Accountable Disciples
"Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of countenance the heart is made glad..."
I'm sure most people would have an initial sense of
repulsion to this passage of Scripture.
It seems almost inconceivable that anyone would embrace sorrow as the pathway
to a glad heart. And yet, it is just
like God to offer us the ironic and contradictory option. A heart is content when it walks through the
valley of contention and suffering.
Why?
I truly believe that a contrite heart is a broken
heart. A heart that is bearing the
burden of someone else's pain is empathetic and vulnerable.
As Scripture tells us, "the heart of the wise is in the
heart of mourning." One of the gravest errors any Christian can ever make is to
assume that their walk with Jesus (to grow in intimacy with Him) depends solely
on the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t. We must be accountable and deliberate
disciples seeking to intentionally live out our professed faith in Jesus. Some may believe this is addressed if we are
involved in the care and service to the disenfranchised. However, I believe this is a skewed view of
intentional living in Christ. Why?
Although mandated in Scriptures, the care for the poor and
disenfranchised is essential to the Christian life, but in order for us to be
accountable and deliberate disciples we must first start with ourselves. It begins with me; with you. We must first delve deep within each of us
and pray that God rips out intimately personal planks, before we can ever reach
out to take the splinter from another’s eye.
We must be brought to our knees and experience the humbling
transformation of self before we can ever genuinely profess it to others. This is how we experience genuine intimacy
and fellowship with the Light. If not,
“we walk in darkness and do not practice the truth,” as it written in 1 John
1. And if we walk in darkness, we then
serve ourselves as we “serve others”, while actually exploiting their situation
in order to veil our brokenness and to increase our sense of pride.
It begins with deep, prayerful introspection wherein we find
the root of the issues that cause strife, conflict, anxiety and insecurities in
our lives. When we choose to address
these aspects of our self before, during and after they spring up; we will then
begin to live an accountable life, i.e., accountable to others
(couples/marriage/family/friends/colleagues).
As we embrace this new way of living in Christ, we also
choose to seek to heal from these sources of brokenness. We address them with heartfelt tenacity, turn
them over to God with a contrite spirit and heart and seek to sever their power
over us by praying for their removal in the name of Jesus Christ.
In the end, the Spirit will always provide the power,
endurance and cover for us to grow closer and closer to God through Chris
Jesus; but the Christian must run the race… and running is never a passive
exercise.
If we choose to get on the track and run the race in
earnest, we must re-examine what is to be understood as God’s calling for our
lives. "To be called", is a
phrase most often is associated with ordained ministry, and yet, Scripture
clearly shows that as we are members of the Body of Christ, we are called to
serve as members of a royal priesthood.
Therefore, we are ALL called to serve God in, through and because of
Jesus Christ. Whether ordained or not,
ALL Christians have been given this holy task.
We have all been called into an active life of prayer, intimacy and
service in this world as followers of Jesus.
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