A Thought For The Week Of July 16

"So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer." (2 Corinthians 5:16) Paul (in the days when he was known as Saul) once looked on Jesus as he would look on any man. From a worldly point of view, Jesus failed - He was crucified; He was killed; He was rejected by His own people. It doesn't sound very promising. And so Saul, observing the situation from a worldly perspective, turned on those who followed Jesus, becoming one of the great persecutors of the early church. But then, in a dramatic conversion experience, Saul was changed. He became Paul, and he confronted reality: it was Jesus' seeming defeat that was actually His victory; it was Jesus' apparent weakness that gave His disciples strength; it was Jesus' death that ultimately offered a new way of living. Jesus was like no one else, and He couldn't be judged by the same standards  that the world normally uses. Jesus turns the world and all its expectations upside down - and thank goodness. If Jesus were just a reflection of the world, what would be the point of faith in Him? Jesus asks us to live by the standards God has clearly revealed (love, mercy, compassion and justice for all) and not by the standards the world expects of us (the pursuit of wealth, ambition, a "me-first" attitude, putting profit ahead of people.) Now is as good a time as any to start doing that. Have a great week!