Living Like Jesus
(The Search for Health, Happiness & Significance)
Scott Burnett worship pastor at our church wrote a song in 2000 entitled “Write Your Story in Me.” The words of that song are:
Write Your story in me.
Write Your story in me, Jesus.
Set Your glory within this jar of clay.
Write Your story in me everyday.
Finish the painting that you have begun
With a palette of colors
As bright as the sun
Focus the Image of your Holy One
In the merciful works, Oh Lord
That You’ve done.
As I ponder “Incarnational Living”, this song helps me to understand what that means.
By definition to “incarnate” something is to give “bodily form” or physical substance to something - to embody something or put flesh on it.
Watching the World Championship Golf Tournament on Saturday when Tiger Woods was ahead by 10 strokes, it came to me that Tiger Woods incarnates golf. When I think of what it would be like to play golf the way it was meant to be played I think of Tiger. Every time he swings his club it is like poetry in motion. And if he gets in trouble it seems he instinctively knows exactly what to do.
It seems like:
Tiger Woods incarnates Golf
Michael Jordan incarnates basketball
Peyton Manning incarnates football
By that I don’t just mean they are great at what they do but what they do is so a part of who they are that it just oozes out of them.
You might say – Tiger Woods puts flesh on golf. I understand what golf is about and what it means to play that game well by watching Tiger Woods.
Why is this “incarnational living” important to understand?
Pastor Rey shared a study with me. A group of college students in a non-religious school with no real ties to any faith were asked two questions:
What do you think when you hear the name Jesus?
What do you think when you hear the word Christian?
Response #1 – Jesus is beautiful, Wise man – like a guru or shaman, Enlightened.
Response #2 – Chiristians have messed things up, They don’t apply the message of love that Jesus gave, They turned Jesus teachings into a bunch of rules.
From the time I started attending this church the thing that always impressed me is that Pastor Tim has always taught us about “incarnational living”. He didn’t put that label – he said things like -- we’re out to change the world; its not about what we do on Sunday but how we live our lives the rest of the time; its not about rules it is about relationships; building a great caring network; caring for people in our community and our world, it was all of those things that attracted Rich and I and I know many of you to this church. It wasn’t until later that I learned the theological label for that kind of living –
“Incarnational living invites all Christ followers to flesh out their uniqueness, encouraging the totality of their being to reflect or embody Christ. When people and their respective communities see their “being” as inevitably making the invisible Christ visible through their lives, then every interaction, every act, every moment of stillness becomes a Christ moment.” Dwight Friesen
Going back to Tiger Woods illustration. No matter how often I watch him play golf – even watching him practice, watching him workout – even if I watched him closely for 6 mos or a year or more. I will never become a better golfer just by watching him If I want to improve my golf then I can’t just sit and observe. I need to do the things that he does to improve. Now I may never be as good as he is ( let’s face it he’s in a class by himself) but If I put into practice some of the same disciplines he uses to improve I will be better that I am by just observing. Throughout scripture we are given some things that we can do to get better at this incarnational living thing.
I’ve chosen to look at one such passage and my hope is that it will prompt you to join me on this journey of incarnational living it really is a journey of “becoming” (I think becoming who God really designed us to be). Opening ourselves up to allowing Jesus to write His story in our lives:
What incarnation living is not about is demonstrated in a You Tube vide entitled “Me Worship”
Incarnational Living means understanding
Embodied by a freedom from self.
16–18 My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence? Galatians 5:16-18 (The Message)
A healthy way of living is to be “self” in the proper perspective. HRC is about how we do that. We are to take care of ourselves – physically, emotionally and spiritually not because we worship our selves but because we worship a God who loves us, died for us and has people for us to care for.
God show me how I can be freed from a compulsion of selfishness and let my life be directed by you.
As we move forward in becoming and healthy in our view of self – God’s gifts ooze out of us.
Embodied by God’s gifts.
22–23 But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Galatians 5:22-23 (The Message)
Notice the language here – affection for others,
Exurberance and serenity
Sense of compassion
Not needing to force our lives and able to marshal and direct our energies.
God, I give myself to you to be filled with your gifts.
