Inversion

Thursday 5/17/2012 6:56 AM

I read Titus 3:1-2 this morning, words that you seldom hear in our look-out-for-number-one, insist-on-your-own-rights, Western world.  “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.”  The concepts of submission, obedience, consideration of others and gentleness are often viewed as weaknesses rather than as goals toward which we strive.  Unfortunately this is true even in the Christian community.

It seems as if God’s call to me is always in direct opposition to the call of society, God says potāto; society says potăto.  I want to win others to Christ through the strength of my logic or by force of will; God wants me to win others through love.  I want to point out the sin of others, insisting they change to become like me before I associate with them.  God calls me to enter into the lives of others, befriending them where they are and showing them a better way through my own example and letting my life of love convince them of the love of God.

This inverted way of living seems counterintuitive.  Ultimately I need to trust that God’s way is best in spite of what society around me says.  Going against prevailing wisdom and accepted practice requires courage, faith and perseverance, qualities I have in short supply.  I need to constantly wear the glasses of God, which reverse everything, so that this topsy-turvy way of living becomes second nature.