I am a sinner and a saint, all people of faith are. And so some judge me as a real sinner and hypocrite and I confess they are right and I am. But I also ask why they are judging me, is it out of love, or self-righteousness or an attempt to justify their decision not to believe? And I also have to ask, do you only see my faults and failings? Don't you ever see my attempts to be good, to practice my faith as God, as Jesus commands? I will try to do better. This from +Sojourners .....
5 Ways I'm the Worst at Following Jesus
by Christian Piatt 12-29-2014 | 4:05pm
As you may
know by now, I’m starting a new project in which I try for a year to
really, seriously understand what it means to follow Jesus in western,
post-industrial 21st century society. What does that look like? Do any
of us actually do it? And to what degree, seriously, are we supposed to
actually be like Jesus, as opposed to finding our own way to walk a more
Christ-like path on our current context?
My biggest concern at the
moment is that though a lot of us claim to “be Christians,” or even to
follow Jesus, a lot of us don’t spend much intentional time trying to
figure out what that means and what it looks like in daily life. We try
not to be too crappy to other people, try not to kill, steal, adulterate
(is that even a word?) or worship graven images. We try to love, and to
accept love — though we still hurt each other. A lot. The world is
messed up and so far from realizing the fully kingdom-inspired image of
wholeness and reconciliation to which God invites us.
And
at least in my theological world, that’s on us, not God. I believe,
with all of my being, that the audacious vision of God’s kingdom, here
and now, isn’t something we sit around and pray for God to make real for
us. Like Jesus said, we can (and should) collectively do greater things
than even he did. When people experienced healing in his presence, he
never said, “Hey, I did that!” Rather, he always told them that it was
their own faith that made them well.
That’s pretty amazing to consider. And inspiring. And terrifying.
So here I am, not so much trying to be Jesus,
but trying to at least follow his life, teaching, and example better.
And in taking my own personal inventory, I can see that I pretty much
suck at it. That doesn’t mean I’m giving up, but it’s clear I have
plenty of work to do. Here are five examples:
I like stuff. I
was raised in culture in which the very economy depended on my affinity
for stuff. I mean, what did George W. Bush tell us to do to help us
heal from 9/11? Go shopping, of course! I try to break the habit, but
dammit if stuff isn’t awesome, shiny, fun, and freaking everywhere.
Maybe I need to work the twelve steps for my stuff addiction. Maybe we
all do.
I want people to like me. Especially
in the public sphere, my career more or less depends on it. I post a
new article and watch with either a sense of self-satisfaction or dread
as the page-views roll in or stall out at a trickle. I get the sales
reports form my publishers and see my own self worth in the midst of the
numbers. My ego is so wrapped up in my identity — more specifically,
what I do — that it’s hard for me to talk about who I am without jumping
to my work.
I’m critical of others. I’m
a real pro at finding fault in other people. Some psychologists
suggests (and yes, I dropped out of my PhD in psych, thank you) that
such a critical view of the outside world is simply an obfuscation to
keep us from dealing with our own lingering sense of a lack of worth.
But the thing is, I’m onto the fact that, lots of days, I can be a real
asshole. Maybe for me, it’s more about assuring myself that everyone
else is nearly the same degree of asshole as I am. The thing is, when I
lean on this kind of justification, nothing changes. If our sense of
worth hinges on comparisons, we’re all screwed.
I let fear dictate my actions. It’s
funny to me when people write to me about my writing being vulnerable,
brave, or the like, because to me, it’s proof positive that so much of
my life is simply about trying to reconcile fear and keep it in some
sort of healthy context. By naming it, my hope is that it loses some of
its power. But it keeps coming back, and more often than not, it weaves
its way into my consciousness like some kind of virus, infecting my
judgment and my perspective. If, as Paul notes, we availed ourself to a
more perfect love, there would be no room for fear. Clearly got to keep
that one on my to-do list.
I’m willful. One
of Jesus’ most powerful phrases ever uttered, at least for me, was,
“Not my will, but yours, God, be done.” It’s one thing to submit your
own will to something bigger than yourself under normal circumstances —
it’s entirely another to do it when you’re facing death. It’s not that I
think that we’re all called to be martyrs for our faith. Hardly. But if
we can’t let go of control and place our own agenda and idea of how
things should be in the back seat on the basic, day-to-day stuff, how
can we possibly do it when things get really serious? It’s a little
trickier for me, since I’m not sure I’m on the “God has a consciousness
and will like human beings” train, but I do know, when I take time to
contemplate, what is for the Greater Good. And more often than not, I
want to get there, but only if I can filter it through my own personal
agenda first.
If I achieve nothing more
than working intently on these five things in the coming year, I’m
pretty sure I’ll be a great deal closer to the Jesus path I’m talking
about than I am now. Of course, considering this all is being documented
here on a public blog, on our podcast, and ultimately in a book, it may
be a bit of a set-up.
Dammit, there I go, putting things through my own personal agenda-filter again. Starting again, again…
Christian Piatt is
the creator and editor of BANNED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BIBLE and BANNED
QUESTIONS ABOUT JESUS. He co-created and co-edits the “WTF: Where’s the
Faith?” young adult series with Chalice Press, and he has a memoir on
faith, family and parenting called PREGMANCY: A Dad, a Little Dude and a
Due Date.
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