So often, we as Christians, have a certain expectation of ourselves to look, act, and do certain “tasks”. Or we have set perspectives of what type of person is able to do what type of “job” when it comes to sharing Christ or serving in his church or the community. Our conversation this weekend broke down these barriers to becoming your WHOLE SELF in serving (SHINING JESUS) in your natural giftings!
This weekend we began our At the Movies series with one of my favorite movies Nacho Libre! There are so many insights we can gain from this comedy, which is surprising to some, but BIBLICAL truth doesn’t have to reside only in the serious or academic worlds! Biblical truth lies in our everyday, in our experience of God in our ordinary and how we can live in that ordinary, extraordinarily!! You see, Nacho was trying to become the best Priest he could be, but he was trying to become the best priest by copying what other priests were doing and how they were acting and speaking…but this was NOT in his wheelhouse. Nacho was trying to live LIKE other people but not the way God had uniquely created him. Sound familiar? DO you ever try to “act the part” when it comes to your faith in Jesus?
Nacho was living a double life, he LOVED God and wanted to serve him BUT he only saw serving one dimensionally. A priest needs to act a certain way…right?!? I know in my life I have had those same thoughts…surely, I can’t share Jesus with someone else, I don’t have all the answers, what if they ask a question and I don’t know how to answer them? (I’m a Pastor I should know it all and have it all together!)
God created each of us uniquely and gave us certain gifts and talents that can SHINE Jesus in various ways and circumstances! In fact, the bible tells us in Ephesians 2:10 we are God’s masterpiece and that He created us uniquely so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago!! Isn’t that incredible…HE PLANNED unique ways for us to serve HIM LONG AGO! He didn’t plan for us all to copy behaviors of our perceived hierarchy!
Another truth we experienced in our Nacho Libre movie clip marathon…was that sometimes we try to convince or convict people of what they need to do to be followers of Jesus! We try to step into the place that only the Holy Spirit can act! We can SHINE a life of following Jesus, we can share our faith, we can be kind and encouraging, and so many things. BUT to convince or convict is not our place! Our main goal should be to live a life of authenticity! Allow God to transform our life SO much that we “get real” and talk about how we ourselves aren’t perfect. Share our experiences with people and talk about how God has helped us, developed us, changed us and do this ONE RELATIONSHIP AT A TIME!
IF we could let go of our expectations on how WE THINK we should be and develop our relationship with God and ask Him how he wants us to be our life would be transformed! Our insecurities would diminish, our reluctance to share our faith with others would be relinquished and our FAITH would SHINE through for all to see. Just like we talked about in our Make it a Habit series….you wouldn’t cover the light you wanted to brighten your room…why are we covering the best thing that has ever happened to us? JESUS!