So What Do We Do?

That confidence, however, can only be accessed by the Spirit. When Paul said he could do anything, he was careful to qualify it with “through Christ,” meaning that he knew his humanness was not sufficient, but that he must act and do by the Spirit of Christ in him. Paul said in another place that as believers, we are one spirit with God, so that it’s not Him doing it instead of you, like some creepy possessing spirit, but it’s you doing it in Him or through Him.

No, there is no human side to Christianity, but there’s a lot for us to do. He has not taken us out of the picture, but simply assured our success by fulfilling the covenants on our behalf and then joining Himself with us in Spirit.

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In the last entry, I made an assertion that there is "no human side" to Christianity. Well, that's true, but there's a danger in recognizing it: you may take on the philosophy that your goal in life now becomes to do nothing. In fact, the opposite is true. Since we can't screw it up, we should feel free to do more and more, but just not in a human way. We walk by the Spirit, not the flesh.

Now, compared to how I feel sometimes, I do believe real Christianity should feel like laziness. After all, Jesus said His assignments and workloads were easy and light. John said God's commandments are not burdensome. If we're really getting it, I firmly believe we should be having a good time all the time, and it should never feel like it's wearing us down. This Jesus guy put a high priority on peace and joy and rest. He frankly would've made a terrible conservative American Christian.

I want to stand as a proponent of peace, joy, and rest, but not of inactivity. Have you ever done something that physically exhausted you but you enjoyed it so much you didn't notice your utter fatigue until you laid down to sleep that night? I remember water skiing as a teenager for hours and hours until my arms burned and I could barely hold the rope or hoist myself back into the boat. I loved the speed, the challenge, and the rush of getting airborne so much that I would literally torture my body to get more.

To me, that's the picture of a healthy Christian. We should enjoy our lives so much that none of it seems like work, and I believe the secret to that is in knowing that God has already assured our success. God took the human element out of the way, not so that we would sit back and do nothing, but so that we would jump in with both feet, never fearing failure.

The New Testament calls us co-laborers with God. That means that God wants us to hang out with Him and do with Him the things He most enjoys doing. Jesus said He only did what He saw His Father doing...it's like take-your-kid-to-work-day, except you don't just have to watch. You get to do it all, and He's right there with you making sure nothing goes wrong, and that it turns out to be a day you'll never forget.

The pressure is off! Personally, I thrive under certain types of pressure…the pressure of a musical performance, for instance. However, that's only because of my near insane level of confidence in that area. Something about standing in front of people gives me almost super-human ability to remember words, notes, and guitar chords, or at least make it appear as though I do...I suppose it's a gift. However, normal, everyday types of pressure like finances, deadlines, task lists, and the like, literally make me ill.

Pressure is bad...that is unless you have a near insane level of confidence to make the pressure just seem like fun. That's what Christianity is. In essence, Christianity is the continued incarnation of the Spirit of God in the earth through the church and individual believers. Do you think Jesus felt stressed or worried about His success in healing or performing miracles or teaching? No. He had confidence because He knew His source of power and His relationship to His Father.

Well, it's Christ in us--not the 8 lb, 6 oz Jesus, but the almighty Creator of the Universe in us. We can have confidence to an even greater level than even Jesus had. The New Testament teaches that we have an advantage over Jesus because Jesus Himself is now interceding for us at the right hand of the Father, so that we would do even greater things than He did. That's what Jesus said about us. I think that should give us a completely insane level of confidence.

That confidence, however, can only be accessed by the Spirit. When Paul said he could do anything, he was careful to qualify it with “through Christ,” meaning that he knew his humanness was not sufficient, but that he must act and do by the Spirit of Christ in him. Paul said in another place that as believers, we are one spirit with God, so that it’s not Him doing it instead of you, like some creepy possessing spirit, but it’s you doing it in Him or through Him.

No, there is no human side to Christianity, but there’s a lot for us to do. He has not taken us out of the picture, but simply assured our success by fulfilling the covenants on our behalf and then joining Himself with us in Spirit.