Upside Down Economy: Living means dying to yourself

It doesn’t make sense!  To live you must first die, to be first you must be last; to be a great leader you must be a humble servant!  Not only that, but the one who is saying all of these crazy things claims to be fully man and fully God.  He is the God of the “both and.”  How can I get my puny little brain around this?

I was first introduced to this concept by Father Richard Rohr, a Franciscan Priest who is a prolific writer, speaker the founder of the New Jerusalem Community in Cincinnati, Ohio. This concept of “both and” felt like it bordered on heresy.  The whole notion that we could see on both sides of an issue and hold onto our opinions loosely, with grace and love, patiently processing and weighing the information seemed a little new agey.  

I’m beginning to reevaluate this concept of the “both and” and here’s why;  the paradox of the Trinity; the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  The Trinity is One yet three separate entities with three distinct roles.  Well, maybe not that distinct but they are mentioned in the Scriptures at different times participating in the lives of people in different ways.  The Trinity can be compared to the Body of Christ.

We are all special, individually created to offer something unique to the Body.  Alone we are dysfunctional.  That’s not to say we are nonfunctional.  We can do things on our own but we were designed to contribute to the Global Community* as a reflection of God’s Kingdom here on earth.  What does God’s Kingdom look like?  Well, it’s loving; there are no divisions between, class, race, creed, color, gender or anything else for that matter.  There is a lot of celebrating; i.e., singing, dancing, sharing, eating and drinking. There is no sickness, brokenness, disability or impediment.  Everyone is in harmony with one another, with the animals and all of creation.  

It’s my opinion that if we spent more time building God’s Kingdom here on earth (spiritually) and less time determining who’s right and who’s wrong; who’s going where and why we would live much more fulfilling and satisfying lives.  Also, we would bring greater honor to the one who made us, who loves us and who told us that to the degree that we judge He would also judge us.  

So what would it look like if you were to suspend judgement, listened and responded in love?  How about we give it try!

*Global Community = The unified body of Christ throughout the world.