Living Like Jesus

I have started reading a book – big surprise I’m sure – whose basic premise is: if you are a follower of Jesus, what should your life look like? The writer’s answer to that question is: your life should look like Jesus.

Of course, one could say that any book, written from a Christian perspective, has that perspective in mind. I have said it here, more than once, that God’s purpose for each person is:

• To give his allegiance to the Father, Son and Spirit;
• To be united with God’s family;
• To be restored to God’s original design for people. (Or, if you prefer, to be transformed into the image of Christ.) 

Father, Son and Spirit all have a vision of what each person’s life should be. And they are in perfect agreement. And they are correct.

There have been several movements of Christianity, since the death and resurrection of Jesus: Catholicism, the Reformation, Pentecostalism, Prosperity, Charismatic, Emergent. Each one had different views of spirituality, the church, practice, and lifestyle.

Cultural and social changes have also had affected how people view what it means to follow Jesus.

Do any of them understand what is in God’s heart? And follow it fully?

God seems to be in a process of revealing his heart. People grab onto this new revelation. Usually forming a theology, and a practice, that emphasize the new revelation. Perhaps over-emphasizing, so that following Jesus can get warped, and distorted.

We hope that each successive revelation pulls us close. The enemy pushes buttons to corrupt, and distort. The presence of sin also gives rise to corrupted versions of following Jesus.

The book intends to return to Jesus, re-examine his life, and example, in order to define what it really means to follow Jesus. But, even though the writer will no doubt high light some important, and valuable, areas, can any of us escape our pre-conceptions, assumptions, and habits? Culture covers a person with a coat that they don’t realize they are wearing.

We do need to take each lesson God gives us into account, incorporate it into our lifestyle, and we need to practice the whole. We need to accept each person’s unique design, and how each person fits into the whole. And we need to be open, and honest. We need to repent of any imbalance that distorts the image of Christ in us, and to the world.