“I want to be more like Jesus.” This is the classic Sunday school answer that every child who grows up in the Church knows. In some ways, Churches raise young kids to look at the world through “Christ-like” lenses. If something bad happens, it will help you be more like Christ! If someone makes you angry, well that situation can make you more like Christ! You should read your Bible and pray every day, because it will make you more like Christ! This was my entire childhood. I grew up with words such as “Christ-like”, but I never realized how much they shaped the way I think.
At this point, you might be saying, “Mallory, what are you talking about? Being like Jesus is a good thing, every Christian knows that!” If you had said this to me a few weeks ago, I would have agreed with you one hundred percent. But, since I’ve arrived in Africa, God has been teaching me things. Crazy, amazing, scary things. And I don’t want to be “like Christ” anymore.
I recently read the book Ex-Muslim by Naeem Fazal, and it opened my eyes to how much I’d let the “Christ like” mindset affect me. I never realized it, but being “like Christ” implies that you should work to reach a certain standard. The phrase emphasizes me, and how I’m becoming holier or better. I had completely fallen into that way of thinking. I was focused on me. How can I be more like Christ? How can I get closer to God? How can I…. I… I….
Then I realized that I can’t actually do anything. In Africa, I’ve been learning that, honestly, I can never be good enough. I can never be “like Christ”, because I am a hot mess. No matter how hard I try, I will always find myself falling short of the standard. I also can’t get closer to God, because, like I said, I’ve got a whole host of issues, and no matter how hard I try I will never be good enough. I will always find myself failing, and frustrated at my lack of success. I realize now that I don’t have to live like that.
Instead of trying to be “Christ-like”, I want to have Christ live through me. Do you see the difference? One phrase focuses the attention on what I can do to be like Jesus, but the other lets Jesus do all the work.
The truth is, that I can never ever be like Christ on my own. However, I can let him live through me. I can surrender myself, my plans, my comforts, and decide to let Him use me every day. And I’ve been finding that when you give Jesus the space to live through you, He totally will! He has been completely changing the lenses through which I see the world. He has been filling me with his grace, his love, and his joy. I am beginning to live the abundant life that God means for me to live.
When Jesus lives through you, it means that you choose to set yourself aside. You must abandon your comforts and plans so you can be open to God’s will. The great part is that all you have to do is make yourself available, and He’ll do all the rest. Once you create the space for Christ to live through you, He will give you his heart for people. He will give you his eyes to see people the way He sees them. He will give you His joy. He will give you His peace, and His patience, and His love. It is hard to fall into pride when Christ lives though you, because you know that it is all by His grace and has nothing to do with you. Everything simply points back to your need for Christ’s love.
There will be days when you don’t give Jesus the space to live through you, but his grace is also great enough to cover that. He is always waiting with open arms, and His mercies are new every morning. There is no failure, because there is no standard that you must live up to. There is only love: the beautiful, complete, unconditional love of the Father.
At the end of the day, Christianity isn’t about your behavior. It isn’t about reaching a standard. It isn’t about what I do. I think sometimes it is easier to reduce Christianity to rules, standards, and being “like Christ”, because letting Christ live through you is hard. It is difficult, it is scary, and it is dangerous. It means setting yourself aside and doing whatever God asks. It means stepping outside of your comfort zones. It means losing control of your life. But it is completely and utterly worth it.
