Our fellowship has had a wonderful 2010. We have seen the hand of God move among us. I am so grateful to God because His Spirit has done a marvelous work in us this past year. It is wonderful to see all of us come together as a family, with one mind as the beautiful bride of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then God was pleased to use us in reaching many who have not heard the Gospel with the good news of Jesus. We have all had one of the best Christmases of our lives.
From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. - Luke 12:48
Why is it about Jesus?
For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. - Colossians 1:16
We see in this verse that everything was about Jesus. All things were created for Him. This is a difficult concept for us to grasp as we are so busy believing that everything is about us. If everything is about Jesus, then what about us?
Our Identity
We live in a culture that celebrates “It’s all about me”. Everything is permissible when we take care of number one in our lives. That is why the society is so self-centered; there are so many conflicts at work, in church and between family members. That is why the divorce rate is so high nowadays. If you are not happy, get out! It’s all about the self.
The story of our lives is not about you and me. We are in the story of Jesus, the supporting cast and we have to realize we are not the heroes here. The hero is the Son of God.
What then is our identity? Who are we?
Our identity is usually defined by what we do or what is done to us or who we are related to in this world? We can define ourselves by our education, a job, how much money we have or how much power we wield. Is this our true Identity?
God is writing the story and He has given us all identities and roles in His story. So our identity is not who we think we are but what we are in Christ Jesus.
Let’s look at the story of John the Baptist – Jesus said that John the Baptist is the greatest person ever born – You would think then that it would be his story. Was it?
He was born by God’s power, lived like a monk, preached great sermons and all the people followed him. He was very popular and kings were scared of him. He baptized the Son of God! He could be forgiven if he thought it was his story. Perhaps the greatness of John was not what he is, or what he did, but because he played his part in the story in the best way possible. He recognized that it is not his story.
Read John 3.
To realize our true identity, Jesus needs to increase and the ‘I’ in us needs to decrease.
Our Actions
Man is a social animal. We like to live in groups. Some like to lead, some like to follow and almost all of us need to be loved, approved, praised and encouraged. We love it when someone says we did a great job. We say that for children to encourage them. We look for approval from our spouses, bosses, pastors and friends.
Our actions are usually influenced by our needs. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs puts the need for Self Esteem or Approval right after our need for physical necessities like food, shelter; Safety and Security and the need to be loved. I want to talk about this need for Approval because it often gets us into trouble and derails us from playing our part right in the story of Christ.
Let us see what the approval of men robs us out of in our lives. When Jesus performed miracles, many were impressed and wanted to believe in Him, but were afraid of the consequences.
Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. They were willing to forgo eternal life in place of the approval of men. This is still so true in our present times.
We believers are not exempt from this either. We do not preach the gospel to our non believing friends because of what they will think of us, thus condemning them to eternal damnation. We need to be free from this cancer that is making us ineffective; seek the approval of God rather than man.
Paul says “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” - Galatians 1:10
Read Colossians 3: 12-17
It’s not about pleasing ourselves or others. It’s about pleasing God through our attitudes and actions
Conclusion:
Our duty is to remain united and continue to grow and be ready for whatever the Lord has in store for us in the coming days.
One way to evaluate ourselves is by the verse in
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of the others - Philippians 2:3-4
And above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins – 1 Peter 4:8
Let’s give God the paper, the pen and the freedom to write the script for us in any way He chooses.
When we do that, we can be sure to have a great ending that God planned for our story.
Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children – Ephesians 5:1
When we realize our true identity and learn to act our part right, we will see a great revival and transformation around us and God’s Kingdom will be established on earth. It’s not about us. It’s all about Jesus in His glory and His fame.
Let us examine ourselves: Are there any roadblocks to us playing our role?
Do we feel we are more important than the role given to us? Could it be resentment because someone else has the role we like to play? Do we think we can write a better story?