God is MY Co-Pilot, Right?

Last week, late at night, riding in the back of the rig on a routine fire alarm call (so routine in fact, the other arriving engine called us off before we even got there!), I randomly glanced out my half-cracked window and saw the following on the marquee sign display of a small neighborhood church:

IF GOD IS YOUR CO-PILOT…

CHANGE SEATS!!! QUICK!!!

I loved this sign for a number of reasons, and it was rather odd that I even saw it in the first place.  Normally, if I look out the window at all (riding backwards on the fire engine) I can make myself dizzy if I look at moving objects up close.  So, I tend to stare off into the distance….the city skyline, the mountains, etc.  But for some reason at just the right intersection at just the right moment –and I being in just the right mindset—I saw this gem.  And it got me thinking with my old ‘minister’s brain’ again, and it got me itching to write again, and it got me reminiscing about one of the major themes I always hit upon during my nearly-ten years in ministry…

This might hurt a bit..

“And we all…are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.  For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2. Cor. 3.19)

I am reminded of a praise song we often sang at devotionals growing up, one that I never much cared for.  I didn’t necessarily despise it as a song, but something about its message seemed a bit off to me, though I could never put my finger on exactly what it was.  I just knew that it irritated me to see my fellow Aggies for Christ singing this song on the steps of the Academic building on campus, eyes closed, hands held upward… but then again, I was a foolish, angry young man with only a few good ideas, a lot of heart, and a spiritual chip on my shoulder…nevertheless, something still seemed 'off' to me. The chorus of the song went as  follows:

My heart is hard / My soul so weak / The ways of evil / Cut so deep / I need You, Lord / To come inside / And gently break / My heart. (from the praise song “Break My Heart”)

I’m now much older, about to turn 37 at the end of this week.  I am somewhat wiser, less prideful, more humble than I was 15 years ago.  I have much less of a chip on my shoulder, though I still haven't gotten rid of it completely.  And guess what?  That song still bothers me to this day.  At least now I know why.

You are not "You" Part 1

You are not “You.”

You are not your own, you where never meant to be.

Your identity, your ego, your personality, your free will;

Your name, your face, your body and mind, your story, your memories;

Your wants, your needs, your desires, your faith, your very life—

As if these things were truly yours to own, as if you were completely in control and the center point of existence.  As if all of these God-given things were handed over to you to do with as you please, to identify as you will. 

You are not You, You are not your own, you were never meant to be.

Paul sums up the declaration of Christian living quite nicely in the following:

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2.20)