Us in Him, and Him in Us

Lately I've been thinking about leadership the John's metaphor for abiding. John speaks of "abiding" in two primary passages, John 15:1-11 and 1st John 2:24-29. There are two aspects of abiding, and perhaps a third that is closely attached, so let us take them individually before stepping back and viewing the complete picture.

1. Abide/Remain in Him. This is our responsibility, and a large one it is. Abide is a state of being, it's a position, and it's constant. To remain is not to have a "spiritual high" followed by a "spiritual low" it is to constantly remain immersed in the Word of God, both the verbal word and the living Word. It is a state of constant interaction with and nourishment from Jesus. This means more than having a devotional in the morning. A devotional that you do 1st thing in the morning, followed by no reminders of Christ or His Word or Work in your life during the course of the day is an excuse, not a walk. The Word must flow through our every action. When we truly abide, the wall of separation we have erected between life and ministry crumbles, and we truly can glorify God with our every action.

2. His Abiding/Remaining in us. This is more than a promise by Christ that He will not bail out on us. This is a reminder that truly abiding in Him results in His flowing through us. We truly become the hands and feet and mouth of Christ, because we are open to what He wants us to do. If we allow Him to remain, He will empower us to do His will. We know this is occurring in our lives when the challenge "What Would Jesus Do" stops being something we ask ourselves every time we make a minor decision, and becomes something that we simply do on a daily basis.

I thought it interesting that immediately following these sections on abiding in Christ there were reminders to love one another, to properly remain in community. It is difficult, if not impossible, to completely remain in Christ by yourself. We require the communion of other believers in order to remain. As we each grow more representative of Christ individually, we are better able to contribute to the body corporate, which in turn makes the Body of Christ more representative of Him on earth.

Hanging on to the Escalator

I had an epiphany (well, sort of) while reading some stuff for Anthropology class. And it has very little to do with anthropology. I started thinking about how Christians try to have it both ways. We try to follow God, without "missing" anything in the world. I'm not talking about living in culture, but keeping little pet sins around or trying to blend in with a less than upright group. Sort of a dual abiding - part of us plugged into Christ and part plugged into the world. We then get frustrated when we don't grow. It's trying to take the escalator and stay at the bottom at the same time.

We see others take the escalator to the top floor, and we endeavor to follow. However, we are so comfortable at the bottom, and uncomfortable with the long process up, we freak out, and try to both at once. So, when you're tempted to not do what is right, to hang around the bottom of the elevator and watch, remember that as a a believer, you've already got one foot on, and you don't really want to do the splits with everyone staring at your yellow tights.