Christopher
Townley

if you’ve been following this week as i breakdown the challenge of “becoming” then you know a weight was lifted off your shoulders with the last post: you don’t have to become what you already are.

in Jesus, you and i are a masterpiece. beautiful, isn’t it?

but then what? is the “becoming” process finished? obviously, the argument would be that we can’t become what we already are. and if we’re already a masterpiece, how can we become anything better?

did you get all that?

remember what ephesians 2:10 was saying…

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

after the masterpiece, we actually have a mission. an opportunity to “become.” when we’re faced with the challenge of who are we going to become, i say…

let’s be people who choose to do the most good.

yes, you are a masterpiece. a masterpiece who is, for the sake of Jesus, always choosing do the good that is laid out in front of us.

where do you need to choose to do the most good? be the masterpiece God created, one that chooses to become about doing the most good.

here’s the question (or challenge, or annoyingly repetitive discussion): who are you becoming?

i know, i know. it’s really only been a day since we (and by “we” i mostly mean myself) started even thinking about who we are and who we’re becoming. with that in mind i thought it would be fitting to remind us who God says we are.

obviously, there is a process in which we must decide who it is we are becoming and who it is we want to become. this is personal. it’s for you and me to decide… on our own, in the scary and secluded places of our heart.

but, and that’s a “big but” (even it only appears regular size), when we are in step with Jesus there is something different about who we ARE. this greatly enhances our journey of becoming. if we have actually placed our lives in the hands of God, no matter where we find ourselves in the whole “He becomes greater, i become less” battle, then God has some specific things to say about who we are in Him.

here’s what i find encouraging on a life-changing level:

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (Ephesians 2:10 NLT)

did you catch that? we ARE (not becoming) God’s masterpiece. you are a freaking MASTERPIECE. and not like a mona lisa level masterpiece but like a view from the top of mount everest masterpiece. a masterpiece that defies our finite human minds. a masterpiece that was created by the greatest masterpiece Maker of all time.

yes, we are on a journey to become more like Jesus. however, we are not at ground zero. we are not nothing, trying to become something.

we are a MASTERPIECE. a masterpiece that is deciding to make something of our lives, a masterpiece that is going to become the person God created us to be.

not quite as daunting as before, is it?

ok ok. yesterday i did this thing that i do more often that i’d like to admit (did i just admit it?). i tip-toe around what i really mean to say, what i really want to say. instead of giving out what i think you need to hear, i give out what i think you want to hear. i try not to be abrasive. yes, i have issues and i just want to be liked.

here’s what i really meant to say:

you (and me) are not becoming who you’re supposed to be if you are putting yourself first. quite frankly, and deep down you know it’s true, when God BECOMES the priority in your life you can feel the becoming process moving in the “right” direction.

when you become less, when i become less we begin to move farther away from becoming the person that we don’t want to be.

john 3:30 couldn’t be more clear. God must become greater, and i must become less.

i did say this how i meant to yesterday (believe it or not) when i shared that this process is frightening and debilitating and overwhelming. when we BECOME less we lose control. and that scares the crap out of us… at least it’s awfully messy for me. it stinks.

there it is. become who God created you to be. use the new beginning that this season brings to embrace the challenge of making Him greater and making you less.

following up on this challenge will not, that’s right, NOT, make your life easier (let that sink in) but it WILL make your life better.

let’s become who God created us to be. anything less is not worth living…