Patrick's Paragraphs - The Normal Christian Life

The Christian life is often portrayed as an event or an addition to a prosperous life, maybe even as a way to overcome addiction. In the West we see the importance of a relationship with Christ. However, many times we treat God as though He were one of many friends to whom we may go in times of need or a king that may be appeased with an act of service or the payment of a tax due.
The Church in the East has tended to see the Christian life as more of a journey. We hear the Gospel and receive faith. We “practice” the faith and have our wills conformed to the will of God. Our minds are in the process of change and our flesh is dying. Scripture agrees with this view and tells us that we must put to death the deeds of the flesh through the power of the Holy Spirit, and take up our cross to follow Jesus. We will be saved if we continue in the faith.
In my younger days I thought that “doing” something “big” for God was what God required of me. I am finding that the big thing that He requires is that I am to be holy as Christ is holy. This is not done through human promise. It is not an event or a vocational choice. It is the work of God as He conforms us to the image of His Son who is wholly submissive to the will of the Father. We cooperate with His Spirit to present ourselves to God as living sacrifices.
Watchman Nee put it this way: “Presenting myself to God implies a recognition that I am altogether His… This does not mean that I consecrate myself to be a preacher or a missionary. Alas, many people are missionaries not because they have truly consecrated themselves to God but because, in the sense which we are speaking, they have not consecrated themselves to Him. They have ‘consecrated’ something altogether different, namely, their own uncrucified natural faculties to the doing of His work; but that is not true consecration. Then to what are we to be consecrated? Not to Christian work, but the will of God, to be and to do whatever He requires.” (Normal Christian Life)
I am becoming increasingly convinced that true Christianity has much less to do with “working for God,” and much more to do with what God is doing in and through us. He is giving us faith, hope and love. He is loving others through us. He is conforming us to the image of Christ. He is saving and sanctifying those who believe His Gospel.