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Can I "be" what God wants me to "be"?
"You are my messengers. You are beholden to live your lives as I have in spirit lived mine." (1577)
It is often claimed that to live our lives as Jesus lived his is a quite impractical proposition. That would be so if we tried to mimic Jesus, but his exhortation was not that--rather it was to live our lives as he in spirit lived his.
We also have, "One of the most important things in human living is to find out what Jesus believed, to discover his ideals, and to strive for the achievement of his exalted life purpose. Of all human knowledge, that which is of greatest value is to know the religious life of Jesus and how he lived it." (2090) Some of Jesus exhortations follow:
Be humble.
Do not resist evil. If someone smites you on the
right cheek, turn the other cheek.
Go that second mile.
Give to anyone who wants to borrow.
If anyone wants your coat, give them your cloak
as well.
Never be angry with others.
Agree with your adversary quickly.
Love your enemy.
Forgive, always forgive.
Bless those who curse you.
Do good to those who hate you.
Never, never, never seek revenge.
Take no thought for your life.
Be tolerant, patient, understanding.
Our basic problem is our animal heritage. Those emotions that inform us of the impracticality of Jesus' way, derive from emotions that evolved to ensure our survival. Two major forms are territorialism and dominance behavior. Whether an animal is a 'loner' such as the tiger, or a herd or pack animal, such as the African wild dog, all mark their territory and will defend it to the death. Dominance behavior is of several kinds. In a herd every individual has its place. It bullies those below it, and is obsequious to those above.
Where human societies are tribal, similar behavior occurs. Even when a society is highly developed, the remnants of our animal heritage remain. Jesus showed us the way to freedom from our animal heritage.
To the so-called great men of history, men like Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, Attila, the Hun, Napoleon, and such like, Jesus stands in stark contrast. He was different--utterly and totally different. Today he has more than a billion sincere followers. But ask people at random from off the street what they know about the great conquerors of the history books, and other than perhaps their name, they will know virtually nothing. That surely must say something for the way of Jesus.
Can I live the way Jesus lived? Of course I can. All that is required is the sincere desire to do so. If we have that, our indwelling God-Spirit will look after the rest.
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