{"id":8618,"date":"2018-03-31T22:20:03","date_gmt":"2018-04-01T02:20:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=8618"},"modified":"2018-04-02T11:08:13","modified_gmt":"2018-04-02T15:08:13","slug":"an-imperfect-reflection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=8618","title":{"rendered":"an imperfect reflection"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Intramuralist Note: Beginning the week of April 1st, new posts will appear on Sundays and Wednesdays. We want you to be able to depend on what day posts will appear. So thank you. We so appreciate you joining in the conversation!]<\/em><\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Easter.<\/p>\n

For Christians across the globe, it\u2019s one of the holiest, most meaningful days of the year. It\u2019s one of the few days, the stores close, families gather, and we reflect upon what\u2019s most important.<\/p>\n

The focus is Jesus \u2014 a man recognized by most all major religions as truly walking this planet some 2,000 years ago\u2026 the only central leader of a faith whose body isn\u2019t dead, decaying in a tomb somewhere\u2026 and how all but one of his inner circle is said to have died a martyr\u2019s dead; people don\u2019t willingly die for something they believe to be untrue.<\/p>\n

Jesus is a person.<\/em><\/p>\n

Jesus is not a doctrine or a theology. He is a person.<\/em><\/p>\n

And that\u2019s what makes him different.<\/p>\n

A Christian\u2019s faith is not in any well-defined dogma \u2014 in some magic \u201cfix-it\u201d or \u201cfix-me\u201d formula. Our faith is instead in a person. Jesus asks us to look at him, who he is, and become more like him.<\/p>\n

I look at the extent of his character, all those traits that make him stand out more than any of the rest of us\u2026 he is kind, compassionate, patient, prayerful, loving, forgiving, gentle, humble, selfless, strong, servant-hearted, self-controlled, wise, and accepting. He accepts people where they are at. It\u2019s not that he doesn\u2019t care how we live, but he doesn\u2019t get hung up on where we\u2019re at. He accepts us where we are, as we are, and encourages each of us to grow.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the thing\u2026<\/p>\n

As one who desires to love Jesus back, I am not<\/em> all of the above. I am not<\/em> always kind, compassionate, servant-hearted and certainly not accepting. Sometimes I\u2019m unloving. Sometimes I\u2019m arrogant. Sometimes, too, in fact, I\u2019m a total, broken mess.<\/p>\n

All that brokenness makes me an imperfect reflection of who Jesus really is.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thank God that we each have opportunity to be the recipient of his amazing, unending, extravagant grace. As a mess, I need that. Daily.<\/p>\n

And I think that\u2019s part of the problem in the world today; we make assumptions about each other and the imperfect messes that we each are.<\/p>\n

For those who are believers, we sometimes forget that we are imperfect. We sometimes allow ourselves to think we are somehow different than those around us \u2014 like any of us need a savior less than another. Sometimes we get puffed up or uncaring or treat others in a way that can be so harsh and seemingly judgmental.<\/p>\n

For those who are skeptics, we sometimes forget that Christians are not Christ. We sometimes allow ourselves to base our faith on people other than Jesus \u2014 like if his followers are like that, \u201cno way do I want to be.\u201d Sometimes we get puffed up or critical or treat believers in a way that can be so harsh and seemingly judgmental.<\/p>\n

The reality is that we \u2014 me \u2014we are imperfect reflections of Jesus.<\/em><\/p>\n

In my desire to love Jesus back for who he is and all he has done \u2014 walking this planet, exemplifying a wisdom and perfection that I humanly cannot \u2014 I deeply wish for each of us is to be more kind, compassionate, patient, prayerful, loving, forgiving, gentle, humble, selfless, strong, servant-hearted, self-controlled, wise, and accepting.<\/p>\n

Such a pursuit is life-changing.<\/p>\n

Such is what I\u2019m so thankful for at Easter.<\/p>\n

Blessings, friends\u2026 always\u2026 to all\u2026
\nAR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Intramuralist Note: Beginning the week of April 1st, new posts will appear on Sundays and Wednesdays. We want you to be able to depend on what day posts will appear. So thank you. We so appreciate you joining in the conversation!] ***** It\u2019s Easter. For Christians across the globe, it\u2019s one of the holiest, most … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “an imperfect reflection”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[694],"class_list":["post-8618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-holiday","tag-easter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8618"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8618\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8625,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8618\/revisions\/8625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}