Embodied by a purpose.
25–26 Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original. Galatians 5:25-26 (The Message)
EXCEL – Our dream is to have a group of people who see that in their work and business life they are right where God’s wants them to be. In their jobs, businesses, etc they are
Our embodied self becomes a portable sanctuary…we discover that everywhere we go is “holy ground”, everything we do is a “consecrated activity” and everthing we think or say is “sanctified communication.”.The jagged line dividing the sacred and the secular must be erased for there simply is nothing that is outside the realm of God’s purview and care. This is “incarnational living.” Richard J. Foster
God, move into every detail of my life – I want a far more “interesting life” of significance.
Author and actor Ben Stein has been writing a column published by E!Online for nearly eight years. Titled "Monday Night at Morton's," the column detailed his encounters with the rich and famous.
A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day, is the U.S. soldier in Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with a piece of unexploded ordnance on a street near where he was guarding a station. He pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded…
There are plenty of other stars in the American firmament....the policemen and women who go off on patrol in South Central and have no idea if they will return alive. The orderlies and paramedics who bring in people who have been in terrible accidents and prepare them for surgery, the teachers and nurses who throw their whole spirits into caring for autistic children, the kind men and women who work in hospices and in cancer wards. Think of each and every fireman who was running up the stairs at the World Trade Center as the towers began to collapse.
Now you have my idea of a real hero. We are not responsible for the operation of the universe, and what happens to us is not terribly important.
God is real, not a fiction, and when we turn over our lives to Him, he takes far better care of us than we could ever do for ourselves. In a word, we make ourselves sane when we fire and best use as a human. I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved upon me, to help others He has placed in my path. This is my highest and best use as a human.
Scott Burnett worship pastor at our church wrote a song in 2000 entitled “Write Your Story in Me.” The words of that song are:
Write Your story in me.
Write Your story in me, Jesus.
Set Your glory within this jar of clay.
Write Your story in me everyday.
Finish the painting that you have begun
With a palette of colors
As bright as the sun
Focus the Image of your Holy One
In the merciful works, Oh Lord
That You’ve done.
As I ponder “Incarnational Living”, this song helps me to understand what that means.
By definition to “incarnate” something is to give “bodily form” or physical substance to something - to embody something or put flesh on it.
Watching the World Championship Golf Tournament on Saturday when Tiger Woods was ahead by 10 strokes, it came to me that Tiger Woods incarnates golf. When I think of what it would be like to play golf the way it was meant to be played I think of Tiger. Every time he swings his club it is like poetry in motion. And if he gets in trouble it seems he instinctively knows exactly what to do.
It seems like:
Tiger Woods incarnates Golf
Michael Jordan incarnates basketball
Peyton Manning incarnates football
By that I don’t just mean they are great at what they do but what they do is so a part of who they are that it just oozes out of them.
You might say – Tiger Woods puts flesh on golf. I understand what golf is about and what it means to play that game well by watching Tiger Woods.
Why is this “incarnational living” important to understand?
Pastor Rey shared a study with me. A group of college students in a non-religious school with no real ties to any faith were asked two questions:
What do you think when you hear the name Jesus?
What do you think when you hear the word Christian?
Response #1 – Jesus is beautiful, Wise man – like a guru or shaman, Enlightened.
Response #2 – Chiristians have messed things up, They don’t apply the message of love that Jesus gave, They turned Jesus teachings into a bunch of rules.
From the time I started attending this church the thing that always impressed me is that Pastor Tim has always taught us about “incarnational living”. He didn’t put that label – he said things like -- we’re out to change the world; its not about what we do on Sunday but how we live our lives the rest of the time; its not about rules it is about relationships; building a great caring network; caring for people in our community and our world, it was all of those things that attracted Rich and I and I know many of you to this church. It wasn’t until later that I learned the theological label for that kind of living –
“Incarnational living invites all Christ followers to flesh out their uniqueness, encouraging the totality of their being to reflect or embody Christ. When people and their respective communities see their “being” as inevitably making the invisible Christ visible through their lives, then every interaction, every act, every moment of stillness becomes a Christ moment.” Dwight Friesen
Going back to Tiger Woods illustration. No matter how often I watch him play golf – even watching him practice, watching him workout – even if I watched him closely for 6 mos or a year or more. I will never become a better golfer just by watching him If I want to improve my golf then I can’t just sit and observe. I need to do the things that he does to improve. Now I may never be as good as he is ( let’s face it he’s in a class by himself) but If I put into practice some of the same disciplines he uses to improve I will be better that I am by just observing. Throughout scripture we are given some things that we can do to get better at this incarnational living thing.
