The Fourth Wall - Day 3
What we include.
When Christians think about not conforming to this world, we usually go to those things that we need to exclude to not conform to what is happening in the world. We try to find those things that cause us to sin or that we think are sinful, and we exclude, or at least try to exclude, those things from our lives. We often go to the next step and assume everyone should exclude those things from their lives. We do this as a form of protection for others or God, which I don’t think makes much sense.
When we begin to realize that there is another way and another world that we need to recognize and try to live into, we realize that it is perhaps not so much about what we exclude but about what we include in our lives.
Many of us have tried to exclude so much from our lives that it is a little like trying to be on an extreme diet. We expect to walk away from all of those things we have become used to. We starve ourselves of our regular lives, and then we long for what we no longer have. We don’t give ourselves time to wean off of those things that have become habits.
It is akin to trying to run an Ironman Triathlon without any training. I don't know why we can do that with any success. Crash diets, massive lifestyle changes, and going from 0 to 100 in a day rarely work when it comes to creating habits and new directions in our lives.
Changes in our lives happen in millimeters, not miles. Those millimeters aggregate and become the miles we want to travel, but they don’t happen all at once. And perhaps we are even taking the wrong approach to making those changes.
Rather than making those changes through lack, scarcity, and unreasonable discipline, what if we began to add more and more things into our lives full of abundance and love and have a density of compassion that eventually pushes out the space for those things we want to exclude? Therefore, the exclusion process becomes natural, easy, and almost an afterthought to those things that fulfill us daily.
And just so you know, you are not alone in feeling the way that you do. Paul struggled with some of these same issues: Romans 7:15-21: For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.
Paul struggled with these concepts just like we do, and what was the solution? Romans 7:24-25 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Knowing there is only one solution, we should start there. Rather than starting with an iron will and a list of things to exclude, begin with Jesus and see what he adds to your life!
When Christians think about not conforming to this world, we usually go to those things that we need to exclude to not conform to what is happening in the world. We try to find those things that cause us to sin or that we think are sinful, and we exclude, or at least try to exclude, those things from our lives. We often go to the next step and assume everyone should exclude those things from their lives. We do this as a form of protection for others or God, which I don’t think makes much sense.
When we begin to realize that there is another way and another world that we need to recognize and try to live into, we realize that it is perhaps not so much about what we exclude but about what we include in our lives.
Many of us have tried to exclude so much from our lives that it is a little like trying to be on an extreme diet. We expect to walk away from all of those things we have become used to. We starve ourselves of our regular lives, and then we long for what we no longer have. We don’t give ourselves time to wean off of those things that have become habits.
It is akin to trying to run an Ironman Triathlon without any training. I don't know why we can do that with any success. Crash diets, massive lifestyle changes, and going from 0 to 100 in a day rarely work when it comes to creating habits and new directions in our lives.
Changes in our lives happen in millimeters, not miles. Those millimeters aggregate and become the miles we want to travel, but they don’t happen all at once. And perhaps we are even taking the wrong approach to making those changes.
Rather than making those changes through lack, scarcity, and unreasonable discipline, what if we began to add more and more things into our lives full of abundance and love and have a density of compassion that eventually pushes out the space for those things we want to exclude? Therefore, the exclusion process becomes natural, easy, and almost an afterthought to those things that fulfill us daily.
And just so you know, you are not alone in feeling the way that you do. Paul struggled with some of these same issues: Romans 7:15-21: For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.
Paul struggled with these concepts just like we do, and what was the solution? Romans 7:24-25 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Knowing there is only one solution, we should start there. Rather than starting with an iron will and a list of things to exclude, begin with Jesus and see what he adds to your life!
- What have you been trying to exclude lately?
- How is that going? Do you see victory?
- What do you think God wants you to add to your life?
1 Comment
I love this abundance message. In my mind it aligns with the context of the Gospel question, is Salvation an opt in OR opt out choice. If it's an opt in, then it implies that I need to exclude the 'old' life, that I need to make a 180 degree change in my life. But if it's an opt out of choice, it implies that I embrace Jesus and the abundance He offers.