I can do all things through Christ

I think this is one of the verses which is quoted a million times every single day among Christians. We have this verse hanging right on our refrigerator, so every time I go to take water I can read it and be 'encouraged'. I remember, I used to get so excited when I hear this verse from pulpits and thinking to myself such as - So I can do everything through Christ (Evangelizing the whole world, building a church of 10,000 people, become a preacher like Billy Graham pulling big crowds, go to the co-worker and tell him about Jesus and lead him to Christ right there even praying the 'sinner's prayer' right then, or preaching about Christ in the highways and the byways). Usually pastors use this verse to motivate people for evangelism or to achieve something in the secular world such as getting a promotion, getting a dream job etc.

I wouldn't question their sincerity or the intentions. But, In my particular case, the results were often quite opposite. Later I used to feel disappointed about it. Because I wasn't able to do any of such things, and I didn't have a clue what this 'through Christ' phrase meant. I doomed into thinking that I lack the necessary skills, education or courage. To be honest, I had a numb feeling toward that verse. I knew I was missing something.

Recently, I was reading that chapter from Philippians (Chapter 4) and was quite blown away by seeing the context of that verse. What is funny is that, the context is right there in the previous verse:

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

then he goes one and say, I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

So, what is that everything?

He can live well fed through Christ, he can live hungry through Christ, he can live in plenty through Christ and he can live in want through Christ.

Apostle Paul is sharing a great secret of his life of contentment.

I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation. And that is the anything he can do through Christ. Anything such as being poor, well fed, living in plenty or living in want. In other words, the Jesus who lives in him gives him enough strength to be contented in any situation no matter what. Isn't that awesome?

This is just the opposite of what I thought all these years about that verse!

Now I am ready to learn to be contented in every situation in my life. I don't feel the burden of initiating something on behalf of God. I can trust Him to initiate anything He want to achieve through me in due time and all I need to do is to respond to it. He said his yoke is easy and His burden is light. He wouldn't put burden on His children to perform. He has called us to a Sabbath rest and it means being contented in anything and everything through Christ Jesus whether it is hunger, sickness, unemployment, poverty, homelessness, or anything! He is the source of our contentment! What a Savior we have!!!

Rethinking 'Community'

When I wrote Rethinking 'Church' I didn't even have a remote idea to start a 'Rethinking' series itself. But it seems like that is what is happening...

It is my definition of the community is that it is a place where we can genuinely open up and share everything without the fear of condemnation or judgement. A place where we can pour out our heart without any 'processing'. A place to find the much needed encouragement and true fellowship. I mean, being authentic and being just as we are. No definitions, no titles, no hierarchies, no meetings, no schedules or any such things.

I believe that Christian walk is just not about oneself but it is about a community. We can see such great communities all over the Bible. Friendlessness is a hindrance to advance in our Grace walk and to reach many others. Billions out their trapped in the dead works of religion needs the message of freedom in Christ.

Are such communities possible? If yes, will it make any difference? We can see some great communities in the book of acts such as the group of people coming together everyday and sharing everything they have, devoting themselves to the teachings of the Apostles, counting all their possessions ‘in common’.

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:
If one falls down, his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!

Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?

Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. - Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

I see the crucial significance of community in this verse - But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!

Isolation never have been or never will be a solution to anything. The beautiful picture of the 'body of Christ' underlines the significance of members working together for a common good.

At the same time I do not think such communities are possible only by being a part of an organization. We cannot limit ourself to such possibilities. Instead, such organizations can easily destroy the very purpose of the community itself.

I am grateful to God for giving some great friends right here in this blog world. I think this is a great way of having fellowship. How far should we go about sharing our heart on these public blogs is a question many people struggle with. Though this is a 'face less' media, we could see it as an advantage. Being an introvert by nature I have problem in opening up to a live audience (unless I am so emotional), but here I face no such issues and I think it is great.

I still need to continue learning to be real and authentic. I still need to continue learning to share my struggles. I find lot of encouragement in the Bible itself. Apostle Paul did not hide his struggles as a Christian. Gospel writers did not hide the denying Peter or doubting Thomas. The old testament writers did not hide the shortcomings of many great men of God such as David, Solomon etc. In fact I am quite surprised to see the name of harlot Rahab in Hebrews 11. Why do we mask it if we truly know that we are unconditionally accepted by God for who we are through Christ? By being real and authentic many people out there would be able to relate the struggles in their own life and be encouraged by the fact that they are not alone. Can we use this media not only to share the blessings but the struggles, doubts, questions, sins, confusion etc as well? Can we take up the challenge which James brings up to us to confess our sins to each other and pray for each other so that we may be healed?

