"Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
Every red-blooded American alive knows this quote from the Declaration of Independence. I would venture to say that it is, at the core, one of the highest values in our nation. It is a great value to have! Just look at that phrase and tell me what could be wrong with any of those words? Nothing.
As followers of Jesus who live in America, we should have a similar value at our core that drives us much like this value drives our nation. Except, I would rephrase it a bit. If we are to have a similar value, it should read as follows:
"Life, liberty and the pursuit of godliness."
Now, you may be sitting there thinking to yourself, "But I thought the 'core value' we should have as followers of Jesus are to Love God and Love People?" You're right! For this application, I would call "Love God and Love People" a Mission Statement rather than a value. The Mission Statement defines us and the value drives us. This value would then uphold the Mission Statement. Does that make sense?
I want to very specifically look at "the pursuit" part of this statement. It is something that I have had a lot of discussion about in the past few weeks regarding what a life chasing God looks like versus a life of good morals and upright convictions.
To begin, we must first look at what it is we are pursuing as Christ followers. Well, I guess that should be fairly obvious just by admission of the title alone... Jesus Christ. So what is the standard? By what standard are we to be measured? Who are we comparing ourselves to?
The answer is Jesus. Jesus was perfect and blameless and we are called to be like Him.
"Whoa! But that's impossible; nobody's perfect," you may be saying to yourself. You're right. It's the pursuit of the character and life of Jesus that drives us in our Faith journey toward living lives as God intended them.
Let's take a look at what this might look like.
I am sure most of us have at one point in our lives learned how to ride a bike. I remember that it first started with just learning how to get on the bike. It was large and it was awkward as I attempted to climb onto my BMX. This is something that I had never really done before and the task of just getting my butt in the right place was a daunting task. After I learned how to adjust my position to properly fit onto the bike, the real fun started. I was committed and determined.
Balance, momentum, rhythm, direction... it was all new and sometimes scary. I wasn't really sure if I was doing it right but the whole time I had someone guiding me. They were helping me maintain balance, direction and speed. The training wheels on my bike gave me security and my helper (mom, dad, aunts, uncles and/or neighbors) were there to help me in this new adventure. I never gave up.
Then the training wheels came off. No more security of not falling. I remember the first time I took the risk of riding my red BMX without the training wheels. My helper was running behind me helping me balance and then... they let go! For a couple of rotations, I was riding the bike on my own. It was exhilarating and frightening! As you probably guessed, I fell. I did not maintain the balance that I was taught with my training wheels. I did not keep pedaling. I panicked, turned my handle bars and crashed! It was tragic! I didn't want to get back on my bike. I kicked my bike and blamed my bike for the hurt that I had (I was a bit misguided about the source of my pain...). However, I wanted to ride my bike. I loved my bike. So I got back onto my bike and kept trying.
As my story goes, I kept riding and eventually became accustom to maintaining the right balance, momentum, rhythm and direction. I felt free. The wind in my hair and on my face. The liberty that allowed me to go into the world to explore and meet new friends was inspiring. Eventually, I learned to ride and let go of the handle bars. By not steering, I trusted in the rhythm, balance and momentum to give me direction.
I felt alive.
At the most basic, simplistic level this gives us an idea of what following after or the pursuit of Jesus looks like in our lives. It is the constant decision to get up and back inline with Jesus that causes us to move forward. By constantly pursuing Jesus and chasing God in our lives daily, we get into a rhythm of constant internal (sometimes external) conversation with God. We maintain balance as we begin engaging in missional and communal Biblical study with other people in pursuit of a Holy God. The momentum of the Holy Spirit guiding us in every decision and every action propels us into life of adventure that is unleashed to chase the dreams that are woven in the fabric of our lives given to us by God. Our gifts, talents and passions align giving us direction as we lean into becoming the people of influence in our culture that God originally intended us to be.
Let us be driven to pursue Jesus with our lives and be defined as people of Love. Let us engage in true Life, real liberty and the pursuit of godliness.
This is what it means to be truly alive.
