Gray’s Anatomy
Gray’s Anatomy is the text book of choice for medical students all over the world. (Grey’s Anatomy on the other hand is a great TV show…) This is the standard by which the human body is measured to gauge normalcy and health of the underpinning structures.
For followers of Jesus, our “Gray’s Anatomy” is the Bible. It is undoubtably more difficult to understand as a whole than Gray’s, and open to interpretation, but it nonetheless gives us a gold standard to measure ourselves by.
So here’s the million dollar question for life as we we know it:
What does a spiritually healthy follower of Jesus look like in today’s world?
I’d like you to answer this question from your perspective in the comments section. Have you ever thought about whether or not you are a healthy follower? Or do you merely exist? Perhaps you are a spiritual body builder who is conscious about being a faithful representative of our God.
Your perspective may be one of being healthy, and therefore having the ability to tell us how it is.
Your perspective may be one of being spiritually unwell, how are you working to get healthy?
Your perspective may be one of being spiritually apathetic…you’ve got your passport ot heaven and you’re waiting for that moment to come.
Your perspective may be one of having decided that you don’t want to be measured against that standard because a follower of God has hurt you. Tell me what you think an unhealthy follower of God looks like. I’m a firm believer in learning from mistakes (whether they be mine or someone else’s).
Your answers will form a series of follow up posts. Feel free to answer anonymously if that helps you to be more candid. You can write as much or as little as you feel your response needs.
So…lay it on me…what DOES a spiritually healthy follower of Jesus look like in concrete terms...
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September 13th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Michelle – it would real easy to rattle off a heap of bible verses to answer this one, but that is NOT what you are looking for is it.
For me, a healthy disciple is real and honest about who they are, both the good and the bad. They are acutely aware of the grace of God shown to them, and pass it on to others. They are aware of their relationship with God – not just pretending to have one. They demonstrate that they believe right relationships is more important than being right all the time.
September 14th, 2009 at 10:55 am
Hi Michelle!
Just a quick note, and not an exhaustive list! (oh, @OfficerAnni here
)
I think that a spiritually healthy follower of Jesus has a strong social conscience. We’re well past the days of feeding only ourselves, and realising what the Acts church realised which is that we’re given a mandate by God to look after those in need. Whether this takes the form of food parcels, primary school breakfast programs, financially supporting pastors in remote parts of the globe…
I think it’s as a result of spending time with God. His accent, passions, desires all rub off – and how can we NOT want to serve those around us if we really are trying to follow in Jesus’ footsteps?
A step on from that, and perhaps a controversial one for some, is being good stewards of what he’s blessed us with. This may take the form of making wise and informed financial/family decisions, but I also personally think it extends to the physical environment too. I’m not saying we should all become environmental fanatics, but we should definitely be conscious of our actions and trying to live in a clean and environmentally conscious manner that suits our lifestyle.
Well, that was a little longer than I intended! Thanks for the blog, it’s got me thinking along these lines (which is much more edifying for a Monday morning than working through the inbox!!)
September 14th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
I think a person who thinks they are spiritually healthy probably isn’t.
If we can come to a place as Paul did to realize that there is no greater sinner than ourself and learn to rest and rely on the grace of God we have matured. I believe that each one of us is capable, given the circumstances to commit great evil. When we know that we are evil to the core then we have matured.
We tend, me too, to try and garner brownie points by doing our daily spiritual exercises, reading the Bible and praying etc, not that I think we shouldn’t do these things but we should not be legalistic in this respect. Without leaning on His grace all this is dead works. Most important is our relationship with God, every good work stems from that.
However sometimes God hides, because he wants us to seek, and one walks entirely by faith rather than in relationship. Currently this is where I am but I know and see God’s hand in a lot of ways although I might not be hearing or feeling anything.
.-= Berni´s last blog ..It has been that sort of day =-.
September 15th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Hi Michelle
Tough one to answer without writing heaps! For me I think a spiritually healthy follower is someone who reflects Jesus in all they do. They dont need to try too hard to be like Him, He flows from them becasue of the time they spend with Him each day. As Anni said above, Jesus rubs off on us the more we spend time with Him and learning from His word and I agree.
Oh man its hard not to write and essay here… ok someone who is an authentic follower of God, not afraid to tell the truth, speak with compassion, love everyone enough to challenge their way of thinking, open and honest, forgiving, lives by faith, trusts God with everything and seeks to make a difference in the world for God’s glory not their own…
Hows that?
.-= Eddy´s last blog ..How Do You “Learn”? =-.
September 20th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
I think a true follower of Christ is one who simply loves. It really has very little to do with dogma, denomination and interpretation — whether you’re baptised, speaking in tongues, attending church regularly, attending bible study, worshipping I think is all a distraction.
you can be fooled into thinking that if you do all the above that somehow you’re ‘saved’.
The simple formulae is – if you don’t love, then that is evidence that you don’t know God. (1 John 4:7–8)
Christ tells us that people will recognise those who follow him by their love for people (a new commandment I give unto you…love one another…) — that’s it.
Anybody who claims to know God and doesn’t love or puts conditions on love does not know God.
Love never fails, there’s never a reason for it not to work…The Beatles were right all along!