When the rubber meets the road, Part 3
There's a common saying, "When the rubber meets the road." This alludes to those times when we're called to put into practice what we think, understand, and say. It's the intersection in life where our resolve is put to the test. For the tennis pro, for instance, it's the moment in the last set, last point, where the pro either makes the point and wins the championship, or misses and loses.
Each day, there are actually smaller points of "when the rubber meets the road." It may be the point of reinforcement for a child, who attempts to stretch the house rules. It's the point when a CEO is under great pressure from company owners, and he chooses to move forward in a God-directed way. It's the moment, when we choose to lean on God for healing, when in great pain or under severe stress.
St. Paul gives us the qualities of thought needed during these spiritual intersections. In the fourth chapter of Ephesians, he teaches us to "walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called" (Eph 4:1). Then he lists the spiritual qualities needed: lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, and forbearance with each other. He asks us to work to keep unity and peace.
His reason why? Because there is one body, expression of God, and one God, Spirit. And we're all called and given grace, and given the "gift of Christ" (Eph 4:7). This is what we have within us, as we practice Christianity, and we have it because of Christ Jesus.
Paul is urging us to be unified Christians, to put on the new man, the man God created, and to act and live in a way that, when the rubber meets the road, we will be examples of Christ Jesus' teachings.
And... Paul wipes out any sense of jealousy among Christians. He tells us that some are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, -- all are needed and working for the great cause of Christianity and the unity of the faith. This is our true vocation.
All are needed, too, for the great Cause of Christian Science in demonstrating the "knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Eph 4:13). What does this mean for you and me?
For me, it means we mature in our understanding of the unity of God and man, Mind and idea. It means we practice to ground ourselves spiritually, and not be thrown back and forth by matter's claims. It means we learn the doctrine of Christ, in its fullness, and practice it scientifically. It means we stay alert to "the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness", which lies "in wait to deceive" (Eph 4:14). It means we guard our thought against evil suggestions, which have no foundation in God and man.
How do we do this? We grow spiritually in our understanding of the Christ within us. The real man, here and now, expressed, is the Christ within each of us. And this unity of thought and action, which the Christ emanates, brings us all together in the unity of spirit, with every part working together for good.
To do this, though, we individually have to face where our rubber meets the road. We must prayerfully choose to "walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their (our) mind" (Eph 4:17). We choose not to be darkened in thought by evil. We choose to understand our at-one-ment with God, good, through a deeper acceptance of God as our Father-Mother. We choose not to be "of the world"(Jn 17:14), although we may be "in the world" (Jn 9:5). We choose to put off any mortal, fearful, anxious sense. We pray to leave off old ways of thinking and acting. We practice to demonstrate the man of God's creating.
As we renew our thought from the old man to the new, from the mortal to the spiritual, we find unity. We find one body, one God, one Christ. Then we find we are able to be 'kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving... even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven us'(Eph 4:32).
This week, let's take a deeper look at Ephesians chapter four. And learn more about the newness of life Paul teaches.