We can stop acting contrary to who we are.

When we operate in contrary to our nature (identity in Christ) it is quite natural that we feel miserable. The flesh wants to do it but we feel miserable after doing it. Knowing the fact that I am going to feel miserable after this, why do we still do it?
I like an analogy Bob George uses. It goes something like this: A person who lives on the street and eats from the dumpster everyday was offered a lifetime free ticket to a cafeteria full of food. He was so happy and asked, Are you sure that I can eat anything I want from this cafeteria? Sure you can! Are you sure it's free? Yes, it is absolutely free! But he then asked, Can I eat from the trash bin as well?
As believers in Christ, God has provided (freely) everything we ever need for life and godliness, but still we want to eat some trash once in a while. I think that is ridiculous. Why would we do that?
I know that after yelling at my wife I am going to feel miserable, so why do it?
I know that after over eating I am going to feel miserable, so why do it?
I know that after looking at the porn I am going to feel miserable, so why do it?
I know that after steeling I am going to feel miserable, so why do it?
(...fill in anything which is contrary to the Spirit who lives in us)

We don't have to do it! Thats for the world, not for us. Our needs are met in Christ. We have everything we ever need.

I am not talking about being obsessed with sinless perfection or being preoccupied with behavior modification or anything like that. We have a great pasture in Christ, then why would we want to go to the dirt? and then feel miserable?

I think the reason we do that is because of the lack of knowledge of the treasure we have in Christ. That is where the 'renewing of the mind' comes in to picture. Our mind needs to be constantly renewed and reminded of who we are and what we have in Christ.

Hudson Taylor

In the letter which Hudson Taylor (The famed missionary to China) wrote to his sister Amelia in October, 1869 beautifully describes the 'exchanged life'. It is so encouraging and refreshing.

In the letter he explains the turmoil he went through in his futile efforts to please God.

Like many of us he tried, tried and tried to please God with all his energy:

I felt the ingratitude, the danger, the sin of not living nearer to God. I prayed, agonized, fasted, strove, made resolutions, read the Word more diligently, sought more time for retirement and meditation - but all was without avail. Every day, almost every hour, the consciousness of sin oppressed me.

I knew that if I could only abide in Christ all would be well, but I could not.

To will was indeed present with me, but how to perform, I found not.

I hated myself; I hated my sin; and yet I gained no strength against it.

He had the same illusion many christians live with such as:

I thought that holiness was to be gradually attained by a diligent use of the means of grace.

But the more I pursued and strove after holiness, the more it eluded my grasp, till hope itself almost died out, and I began to think that perhaps to make heaven the sweeter, God would not give it to us in this life.

All the time I felt assured that there was in Christ all I needed, but the practical question was how to get it out.

Unbelief was, I felt, the damning sin of the world - yet I indulged in it. I prayed for faith but it did not come.

Here comes the light:

But this was not all He showed me, nor one half. As I thought of the vine and the branches, what light the blessed Spirit poured directly into my soul! How great seemed my mistake in having wished to get the sap, the fullness, out of Him. I saw not only that Jesus would never leave me, but that I was a member of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. The vine now I see is not the root merely, but all - root, stem, branches, twigs, leaves, flowers, fruit; and Jesus is not only that; He is soil and sunshine, air and showers, and ten thousand times more than we have ever dreamed, wished for, or needed. Oh the joy of seeing this truth!

Can Christ be rich and I poor? Can your right hand be rich and the left poor? Or your head be well fed while your body starves?

Could a bank clerk say to a customer, "It was only your hand that wrote that check, not you," or "I cannot pay this sum to your hand, but only to yourself?"

And here is the best part:

The sweetest part, if one may speak of one part being sweeter than another, is the rest which full identification with Christ brings. I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize this; for He, I know, is able to carry out His will, and His will is mine. It makes no difference where He places me, or how. That is rather for Him to consider than for me; for in the easiest positions He must give me His grace, and in the most difficult His grace is sufficient.

I am no better than before (in one sense, I do not wish to be, nor am I striving to be); but I am dead and buried with Christ - yes, and risen too and ascended; and now Christ lives in me, and "the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Faith, I now see, is "the substance of things hoped for" and not mere shadow. It is not less than sight, but more. Sight only shows the outward forms of things; faith gives the substance. You can rest on substance; you can feed on substance.

Click here to read the full letter.