My 5 Exes (part 1)

I was listening to a sermon by Ravi Zacharias recently (link to the right), and he was talking about purpose in life. Where does it come from? What is it for you? He did something a little unfair in this day and age. He asked me to actually do something specific. He asked me to sit down and write on a piece of paper what the goal of my life is. Because let's be honest if you don't know where you're ending up, how will you ever move in that direction today? So I prayed and thought and wrote, and what I came up with are what I call my 'five exes'. Five phrases that I pray would describe any and every action I do and/or the motivation behind them:


1) Express God’s character – ‘the invisible is understood by what has been made’ (paraphrase of Romans 1:20). I'll say up front that this is the all-encompassing one, and quite frankly the one that is the hardest. Why? Because it has more (if not everything) to do with yielding myself to Him Who is the full expression of God's character - Jesus than on actually doing or being anything on my own. And as I'm sure you can testify, humility is harder than pride when it comes to being present in this world. So what is God's character? Well, we can start anywhere, but He is infinite so we certainly won't ever end anywhere. But how about 'God is love.' (1 John 4); 'He Who called you is holy...' (1 Peter 1); 'God is light...' (1 John 1). Forgiving, merciful, patient, generous, outreaching......like I said the list is as He is. Infinite. But here's the treasure. You don't have to exhaust the list before you get started (believe me one trait is hard enough to do consistently). Slow down and start with one. Press in and allow the change to come because '...we are being transformed into His likeness...' (2 Corinthians 3). Remember, it's GOD'S character that is central here not our interpretation or perspective. Our part is to embrace (humbly but actively) our role as His Image bearers here and now. Words like obey, yield, and follow are the main actions we find being employed here. It's time to begin. Because if we fail here, nothing else we do will be worth doing. Figure everything else out, but neglect this point and we will accomplish nothing. I fear this is one of the big reasons (if not THE reason) our testimony and impact in this generation has been (and is increasingly becoming) impotent.

2)Extend God’s love – ‘as though God were making His appeal through us’ (2 Corinthians 5:20). This is where the rubber meets the road, and where we get a bit squeamish (at least I do). Extending God's love is parabalized and illustrated a thousand times over, but application is usually lacking. When is the last time I actually was the good Samaritan? Why doesn't Isaiah 58 describe my actions? These texts and plenty of others focus on the command we have been given to be involved in the unjust, unfortunate, and unappealing situations that surround us daily. Jesus said that He is sending his disciples into the world just as the Father had sent Him into the world (John 20). Our mission is to be as impacting as Jesus' was and is (or even more impacting - see John 14). That's a tall order. So where do we start? What are some ways to put this principle into practice? I think the words of Isaiah can apply here (Isaiah 6) when God says that though we have eyes and ears we don't see and hear (or ARE NOT seeing and hearing) what is going on around us. Our part in this mission is being willing to see the desperate situations and to hear the pleas for help. In a word we must acknowledge the lives around us, and rather than being overcome by the enormity of the task, we are to extend love into the mix. The same Love that saw us and heard our heart's cry. So just as it is with God's character, we remember it is God's love that makes the difference. Not some cozy, isolated, intangible love, but God's extreme, heroic, outreaching love expressed through Jesus Christ.....and now through us.

There are three more exes I want to share, and I'll pop those out at the end of the week. But for now, let's start with these two. They're plenty. Lord, thank you for Who You are and how You have loved us. Conform us so much to the likeness of Your Son, Jesus, that this world will see Your character and feel Your love through us. Hallelujah and amen.