Changed And Changing

Last week was my final week at the Harrisburg Discipleship Center. I have been processing my time there since my return home, and one thing is certain: I have changed and I am continuing to change.

No, I am not talking about puberty; I am talking about Jesus' work in my life.

Since being back, a couple of people have told me that I have changed so much these past two years. When I hear people say this, I think of 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" Now, the changes that have been happening are not surface level; they happen inwardly and work their way out. This, I suppose, is how Jesus works. People may want surface-level change, but Jesus starts at the inward-most point, the heart/spirit (see Ezekiel 36:26). So for me, this change first happened during my senior year of high school. Jesus gave me a new heart and his Spirit.

Looking back at the past two years, I have definitely been changing. The big word for this occurrence is sanctification. It means that Jesus' living in you causes noticeable changes in your life. Jesus has never been such a focus in my life as He has been these past two years, and the changes in my life have come from that focus, or that relationship, or that Jesus. Some things that I have learned from this past year are grace, the importance of John 15, the sovereignty of Jesus, and my passion for discipleship.

So as one season ends and a new one begins, I am excited to see how God will continue to change me, deepen my relationship with Him, and how He will impact others through me.

Christian Fragrance

This is a continuation of my thoughts from my previous post, so if you haven't read it, you should check it out.

A mission re-entry is taking place here at the Harrisburg Discipleship Center, and we have morning devotionals together. Yesterday morning I talked about the picture I took (shown right). Today I brought it up again and we expounded more on my third point. What we discussed is this:

Our attitudes affect our fragrance.

I mentioned how last night I thought about my life apart from Christ, and how there was great evidence I wasn't in a relationship with him. The part of my past life that stuck out was my relationship with my family. I was extremely self-centered back then, and family life was affected from this. I didn't have good interactions with them, and they often got upset with me (understandably so). I treated my sisters terribly and didn't care what they thought of me. We never talked about God or Christianity (at least with me), and I probably would not have had much to say anyway.

But now, having a relationship with God, my family life has changed for the better. I have great times with all my sisters and no longer treat them poorly. We also naturally talk about our relationships with God, something of which we all share.

Thinking back on this change (and others) allowed me to see how God has changed my life by being in relationship with me. This is what our fragrance should be: an overflowing love of God for who he is and for his grace given to us. God gives us this fragrance by making us a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) and giving us a new heart and his Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

This is crazy love! We can't forget that we were once "cigarette butts." Our new identity in Christ should never get old. His grace in our daily lives continues to give us the "fragrance of the knowledge of [Christ]" (2 Corinthians 2:14). This overflow of love (the fragrance of Christ) is what gets the attention of "cigarette butts." People know crazy love when they see it. When "roses" show love to "cigarette butts," they notice something is different, in a good way.

A friend of mine, who doesn't yet know Jesus relationally, noticed this in my life (remember, by the grace of God). I'll never forget what my friend said after visiting me one weekend: "You make me want to be a better person." My friend could smell the fragrance of Christ in me and my family.  This is how God spreads his love and "fragrance:" through changed "roses."

But back to the point: Our attitudes affect our fragrance. Our motivation for our interactions with those who don't know Christ should never be obligation. You are not indebted to Christ. You could never pay him back if you were, because he gives us his grace in our lives every day. We depend on his love, faithfulness, and character daily. We need to remain in the Living Water (John 4:10, 15:4) to have the fragrance of Christ. If we don't do this, we will start smelling like a "cigarette" again.

So in summation, stay in the Living Water and remember that you once were a "cigarette butt," but now God has given you a new identity. And spread the fragrance of Christ!

A Rose Among Cigarettes

On my way to McBIC this morning, I saw a peculiar thing while waiting for a green light: a rose was on the side of the road among cigarette butts. It caught me and my friends off guard; you usually don't see a rose on the side of the road. It seemed out of place. I had to take a picture of it because it was so peculiar.

