Becoming More Jesus-Shaped
“I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10: 9,10
How has COVID affected you? For some of us there is significant grief and bereavement as we have lost loved ones. Some of us are still suffering from physical symptoms, either from long COVID or other medical conditions caused or exacerbated by eighteen months plus of sitting at desks having Zoom calls rather than walking around interacting with people. At the very least, the COVID pounds may have piled on. Some of us have developed some mental health issues ranging from depression to various degrees of agoraphobia.
Perhaps you took it all in your stride and none of these issues have been a struggle for you; however, for all of us the relational, economic, cultural and missional landscape has changed long-term. Things are not what they were before, and nor are we.
However, there is hope. Sometimes when a cosmic ‘contrast dial’ is turned it can make the shadows darker, but it can also make it more obvious where issues need addressing. Where we were just getting by, without needing to address underlying brokenness in our lifestyles. There is an opportunity for greater wholeness going forward.
Our Western culture pushes us in certain unhealthy directions. As Christians we are called to become increasingly Jesus-shaped and so we sometimes need to push back.
Our value is often measured (including by ourselves) in terms of the volume of certain kinds of work we can achieve in a day; emails answered, papers written, meetings attended etc. Efficiency (how much we can cram into a given period of time) is valued over effectiveness (how much impact what we are doing actually has). This effect may have increased for you during COVID.
In Acts 6, the Apostles raised up some people to take over administrative roles so that they could give more work hours to prayer!
This may not be possible in your job, but it is worth taking a step back and asking whether the way you are spending your time is effective rather than simply striving for efficiency.
Chance encounters are very important for mission. Jesus and the disciples had encounters with the woman at the well (John 4), Bartimaeus who received his sight (Mark 10), the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8) and many others. These kind of interactions with people are very difficult if we spend all of our time working from home.
One of the losses of the COVID era has been the loss of the ‘third spaces,’ the coffee shops and cafés, that were much more part of everyone’s lives before. If you have not resumed or re-found places to be that bring you into contact with strangers, maybe now is the time?
Jesus had more reason than anyone not to need a community – He had unbroken fellowship with His heavenly Father through the Holy Spirit – and yet as He started His Earthly ministry, one of the first things He did was to build an intentional extended family style community around himself. If He needed to do that, how much more do we? Western culture values the lone individual and the nuclear family unit much more highly than the Bible does.
COVID has left many of us feeling lonely. Let’s do something about that.
Building predictable patterns and rhythms into your week where you can be around a meal table with other believers (and people who are seeking) and where you can have some relaxing conversation, some devotional time, and pray for each other is core to the Christian life. Do you have this? Has COVID robbed you of it? If so, is it now time to get it back?
A lot of Christian religion has traditionally focused on doing right and avoiding doing wrong, moment by moment, in the here and now. ‘Avoid this sin, do that act of piety’. However, it is very difficult to live a godly life separate from a godly lifestyle. Jesus told us to take on His yoke – that means to imitate His lifestyle. He said that He came that we would have an abundance of life, and that He was the way to this.
Let’s make some adjustments to our lifestyles so that we become more Jesus-shaped as we come out of COVID, and I think we will experience more wholeness and abundance in our lives, giving Jesus more opportunities to work in and through us as we follow Him.
Paul Maconochie
Midwest Hub