[The Midweek Encounter is a ministry of Encounter Church in
Kentwood, MI. These posts are reflections on Sunday's message, which can be
heard here each week: http://encounterchurch.org/#/messages-media]
Social media is bursting with quotes, images, and articles
all promoting the mantra to “be yourself,” and that doing so will bring you
true fulfillment and joy. Just to confirm my preconceived notions, I decided to
search “be yourself” on Pinterest, and discovered a number of quotes encouraging
Pinners to own their unique identity without regard for others:
“Just be yourself. Let
people see the real, imperfect, flawed, quirky, weird, beautiful, magical
person that you are.”
“Don’t change so
people will like you. Be yourself and the right people will love you.”
“Let go of who you
think you need to be and just be who you actually are.”
And my personal favorite…
“Be yourself. People
don’t have to like you, and you don’t have to care.”
If we’re being honest, I used to (okay, maybe I still do)
love these quotes and use them to affirm certain behaviors in my life. For
example, I was just “being myself” when I was overly flirtatious, even while in
a committed relationship. I used to tell myself “I’m just a flirty person.” Or,
when I struggled with binge drinking and smoking I would say, “I just have an
addictive personality.” Or, my husband’s favorite when I come home from Target:
“I’m just a shopper; I can’t help it!”
It’s easy to dismiss our mistakes and chalk them up to our
personalities; we have an inherent belief that we were simply created to be one
way, and that it’s nearly impossible to change. Mark’s hidden Christmas gift,
however, shows us that Christ came to help us change, to help us repent, and
become who He created us to be.
Mark 1:1-4 says:
The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah,
the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“I will send my messenger ahead of
you, who will prepare your way”—“a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare
the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”
And so John the Baptist appeared in
the wilderness, preaching a baptism
of repentance for the forgiveness of
sins.
 |
| Photo credit: mac9416, Flickr Creative Commons |
Mark does not begin his gospel with Christ’s birth; instead,
he jumps right to the punch line and shares the good news about Jesus coming to
earth: repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Wait, what? I thought that the
good news was our salvation, the fact that Jesus loves me no matter what, even
when I’m “just being myself.” While all of that is true, Jesus does love us
just as we are, the good news about Christmas is that we don’t have to stay just as we are. Christ’s birth
invites us into the process of repentance and change through the power of the
Holy Spirit.
Mark continues in verses 14-15:
After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming
the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has
come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
When Jesus was born, the kingdom of God came near; He closed
the gap between heaven and earth. Salvation was born, and along with it the
opportunity to repent of our sins and believe in the power of change through
the Holy Spirit. Through repentance we become more like Christ and are able to
advance His kingdom.
As 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit,
and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with
unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory,
which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
The power of Mark’s Christmas story is that we can repent
and give ourselves up to God, who continually is transforming us to reflect His
glory and to become our true selves. That truly is the gift of Christmas.
Let’s end with a quote from C.S. Lewis in his book Mere Christianity, “Until you have given
up your self to Him you will not have a real self.”
[Megan Stephenson is a proud new mom to her five-month-old
son August and spends her days trying to figure out how to take care of her
tiny human. She also works for a private education group in Grand Rapids as an
Assistant Registrar. Megan loves spending time with her husband, Ben, trying
out new breweries, restaurants, and local attractions. She also self-identifies
as a crazy cat lady, despite owning no cats of her own, thanks to her loving
and allergic husband.]
P.S.
Ladies—if you are interested in reading more about becoming
who God created you to be, I would suggest the book Becoming Myself: Embracing God’s Dream of You by Stasi Eldredge.
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