Skip to main content

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.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, a...
Post a Comment
Read more