I completely get why non-Christians think Christians are bizarre. All the time we Christians talk about trusting in something/someone we can't see, hear, touch, smell (thank goodness) or taste. And yet we talk to each other like it's perfectly natural and normal. "Of course. Do it all the time."
Fact is, I don't do it very well. Fact is...I don't think many of us do it that well. Fact is, I doubt if any of us do it that well. Remember that video of the NY cop this past winter buying shoes for that homeless man? Why did it go viral? Because it was so stinkin' unusual. If all of us Christians lived like this, it wouldn't have gone viral. It would have been, (Yawn) "Oh it's another one of those Christians being massively sacrificial again. What-ever. What's on TV?"
I was listening to a podcast the other day and the preacher said something I'd heard before, but this time it clicked in different. It had to do with where people put their weight.
When I sit on a chair, I transfer my weight onto it because I trust it will hold me. When I drive across a bridge, I trust it will support my car. I judge if it will hold (not all chairs hold me anymore) and if my understanding tells me that it is more structurally sound than I am heavy, I trust it and I put weight on it. If I'm right, I don't fall.
CS Lewis calls us spiritual amphibians because we live partially in the spiritual world and partially in the physical world. Another way we can say that...is we're on skates (we'll make them ice skates for now)...one foot is in the "Jesus" skate and the other foot is in the "self" skate. And we skate through life adjusting our weight on these two skates.
You already know where I'm headed. I adjust my weight on my skates based on...my understanding of what will support me best. Remember that proverb that's sung to the calypso beat "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on...your own understanding." Hell! (If anyone calls me on that, I'm sayin' I meant "hello" and mistyped it) I'm doing it ALL wrong!
So I'm using my judgment, and figuring out which skate I should lean on...where I'm putting my weight...based upon my brain's best understanding. There's a word for that: sin. Here's the bad news. If I had to guess how much I lean into the "self" skate, it's about 99%. Here's the good news. If God can coax me into leaning just another percent into the "Jesus" skate, that's a spiritual pay raise of 100%!
You can always tell which skate you're leaning on...if it gets kicked out from under you, right? If the "self" skate gets kicked out from under you, and you fall...then you had most of your weight on the "self" skate. If someone cuts you off in the car, insults you at work, makes fun of you at the gym (that never happens to me because I never go to the gym), and you fall over...you know you're leaning on the "self" skate. On the other hand if someone ridicules you or calls you a name and you're with the Spirit on the Jesus skate, you just keep skating and really don't even mind.
Interestingly enough, the Jesus skate never gets kicked out from under you though sometimes it "seems" that it does. Ironic, isn't it, that the invisible rock of Jesus offers more support for my skates (now we're on roller blades) than the most stable pavement the world offers. And yet...
There a word for for Christians who put most of their weight on the "self skate." Perfectly normal people. (Some of you noted that was actually 3 words, but this was one of those places where you needed to work with me.) It's completely normal to put weight on the self skate. It's natural. It's what we all do. And it's foolish because it gets kicked out all the time by really hard and difficult things.
And while Jesus says "Be perfect as my heavenly father is perfect," I don't see any way how I can lift my self-skate up and glide along on the Jesus skate even though sometimes I want to. I mean, I am not equipped to even get to 5%, much less 100%. So while I fail completely and miserably at this, my only option is the most amazing and fabulous one: I trust in Jesus to skate for me. And I am so thankful that his self-skate has never even once touched the ice...or pavement.
I don't expect to see a lot of improvement in my skating. I'll continue to pray and love him and be transparent so that he and I can have the deepest relationship possible for me. I find this keeps me from conforming to the world, and transforms my mind, to allow me to know his perfect will...and I think my skating will continue to improve a little.
This also give me compassion for people who are also struggling to lean into the Jesus skate even if they might not be able to lean there as much as my feeble efforts. We'll both fall short, but we can encourage each other and enjoy each others' company along the way.
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