Blogging Ottinger (tim)Hard to be like Jesus
You may recognize the title from an old Rich Mullins song. I wish I were sufficiently like Jesus to really know how hard it is, but I’m trying enough to realize some of the difficulty. The problem is how much less we are than He is.
We have to learn to be patient because God is patient. In fact, He is far more patient than we think he should be. We would have escalate our issues into inticing or intimidating or forcing things to be done. We would have cleaned up the world, driven out the evil, righted the wrongs, given up on some, pushed others. But instead we have to be patient as Christ is patient. That’s not easy, and sometimes not fun.
We have to be gracious because He is gracious. We have to give second chances and thirds, forty-second and forty-third chances even. We’d be pretty happy to draw the line and write off those who hurt us too many times, just as we’re often ready to give up on tasks that are hard or painful for us, but instead we need to soldier on. We have to give forgiveness and kindness (especially the unmerited kind) even when we don’t feel like it, because He did. This is hard.
We have to be generous because He is generous. So what if he decides to give our friends or relatives (or worse, rivals) talents and blessings and any number of good things? What if those who come late to the faith are given blessings beyond those who’ve grown up in it? What if he gives wisdom whereever he pleases, and gives goodness as it seems right to him? What if He gives more to others than to us? What if He gives us talents in areas other than the ones we would have have chosen?
Of course, the whole goal is to be increasingly Christ-like. That is hard, especially when I’ve spent time becoming increasingly me-like. I know that His way is better, and I’m suddenly glad that the way is to be patient, generious, and gracious — because otherwise there would be no place left for me.
Yes, it’s hard to be like Jesus.
