I have been put in the position to think about the kinds of questions I was asking myself at that time again.
Yesterday, in my Formational Models for Christian Ministry class (a class where we talk about being affective, and healthy ministers of word and service), one of our professors, Kevin Hall, instructed us to go to a website, called Wordle. At this website, we typed words that described ourselves and our lives into a box, pressed a button, and then got to arrange and change the color of the words we typed in. The end result is a cluster of the words that you typed in that looks pretty dang epic.
Here was the first Wordle I designed:
I forgot to type "epic" in there. Sad day.
Kevin made an interesting point after we had finished making our Wordles. He asked us about the types of words we had typed into our "Wordle" box. He pointed out that when asked to describe ourselves, many of us used words that described what we do. Take another look at my box. ^^^ Amongst words like "Christian" and "energetic", I've got musician, singer, actress, dancer, camp counselor, missionary, writer...
What about when we describe someone else? We'll go with Will Ferrell. What do you come up with? What are the first five words that come to mind? Here are mine:
Actor.
Comedian.
Performer.
Hilarious.
Celebrity.
Take a second look at that list. At least three, and if you stretch it, all five, of those words describe what Will Ferrell does. He acts, a type of performance, and he does it in a comedic way in which he knows other people will see.
Would you agree with me when I say that it's fair to assume that if someone was asked to describe you, words that fit with what you personally do will most likely come first? When I moved back to LeMars and people asked others who the new girl was, many times the responses would be something like "She's in choir.", or "She's a cheerleader.".
When asked to describe ourselves, many of us used words that described what we do.
Let's really think about that for a minute. What do you do? And if decisions about who you are as a person are based off of that...what kind of person are you? What does your "Wordle" look like?
Now, I'm not saying that my uber-positive "Wordle" is me 100% of the time. Everything in that jumble of words is positive (except maybe "loud"...and "ginger", if you ask my friends). If I was always everything in that box (and frankly, I'd definitely need to be much more), I might not even need a savior, but I'm definitely not everything in that box on a daily basis. If I was, I would be a much better person. The truth is...I'm a terrible person, who can't save myself from my own sinful nature on my own. Just like the rest of the world, I am in desperate need of Jesus.
So, what's really in our hearts then? How does what we do show the world who we are? What does that reflect on us? While pondering that, I opened up the "Wordle" website again, and began to think about what our sinful actions say about us. Here's what I came up with:
I'd say that's a pretty accurate picture of what's inside of us. I know if you put my heart, your heart, or anyone else's heart, under a microscope, past the fake facades that we plaster on every day, this is what you'd find. We may be able to hide from the world to some degree, but this is what God sees when He looks at our sinful hearts.
But...
Praise the Living God for sending His Son, Jesus, to die for us! Because of Christ's death, the sinful actions that we daily execute have been wiped clean. His blood has cleansed us from all eternity. He has ripped the dirt and darkness out of our souls and saved us from the consequences of our sins. Because of Him, the picture changes from what we saw above, to something a little like this:
Pretty drastic transformation, huh? Through the power of Christ who dwells in us, we can do amazing things! Philippians 4:13 reminds us: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.". What powerful words this verse contains! This verse shows that with Christ, not only can we overcome the sometimes overpowering challenges of our lives, we can also make changes in this world. Massive and epically fantastic changes! We can make a difference by being who we are, because of what Christ is doing through us.
Now I have a challenge for you. Write down five things that you did today. Just five random things. A diverse mix of good, bad, or as unimportant as how many gray hairs you found today (I found three last week...ah! Totally not kidding, either.). Read your list. Read it again. Aaaand...read it one more time.
Look at each item on your list individually. Does it fit into a category such as daily routine, chores, or free time activity? Was it basically a "good" thing, or a "bad" thing? But most importantly, I want you to stretch beyond what each item on your list meant/did for you today. How did it effect everyone else? Sure, when you mowed the lawn, your yard looked better, and it made you feel a slight sense of accomplishment, but maybe it relieved some stress off of another memeber of your household. Or, maybe that fight you picked with your sister this morning because you were in a bad mood ruined the rest of her day.
What does your list, and how your list affects the world around you, say about you? What do your actions reveal about who you are? But even more important, how does that reflect you as a Christian, and what kind message does your attitude send to non-believers?
Missouri Synod Lutherans (which is my denominational background), as well as many other protestants, believe that salvation comes from the amazing grace, and grace alone, of God through faith in the life, death, and ressurection of His only son, Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8 makes this very clear: "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." Our actions, good or bad, don't save us, and they definitely don't save others (if they did, what need would there be for a savior?), but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't give to charity, or voluntarily help others. James 2:26 says "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." Once again, no, I am not trying to tell you that you are "dead" or lost because you don't do good works, but if our actions don't reflect that we are Christians who love Christ and our fellow brothers and sisters in Him, what's the point? God's going to love us no matter what we do, no matter how many times we mess up, no matter how many times we stray from the path, but that doesn't mean we just say "Okay, well, I'm gonna screw up anyways, so why not live in sin, and why sacrifice being ridiculed for the gospel?". What the world claims to be a curse, is actually our blessing. God has sent us into the world with the words of the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19, "Therefore go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." And what's one of the easiest ways to witness Christ to our world? Through our actions and words. Even if you are put into a situation where you can never mention His name, you can still be Jesus to someone through what you say and do. God is THAT powerful, and that is so amazing!
Dr. Trapp (yes, I am referrencing my "all-knowing" Old Testament prof again) would call this 'ontology'. Meaning, we're being Jesus to our brothers and sisters in Christ because we are in a relationship with a God who loves us (not because we get to go to heaven if we do. Dr. Trapp would call that "teleology", or doing something because you'll get something out of it.). God loves us so much...even though without His son's blood we are worthless, filthy sinners. Because of that, we should show that same kind of unconditional, undeserved love to others.
Take another look at that list I asked you to make. If your actions are who you are, then who are you? What are you doing? Who have you been Jesus to today?
Love Always,
-ellie*
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