What is a true man of God?

Back in college, when I was in Peru, a wise man once asked me what I thought it meant to be a man of God. He challenged me to write about the subject, to essentially paint with words what God intends for us men of Christ to be. What initially felt like an easy question turned into a difficult one as I pondered through the contrasts between 21st century man and Jesus. It became even more difficult as I looked at man within the context of American culture and I attempted to incorporate Christ into this framework. It just didn't fit. How could it? Well it has been about 5 years since I had that question posed to me and I think I have an answer. What does it mean to be a man of God? To humble yourself, and let God exalt you.

When I think about this subject a verse immediately comes to mind. Paul talks in 2 Corinthians about his transformation and how he was plagued with a thorn in his side during his life. A lot of theologians believe that this thorn may have been epilepsy or some other disease. Paul pleaded with God three times to take it away but God's reply was simply, "My grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect in weakness."

Weakness, why is this word not sitting with me very well right now? Personally I find no glory in weakness. Not only that, if I were to center my life here in America on the concept of weakness I would get no where. If I were single, and I was playing the dating game by exemplifying my weakness, I probably wouldn't get too many chicks. If I were to brag about my intellectual inferiority or my inability to bench press the bar at the gym, this probably wouldn't fly too well during the first date. The reason for this is because our culture is consumed by strength in every facet of human life. This transcends the dating world. It even finds itself within the investment world. When it comes to financial preparation its all about having a "strong" portfolio. We are bombarded by strong buys as indicators and even a suggestion of weakness in the market will send the bears in faster than a fresh bowl of honey. On a much larger scale we find strength used as power for global dominance. We read and hear rhetoric concerning the strength of one country's army and their nuclear arsenal. You never hear a country talking about how weak they are.

Now when I think about Christ this idea of weakness blows me away. I don't know about you but I always try to paint my own picture of Christ. Even if he says one thing I always want to make it fit within my own worldview. For example, when Christ gives the commandment to turn the other cheek, I easily look past this commandment. He can't REALLY mean this, at least not now. Maybe it fit properly within his ministry and this was essential for the apostles to integrate into their ministries but it can't be applicable now. If someone attacks me I'm going to defend myself. I'm not going to let someone hurt me. So what is Christ commanding here? What is he telling us to do? Maybe I'm looking too circumstantially or pragmatically and am therefore missing the point of this commandment. Is Christ trying to teach me about how to handle myself if someone physically assaults me or is he communicating a much larger idea? Could it be that Christ is attempting to change me? That his real goal is transformation? This commandment has just taken on greater meaning.

But lets look at this in a physical context. If some guy bumps into me on the street, gets angry and blindsides me in the face, I'm going to get upset. If I don't swing back, my heart will resonate with hate. I will be livid, and will want revenge. After all I just took a cheap shot from some random jerk over an accident. But what if I could be in such a good place, so in harmony with my creator, that a mere physical altercation could not disturb my spirit and therefore my emotions. Now I say mere, but mere is a pretty poor euphemism for taking a punch to the face. But what if that is where I immediately compartmentalized this altercation. Because it was physical, I could immediately label it as mere b/c I could separate it from the spiritual. What if I was so in tune with Jesus that the decision of someone else to lose their temper, to resort to violence, to act on sin, could lead me to produce fruits of the spirit, patience, kindness, gentleness. Isn't this what Christ did when he was being tortured and crucified? But come on this is Jesus we are talking about. He was tortured and crucified for a purpose, otherwise he wouldn't have just taken it like that. We don't have the ability as humans to act with such self constraint; oh but we do. As Paul himself wrote, we have the mind of Christ.

As a man living in America, it is near impossible to modify this macho man paradigm that is conditioned within each one of us. Experiencing a cognitive revelation of who God intends for us to become is one thing, but translating this idea into real life is a whole seperate ballgame. How do we do this? What does this look like? And then I came to this beautiful realization. We are already Men of God, transformed, delivered, sanctified, redeemed. I have to return to the foundation of what I believe. That through Christ I have been changed. By getting on my knees and offering my life over to Jesus, not just once, but everyday, will continue to alter my heart and make me more like Christ. So I don't have to seek out a new game plan to counteract the culture I live in. All I have to do is return to the roots of my faith, to get on my knees everyday and pray that I will stay focused on my weakness without Christ, and strength with him. If I turn to God within this context, he will lift me up.