Day 202 - January 2, 2009 - Dead Man Walking

It's the New Year, the time when we're all supposed to make some resolutions to try and keep all year long. Last year at this time, Joélle purposed to go a year without drinking a soda, and yesterday afternoon we watched her take a sip of her first Dr Pepper since 2007. I'm pretty impressed with her willpower!

For most of us, however, our resolutions peter out around February 1. I used to wonder if the reason was that we knew, deep down in our hearts, that whatever we were trying to accomplish wasn't really that big of a deal, and so we just let it slide. But I see that even really important resolutions, like "I'm gonna read the Bible every day" or "I'm gonna pray for my kids every day" seem to drop off the RADAR screen even faster than "I'm gonna wash the car every week".

Which got me thinking, "Why? " Why do we fail so badly to carry out our desires, even when they're patently very important? And the answer I come up with is "Well, it's because we're failures".

Allow me to demonstrate. I can't even stay awake long enough to effectively pray for my son's healing, something that is more important than anything else in my life right now. I am unable to love my wife the way she deserves. I exasperate my kids ALL the time, even though I'm not supposed to. In other words, I suck when it comes to actually doing the things I know are significant in my life. Hopefully, I've got a bunch of really honest, introspective readers today, and you're all able to admit that you're in the same boat, but if you don't think you're that much of a failure, go read Romans 3:23.

Now traditionally, what I (and many others) would do at this point is say something along the lines of "well, I just need to be a better Christian". Have you ever heard anyone say "that guy's a good Christian" or "you sure are a good Christian"? I hear those sorts of things a lot, and after thinking about it, I've decided that the idea that we need to be good Christians is a lie from the pit. Why? Because we aren't called to be "good Christians"; we're called to be LIKE CHRIST.

I can hear the objections now - "but those are the same thing"! or "well, that's what I mean when I say "be a good Christian". And my response is a categorical No. No two things could be farther apart than being a good Christian and being like Christ. What's a good Christian? One who goes to church every time the doors are open, and who does all the right programs, and is involved in small groups, and is an upstanding member of the community - who keeps all the rules, and looks good doing it. A "good Christian" defines their Christianity by what they do - not by Who they know.

Don't get me wrong - doing these things isn't bad in and of itself. It's when it becomes the end instead of the means that the lie appears. And that seems to be where many, many followers of Christ wind up - sitting in the pew each week, doing all the right things, and comfortable that their good-christian-ness is what they're supposed to be about. But it's not.

What should someone who is "like Christ" look like, then? Well, Jesus actively ministered to every person he came in contact with. I don't mean "witnessed to" or "evangelized" or "invited to church", I mean "took the time to see the person, determine his or her need, and address it in a fashion which brought glory to God". While he spent some time in the synagogues and the temple, most of his ministry was in close contact with sinners - whores, and beggars, and people with nasty, nasty sicknesses. And tax collectors too! So I ask myself where I spend most of my time, and if the answer is not "helping the people that are right around me", then a strong argument can be made that I am not very much like Christ.

So I should make a resolution to be more like Him this year, right? Nope. Resolutions are all about my efforts, and pretty weak ones they are. And it's pretty clear from the Bible that I can't be like Christ - Christ has to be Christ inside of me for it to work. Like Paul says in Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Hey, wait a second - if it's no longer I who live, doesn't that mean I'm dead? Yep. Check out Colossians 3:3 - "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God". Past tense. If you're a follower of Christ, you, like me, are a dead man walking. And if Christ isn't animating all of my movements, then I'm just like one of those shuffling corpses in the B movies from the 50s. Because I "have died", and if Christ doesn't live in me, then all I have is a poor substitute for living.

So my New Year's resolution this year is really more of a decision to give up control rather than try to do more. I want to "let the peace of Christ rule in (my) heart" (Colossians 3:15); I want to "let the word of Christ dwell in (me) richly" (Colossians 3:16).

Only one problem - I'm a back seat driver. In order for someone else to drive, it's necessary for me to allow them to. So pray for me! I'll be praying for you...

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