CHRIST IN ME
“It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”
In the US, when we meet people for the first time, after greeting and introducing our name, we invariably ask or talk about what we do. It is expected and given as a social courtesy. “My name is so and so. I am a store manager in downtown, LA,” for example. In the Christian ministry context, we play the “humble” card by saying something like “I serve as a director . . . ” I know, because I’ve done that and probably will continue to do that in some variation because it is too much to upset the apple cart. Deep down inside, we know we are more than what we do. We all do. But we also feel trapped. We all have to do something so what we do is really not a problem in itself. It becomes a problem when what we do becomes our identity, and we make the mistake of believing that what we do is our true self. If what we do is a natural flow out of our true self, then it has its rightful place.
The pinnacle of the true self is best captured by Apostle Paul: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). Christ is living in me and through me. . . It is the same and eternal Christ living in and through the unique me. When you have a collection of people experiencing this reality, what we witness is the same and unchanging Christ. And yet, the same Christ is shown through unique and individual me and others. In this way, the united Christ is visible through diverse and unique embodiments of Christ. The interchange among those Christ living in them then becomes Christ in me recognizing Christ in others and vice versa. This is what union and communion looks like both with Christ and with other Christ indwellers. Christ is the least common denominator.
One of the questions I have been asking myself during my sabbatical is, “What would I do that is flowing out of Christ living in me?” “What if I were to live my life according to the knowledge that Christ is living in me?” No more self-deception or compromise. In some ways, these questions and desires are freeing, and at the same time, it feels scary. Freeing because suddenly, I feel unencumbered and wide open. Free as the sky, baby. . . :) Scary because this can look like I am going counter-cultural and venturing out of the accepted norm and into marginality. . .
I’ve been repeatedly quoting Thomas Merton. Both for my wife and me, Merton has been our top spiritual guide and mentor during this season. I’ve shared the following quote from Merton before, but in this blog, it is pertinent again.
Again, that expression, le point vierge, (I cannot translate it) comes in here. At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth, a point or spark which belongs entirely to God, which is never at our disposal, from which God disposes of our lives, which is inaccessible to the fantasies of our own mind or the brutalities of our own will. This little point of nothingness and of absolute poverty is the pure glory of God in us. It is so to speak His name written in us, as our poverty, as our indigence, as our dependence, as our sonship. It is like a pure diamond, blazing with the invisible light of heaven. It is in everybody, and if we could see it we would see these billions of points of light coming together in the face and blaze of a sun that would make all the darkness and cruelty of life vanish completely . . . I have no program for this seeing. It is only given. But the gate of heaven is everywhere.
As we become more aware of our own “le point vierge,” true self (or Christ living in us), we begin to see others as “pure diamonds, blazing with the invisible light of heaven,” as in Christ living in them. Not only do we see them as pure diamonds, we want to help and come alongside them so that they can discover themselves as pure and immortal diamonds. This must be done without violating equality, dignity, and solidarity with humanity. Nobody is a stranger. We all are pilgrims, walking on the road to discover who we are. Invariably, what we all do in life flows out of who we are (true self). And what we do (because we are made in God’s image and likeness) does and will reflect God’s Kingdom coming on this earth as it is in heaven.