I’ve chosen to look at one such passage and my hope is that it will prompt you to join me on this journey of incarnational living it really is a journey of “becoming” (I think becoming who God really designed us to be). Opening ourselves up to allowing Jesus to write His story in our lives:
What incarnation living is not about is demonstrated in a You Tube vide entitled “Me Worship”
Incarnational Living means understanding
Embodied by a freedom from self.
16–18 My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence? Galatians 5:16-18 (The Message)
A healthy way of living is to be “self” in the proper perspective. HRC is about how we do that. We are to take care of ourselves – physically, emotionally and spiritually not because we worship our selves but because we worship a God who loves us, died for us and has people for us to care for.
God show me how I can be freed from a compulsion of selfishness and let my life be directed by you.
As we move forward in becoming and healthy in our view of self – God’s gifts ooze out of us.
Embodied by God’s gifts.
22–23 But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Galatians 5:22-23 (The Message)
Notice the language here – affection for others,
Exurberance and serenity
Sense of compassion
Not needing to force our lives and able to marshal and direct our energies.
God, I give myself to you to be filled with your gifts.
Embodied by a purpose.
25–26 Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original. Galatians 5:25-26 (The Message)
EXCEL – Our dream is to have a group of people who see that in their work and business life they are right where God’s wants them to be. In their jobs, businesses, etc they are
Our embodied self becomes a portable sanctuary…we discover that everywhere we go is “holy ground”, everything we do is a “consecrated activity” and everthing we think or say is “sanctified communication.”.The jagged line dividing the sacred and the secular must be erased for there simply is nothing that is outside the realm of God’s purview and care. This is “incarnational living.” Richard J. Foster
God, move into every detail of my life – I want a far more “interesting life” of significance.
Author and actor Ben Stein has been writing a column published by E!Online for nearly eight years. Titled "Monday Night at Morton's," the column detailed his encounters with the rich and famous.
A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day, is the U.S. soldier in Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with a piece of unexploded ordnance on a street near where he was guarding a station. He pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded…
There are plenty of other stars in the American firmament....the policemen and women who go off on patrol in South Central and have no idea if they will return alive. The orderlies and paramedics who bring in people who have been in terrible accidents and prepare them for surgery, the teachers and nurses who throw their whole spirits into caring for autistic children, the kind men and women who work in hospices and in cancer wards. Think of each and every fireman who was running up the stairs at the World Trade Center as the towers began to collapse.
Now you have my idea of a real hero. We are not responsible for the operation of the universe, and what happens to us is not terribly important.
God is real, not a fiction, and when we turn over our lives to Him, he takes far better care of us than we could ever do for ourselves. In a word, we make ourselves sane when we fire and best use as a human. I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved upon me, to help others He has placed in my path. This is my highest and best use as a human.
posted by Pastor Linda at 5:48 PM
4 Comments:
I relate to that final statement that God will take better care of us than we can do ourselves. I think that is the best reason for the Christian Life and Spiritual Living. It definitely shouldn't be saved for late in life because God can help me right now not just in the hereafter.
Thank you, Linda, for taking the extra time to post your message. It’s great to have access to your insights and ideas in blog-form!
For anyone else who might want to see the rest of the Ben Stein pieces, here’s a link.
And for anybody interested in reading more from Mr. Friesen, his blog his here.
Thanks Scott for the links. I followed the one to Friesen and it looked like the last post was sometime in 2005 but then I noticed it was only on the category of incarnational-missional. There is even more stuff and some more recent.
Oh no! Does that mean incarnational-missional is old news?!? Dang... we're behind the curve again.
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