What You May Not Know About Being In Christ
In 2016, the Skyscraper, a 570ft roller coaster will open in Orlando! I am not a person that can take rides on roller coasters; not because I am afraid, but mainly because my body cannot handle the motion constantly changing. Years ago, I was convinced by a friend that I should go on a this roller coaster; Go on a roller coaster she said… It will be fun she said! Knowing that I get motion sickness, I thought I would give it a try anyway and face my fears… or in this case, motion sickness.
The moment I walked off the roller coaster, I remembered the A&W commercial from my youth when the A&W Bear went on a roller coaster. My brain felt like it was bouncing back and forth in my head even though I wasn’t moving. I laid lifeless on a bench for 30 minutes as my friend had a good laugh.
In the past 15 years of my Christian life, the first 12 were a roller coaster. This can mean many things to many people, so let me go into a little more detail. I was not in and out of Christianity going from one extreme of serving God to another of going to bars, sleeping around, drinking and avoiding God completely. No, I was a stable, strong-willed young person with something to prove.
“How is it that you were on a roller coaster?” someone questions.
Most would never know the inner turmoil that I struggled with, because on the outward, I was a devoted, motivated, strict Christian that followed the rules. I was the “Poster Boy” for my church and the revival movement in general. But I knew different. I always struggled with the term “IN CHRIST”. Because my eyes were on myself, I automatically thought that being in Christ was only accomplished by what I did. I thought if I avoided all sin, made sure I tithed, gave offerings, devoted myself to being at church for every service, volunteered all my free time, reached out to those who were weaker than me, read my Bible, prayed all the time, fasted, and worshipped with absolutely every ounce of energy within me, that I would be IN Christ.
I was in a constant struggle to remain IN Christ. I believed that if I wasn’t IN Christ, that I wasn’t saved and could “miss the boat”. I was always heaped up with guilt and self-condemnation, because I was never good enough.. until the day I realized, I was NEVER gonna be good enough.
This was the roller coaster that I knew oh too well. Ups and downs, twists and turns. Good services at church on Sunday and then crashing and burning by Wednesday. Fired up after a weekend conference only to have a cloud of smoke and a few warm coals within a couple weeks.
I missed the message of what Christ did. I did not realize that I was IN Him and He was IN me! There was nothing that I could have done to accomplish what was already there the moment I believed! No more focussing on what I “needed to do” but resting in Him who did it all! I was free to live the compelled life that Christ lived. It was no longer a burden to give time, or finances, read the scriptures or sing songs of praise. Loving others became completely effortless. Most of all, I stopped comparing myself with others and judging them by my actions and religious ideals! Now THAT is living IN Christ!!
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