Human on Human, both on Christ

"Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days." -- The apostle Paul

Admittedly, my imagination shoots to the clouds a little bit when I think about this meeting between 2 powerful guys that I really respect and have allowed to coach and mentor me in how I think and live. I really wish I could've been there.

 

...when Peter asked Paul to recount how his friend Jesus showed up on the Damascus road, and Peter excitedly answers with how Jesus showed up to him each time after Jesus' death, too.

...when Paul, with wide eyes, asked Peter all about his 3 years of walking with Jesus in the flesh.

...when Peter asked Paul what it was like to have such a dramatic shift in life, from killing disciples to making them.

...when Paul asked Peter what it was like to leave his fishing business and family to follow this controversial Rabbi.

 

What a moment of iron sharpening iron!

 

I wonder which of the 15 days it was that they had moments of confession to each other: Paul speaking with great anguish about his prideful supervision of faithful Stephen's stoning, or his angry march towards Damascus with intentions of violence against precious souls. And Peter matching it with his own tears and weeping as he recounts his 3 time refusal to acknowledge that he even knew Jesus in the midst of his friend;s darkest hours, or the time he lacked understanding so much that his Lord looked at him and saw Satan's hand at work through him. I wonder how long they cried together.

 

And I wonder when the crying stopped and they submitted once again to the redeeming and restoring work of Jesus in their life! Paul, with amazement, listening to Peter's story of "going back to work" fishing, and Jesus showing up on the beach to remind him of his call, and his belief in him! And Peter listening as Paul tells of all his guided moves by the Spirit of Jesus since those life-altering, life-giving friendships God sent to him through Ananias and the disciples in Damascus! I bet they were friends of Peters. "What a small world it is!" they might have said to each other.

 

The friendship and partnership didn't end there. 14 years later Paul went to Peter and other leaders of the Messiah Movement once again, moved by God to do so, letting them know of his call to take Christ's way of life to non-Jews. It stands out in my head that their partnership in Christ and their friendship in the Way was strong enough and important enough for Paul to confront Peter about Peter's insecurity in standing strong in the purity of Christ's call in the face of the Jews. Iron sharpening iron, indeed.

 

Sharing, confessing, celebrating, confronting, learning, teaching, growing, partnering...this is what my imagination says happened that 15 days.

 

And this is what I have been blessed to be a part of with the band of disciples that I run with here in Amarillo, TX. It is a fantastic group, and I am still amazed after 2 years of being here. They share with me, confess to me, celebrate me, confront me, learn from me, teach me, grow with me, and partner with me.

 

There is an element of attaching to each others pain that goes along with this kind of Christ-conforming, disciple-making friendship that makes life raw and real, transformation attainable and possible (as opposed to only theoretical and conceptual). I am immersed in this work on every side, and it is so real and practical that the language surrounding the idea of "new creation" that I find in the Bible jumps to life as I read about it...like God planned for this stuff to happen all along.

 

It's not always romantic and rosy, mind you. Nor is it always what we might call successful and productive. But when I'm faithful to the work of Christ, living out and witnessing His death, resurrection, and ascension story over and over again...it is paradoxically always romantic and rosy, successful and productive.

 

And it is the life you and I were born to live. 

 

 

Surround Yourself with Kings

"When I am walking true, my mere existence in that state attracts people who are striving to walk true and repels people who are choosing not to." - Jim Spivey

 

"Kings take pleasure in honest lips; they value a man who speaks the truth." - King Solomon

 

"Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place." - King David

"Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." - King Jesus

I desire the company of Kings.

 

Not people of mere "power" as the world knows it. Not people with the loosely clad "title". But true masters of the universe, who sit on a throne of peace, joy and righteousness. Regardless of the prominence of their position in man's eyes, and regardless of their capacity to "make things happen" with the influence of their money, relationships, talent or zeal, these kings whose company I want live and speak and think and ponder and do all that they do from a the more powerful place of deepest Truth and deepest Love (which are the same thing, by the way).

 

Kings are sensitive people. They have ears that "hear" what's actually being said, eyes that "see" only the real things. And then they operate with powerful strength out of that reality.

 

Kings are doing people. Never for "doings" sake, or for outward accomplishment or fame, Kings are always doing something in the innermost place. Even their sleep becomes beneficial for inward advancement. It does manifest itself outwardly in forms seen by men, but the mere outward form being done does not prove that he is a King. Many people honestly want to be Kings, but they mindlessly imitate the outward actions of those who are, rather than perceive the inward actions that make Kings.

 

Kings are all about relationships. They often excel in the crafts, trades, or endeavors of their lives, but they all have come to intimate grip with themselves in relation to others, accepting wholeheartedly that to live truly for themselves is to live for God and others. And the greatest Kings work towards making relationships THE craft, trade, and endeavor of their lives.

 

Kings are both indifferent and personal towards all people. Indifferent, in that they give themselves (and the love and truth that resides in themselves) fully to any human being in the world that they happen upon. Personal, in that they speak and do the truthful words and actions that are specifically appropriate and called for with each human being in the world as they are specifically moved.

 

When I walk submissively from the "wisdom of the inmost place", by the "truth that comes into the light", "speaking truth" with "honest lips", I know that I am living from and for God, and it "is seen plainly" that what I do "has been done through God".

 

And when I do that, it seems I am surrounded by these Kings, learning, growing, and transforming more and more into the image of Christ...King of Kings.