How wide is the gap between the ways
of Jesus and the ways of the world? An
historian writes of the eighteen century English statesman Sir Robert
Walpole: “He was unscrupulous, and did
very dirty work; but he did it to serve his country, and not for any selfish
end other than that of retaining political power. He himself said that he was ‘no saint, no
Spartan, no reformer’; it was all a matter of business.”[1] There is at least a bracing honesty in
Walpole’s assessment of himself. While
that remark could stand as a motto for any number of contemporary public
figures, I think I heard it originally in one of the Godfather movies.
At
the other extreme is a seemingly frivolous remark, “Encumbered with a low self-image, Bob
takes a job as a speed bump.” That
reveals the depth of the problem of identity formation as it is experienced by
many people. A simple
truth from Proverbs catches us up short: “As a man thinks in
his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7). The question that should be raised
immediately is, “Are we stuck with character flaws and weaknesses we now have?”
An
essential element in human personality formation is understanding the basic
freedom we have in effecting change within ourselves. A principle of psychology says that if we
know where in our past we learned the behavior that upsets us in the present,
that knowledge frees us to decide to do things differently. Jesus said, “If you know the truth, the truth
will set you free” (John 8:32). That includes
even the truth about yourself.
Contempative Theology tells us that there is no true knowledge of God
without the accompanying knowledge of one’s self; that is, in knowing Him, we
begin, only begin, to see ourselves as He sees us.
An Old
Testament figure named Jabez illustrates the importance of self-knowledge and
its place in our prayers. Jabez’ name
unfortunately translates as: “He Will Cause Pain.”
Now Jabez was more honorable than his
brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez (He Will Cause Pain) saying, because I bore him in pain." And Jabez called on the God of
Israel, saying, "Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my
territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from
evil, that I might not cause pain!"
So God granted him what he requested." [I Chron. 4:9,10].
When we
acknowledge to God the pains and inadequacies that spring from our families of
origin He stands ready to heal. Indeed
God names Himself “I am the God Who
Heals You” (Exodus 15:26). Jabez’
discovery of his origin and his prayer for deliverance from the terrible name
he received from his mother must have caused great anguish. A commentary on the Torah speaks of the
resistance we have to transformation, “the stone does not take sides with the master, but
against him; to the stone, the first stroke struck to form it, appears as a
most unnatural action.”[2] All beginnings are hard, especially the
beginning of self-discovery and transformation.
This re-formation of our old identity
into a new Christian identity is what the Scripture calls sanctification. Sanctification is an old word that
unfortunately has fallen out of use.
Sanctification is the process of becoming holy, which may be why it is
no longer a popular idea today. The
deeper meaning of sanctification is the restoration to wholeness. Holiness in thought and action flows from the
wholeness that comes as God’s gift of grace in our lives.
The theology of the Greek Fathers
refers to this as deification following the teaching of St. Peter (2 Peter
1:3-7), “3 His divine
power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through
the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us
his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become
partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in
the world because of sinful desire. 5
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue,
and virtue with knowledge, 6
and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and
steadfastness with godliness, 7
and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.” That sanctification, that deification, is in
the end result a work of the Cross.
Paul shares with us two secrets about this interior
transformation. The first is that we are
to be transformed by the “renewing of our minds” (Romans. 12:2). Spiritually you are what you eat, therefore
Paul says again, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things
are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things
are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if
there is anything praiseworthy -- meditate on these things” (Phil. 4:8) Second, transformation comes from beholding
the glory of God in prayer and worship, “we all, with unveiled face, beholding
as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image
from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18). What you put in your mind colours and forms
your identity. Who you worship, anchors
that identity in practical reality.
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