Could try harder?

We have seen that God is the primary source of truth, He is the Truth.

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life … “ (John 14:6)

Here, Jesus is saying to us, you want to know where to find this Truth? Well … look no further, here I am!

And to help us with this, we have been given the Holy Spirit.

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. (John 16:13)

Here we see a key function of the Holy Spirit, to lead us into Truth. The Holy Spirit is within us at work, to whatever extent we allow him to.

But it’s not enough that we have ‘head knowledge’ of the truth, this is the Greek way. There’s more to it than that:

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

We have to embrace our Hebraic natures. It is His desire that we are transformed into Jesus’ likeness, which means that ideally the World should see us as a collection of ‘little Jesuses’. What in fact it usually sees is a reflection of itself, but with a holier vocabulary and an awkwardness that comes about from sitting on the fence that divides the two Kingdoms. We mostly haven’t got this right, could try harder is the scrawl on our report card. This is because the heart of the Christian faith is meant to be action, not words. This is a Hebraic imperative, flowing freely from Holy Scripture, yet has been overhauled by the Greek insistence of argument, not action!

Do our decisions provide a good witness to the World, a good reflection of Jesus? It’s not about whether or not the World accepts our decision, as we are not looking to be popular. We are not in a popularity contest, as the Truth often hurts.

As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. (John 15:19)

What the World will notice, though, is if we are consistent with our stated beliefs, despite the flak they may attract. This has more of an effect on them than they will show us at the time, so don’t be tempted to compromise, it will work against you in the long run. Contemporary liberal adversaries of Mary Whitehouse in the 1960s and 70s may have disagreed with and ridiculed her at the time but comments made since her death indicate that they showed her grudging respect for adhering to her Christian principles.

It is a matter of reflecting the one we profess to follow. Do we resemble Him? Do we reflect Him?

So, here is the second principle: In all we are doing … are we transformed into his image … do we reflect Jesus?

This is an extract from the book, Livin’ the Life, available for £10 at https://www.sppublishing.com/livin-the-life-151-p.asp

Do you reflect Jesus?