Is Jesus In Me Or Am I In Him?

 

A couple of things are swirling around in my head and creating this week's post.

Thing 1: I once heard Juan Carlos Ortiz comically express exasperation at the cognitive dissonance inherent in some times of musical worship. Translation: Ortiz made me laugh once when he joked about how the songs we sing sometimes don't make any sense being sung together.

A rough paraphrase: I hear these people all happy and bouncing around singing "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart," and just so excited. And then two songs later, they're all somber and pleading, "Into my heart, into my heart, come into my heart Lord Jesus." Well? Is he in your heart or isn't he?!!? Do you have his joy in your heart, or do you need to plead with him to be there?

Thing 2: On a recent Sunday morning, as part of an excellent message, Pastor Brad asked this pointed question: "How audacious is it to expect a king to fit into my life instead of me diving headfirst into his?"

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I'm pretty sure that when Jesus says that he is the vine and we are the branches (John 15), he's not alluding to any kind of horticultural miracle where the branches exist on their own and are gracious enough to allow the vine to connect to them.

Yes, there is that bit in Revelation 3 where Jesus is asking to be invited in, but balance that out with "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved" (John 10:9). Metaphors can only be taken so far.

Truth is...Jesus made it abundantly clear in Matthew 16:24 and Mark 8:34: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."