Monday 29 April 2013

I'm not Jesus

I'm not crazy; I don't have a histrionic personality disorder. I do not suffer from delusions of grandiose; I did not come away from my trip to Israel with Jerusalem syndrome. I am a relatively sane, normal human being.

However, I often fall into a trap. I try to be Jesus to people. I try to solve their problems and I believe that the onus is on me to make sure that they become good, sinless Christians. This means I often worry  needlessly about friends, I'm often quick to rebuke them, I make small issues into big issues. In doing this, I often forget to involve Jesus in the process. As I'm to busy trying to be Jesus, I don't have the time and energy to focus on Jesus.

Back in the day, (well, you can still get them) W.W.J.D. band were pretty popular. These were so that in times of decision making, we were to ask ourselves what would Jesus do. It's really good to focus our minds on our Saviour when making decisions, but in some cases we are not able to do what Jesus did. We are not able to forgive people of their sins. We are not able to restore them of their brokenness. These are just cases of the blind leading the blind.

We are called to be ambassadors of Christ. An ambassador does not go with his own authority or power, but with the power and authority of the Head of State. They represent their country and its leader. We, too, represent Jesus and his church. We are to show his love, humility and goodness to people. What's more, we do not do this alone. Jesus gave us authority and power through the Holy Spirit. We go with his authority, not our own.

When I finally realised that I wasn't called to be Jesus, it was both terrifying and liberating. It was terrifying because I had to concede that I wasn't it control. It wasn't up to me whether my friend became a Christian, or whether another friend made the right choices about certain areas of their life. I had to trust that God was working in their life. It was liberating because I no longer felt panicked or guilty whenever I thought my friends were doing something that wasn't right. I no longer had trouble sleeping think about what I needed to do.

I still care deeply about my friends. I pray for them and love them. And if God chooses to use me in whatever way, I'm ready to do that. But, I can sleep at night because they're in far more capable hands than mine.


Quick Question

  • Have you felt the pressure to be Jesus to people?

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