January 14, 2011 Forward Motion Faith

Life Interrupted

There’s something about the guy.  I would have loved to have lived in his day.  I am referring to the apostle Paul.  As most of you know outside of Christ he is my most favorite Bible character.  I love to read about him, research him and bring him to my listener’s attention as frequently as I can get away with.  One reason I think most of us can relate to him is that his life was, well…interrupted quite radically.  But as radically as his life was interrupted – was as radical as was his faith in his “post interruption” life. 

You know the story in Acts 9 when Saul has an encounter with Christ.  He is knocked off of his high horse, blinded and led by someone for three days.  This political zealot who thought he was doing God a favor by locking up and even killing Christians – had a radical life interruption that dramatically changed this man forever.  Stop here!

Has your “life interruption” encounter with Christ radically and dramatically changed your life?  Are you pretty much the same person you were before meeting Christ as you are after meeting Christ?  It was this man’s life encounter with Jesus that turned him inside out and upside down.  This man an orthodox Jew in a Gentile city would impact not only cities, politicians, governments and most of all, impact the world of darkness and evil – had a faith encounter with Christ that absolutely changed him forever.  Not for a day.  Not just while things were going well.  Not just when his friends supported him.  Not just when the sun was shining.  Not just when he was comfortable or safe.  Paul’s radical encounter with Jesus changed him – body, soul and spirit. 

I can hope for nothing less than Paul the apostle’s experience to be a pattern for me to follow.  I cannot compete with this man.  I cannot become a 21^st century Paul the apostle.  But what I can do is follow his advice.  Look at how many times Paul has the confidence to say something about himself that few would ever have the confidence to say:

1 Corinthians 4:16   Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.

1 Corinthians 11:1  Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

Philippians 3:17  Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.

 1 Thessalonians 1:6 You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit.

See also 2 Thessalonians 3.7 “follow our example”; Galatians 4.12 “become as I am”; Philippians 4.9 “practice [what you have learned, heard, seen in me]”.

Oh you have to be getting this by now!  Paul was so confident in his relationship with Christ he challenged others to spiritually imitate him.  Think about that for a moment.  How many dads can honestly say to their children – “imitate me”?    How many mothers can say to their children – “imitate me”?  How many Christian leaders can say to their followers, “imitate me”?   We have had so many so called Christian leaders fall in the last 20-25 years that high profile ministry has become a joke to the Western mindset.  Paul did something few of us can do with the level of confidence he had in doing it – tell someone to imitate us.  Was he saying to his followers: do what I do, say the things I say, act the way I act?  No.  It was a deeper meaning than that.  This is powerful people – powerful.

Paul didn’t set out to create clones of himself!  He knew better.  That wasn’t what he was charged with doing.  He wasn’t after setting trends for clothing, spiritual resources, spiritual language or an evangelical robot.  He was, I believe, setting a standard of service to be followed.  Think about these passages:

1 Corinthians 2:2  For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

Philippians 1:21  For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Philippians 3:12-14  Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.   13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,  14  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul was setting a standard, a pattern of service.  He was an ego maniac who wanted to create little “Paul robots”!  He wasn’t about cloning himself.  He was about saying to his followers, “Imitate my service.”  There is no greater example one can set for his followers than to model the ultimate pattern of living for Christ – self-sacrifice.

What about you?  Have you arrived at the point in your spiritual life where you can say to anyone in your spiritual wake – “imitate me”?  Again, you don’t have to be a “little Paul”.  You don’t have to look like him, act like him, speak like him or dress like him.  What Paul was advocating was you and I imitating his self-sacrifice in service to the Lord.   In the three passages I gave you above you can discover this about Paul:

• His unparalleled devotion to simply “know” Christ.  He dedicated himself to perpetual relationship intimacy.
• He possessed a radical willingness to die for Christ.  He counted his life as nothing in comparison to spending eternity with His Lord.
• He engaged Forward Motion Faith – he pressed on continuously toward the prize of the upward calling of Christ in his life. 

Have you arrived at this place yet?  I hope and pray that during this season of fasting you can arrive at a deep and intimate relationship with Christ where your devotion for Him is unparalleled; you gain a willingness to give your life for Christ if need be; and finally, you grab hold of the conviction that moves your forward at all times – never stopping or slowing down.  A place where spiritually neutrality becomes something of a curse word to you.