Get Up And Dance

I have long felt the urge to dance with life. I’m not sure if it is a sad commentary on the state of modern Christendom or of spiritual deficits in my own life, but the first time I found the desires for an authentic life articulated in the way that most closely fit my own was from a source outside the church. In fact, it was from one outside the faith.

As I read Henry David Thoreau’s, Walden Pond, the irony of the fact that he wasn’t a Christian didn’t stop me from hearing the clarion call from within my own heart to experience the deepest and fullest that life has to offer. His desire to “suck the marrow from life” described my own zest for living. What Thoreau thought he could find in nature, I knew could be found in Jesus Christ.

Imagine a life in which the fire of God so consumes you that you lose all inhibitions; a life in which you charge forth confidently into every day with the assurance that God will guarantee your success that day. This life isn’t imaginary, it’s real! When we live from the blazing glory of His love for us, that is the life we can live.

Tony Campolo once said in a speech, “Most of us are tiptoeing through life so we can reach death safely. We should be praying, ‘If I should wake before I die.’ Life can get away from you. Don’t be satisfied with just pumping blood.” There is an abundant life for the taking for those who have the assurance of God’s unconditional love and commitment to those on whom He has set His passion.

When consumed with the fire of God’s love you can say with the Psalmist, “Our God is forever and ever; He will guide us until death” (Psalm 48:14). With the confidence of David when he was surrounded and outnumbered in battle by the Philistines, we can shout to the world with assurance, “This I know, that God is for me” (Psalm 56:9)!

What is the key to living out of this fire, this Divine force which empowers us to rise above the mass mediocrity of the modern church? How can we reclaim our God-given position of the supernatural life which is our birth right? How can we be in this turbulent and transient world and still live in a way which demonstrates that we are firmly anchored in the Eternal?

The answer, of course, is Christ. The answer is always Christ. Knowing who we are in Him and who He is in us is the cornerstone upon which everything else in life is set. Knowing our union with God through Christ is paramount to the abundant life. However, one question I am continually asked is, “How do we consistently abide in Christ, allowing Him to live His life through us?”

The question is loaded in one sense because it easily lends itself to an answer which delineates particular steps one may take to abide in Christ. We must tread carefully when we approach the word how in the Christian walk lest we drift from the Who, namely Jesus Christ — the Source and Center of an authentic Christian lifestyle. How isn’t unapproachable under grace, but should be attended to with caution.

We are getting dangerously close to legalism when we begin to list steps for a life of faith. While it is true that the Apostle Paul clearly laid down “the how” of day to day living, he only did so after clearly establishing the foundational truths of identity. For instance, his letters to the church at Corinth are filled with instruction about how to live, but the very first words he wrote pointed to the identity they already knew. (See 1 Corinthians 1:2-9) Only on that foundation were the practical applications for life made.

Even when the steps aren’t intended to be taken in a legalistic way, people interpret information through their own unique paradigm. If their grid is one of legalism, great momentum works against a clear understanding. We know we are being pulled away from grace by the undertow of legalism when we become more engulfed in “ought to” than “want to.” Law scolds people into submission, but offers no strength by which they can respond. Grace always encourages and energizes us to live the life to which God has called us.

Abiding in Christ isn’t achieved by successfully following certain steps. It is an act of faith by which we simply choose to believe that He is our life, that He will express Himself through us, and then acting as if He is doing that very thing at this very moment. Abundant living isn’t found in a plan, but is found in the Person of Jesus Christ. That fact can’t be overstated or emphasized enough times.