Runway Walk - Pt 4

(Part 4 of 7)

Horses, Hysterics, and Runway Models

During the eight weeks of total immobility following a broken leg, God had begun to prick my heart about a refocus in my spiritual walk. I began to wonder if my spiritual runway walk, like my physical runway walk, would be characterized by a limp, or would I walk strong and purposefully in such a way as to lead others to want to know my Jesus.  Had I grown so comfortable in my relationship with Jesus that I was no longer captivated by Him?  How could I live in such a way as to demonstrate the worth of an eternal Savior who loves me enough to die for me? 

Paul had said, in Ephesians 4:1, that because of all that Christ had given to us when we accepted Him as Lord and Savior of our lives, we were to walk the runway of life in such a way as to demonstrate who Christ really is and that we are a part of His family.  I am reminded of the time prior to the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.  Diana was trained in how to walk, how to smile, even how to wave, because she was to become a member of the royal family.  Everything she said or did reflected one way or another on that royal family.  How much more important is it, after we have already become a member of the heavenly royal family, that we live, breathe, move, and walk in such a way as to lead others to Jesus Christ and membership in that family, too.

How do we do that?  Well, according to Ephesians 4:2-3, that worthy runway walk of life is to be a walk in lowliness of mind, or – regardless of the pejorative secular connotation – a walk in humility.  We are bombarded by the philosophies of life today that contradict this passage of Scripture.  Strut your stuff, ring your own bell, fight for your right to be right, and give yourself a 10.  Do what’s best for you!  We believe in the speed limit, unless we are in a hurry.  We stop at the red light, unless we are tired of waiting.  We know there is a need for handicapped parking spaces, unless it is raining and we don’t want to get wet.  We’ll be really fast.  Yes, the fire lane is important, but we are only going to run into the store for one thing.  I know the checkout line says a limit of fifteen items, but I only have twenty – or, maybe twenty-two, or twenty-five, or …  I know I should put the basket in the corral, but I’m in a hurry.  I’ll park it over here between these two cars out of the way…  well, at least, out of my way.

Every one of these behaviors violates the principle of humility which characterizes Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, who, according to Philippians 2, made Himself of no reputation, took upon Himself the form of a servant, and was obedient even though it cost Him His life.  No one, today, aspires to be a servant. – even a servant of the King of Heaven.  Yet, Jesus spoke in paradoxes about self-assertiveness:  If you wish to be first, you must be willing to be last.  If you wish to be greatest, you must be willing to be the least.  If you wish to be master of all, you must be servant to all. 

Paul’s plea to believers on the runway of life is that we walk in such a way that we live in humility, meekness, patience in difficult times, and bearing much in love for the sake of one another.  None of these lifestyles come easily.  They come only with a heart of prayer for John 3:30, He must increase, and I must decrease.  That, by the way, is not a verse about dieting; it is a verse about dying.  Paul said he had to die daily.  He died to his natural pride, his selfish assertiveness, his right to never be wrong, his tendency to rationalize and judge, and all of the other characteristics which exalted himself and his accomplishments at the expense of others.  We have confused humility with humiliation, meekness with weakness, longsuffering with violation, and forbearance with tolerance or political correctness. 

Humility lifts others without fearing loss for self; humiliation destroys self and others.  According to Philippians 2:3, we are to live apart from strife and pride, and to esteem the needs of others more than our own.  When I was in charge of print/media at a large church, I had this verse imprinted on cards to be placed on the windshields of cars improperly parked in handicapped spaces.

Meekness indicates great strength under control; weakness asserts itself at any cost to others.  Our minds have been schooled to think of meekness as to failing to stand up for oneself, spineless, without any sense of assertiveness.  However, the original Greek word for meekness was used most often to describe the horses which raced in the great Roman circus, as in the chariot race made famous in the movie Ben-Hur.  Charioteers searched for meek horses, those horses with great power willing to place that great potential into the hands of the master.  I could only think of Jesus as He prayed in the garden:  Father, if it is your will, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not my will but yours be done.  He could have called ten thousand angels.  Instead, He placed all of His power into the hands of the Master.  Great strength is found in meekness. 

Longsuffering is to be patient in difficult times, not resentful or embittered.  Often, as women, we wear suffering like a badge of martyrdom.  Yet, few of us truly understand the kind of suffering to which Jesus Christ was subjected.  One of my heroes, Elisabeth Elliot, defined suffering as having what you don’t want or wanting what you don’t have.  I have known very few who demonstrate patient endurance during difficult times.  My husband’s theory is that we, as women, seldom become truly hysterical.  However, he believes that we, very often, become historical – filing every single incident of our past suffering in a convenient place to be used at a moment’s notice when it will be effective in reminding others of our previous longsuffering experiences – usually because of their shortcomings. 

Forbearance of others simply means to stick together with one another in love when things get tough, rather than walking away from loving confrontation or persevering on until resolution.  As a society, we do resolution of conflict very poorly.  We prefer to walk away from the conflict rather than persevere through the conflict.  Often, there are lessons to be learned only through the resolution; when we walk away from the conflict, we find ourselves repeating the choices or reactions that brought us to the conflict in the first place.

My dad told us as we were growing up that people are either steppingstones to Jesus or stumbling blocks to others.  There is no neutral ground.  When a model walks on the fashion runway, she is either complementing her designer’s clothes or detracting from them.  Everyone is influencing someone, either positively or negatively.  We are giving others goals – either to live like us or to make sure they are nothing like us. 

Our worthiness for others to model themselves after depends upon who is our model.  Paul said in I Corinthians 11:1:  You be a follower of me, just like I am a follower of Christ.  We have far too often discouraged others to follow us because of our frailties.  Instead, Christ implores us to love Him so much that we are willing to say to those around us:  There is nothing particularly special about me apart from Christ in me, but I make you this solemn promise.  If you will follow me on this runway walk of life, as long as I have breath, I love you so much that I will lead you straight to Jesus!

How is your runway walk going?

- Next Week, part 5, "What's Love Got To Do With It?" -

© 2010 Gerry Sisk

(05/26/10)