alive?

January 14, 2005

there was a scene in pixar's incredibles that has stayed with me ever since i watched it (back in december). the main character, mr. incredible, a character with super natural powers was forced to live a life of mediocrity early on in the movie, forced to hide his true identity from the world. he had to restrain himself from using his powers, and live life as every other human being. there were numerous scenes showing him working at the office, bored completely out of his mind. there were other scenes showing how badly he wanted to reconnect with who he was; a superhero. totally understandable. how do you go from superhero to office clerk, especially when you were created for so much more?

something about that scene really resonated with me, as if it were my life being shown on the screen. sometimes i feel like i'm not really living, like i'm just going through the motions of life, occupied with the trivial things of this world that do not matter. i'm bored silly, out of my mind really. is there any end to this seemingly unending rut?

i'm a Christian, yet the live i live is nowhere near as exciting as i feel it should be or could potentially be. the Christian life should be full of excitement, shouldn't it? i think back to lives that the disciples lead. now that's exciting stuff. they got to see the miraculous hand of Jesus, the wonder of His transforming power all first hand. i think back to the crazy adventures of people like daniel, moses, peter and even paul. there wasn't anything special about these guys. they were just as average as you or i, but they understood something that perhaps we don't, or at least i don't.

i cannot accept that the Christian life is meant to be lived the way i live it now. dull and boring. sure, there are moments when life is so full and rich, but they are but a small whisper. more often than not, it's back to the same ol' routine. but God created us for so much more than the mundane...

when you're adopted into a family, you are given all the rights that every family member has. we were adopted into the Kingdom through the blood of Christ. meaning, we've inherited everything, all the rights and privileges in being a son and daughter of God. we live with the power and authority of Christ in us. the Holy Spirit also dwells in us. so how is that life can still be so mundane? how is that my life is so mundane? is it the result of our engagement of the world's activities that makes us forget? i think that's a very likely explanation.

i think back to a question that i still cannot fully answer: what makes you come alive? in my investigation of the passions that God has given me, i find that i am most alive when i connect with others (building, listening, encouraging, edifying them) and when i'm serving in ministry (worship, creative arts etc.). everything else pales. i get excited thinking about the possibilities of what could be. i get excited about seeing the arts developing in the church. i guess what i'm really saying is that i come alive when i engage in activities that align with my passion. anything else to me seems trivial and uncircumstantial. like a chasing after the wind.

realitically speaking though, there are things in life that you'll encounter that you aren't passionate about, but still have a responsibility/obligation for (unfortunately for some people, this is their vocation). for me, it's school. my current undergrad is an ends to a means, i need an undergraduate degree in order to head into seminary. design just doesn't do it for me. maybe it's being in this program that i've disliked for four years that has taken it's toll on my alive quotient. mind you, i've tried my best to obediently obey God's call in remaining in this program (by doing my absolute best, and striving for excellence). it hasn't all been negative though; i have found a lot of joy in the relationships i've fostered with my classmates. i've also learnt many things about myself through this journey too. God knows a lot better than we do, for even though i did not like this program, in retrospect, there is no other program that i would have rather been in (what a paradox). or maybe it's the fact that i'm so close to graduation now, that i just want to "get it over with"? in any case, i think i'm ready to move on from this and do things that i'm really passionate about.

later on in the movie, mr. incredible gets the opportunity to be himself again, a superhero. he no longer had to deny who he was. that's when we as the viewers get to see him really thrive and really living. can you see the parallel? if we want to really live, we cannot deny who we are. we were created to be fully alive in Christ. we were created to worship and adore Him. we are made new. we are chosen. we are fearfully and wonderfully made. we are completely forgiven. we are the sons and daughters of God. we are no longer sinners, but saints.

what makes YOU come alive?

praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. for he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. in love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will–to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. and he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ" - ephesians 1:3-9 [NIV]

Posted by Leo Chan at January 14, 2005 1:51 PM