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It literally took me ten minutes to find an available parking space at the medical complex where my doctor’s office was located. And, the one I finally found was a quarter of a mile away from my destination, a distance I had to briskly jog to get to my appointment on time. After my appointment, I was still feeling a bit inconvenienced by the parking shortage while I waited for the elevator. A sales representative from one of the drug companies walked up to the elevator as well, briefcase in hand. I was feeling talkative and a parking shortage is a very non-threatening subject to talk with a stranger about, so I asked her where she had been able to find parking. Looking at her more fully, I realized she was a very attractive, younger sales representative, stylishly dressed for her work day. She seemed to take full parking lots as part of her job assignment, and driving in circles around the parking lot as an opportunity to pray for patience. Yes, she used the word, "pray," and suddenly I was very interested in taking this conversation further. As our conversation took us well into the parking lot, I was thankful I was parked a quarter of a mile away. I caught a glimpse into the heart of a young woman who was full of a passion for God and for others. It was not her passion though that intrigued me. It was the naturalness with which she lived her Christian life.
So often we complicate the order of our Christian growth. We accept the truth that salvation comes as a gift of grace, given in response to a faith that has also been gifted to us. We do nothing to deserve or earn it. Then, as believers we work hard to show others, and perhaps prove to ourselves and to God, that we really did "catch it." The problem is that sometimes our Christian behaviors and practices become shallow imitations of what others in our community of believers are doing or not doing. Sometimes we get caught up in trying to impress God so we don’t lose what He freely gave to us. Our actions and attitudes can become arrogant or divisive. Or, they can become so stiff and mechanical because we are doing what we "ought" to do, rather than what should come very naturally as a result of the new nature God has placed within us – a new nature that is being transformed to the very likeness of God’s Son as we live in relationship with God, hearts fully alive to hear from Him and respond to Him. And then there are those whose outer lives give no evidence of inward change and who silently or fearfully simply guard their Christian "life insurance policy."
The potential for Christian growth is fully given to us at salvation. We must guard and nurture that potential, but it already belongs to us. There is no need to parade our Christianity or "fake it," but neither is there an appropriateness in silently or fearfully withholding the "natural" display of God’s inner working in our lives. A redeemed life should naturally become a transformed life, a new creation energized and enlarged by the indwelling grace and power of God.
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