Theological Commentary: Click Here
Discipleship Focus: Up
- Up: Up is the word we use for what we worship. If we are following God’s will, God will occupy the Up position. Our life, our identity, our mission, our family on mission is all derived from Up. This is why God needs to be in our Up position.
The theological commentary that I wrote three years ago had a
tremendous amount of influence upon this post.
In particular, see the challenging thoughts near the end. As Moses prepares the people to go into the
Promised Land, he speaks in a challenging way.
Hearing Moses speak I had to stop and ask myself, “Is God at work where
I look for Him and expect Him to be?” Or, more negatively stated, “Is God at
work where I’m not looking?” The
question isn’t whether or not God is at work.
The question is whether I am focused on being open to God and looking
for Him or whether I am putting blinders on and only allowing myself to look
for God where I expect Him to be.
This is a really challenging thought. In my relationship with Christ, I’ve found
that God is seldom at work where I expect Him to be at work. Usually God is doing amazing things that
catch me off guard. So if I’m not open
to God and only looking for Him where I expect Him to be found, how much of His
work am I missing?
This is why Up is such an important part of this
conversation. If I recognize that that
life begins with Up, then I won’t have preconceived ideas. If I am turning to God for things like
identity and power and authority, then I’ll be able to see Him and live into
what He wants me to do. However, if I am
going to God with my own preconceived notions then is God really in my Up
position at all? If I’m going to God
with my own preconceived notions, then am I not worshipping a god that I’ve
made in my own image?
No, God must be in our Up.
He must be where life starts. He
must be the origin of identity and power.
I must be open to His fullness, not just where I think He should be
found.
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