Walking as He walked
Yesterday, my friend Gabe shared a passage he has been mulling over…. I John 2:3-6. Since then I have been mulling it over too especially verse 6: “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did”.
I John is book about the subjective. It’s all about what should be true of us if we say we know Him or believe in Him. Interestingly, its John’s gospel that focuses on how one come to faith that is used most by evangelicals. We like John 1:12, 3:16, 5:24… Yeah 5:24 – “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” Hear + believe = crossing from death to e’ life. Cool you are in the club! Done deal. But John, the same John, also writes: We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. You think, you are in? Well dude if you don’t have love, if you don’t love like Jesus’, you’re still dead.
I started thinking of the circle and the dot. The circle is the ‘bonded community’. Clear lines. Are you in or out? This is the way we have gone about evangelism in the church. Are you saved? Have you been born again? Have you prayed a prayer? Do you believe these propositional truths? If so, you’re in. If not, you’re out. It’s like joining a club or something. But the dot is a ‘centered-set’. There are now lines but a center we should be moving toward. The center is Jesus. He is life. ”Do you want to follow Jesus?” “Are you following him?” “Come follow me?” “Walk as He walked, live as He lived.” The question doesn’t become did I do something way back when to get in me or out. The question is today, right now, ‘am I following Jesus’? ‘Am I moving toward him or away from Him?’ ’Am I looking for life from Him or somewhere else?’ If not, I need the gospel. If I say I am in the club – a believer, a Christian – and I’m not following Him, then I’m a liar. I am still in darkness. I am still dead and in need of life.
I needed the gospel yesterday as I mulled over this passage. I had a crappy attitude about this service I was doing. Long story but this refugee family moved to a new apartment so instead of walking to school they need to ride the bus but are in a zone for a different elementary school. I’m still working on getting the school system to pick them up on a special bus like they do another refugee family. But I’m in the middle of gov’t red tape right now. So until it happens, Robin and I are shuttling them to school and back every day. Yesterday I woke up and really didn’t want to go get these kids. I did it… but I was grumbling. I wasn’t walking as Jesus walked. I needed the gospel.
What if we talked in these terms? What if we stopped worrying about ‘works salvation’? What if we focused on just being true followers of Jesus? What if right now as I sat in this coffee-shop, I think ‘am I following Jesus?’ What if I ask as I parent, ‘am I walking as Jesus walked’? I know it evokes the old WWJD bracelets. But maybe that wasn’t such a token cheesy thing.
What if I loved as Jesus loved and lived as Jesus lived? What if I called others to this as well?
