Made His Dwelling Among Us- Part 2

 

One more thought on John 1:14 and its message for us as a ministry team.

 

Again John 1:14 says “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  Notice the last 3 words “grace and truth”.  When Christ became one of us (identification) and dwelt with us (proximity) He did it full of “grace and truth”.   As we said in Part 1, we need to follow Christ’s lead in how we relate to one another. But this is not enough (identification and proximity) if we read the rest of the verse.  If we are to follow Christ’s lead completely in how we are to relate to each other, we need to do it “full of grace and truth.”  Let’s take a look at two implications found in these words.

 

First, we need to define terms and look at the implications starting with the word “grace”.   Grace has been defined as “receiving what we do not deserve” which conversely means “giving to others what they do not deserve”.  This simply means people do not need to earn our relationship, our love; we are to give it freely, even when not deserved.  Think about that for a moment!  This is exactly what Christ did for us.  He loved us and died for us even though we do not deserve it.  We are to approach others in the same way, unconditionally, regardless of merit.  A radical thought in our world and for many of us in our experience in relationships.

 

Truth is defined as being “actual, being the case, real, fact, reality”. Christ approached relationships in truth.  Meaning He was “real”, “actual” but also that He spoke truth.  There was a consistency in what He said and who He is.  This is what we need to bring to our relationships- truth in what we say but truth in who we are and what we represent ourselves to be.  We can speak truth, but if the truth is not in us or we don’t live it, then even though we speak it, we hollow truth out so that it may not “ring true”.  Christ brought truth in both Himself and His words.  They are consistent and true.  We need to have the same intentions.  Sometimes we think all we need to do is live truth (of course we do) but that is not enough- we need to speak it as well.  Why?  Because He did both.

 

Second implication comes from the order of these words.  What comes first?  Grace!  If God thought we needed to lead with truth the verse would be “full of truth and grace.”  But the verse doesn’t say this.  As a matter of fact it appears from the reading of the Gospels that Christ approached all relationships from the perspective of grace first.   What does this mean for us?  We need to lead with grace, with giving to others our love, respect, attention, without merit, whether they have earned these things or not.  Once we have led with grace we have put ourselves in a position to follow with truth (both in words and in our lives).  The order, I believe is important, both based on this verse but also on my own personal experience.  Relationships move forward when grace takes the leads followed by truth.

 

As we continue to move towards the summer, let’s continue to work together as Christ has shown us.  By identifying with each other and working in proximity to each other while bringing grace followed by truth to each of our relationships through the power of His Holy Spirit.  If we can model relationships this way even by a fraction there is no doubt God will multiply the fruitfulness of our work this summer in ways we can’t even imagine.

 

Thanks for being great people to serve with and a great team in His Kingdom.

Made His Dwelling Among Us- Part 1

I have been reflecting on the truth of John 1:14-“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

 

Let me share a few of these reflections with you.  First, Christ became one of us, a human being, and then lived with us.  “Made his dwelling” literally means to pitch a tent among us.  There is no more complete way to live relationally with others than to become one of them and then live with them (identification and proximity).  Identifying with others is the first step in creating deep relationships. Proximity is the second step.  Christ desires deep relationships with his people, so much so that he became one of us, including experiencing death, (this is identification) and then lived with us (proximity) to accomplish the goal of reconciling us through him to the Father.  Today Christ lives in us-the most complete identification and proximity there can be.   Paul says in Colossians 1:27 “To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

 

What does this mean for us?  First, that relationships are not optional in Christ’s designs, even when we are busy.  We have been created to be in relationships with God and with each other.  Secondly, relationships require identification and proximity.  There is no substitution for either.  If we are to do our work in the context of personal, loving relationships it requires both. 

 

Secondly for us identification means to take the time to listen, to ask questions, to seek the understanding of others.  It also means not to make assumptions, especially negative ones about others until we have had the chance to hear from them first.  The best we can do to identify with others is to do what it takes to understand what and where others are coming from.  Once we can identify at this level, we can truly work in the context of Christ-like relationships.

 

Thirdly, we need to take proximity as serious as Christ.  This means we need to take the time to be together, to see each other face to face, and to talk together.  This also means to avoid the short-cuts of email, text messages, and phone if all possible when face to face will move our relationships forward.  Technology is great for communication but not proximity.  We need to always ask ourselves, “would this be better communicated face to face?”  Let’s make sure we have the time and space together in the weeks to come so that when the pressure is on we can encourage and support each other in ways that are Christ like.

 

The next days and weeks are both a challenge and an opportunity to practice the Christ-like relational working that we have been called to.  Let’s continually keep our eyes on the One who has “dwelt among us” so that by His Spirit we can live as He has both shown us and called us to do.

 

Thank you for being people who not only want to do His work but do it in His ways.

 

Blessings,

Michael