The Church Needs You to Die. Here’s Why.
From time to time, we hear stories about “random acts of kindness.” We can’t help but respond positively to these stories – the $1000 tip to an unsuspecting waitress or shoveling a neighbor’s snowy driveway, or paying for a stranger’s coffee. These show the beautiful results born from spontaneous acts of thoughtfulness.
While one might argue that such gestures of thoughtfulness point to the innate goodness of humanity, the fact that such actions are infrequent and random might actually tell us the opposite: that it is not in us to be consistently kind. We tend to serve our own interests first, displaying kindness randomly and not regularly. Scripture tells us to “put to death what is earthly in you” (i.e. covetousness, anger, slander, obscene talk, lying) and to “put on compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” (Col. 3:5-12). If we were naturally good, why would Paul need to instruct us to kill the darkness in us? Aren’t good people inclined to love one another? Jesus also commands us to “love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34), indicating that consistent love is not innate but requires intentionality.
Paul identifies natural human desires as including sensuality, hatred, jealousy, rivalries, dissensions, envy, and sexual immorality (Gal. 5:19-20). These traits mirror much of American society today. However, Paul calls followers of Jesus to cultivate the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). Is such a world of people filled with these virtues possible? Yes! Jesus has already begun this type of transformation in his people!
As Paul writes, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17). When we follow Jesus, the Holy Spirit transforms us from the inside out, making our internal world reflect God’s kingdom. The Spirit redecorates our hearts, not as guests in an unchanged space but as royal residents in a palace “home away from home”, creating a dwelling filled with heavenly design.
The local church is to be a place where this new way of living is evident. Perhaps that statement makes you laugh, thinking that the Church often fails to reflect these virtues. You wouldn’t be wrong. It’s true that we struggle with our earthly desires, giving in to self-interest and sin. However, we do see frequent and authentic glimpses of this type of transformed life in the Church, despite our shortcomings. There are Spirit-filled people living beautifully among us at Crestwood. They are good at death and surrender, handing over their self-interests and embodying the crucified life, creating the kind of society we dream of living in. If we commit to living like this together, we offer the world the very kingdom of God and ourselves alive in it!
Paul says: “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” (Galatians 2:20). Perhaps one of the best things we can do as Christians is to die. This death is dying to our selfish ambitions, earthly desires, critical spirits, etc,. But death does not come easy for us. We read the declaration of Paul and despair, longing that we could claim it as our own.
But there’s actually no reason to despair. In fact, we ought to rejoice because Jesus offers all covetous, angry, slanderous, and broken sinners the Fruit of the Spirit. He gives us the opportunity for His Spirit, who perfectly embodies these virtues, to live in us. And if His Spirit lives in you, the possibility for beautiful fruit is ample and endless. Our lives can overflow with these virtues as our primary nature. No longer do we need to be bound by our sinful nature, but we can demonstrate the holy nature of God on a more consistent basis.
There’s a catch, though. We must put to death our old sinful and corrupt spirits before we can receive Christ’s holy and perfect Spirit. But how exactly can we do this?. We’ll take a look at practical implementation in part two of this blog installment.
Written by: Rob Burns on July 26, 2024
Rev. Rob Burns serves as the Associate Pastor for Crestwood and has entered the 40th year of marriage to his wife, Janice. He loves a challenging jigsaw puzzle, a backwoods trail, and the occasional trip downtown to Proper Pie.