Every red-blooded American alive knows this quote from the Declaration of Independence. I would venture to say that it is, at the core, one of the highest values in our nation. It is a great value to have! Just look at that phrase and tell me what could be wrong with any of those words? Nothing.
As followers of Jesus who live in America, we should have a similar value at our core that drives us much like this value drives our nation. Except, I would rephrase it a bit. If we are to have a similar value, it should read as follows:
"Life, liberty and the pursuit of godliness."
Now, you may be sitting there thinking to yourself, "But I thought the 'core value' we should have as followers of Jesus are to Love God and Love People?" You're right! For this application, I would call "Love God and Love People" a Mission Statement rather than a value. The Mission Statement defines us and the value drives us. This value would then uphold the Mission Statement. Does that make sense?
I want to very specifically look at "the pursuit" part of this statement. It is something that I have had a lot of discussion about in the past few weeks regarding what a life chasing God looks like versus a life of good morals and upright convictions.
To begin, we must first look at what it is we are pursuing as Christ followers. Well, I guess that should be fairly obvious just by admission of the title alone... Jesus Christ. So what is the standard? By what standard are we to be measured? Who are we comparing ourselves to?
The answer is Jesus. Jesus was perfect and blameless and we are called to be like Him.
"Whoa! But that's impossible; nobody's perfect," you may be saying to yourself. You're right. It's the pursuit of the character and life of Jesus that drives us in our Faith journey toward living lives as God intended them.
Let's take a look at what this might look like.
I am sure most of us have at one point in our lives learned how to ride a bike. I remember that it first started with just learning how to get on the bike. It was large and it was awkward as I attempted to climb onto my BMX. This is something that I had never really done before and the task of just getting my butt in the right place was a daunting task. After I learned how to adjust my position to properly fit onto the bike, the real fun started. I was committed and determined.
Balance, momentum, rhythm, direction... it was all new and sometimes scary. I wasn't really sure if I was doing it right but the whole time I had someone guiding me. They were helping me maintain balance, direction and speed. The training wheels on my bike gave me security and my helper (mom, dad, aunts, uncles and/or neighbors) were there to help me in this new adventure. I never gave up.
Then the training wheels came off. No more security of not falling. I remember the first time I took the risk of riding my red BMX without the training wheels. My helper was running behind me helping me balance and then... they let go! For a couple of rotations, I was riding the bike on my own. It was exhilarating and frightening! As you probably guessed, I fell. I did not maintain the balance that I was taught with my training wheels. I did not keep pedaling. I panicked, turned my handle bars and crashed! It was tragic! I didn't want to get back on my bike. I kicked my bike and blamed my bike for the hurt that I had (I was a bit misguided about the source of my pain...). However, I wanted to ride my bike. I loved my bike. So I got back onto my bike and kept trying.
As my story goes, I kept riding and eventually became accustom to maintaining the right balance, momentum, rhythm and direction. I felt free. The wind in my hair and on my face. The liberty that allowed me to go into the world to explore and meet new friends was inspiring. Eventually, I learned to ride and let go of the handle bars. By not steering, I trusted in the rhythm, balance and momentum to give me direction.
I felt alive.
At the most basic, simplistic level this gives us an idea of what following after or the pursuit of Jesus looks like in our lives. It is the constant decision to get up and back inline with Jesus that causes us to move forward. By constantly pursuing Jesus and chasing God in our lives daily, we get into a rhythm of constant internal (sometimes external) conversation with God. We maintain balance as we begin engaging in missional and communal Biblical study with other people in pursuit of a Holy God. The momentum of the Holy Spirit guiding us in every decision and every action propels us into life of adventure that is unleashed to chase the dreams that are woven in the fabric of our lives given to us by God. Our gifts, talents and passions align giving us direction as we lean into becoming the people of influence in our culture that God originally intended us to be.
Let us be driven to pursue Jesus with our lives and be defined as people of Love. Let us engage in true Life, real liberty and the pursuit of godliness.
This is what it means to be truly alive.
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composed by
dave
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