There’s no dying by proxy.
~ French Proverb
God ain’t got no grandchildren
~ unknown
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
~ Colossians 1:24-29
Some of us begin our faith at the knee of godly men and women. We wake up as children to the sound of Christian music on the radio, or the teaching of a great Bible teacher. The walls of our homes may have been decorated with appropriate Christian sayings and Bible verses.
And, yeah, we believed. But, perhaps, we believed in the way a child simply believes whatever his or her parents say is true.
And then we went on into school. We grew up. We stayed interested in the Bible, and the things of G_d. We even maybe came to love our faith. We really enjoyed talking about G_d. And we were quite interested when we heard a good sermon about Jesus or some important theological truth.
But it wasn’t enough. It did not fill us. We were living our lives by proxy. We were sucking the juice out of others who were getting their Life from G_d.
This vicarious mode was not always bad when we were young. And in emergencies, this could keep us alive. In those times where our faith was not complete enough, or strong enough, or real enough – G_d has used human intercessors to nurse us, and to sustain us on the battlefields of life. In battle, when there is not enough blood for the injured, a whole soldier may submit to a live transfusion of his own blood for a fallen and broken brother. But this is only a stop-gap measure. This soldier must be gotten off the field of battle – and into a hospital where his own body can heal, and build his own blood cells.
But always comes the time where our lives have to be lived independent of any other human, and only in His power. For in no way will anyone stand beside us when we stand before Him. In the end, EVERYTHING IS ABOUT HIM. And the second-most important thing in the universe (for us) will be what we did about our direct relationship with Him.
He will not ask us what we thought about Him.
He will not care how many spiritual people we knew and hung out with.
He will not ask how much we learned about Him, or how many books and TV shows and radio programs about Him we read or watched or listened to.
He will not care about our degrees or certifications.
He will not regard (in the case of us and Him) the people with whom we related.
He simply does not care to have a relationship with us through anyone or anything else. He and His Life and His work are all working towards us being in intimate communion with Himself. He is not someOne to be talked about like they are not in the room.
Yeah, as believers, we have but one function: to manifest the presence of G_d to the world. But this manifestation is a beacon, a light that lights the way for others to turn their eyes to the One who is the actual Source of Light and Life. He works His mighty power through us that we might present others back to Him, for Him to save and grow. People are not saved by going to G_d through us. They are saved by surrendering to the Light that seeks to invade their innermost being.
Surely, He may use the life in us to somehow “jump start” the process of reconciliation. But people are not reconciled to G_d by us, or through us. They are saved and sanctified by Christ alone through the power of His Holy Spirit
And upon His invasion of another, it is Him who works mightily and DIRECTLY in the life of the new life He alone has created. And HE does this that He might receive the Glory He is so gloriously due. And He does this that the invaded person might be so full of joy that His light might then shine through them too, and that they too might become a beacon to point another, and another, and another back towards the One Source of Life and Light and Joy and Peace.
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
~ Philippians 3:8-11
“Are you satisfied being filled with good information about God, or do you long to burst into His manifest presence?”
~AW Tozer