My friends and I agreed that this would be good imagery for something. I soon thought of the phrase "aroma of Christ," and  it seemed to fit very well. So after we returned from McBIC, I looked up the passage. Here it is:

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing." -2 Corinthians 2:14-15

 A couple things from this image. First, we are like cigarette butts, but God came to us anyway. I think cigarettes are gross, while roses are lovely things. One has a foul fragrance, the other has a pleasant fragrance. Jesus went to those whom people considered "sinners." He didn't mind hanging out with the "unclean" people. When questioned about this, Jesus said in Luke 5:31, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick."

And we we need to realize that we are all "unclean." Paul told the church in Rome, "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) We all are separated from God (at one time, for Jesus followers) and in need of someone to save us from sin and death. "Self-righteous" should be equated with "self-deceived." No one has the capability to be righteous in his own strength. We all are (or were) cigarette butts, and we can't change that reality by ourselves.

Second, God, through a relationship with him, makes us a new creation. Imagine transforming from a cigarette butt to a rose. Talk about an entirely new identity! When we have a relationship with God, we become noticeably different. We have "life to the full." (John 10:10) Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" Cigarettes are known to cause death, while roses signify love and life. The difference is significant.

Third, the roses (those with a relationship with God) are to "spread the fragrance of the knowledge of him [Christ]" to the cigarette butts. Roses are fragrant, and fragrance spreads. If you are a follower of Jesus, you can remember those "roses" in your life who spread the fragrance of Christ to you. We need to have "cigarette butts" in our lives so they can smell the fragrance of Christ in our lives.

In summation, the 2 Corinthians 2 passage fits well with this picture. Christ is leading our lives, we are confident and joyful from the transformation in Christ, and we spread the fragrance of Christ to others.

Refocus

During this past winter training at the Harrisburg Discipleship Center, I would, every now and then, remind the team of the reason they were there. In essence, I would remind them of the Good News; that God, through Jesus, reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).

I was reminded of our need for focus while reading 2 Timothy. I would encourage you to read through it. Paul writes to Timothy in an almost militaristic style. There are many charges throughout the book. But you can see that Paul is not being heartless (he addresses Timothy as "my dear son") but is lovingly stressing the importance of these commands. He is stressing Timothy's need to persevere, stay focused, stand on sound doctrine, and not be distracted or deceived.

(If you aren't a follower of Jesus, I encourage you to examine your life.)

I found myself going back to 2 Corinthians 5 after reading 2 Timothy. 2 Corinthians 5:14-21 is an excellent summation of our purpose, our mission. Here's a part of it:

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation." -2 Corinthians 5:17-19

 God brought us back into a right relationship with him through Jesus' atonement of sins on the cross. We have new life in God. It's so encouraging for me to look back to where I was a couple years ago and see how much has changed through a relationship with God. It really is a Jesus Story; it's not a self-help story. God brings a genuine newness to our lives.

But notice that Paul doesn't stop there while writing to the believers in Corinth; he goes on to say that God "gave us the ministry of reconciliation." God has shown me this truth in recent months: the Good News doesn't end at us. Christianity is not about ourselves; it's about sharing the love and grace that God has given us. It's about God. This is hard to see in America, a place being choked by the thorns of materialism and consumerism, but it's clear to see in places like Asia, where the majority of Christians are. The persecution there forces them to be focused; they need to have the truth constantly on their minds.

This takes us back to 2 Timothy, with Paul telling Timothy to stay focused and not be distracted. His reason for these encouragements is the message of reconciliation that we've received. We're supposed to be sharing this amazing love that we've been given and showing others the new life that's been given to us; because, again, Christianity is about God, not us. It doesn't end with us. We have the joy of sharing to those in our lives this Good News.

But isn't it easy to get distracted? There is an enemy in this world who is perfectly content with us Christians wasting time on Facebook, at the mall, on the computer, in front of the TV, etc. Frankly, we aren't being very effective sharers of God's love when we do stuff that is only temporally significant. But it seems lately that I have been distracted by many little things that aren't terribly important in the long run. By God's grace, he has been refocusing me.

So how about you? Does your life need some more focus (like mine)? Remember the new life that has been given to you, and remember your God-given ministry (2 Corinthians 5:17-19).