The ordering and alignment of our lives
Psalm 111
Following in the Way of Jesus leads to the ordering of all that is disordered in us. As stated in Proverbs, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death” (14:12; 16:25). I must continuously ask myself: Are there ways that seem right to me but are ultimately not a part of the Way Everlasting? Another fundamental question that gets at this same idea is: What in my life is benefiting me at the expense of someone else?
I’m learning that this is Christ’s standard: a world in which no one is exploited, no one benefits at the expense of another, and every life is recognized as sacred and worthy of dignity. Our world is laden with systems, structures, and mindsets that do not reflect these principles, and I am challenged to live differently. This is ultimately what repentance leading to redemption is all about—an about-face in which I stop walking one way, turn, and walk a different Way.
Redemption is possible as we recognize the ways we’ve been formed (or deformed) by our culture, as we let go of our own understandings and our grip on what we typically claim as our own, and as we allow Christ to align—order—our lives with His. Christ’s invitation to us includes continually bringing our understandings into His light so that He might reveal what is true and what is not. He is then faithful to correct us in our misunderstandings, if we are open to it. As we live more fully into the life of Christ, all that is disordered in us becomes rightly ordered—aligned with the truth and righteousness of His Kingdom.
Ultimately, the more we allow ourselves to become rightly oriented within the larger picture of the eternal, unshakable Kingdom of God, the more we are able to live in right relationship with others and to pay attention to and invest in the things that matter most. The Kingdom of God never overlooks the good of anyone, and as our lives become aligned with Christ’s, we won’t either.
~em
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