Doing VS Being

Recently I’ve had the opportunity to walk with a few good friends through some identity crises. In each case their life has seemed so much different than what it used to be and it’s confusing to them. Who are they now? They know for sure where they've come from and who they used to be; now Jesus is here and they're not sure if they're the same... who are they now? In each case it has more to do with their undoing themselves and letting God do His own work than anything else. Each case has more to do with being who God created them to be than doing what God created them to do. We are all created to do the same thing- DECLARE GOD’S GLORY, yet we somehow believe that we will all do this through different and unique actions. I disagree; I think it has more to do with declaring His glory in simply being. Jesus did not tell us that we are to shine the light of the world- that would be doing something; He told us that we are the light of the world. He didn’t tell us to spread salt on the earth- that would be doing something also; He told us we are the salt of the earth. He did not reveal Himself to Moses by saying “I do what I do,” He revealed Himself to Moses by declaring, “I AM THAT I AM.”


When we are who God created us to be, without the masks and the distortions, without the lies that hold us back in bondage and shape our actions and perspectives- we can’t help but “do” what will declare God’s glory- it is at the core of who we are! It runs out of our life and we can’t stop it! It is understandable that my friends were so confused at what God was doing to them; He is transforming their lives to the point that their lives and lifestyles has nothing to do with what they do or have done and everything to do with who Christ is in them! They were expecting God to give them something new to do- actually He was reforming who they will now BE- that His, the likeness of HIMSELF. That is transformation from dirt to spirit! That is being REBORN. That is what happens when we die to ourselves and let Christ live! When the husband is who God made him to be, declaring God’s glory is not about intentionally, actively making a choice to love his wife in a godly way- declaring God’s glory is done in the fact that he can’t NOT love his wife in a godly manner- HE MUST, it is part of the Holy Spirit indwelling him and living the life of Christ through him! Declaring God’s glory is about being filled with His Holy Spirit and thus living as Jesus would live and continuing HIS Kingdom here while loving in the way that compels us to obey all that He has commanded!


We miss the point when we ask the question “what would Jesus do?”(emphasis mine) His life wasn’t about displaying reproducible acts and manufacturing world change through robots or systematic, strategic actions- that’s religion- anyone can do that. It was about declaring the glory of God in every moment of life itself no matter what the circumstance and situation- that cannot be done without the Holy Spirit. Maybe we ought to ask “who would Jesus be?” That question will first of all demand that we revolutionize our lifestyles to the point of perplexity and fear of insanity for us in the lives of those in our life (Jesus' family, anyone?) and secondly convict us to the point that we must throw our hands up in frustration and DIE. That is the point- we must die. Living the life of Jesus cannot be done by our strength; we’ve already displayed that, look around. Living the life of Jesus can only be done by dying to ourselves and asking Him to declare His glory by living in us. It is by the Holy Spirit guiding and instructing every thought and action. It is about becoming a slave to righteousness and knowing that you are not your own. These things are the acts of God in our lives declaring His glory through the creation He gave His own image. It is about being, not doing. It is about who you are and not what you do. It is not about seeking forgiveness and then moving on without declaring yourself dead to that sin (rather than declaring that sin dead to you). Before you can be reborn- you must die.


We spend our lives looking for the next thing we need to do, all the while we ought be searching God’s will out and giving Him the right to do what He wants in us. This can only come through declaring ourselves dead to the flesh (rather than declaring the flesh dead to us- there’s a difference). It is only when we renounce and give up every right we ounce thought we had that we can truly find the purpose and identity we long for, because it has nothing to do with our lives and everything to do with Him living through us (Galatians 2:20). Have you declared yourself dead or do you still hold to expectations and “rights” of what your life is supposed to look like? The Holy Spirit is not about to destroy you to prove to you that you can’t hold on to anything. Look at your own life- if it looks anything like my own, you’ll see that you’re heading toward destruction of some sort anyway; we don’t need God’s help to see our lives wrecked, but we need His life to see them fulfilled. This is about the voluntary act, the submission of will and life itself to a Holy God that has intended a holy life for you to declare His glory through. It is not about struggling with sin while hoping for rapture. It is about running the earth declaring God’s glory before it’s too late.


Just like my friends; it is seems as if the church is in an identity crisis as well. It doesn’t know if it should be passive or active, political or disconnected, powerful or meek, set apart or involved. What question is it asking? Are we seeking out “what would Jesus do?” or are we seeking out His life itself. Has it declared itself dead? Has the church of America decided it has no rights? It doesn’t seem so, at least not when we’re fighting so hard to be to be seen on every television network and in every school as if we have a right to be heard. We fight to be relevant and fresh. What are we even saying? Does this declare God’s glory? Honestly, what are we even saying? There are no words worth hearing but those that come through the Holy Spirit’s whisper and leading. Is the church struggling to stay alive in itself? To remain above the water and decide it isn’t going down without a fight? Maybe that’s the point- we’ve believed for so long in our right to live that we’ve forgotten that we live to die. Not until the church of America (and our whole generation with it) decides and understands that its sole purpose is to declare the glory of God and dies to itself in order to live only as Jesus lives in it will it be what it is purposed to be and thus do what it was meant to do.


We’re spending too much time trying to figure out what to do. Who is it we were meant to be? Can you answer that question? If I asked, “Who are you?” how would you respond? Would you tell me what you do? Or would you tell me who you are?


Well, who are you?