American Christian, we have a problem with having true Christian character today. We forget that cultural norms constantly creep into the thinking of the Church. We are playing with fire, not realizing it is fire, and we will get burned. Eventually.
Do you feel the tension I feel? Do you see the inconsistencies within our thinking, within our acting, within our demeanor? It aches. It hurts. But it’s so easy for us to ignore it. Why? Well, because we’re not at all giving ourselves to our Lord. We’re not reflecting on His word. We’re not allowing the weight of God’s way for us to be felt on our chest. It should feel like an Elephant doing a leg drop like he were a WWE wrestler. Do you feel it? I like to think I do, but I’m not so sure now that I think about it.
The Problem With Having True Christian Character Today
Here’s the problem: we can see in Scripture that we are called to embrace weakness, have a posture of meekness, and love God and neighbor – but in America we have power, arrogance, a willingness to ignore God, and a tendency to exude power over our neighbor.
We follow a guy (who was also God) who had more power than we can fathom, yet He embraced weakness. In fact, He exuded His power on the world by embracing a worldly sense of weakness (death on a cross). Could it be that spiritual power is found in worldly weakness? Maybe.
We have wealth. We have plenty to get by and then some. We have what we need. Let’s just add a little Jesus sprinkling to our lives. We wouldn’t admit it, but that’s how we do it.
Now, don’t get me wrong. What we have isn’t the problem. What we do with it is. Where it is on our priority list is. How it makes us relate to God is.
If the things we have cause us to give less of ourselves to the Creator of the Universe, the Great I Am, the Alpha and Omega, the King of kings, the One who has the power to throw us in Hell (for that is what we deserve), then what we have has become our greatest hindrance.
If the things we have cause us to look nothing like our God desires us to look; if they cause us to choose exuding power over loving our neighbor, then what we have is the problem.
But, of course, it goes beyond what we have (I’m sure you’re sensing it). This all goes back to the heart. This is why Jesus talked so much about money. Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21), but do we believe Him? Do we even care? It doesn’t appear so.
Forgive me for the angst you may sense coming from these words. I guess I’m just growing sick of seeing so many people not live into God’s best for them. I guess I’m just sick of seeing myself not live into God’s best for me. And what’s that best? It’s true Christian character manifested through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Oh how we have choked the Spirit’s work in us!
What is more important to us? What the world has to offer or what God is calling us to?
Jesus was clear – the only way you will ever truly find yourself is to lose yourself for His sake.[shareable text=”Jesus exuded His power on the world by embracing a worldly sense of weakness.”]Jesus exuded His power on the world by embracing a worldly sense of weakness (death on a cross). Could it be that spiritual power is found in worldly weakness?[/shareable]
Two Messy, Counter-Cultural Remedies to Get Us to Christian Character
Do you feel the weight yet? I pray that you do. Because without the weight there will be no growth. There will be no desire to change.
So only proceed if you desire Christ above comfort, Christ above culture, Christ above all.
1. Take a Posture of Meekness
Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). I wrote about this in detail here. Blessed. Meek. You don’t think of those two words together, do you? I know I don’t. Not without Christ anyway. What we must see in this is that there is a specific way we are supposed to go – the way of the kingdom of God. It is counter to our first inclination. It is counter-cultural. It is a paradox.
We don’t see the meek inheriting much on this earth other than being overpowered and manipulated. But what Jesus is trying to teach His followers is that His way leads us to the opposite of worldly power, yet what we inherit is exactly the opposite of what we would expect.
Poor in spirit? Yours is the kingdom of heaven – you know, the kingdom that exceeds all others in infinite measure (Matthew 5:3).
Someone hurting you? Like truly, legitimately hurting you? Don’t retaliate. Pray for them (Matthew 5:44).
A posture of meekness is harder than a posture of power.
Oh, but wait! Yep, I hear you shouting from the mountaintop – “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power…” Oops. You got me.
But let’s finish that verse (and add some context), shall we? 2 Timothy 1:6-7 says in all its fullness:
6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
Power is combined with love and self-control. Maybe the kind of power here is something that this world doesn’t quite grasp. And one that many of us don’t either.
First remedy: take a posture of meekness. It’s not easy, but you’re not alone. The Spirit of God desires to do this in you. Will you let Him?[shareable]A posture of meekness is harder than a posture of power.[/shareable]
2. Embrace Weakness
True Christian character embraces weakness. For when we are weak, God is strong. Not that He isn’t strong when we are strong, but that His power is more clearly seen in and through us when we embrace weakness; and as a result, He is more glorified.
In fact, Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10:
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
This is all in the context of Paul sharing how he had some kind of ailment, some kind of weakness that hindered him greatly. He talked about how he asked God to take it away, but it was never taken. He said that the thorn in the flesh, as he called it, kept him from becoming conceited in all the great revelations he had been given by God.
Did you catch that? Conceit can be grown out of something that is good – even as good as revelation from God! So to this God tells him that His grace is sufficient. He says that it is in the place of weakness where God’s power is made perfect. So to this, Paul boasts now in his weakness. But even so, he is boasting in the power of God.
This isn’t a new idea. It’s been a mark of Christian character from the start. The 1600’s writer Abraham Wright said this, “I am mended by my sickness, enriched by my poverty, and strengthened by my weakness.”
The problem we all see in this is that weakness is weak. It’s not something we would strive to reach. Be weak in all you do is not a statement we find on the walls of our homes. Ha, how weird would that be?!
But allow me to let Joni Eareckson Toda share what is at stake here: “Deny your weakness, and you will never realize God’s strength in you.”
This is serious stuff. And it’s messy. It’s vulnerable. It’s uncomfortable. It’s not what we would strive after. But it should be.
Want to read more on this idea of embracing weakness? Check out Weakness Is the Way: Life with Christ Our Strength
What Now?
Well, that is up to you.
Two things: (1) take a posture of meekness, and (2) embrace weakness.
Will you?
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