Chosen Ones

          As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3)

           We’re thinking about the “one anothers” of the New Testament, but let’s pause that for a  moment to consider another phrase. “Live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” In literature, especially fantasy literature, there’s the notion of “the chosen one.” Proper care must be observed here because it’s easy to step over the line from what I’m talking about to what I’m not. So, as some folks have put it, let me explain what I’m not talking about with “the chosen one.”

          In our case, it doesn’t refer to our being the Messiah. Jesus was that Chosen One, and there is no other. However, you and I are chosen ones. Our lives are not entirely our own. There’s a job we are here to do, and it’s an important job. Quite often in stories, the Chosen One doesn’t know he/she is chosen and doesn’t realize what is needed or at stake at first. The whole point of a story about a Chosen One is that what they have to do is hard, possibly ending in the death of the Chosen One.

It’s easy to say that we’re just normal folks, but the reality is the Christians are chosen ones. We are the hero of the story, but we’re with Him, and the tasks that we are here to do are difficult. They may result in our deaths. We need to become people who are worthy of the hero’s role.

          Part of what that takes is being humble and gentle – not exerting force for our own benefit beyond what is necessary. Another part is being patient, which is like the other two. It requires that we give up godhood in the lives of others, and give God time to work in their lives instead. The fourth thing it requires is to bear with one another in love. Sometimes, it seems to require heroic measures to put up with the idiots out there. Can I get an “amen”? I mean, really. People are so thoughtless, so difficult. And if it were all easy, it would require little or no effort on our part, and we’d end up frauds, claiming to be heroes when in fact we’re lazy fools with delusions of grandeur. We cannot be otherwise if we don’t face challenges.

          So, the people who are buying up all the stuff? Forgive them. The people who are demanding that we give up activities. Bear with them. Be patient. The one who cuts you off in traffic? Be patient with him. All those idiots who make life so difficult? Love them, because in doing that hard, hard work, you become worthy of the role to which you’ve been called.