REFLECTIONS

Love is a freaky word.  It represents a weird quirk of human language in that it occupies the status of both noun and verb. Love is both a thing, and an action. Consider the two following sentences:

She loved me immensely.

He blessed me immensely with his love.

In the first sentence, love is a verb, but in the second sentence it is a noun. In the first sentence it is an action of blessing, but in the second, it is the blessing. To love someone is to bless them. To be loved by someone is to receive a blessing from them. In either case, love is best measured by behavior and action.

In its noun form, it is a wonderful thing. Paul tells us that it is a kind thing, a patient thing; that it is a thing which doesn’t boast, or envy, or dishonor others. It isn’t marked by pride or selfishness, and it doesn’t become easily angered or keep track of mistakes (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). As a noun, it isn’t something that you can necessarily see with your eyes, or feel with your touch. Instead, you feel it in the bonds of relationships, and the melding of hearts and spirits when someone commits something about themselves to you.

As a verb, it means commitment. She loved me immensely, means that she was committed to my wellbeing in large and great ways. Commitment is always measured by action and steadfastness.  The person who truly loves you, loves you through trials, tribulations and celebrations. And it is this love that Peter tells us is a measure of – or a result of – our obedience to the truth. In fact, he tells us that our lives should be marked by a sincere and deep, earnest, or fervent love for one another (1 Peter 1:22). In other words, our commitment to one another should be intense.  How intense? John says that it should be so intense and sincere that we would be willing to lay down our lives for one another (1 John 3:16-18). In what ways can you daily lay down your life for your spouse, your child, or your Christian brother or sister?

Transformation is an important concept all throughout the bible. Most people think about the word inadequately, which can make for a lesser understanding of the miracles that are worked in their lives. For instance, people might think of someone transforming a hardtop sedan into a convertible.  Or they might think of a person transforming a room by painting it and covering up the flaws. But this is not usually what is meant by transformation in the bible. The nature of the sedan is still the same, and it is still recognizable as its earlier form. The painted room is still the same room with the same capacity and the same flaws. The flaws are just covered up with paint.  When the bible talks about transformation, it is talking about real change.  It means that something will change from one kind of thing into something entirely different. Transformation is all-encompassing and permanent.  Transformation is a caterpillar changing into a butterfly, which does not turn back into a caterpillar. I have a friend who changed his riding lawn mower into a log splitter. He re-worked everything on that mower’s chassis.  And when he was done, he had transformed the machine permanently and unmistakably. The new machine was barely discernible from the old. Just consider the word’s roots: “trans,” meaning across or beyond, and “form,” meaning visible shape or configuration. Transform means to change something across or beyond forms.

And it is transformative change that the bible presents when God touches a person’s life.  There are many examples of people so moved by God’s power that they become completely different.  Peter, Paul, and all of the apostles. But also a demon possessed common man (Mark 5:1-20), and a dying thief who was transformed into a saint (Luke 23:32-43).

This same power that transformed them can also transform you.  Paul instructs us to be transformed by changing the way we think about God (Romans 12:2).  If you do that, then God will make you into something totally different than what you were before, and he won’t stop until you are perfect (Philippians 1:6).

Purpose is important.  It’s the reason for something’s existence. For example, a hammer exists to drive nails. A glass exists to bring a drink to one’s lips. It’s so important that the great Helen Keller once argued that joy is not derived from self-gratification, but from fidelity to a worthy purpose. Think about that quote in light of your own frustrations.  If you’re like most of the world, you’ve probably huffed, “what’s the purpose?” during a moment of annoyance when you didn’t understand what you were doing or why you were doing it. Just imagine trying to bring a drink to one’s lips with a hammer, or trying to drive a nail with a glass. It doesn’t usually work very well when you try to use something outside of its intended purpose.

Many of the woes that we experience in life are precisely because we are trying to live our lives outside of God’s purposes for it. And it’s probably safe to say that at some level we’ve falsely interpreted our purpose through a lens of self-gratification.  When we do that, we’re trying to drive a nail with a glass, or to drink from a hammer. Instead of asking ourselves what did God intend for my gifts and blessings, we often ask, “how can I use this gift or blessing to benefit myself even more?” But the truth is that in most cases, one’s greatest joy will come from living out one’s life in the way that God intended for it to be lived out.

This realization, of course, leads many people to ask, “what is my purpose?” Everyone’s purpose is a bit different, but for the follower of Christ, all of those purposes should fit tidily within a few categories.   A true purpose glorifies God. A true purpose expresses the gospel. A true purpose benefits the body of Christ. Solomon sums it up by arguing that the whole duty of man is to fear God and keep his commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13). If that is so, then your purpose is to love God with all of your heart, mind, and soul, and to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40).  To begin the journey of discovering your purpose, take an inventory of the roles that God has placed you in, then take an inventory of your talents, gifts, and blessings. Ask yourself how those roles, talents, gifts and blessings can be employed to meet the expectations of those scriptures.

When we are trying to determine if something is genuine, real, or true, we look for certain hallmarks that are unique to the thing we are testing. For instance, before I could get a passport, the government required that I prove that I was really me – the genuine, real, and true Mike Hosey.  I had to provide a birth certificate and a number of other identifiers that only I should possess. The birth certificate also had to have certain identifiers. It had to be original, or it had to be a copy with the raised and recognized seal of my birth state issued by an official authority.

Being able to tell when something is real and genuine is very important.  Consider an air travel hack I use. When I’m traveling by airplane, I always mark my bags in conspicuous ways so that when I’m in the baggage claim area, I know which ones are mine — even if they are the same brand, style, type and color as someone else’s.  Mine will have a unique duct taped pattern easily visible on prominent faces of the baggage. It’s unmistakable that they belong to me. In fact, it so unmistakable that I recognize them instantly. And so will just about anyone who knows me. Because we don’t live in some horrific dystopian science fiction world inhabited by both humans and uber-realistic humanoid robots that are indistinguishable from your neighbors, it’s not particularly difficult to determine who is a real person. A real person is any human being with flaws, problems, hurts, hang-ups and issues. Even “fake” people are real people. The only requirement for being a real person is to be a real human.

Identifying a real Christian can be a bit dicier, though. People, afterall, are very good at faking things.  But here are some duct taped traits that should apply to all real Christians so that they are easily identifiable from a variety of angles: If you are a true Christian, you should be working continually on your submission to Jesus as your Lord. This should be evident in how you strive to do those things that please him (Matthew 28:19-20), and avoid those things that sadden him (Matthew 23:23-28, Matthew 23:37-39). You should be committed to fellow Christians (John 13:35). And you should display the Fruits of the Spirit, while starving to death those desires that don’t come from God (Matthew 5:22-24). If you attend to these things genuinely, then others will see the genuine article in you, and you will confirm your growth toward Godliness (2 Peter 1:5-10).