Does Jesus have you in His life?
You have probably heard the familiar question “Do you have Jesus in your life?” It’s a question that is usually asked by preachers, street-corner evangelists, and concerned friends who want to know the state of a person’s relationship with Christ. It is an important question, one that prompts each person to reflect on his or her need for such a relationship.
However, I believe there is a fundamental problem with this question. While it asks folks if they have invited Jesus to be a part of their life, the assumption in the question is that we invite Jesus into our lifestyle, into our worldview, into our way of being. With this mode of thinking we actually remain in control of how we live and merely invite Jesus to bless our good living.
The question I believe we should be asking is “Does Jesus have you in His life?”
With this question we are the ones invited into Jesus’ lifestyle, Jesus’ worldview, Jesus’ way of being; we are invited into a life of Discipleship. This understanding is at the heart of Jesus’ invitation to follow through denying self and taking up a cross. It is also echoed by the Apostle Paul who states “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives within me,” and writes of being transformed by the renewing of our mind.
Being in Jesus’ life means we focus first on those things that Jesus focused on; such as sharing the good news of God’s love, reconciling people to God, meeting the needs of those on the fringes of society, working for the fulfillment of God’s reign on earth. It means that as we live, and move, and have our being, we are intentional about working to transform that part of the world in which we live.
Take soccer for example. Many games are played on Sunday and many folks committed to a soccer program are drawn away from Sunday church worship because of this commitment. What if instead of simply attending a Sunday soccer game, one or two people took on the ministry of being a Soccer Chaplain? Who knows how many folks would be blessed by a short devotion before or after a game on Sunday. Or maybe someone could be a kind of care-coordinator for the soccer team; by keeping tabs on what’s happening in the families and enlisting help in responding to needs within the team. These are just a couple of simple ways to open doors for transforming the lives of others, the possibilities are limited only by our willingness to live faith-fully. Our task is to be creative in our own settings and see how we can be “Jesus” where ever we are.
One of the popular new hymns in our hymnal is “Here I Am, Lord.” But every time we sing it, I want to change one of the words in the chorus. Instead of singing “I will go, Lord, if you lead me,” I want to change it to I will go Lord, where you lead me, because “where” acknowledges that Jesus is always leading us; leading us into our parts of the world to be His change agents.
In His Life,