn to love as Christ loved, from the inside out, our outside will shine just as brightly as our love from within. People will notice. They won’t be able to help but notice. This is the kind of worship our Lord demands and demonstrated in His own life. Let’s reject all forms of outward devotion and learn to let our devotion be self evident by the love of Christ we extend to others.