Different
Here’s an experience I’m sure that, like me, you’ve had. Someone is trying to get your attention, but you don’t notice. You’re oblivious to the fact that there is a person waving across the room to let you know they’ve arrived, or there is a person clearing their throat to indicate that they are ready for you to serve them, or there is a person dumping a bucket of lobsters on you to wake you up. Sometimes, that’s what it takes.
I think my family has been trying to get my attention for some time now. I’ve written about my name before. I remember hating it and dreading the first day at a new school. The looks I would get when they would call out – “Bartholomew Raymond”. I go by B.J. not by choice. My parents called me that from the start. I didn’t even know my full name for a while. Apparently, B.J. wasn’t short enough a name for me around the house. Two syllables – way to much work. So, I became known simply as B. My Mom says that when I went to kindergarten I told the teacher my name, but that she could call me B – for short. They still call me B. They are trying to tell me something.
Ok, they don’t know it, but in calling me B all these years, I see it as a message to just BE. That’s a trendy thing to say, isn’t it? So original. Bear with me though. A good friend from College came to my wedding and at the reception gave my wife and I some advice. He was a little crazy. He liked going into grocery stores, standing in the cereal isle and waiting for an employee to come by so he could ask him or her where the cereal was. He would stand in the street, point at his watch and ask people for the time. He would pray for natural disasters because he knew that sometimes that is the only way for God to get people’s attention. But, back to the advice. He said this, “Love as if you’ve never been hurt, and become who you already are.” Powerful statements. The second one is what I’m talking about here. Become who you already are.
Donald Miller wrote once about people wanting to be other people. Fantasy lives are pretty commonplace for our imaginations: Rock Star, Celebrity, Politician, etc… But he said, “imagine someone who actually really wanted to be himself. That guy would be so different that everyone else would want to be that guy.” Funny, but true. We need to really BE ourselves, but the problem is - we don’t really know who that is.
Christ came to be us for us. He lived an impeccable, unimpeachable, perfect, holy, righteous, wonderful life. Who does not agree with that statement? The world knows it. They may not like it, but they know it. At one point (John 7) we read that the Pharisees sent officers to bring Jesus to them by force. They return empty handed, mouths open, saying, “No one ever spoke like this man.” He was so different that no one knew what to do with him. So, they killed him. It was actually what he came for. But the difference kept on coming. He rose from the grave. He promised those who trusted him that they would rise too. Christ puts his life in us when we trust him. That is who we are to be. We are to be Christ here. We are called his Body are we not? You CAN be like him, because by faith he is IN you. You are not God. But, the MAN Christ Jesus came to be you for you. And He’s alive. Just be. Don’t be who you would like to be. Be who Christ has made you. My name is B.
BJ
I think my family has been trying to get my attention for some time now. I’ve written about my name before. I remember hating it and dreading the first day at a new school. The looks I would get when they would call out – “Bartholomew Raymond”. I go by B.J. not by choice. My parents called me that from the start. I didn’t even know my full name for a while. Apparently, B.J. wasn’t short enough a name for me around the house. Two syllables – way to much work. So, I became known simply as B. My Mom says that when I went to kindergarten I told the teacher my name, but that she could call me B – for short. They still call me B. They are trying to tell me something.
Ok, they don’t know it, but in calling me B all these years, I see it as a message to just BE. That’s a trendy thing to say, isn’t it? So original. Bear with me though. A good friend from College came to my wedding and at the reception gave my wife and I some advice. He was a little crazy. He liked going into grocery stores, standing in the cereal isle and waiting for an employee to come by so he could ask him or her where the cereal was. He would stand in the street, point at his watch and ask people for the time. He would pray for natural disasters because he knew that sometimes that is the only way for God to get people’s attention. But, back to the advice. He said this, “Love as if you’ve never been hurt, and become who you already are.” Powerful statements. The second one is what I’m talking about here. Become who you already are.
Donald Miller wrote once about people wanting to be other people. Fantasy lives are pretty commonplace for our imaginations: Rock Star, Celebrity, Politician, etc… But he said, “imagine someone who actually really wanted to be himself. That guy would be so different that everyone else would want to be that guy.” Funny, but true. We need to really BE ourselves, but the problem is - we don’t really know who that is.
Christ came to be us for us. He lived an impeccable, unimpeachable, perfect, holy, righteous, wonderful life. Who does not agree with that statement? The world knows it. They may not like it, but they know it. At one point (John 7) we read that the Pharisees sent officers to bring Jesus to them by force. They return empty handed, mouths open, saying, “No one ever spoke like this man.” He was so different that no one knew what to do with him. So, they killed him. It was actually what he came for. But the difference kept on coming. He rose from the grave. He promised those who trusted him that they would rise too. Christ puts his life in us when we trust him. That is who we are to be. We are to be Christ here. We are called his Body are we not? You CAN be like him, because by faith he is IN you. You are not God. But, the MAN Christ Jesus came to be you for you. And He’s alive. Just be. Don’t be who you would like to be. Be who Christ has made you. My name is B.
BJ
posted by BJ at 9:42 a.m.
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