The Vicarious Christian

vi.car.ious

adj.

1. Felt or undergone as if one were taking part in the experience or feelings of another.

2. Endured or done by one person substituting for another.

3.  

    a. Acting or serving in the place of someone or something else; substituted.

    b. Committed or entrusted to another, as powers or authority; delegated.

4. Physiology Occurring in or performed by a part of the body not normally associated with a certain function.

From Latin vicarius; see vicar.

Recently I dreamt that I was writing a book, the title of which was "Beyond Ourselves- The Gifting Interface Ratio Level in the Life of the Prophet Elijah"! Surprisingly enough, I have had no offers to publish this book! However, another book title that I have considered is the title of this blog- "The Vicarious Christian". I will probably never get round to writing the book, so here is the synopsis!

Many years ago I read The Lord Of The Rings while working as a kitchen porter in my summer break. Unfortunately, I became a little too embroiled in the story, and my moods began to follow the development of the plot! I went in to work one day feeling really down, the reason being that Gandalf had just fallen with the Balrog from the Bridge of Khazad-Dum!  A few weeks later I went in elated that Gandalf had risen as Gandalf The White! Sad but true!!

More seriously, I have  have come to realize that often I am in danger of leading a vicarious Christian life. No, you didn't read that wrong, I didn't mean to say Victorious. Often believing that one can mature through osmosis, I read the latest book from the latest anointed leader; I visit the blog of the gifted pastor and avidly devour his teaching; I sing the most up-to-date worship song and learn the most effective methods of evangelism or ministry as defined by the latest gurus in their book/blog/DVD/Conference/Interactive website/t-shirt combo package ("All yours exclusively for $599.99!"). I sign up to the latest "cause", believing that by doing so I am more sold out for the Kingdom. Reading the biography of spiritual giants who have gone before, I feel myself more spiritual than before; I believe I am growing in prayer because I have discovered "The 7 habits of Highly Effective Prayer Warriors". In short, I enter the experience or the feelings WITHOUT HAVING LIVED THE EXPERIENCE!

A word to the wise (and myself)- The Christian Life is not meant to be vicarious! it is meant to be a life lived only as you can live it, and only as God leads and reveals. You and I are unique, beautiful songs of God's creation and redemption, and our lives are meant to be sung to the full, not subsumed into a general, amorphous muzak as we try to imbibe the spirituality of others. We cannot experience the fullness of God's love, his leading, His empowering as we try to experience Him through others, however anointed and gifted they may be! You are not meant to be the next Billy Graham/John Wesley/Mother Theresa/Shane Claiborne/Chris Tomlin/Peter/Paul/Mary/Moses/John Wimber/Rob Bell/Calvin/Martin Luther/ A.W. Tozer/C.S.Lewis (Circle where appropriate!). So while we can learn from these and many others, and appreciate the gifts to the body they were and are, we cannot allow them to live the God-filled life for us. And we cannot ride on the coat-tails of the good and the great before God. The church we are a part of does not matter; the name of our pastor is not important; the number of causes we have liked on Facebook may make us feel good, but may not have an eternal bearing on our lives.

In many ways, vicarious Christian living is an ancient, well-established practice. Think about the people of Israel requesting Moses to meet with God for them, and then to tell them what God wanted of them- and how well that worked! Or the people of Israel demanding a king to reign over them, rather than having God as their King. It appears that often we want others to take the chances, do the hard graft and represent us before God, while we reap the benefits. Unfortunately, that is not the way it works. Or is it...?

Because there is a vicarious Christian life to be lived- the sacrificial Way of Jesus. The Life of Jesus was a vicarious life, not in the way described above, but in entering into the sufferings of broken man, in order to live the life and die the death that brings freedom to those who follow Him. We are now able to enter into that life, and in doing so, not merely experience the feelings of another, but know His life in us, making us fully alive again. As we live this life, we realize more and more that the vicarious life we have often led, leeching off the life of others, is a fraud, an empty shell, a mere facade; and in doing so, we are more ready to engage a broken world with, in and through Christ, rather than just reading about how to do so, and therefore believing that in some way we have done so! Now, that is a Life worth living!