Thursday, April 12, 2007

Boasting . . .

What does it mean to boast in Christ?

It certainly has nothing to do with "overcoming" or "living the victorious Christian life". It probably doesn't even have anything to do with "Christian service" or "worship" as commonly understood today. It's really not even anywhere near the discussing of our spiritual experiences with one another or speaking of what "Jesus has done for/taught me" of late or of shouting out a "praise" in the prayer-request session (as I have at points past fuzzily understood it).

Boasting in Christ must simply mean one thing (though it's rather multifaceted) - the total amelioration of self into the person and message of the Lord. It means realizing the utter (and oft-repeated) truth of Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." It means daily arising and remembering that it's not about me; remembering to pray as John the Baptist that Christ would increase and I would decrease. It means remembering that I offer nothing to God that wasn't already His; that any and all good that comes through me flows from His grace.

As Paul says in II Corinthians 10:17-18, "But 'He who boasts is to boast in the Lord.' For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he whom the Lord commends."
The last verse of "How Deep the Father's Love for Us" by Stuart Townend puts it further into the simplest of terms:

"I will not boast in anything;
No gifts, no power, no wisdom.
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer.
But this I know with all my heart:
His wounds have paid my ransom."

Folks, it ain't about us!

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