Becoming the best that you can be (and other myths)

The lenten journey is about becoming the kind of persons that God has designed us to be.  Lent is not about giving up chocolate or meat...  It is far more profoundly about 'becoming' a true person through the discovery of our need for Christ and others.

There must be more to being a Christ follower than giving up chocolate as the following tweet illustrates so aptly!

UthGuyChaz What if, for Lent, we gave up thinking that Jesus died so that we could go to church, hear a good sermon, and give up chocolate?

The wonderful quote below comes from Stanley Hauerwas.  It reminded me that my purpose in life is not become 'the best me'.  Rather, I am created to become the beloved of Christ, fully human because of His grace, love and power.

Without Jesus, Peter might have been a good fisherman, perhaps even a very good one. But he would never have gotten anywhere, would never have learned what a coward he really was, what a confused, then confessing, courageous person he was, even a good preacher (Acts 2) when he needed to be. Peter stands out as a true individual, or better, a true character, not because he had become “free” or “his own person,” but because he had become attached to the Messiah and messianic community, which enabled him to lay hold of his life, to make so much more of his life than if he had been left to…

—	Stanley Hauerwas (via @invisibleforeigner's tumblr blog)

And so my lenten journey begins.

Comments

[John van de Laar]

Thanks for these thoughts D. I have one response I'd like to share:

We need to define what we mean by "the best me". If, as Hauerwas seems to indicate, our attempts to b our best is simply finding the best us that we can in whatever place we find ourselves, then I agree - this is not what faith is about. But, then I wouldn't call that being the best I can be either.

I like to think of it in this way. Jeremiah (according to Jer.1) was created by God with a particular purpose in mind - to be a prophet. For Jeremiah, to be the best he could be was to become the prophet God had made him to be. In the same way, if I seek my identity in Christ, and then strive to become the person God created me to be then I am becoming the best me I can be - and that's something that faith and spiritual discipline can help me with. In fact, one of the ways I like to understand holiness is "becoming the person God created me to be".

In your words, we seek to become "fully human" - which is the best me (or you) that we could ever hope to be.

Just some (I hope not too) semantic thoughts to get your mind going!

Grace.

[Dr Dion Forster]

Hey J,

Thanks so much for the comment. I hear what you're saying. I tend towards understanding 'becoming more fully human' as becoming more fully like the 'archetypical' human, the 'first person', that is Jesus. He is the true image of humanity, and through his divinity human nature is perfected. It is a tough journey, a daily choice.

I suppose that in some senses my post above is much more personal than universal! It is precisely because there is "too much of me in me" that it is so limited.

Thanks for your thought provoking comment.

In His grasp, by His grace, for His Glory,

Dion