Ephiphanies: Living into Something Greater than Bad Hair

My wife had the epiphany of the night tonight during our church small group Bible study. We opened up to Ephesians 1 and came across this in verse 4:

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

"How many of you are feeling holy and blameless today?" I asked. No hands. Of course, we were missing Mike.

The good news for us is this: no matter how we're feeling about ourselves at any given moment, or what our "performance" has been like that particular hour/day/week/month/year, to be a Christian is to be in Christ (a phrase used nearly a dozen times in eleven verses in those first verses of Ephesians).

To be in Christ means that we don't have the last word on ourselves. Neither does our guilt, regret, or shame. None of those things have the last word on us or is up to us to "work off." Those things do not define us, nor are they up to us to some how exorcise. Jesus defines us. He has taken care of our shame and guilt and our regrets already.

It is not up to us to make or re-make a name for ourselves. Instead, Jesus gives us his name: holy and blameless. That's what it means to have Jesus as our Lord. He rules us. And in grace and mercy he changes our name. We are called holy and blameless because in Christ, that's exactly what we are. That's grace.

And here, Kelly offered this insight: when we're told that a kid has ADD or is a problem child, we tend to view all their actions through that lens. They've been named, and we perceive them through that lens. If they've received a label or a name along the way, they tend to live into that label or name for themselves: I'm stupid, I'm slow, I'm ADD, I've got bad hair, whatever.

And so we have these Scriptures that call us and name us: holy and blameless. And as we receive those names, hear them, allow them to shape us, allow them to capture our imaginations, we are freed up to live into them.

And even more: in the context of authentic Christian community, we are invited to speak those names to one another. In fact, the only way that any of us will actually believe this is if we take seriously the opportunity and responsibility to speak it to one another.

So hey, all of you out there who are in Christ. Happy Monday! You are holy and blameless today! Forget all the guilt and shame and crap that trips you up. You are a forgiven child of the Living God. No more anxiety, you are holy and blameless today! Go live it!