Have we corrupted the Gospel by changing it from radical Good News into emasculated Good Advice? [1] If he were alive on the earth today, would the apostle Paul be penning you and I a letter with the explicit intent of shocking us back into Freedom?

As Jesus bears his heart to Father in Gethsemane (Jn 17), He makes three outstanding requests for us that are irrevocably interconnected; 1. ‘That we may have the full measure of His joy within us’ (Wow!) 2. ‘That the love Father has for Him might be in us’ (Double Wow!) 3. ‘That He [Jesus] would be formed in us.’ (Simplicity!). The person of Christ is manifested within us as the fullness of the Father’s love for His Son is released within our hearts — naturally accompanied by the full measure of the Son’s joy! This is Christlikeness. The well is the love Father has for Jesus, generously available to each one of us.

Have we gone from being the lost son starving in a distant land, utterly convinced of our need of Grace, evolving instead into the self-congratulating older brother; striving in the field, never disobeying a command? Christianity with an exaggerated emphasis on obedience, the commandment and Lordship is Christianity without a revelation of the Father. His goal is our hearts in union and harmony with his, not domination. In the context of the church this older ‘son’ can appear to model Christian perfection; attending all available services and midweek events, being first to volunteer at every given opportunity, desperate to earn approval from God, man and self. Yet within is either growing dryness and despair, or deep-seated dissatisfaction and frustration with this Christian life. The root of the problem is that this isn’t the Christian life!

In Hugh Grant’s movie Music and Lyrics is a song entitled: All I want to do it find a way back into love… The Self-righteous Christian Life is a loveless marriage of either rigid duty or despair. How do I know? I’ve proudly displayed my self-righteousness and feasted on its bankruptcy, indeed I still pop-in to visit from time to time! I go from leaning into the One who is the very source of all life to trying to attain my goals through human effort — a mouthful of dry sand. Father wants to help us continually find the way back into the simplicity and reality of His love. In this place, even in the midst of failure or weariness, we discover what it means to be cherished by Father the way that He loves Jesus — then, Christ’s nature is birthed in the womb of our hearts and full joy begins to manifest from within. This is the Christian life, an ancient mystery unveiled, a journey into realised Trinitarian love Divine.

[1] NT Wright, Simply Good News