Red Letter Advantage
Find the advantage you’ve been searching for.
Why “red letter” advantage?
When people describe an event or statement as "red letter", they usually mean that it is of particular significance and worth reverence and remembering.
The inspiration for this idea dates back to 1899, when an American Christian magazine publisher decided to start printing Bibles with the words of Jesus Christ highlighted in red. He did this to make sure that Jesus' immortal teachings stood out in his readers' attention.
It is with the same desire to make the message of Jesus stand out in our world today that I try to live my life knowing that I have the red letter advantage.
I believe the disciplines and wisdom taught by Jesus Christ are of ultimate significance and provide the best advantage to grow and improve our organizations, our relationships, and our lives.
What does this mean for you?
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Love God
Love and honor God as our everlasting creator and father, and His son Jesus Christ as our savior and path to freedom.
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Love Others
Love and dedicate your life to serving other people, no matter who they are, what they believe, or where they are from.
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Recommit Daily
Committing your life to follow Jesus is not a one-time event, it requires intentional action, discipline, and re-commitment every day.
Christlike / adjective. resembling or showing the spirit of Jesus Christ.
What does it mean to be Christlike?
Jesus, sent by God to walk among us on Earth and show His will and desire for us, came to introduce a radical and novel way of life into the world. He challenged the establishment, overturned generations of religious tradition, and preached a truth that would change human history.
Jesus was intentionally radical and revolutionary compared to the status quo because He was introducing us to a new reality that is so much more generous and graceful than anything the human race had experienced before.
Through the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we have been given the perfect model for what is possible through God and what humans should aspire to - even though we will never attain.
So if we will never be able to achieve the perfection that is Jesus Christ on our own, but we are called to embody Him and be His representatives on Earth, how do we know what to do? What exactly do we do on a random Tuesday at work? How do we model Jesus to others in our daily lives?
There are many online resources that use the Bible to pull character traits representing Jesus and give us a guide for ourselves. In these resources you will see traits such as humble, pious, obedient, strong in faith, scholarly, loving, and others.
Another direction is to use the sermons that Jesus preached himself, recorded in the Gospels, as a view into what Jesus Himself taught as values and actions that people should practice in order to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Below are the Beatitudes (derived from the Latin word for blessedness) that Jesus preached at the Sermon on the Mount to His followers and a large crowd early in His ministry. These can be read as a code for Jesus' followers to follow and live by.
The Beatitudes
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The "poor in spirit" means people who recognize their own spiritual and existential condition without God. We are spiritually poor on our own and completely reliant on God's grace and mercy for righteousness. Being "poor in spirit" is a posture of humility in front of God and people, and willing acceptance of God's authority over both the individual and all creation. By living with this mental, emotional, and spiritual posture, we will be welcomed into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Those "who mourn" refers to people who show grief for sin, both the sin within ourselves and the sin that has tainted our world. By honestly living with grief for the power and impact that sin has on us, we are able to recognize sin within and around us and repent (or confess and turn-away) from sin. While we will still live in a sin-filled and fallen world, God will comfort us in our repentance on Earth and we are comforted in the knowledge that ultimately Jesus has overcome sin everlasting.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
The word "meek" has changed in meaning over the years. While it now is used to mean "weak", it traditionally meant knowing one's place in a systematic order. You can think of this now as understanding your role and place in an organization or business, and not overstepping your place to those above you. Being meek does not mean being weak, instead it means submitting to God's authority and knowing your place and role in His creation. It means living in your role, purpose, and responsibility to the best of your ability.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Righteousness is only attained through God and Jesus Christ. The words "hunger" and "thirst" are used here because they represent aspects of humanity that are crucial to our survival. We must eat and drink in order to stay alive. Without food and water, we will die in a matter of days. Those who recognize our dependence on God for righteousness and rely on Him for spiritual and life nourishment as much as we rely on food and water will be provided for. This shows that we should have an urgent pursuit of God.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Regardless of your belief system, moral code, or cultural background, most people have heard and understand "the golden rule": do to others what you want done to you. In order to live in accordance with Jesus' teachings and God's heart, it is crucially important that we show others forgiveness, kindness, compassion, patience, and mercy. While the golden rule guides us in relation to other people, in this portion of Jesus' sermon, he is using the same principal to guide us in relation with God Himself.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Purity, within the context of Christianity, is commonly used to mean clean and unblemished or without sin. While purity does mean cleanliness, it does not fully represent the meaning of the word and idea. Purity, especially for Christians, means singleness as well. To connect with this idea, think of the difference between a pure substance (such as pure salt), compared to a compound substance (such as pre-mixed salt and pepper). We are called to hold God, and God alone, in our hearts, and direct our life and actions to honor Him.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
Please pay attention to the difference between the words "peacemaker" and "peaceful." As children of God who act as His representatives on Earth, we are not just called to be peaceful in our lives and in the situations that the world brings to us. We are called to be actively making peace in the world. We are called to actively pursue opportunities to bring and make peace in our community and in the world around us where it was lacking before. How much different is this outlook on life and the responsibilities God gave us?
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Jesus, very openly and honestly, preached that true believers and followers of His teachings will be persecuted. He preached that the world will not understand and will not accept those who represent God. He said this to both be honest about what we will experience and to give us hope through our persecution.
We know that we live in a fallen world that is corrupted by sin, and that the world wants us to live a "safe" life dictated by this corruption. This persecution is a test of both faith and resilience for us. For some people, this persecution will come in the form of peer pressure and bullying, passive aggressiveness, and overcoming the temptation to live for personal gain and selfish reasons. For others, this persecution will come in the form of systemic alienation and penalty, violence, and possibly death. Regardless of what form your persecution comes in, your strength to overcome the fallen world and stand strongly by Jesus' side will be rewarded and celebrated by our heavenly Father.
So how can we summarize what it looks like to be Christlike in today's world?
People who are Christlike recognize that we live in a world full of sin and depravity and openly admit their need for God as the only path to salvation. People who are Christlike understand their God-given role in this world to worship God and care for others by actively seeking opportunities to bring God's peace in situations and other people's lives. People who are Christlike will not cower or back down from their identity and purpose, even in the face of temptation and persecution, even at the cost of their own lives.
While we know that we will fail at this every day, we will start every morning with the intention to follow Jesus' model to the best of our abilities. We take safety and security in the knowledge that our salvation does not come from our abilities, instead it comes from Jesus' self-sacrifice and God's mercy and love for us. It is out of recognition and appreciation of His sacrifice and love that we choose to align how we live with Jesus and place our trust, our life, and our eternal soul in God's care.
Being Christlike isn't about passing a test, meeting a standard, or achieving a rank, it is about acknowledging Jesus’ example and striving to live in accordance with it.
What does it look like to be Christlike?
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The Church
More than a building, the church is the complete body of Christ, His people around the world.
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Love
Recognize and love God as the creator of all and as our eternal Father, and love yourself and others as His representations.
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Other People
God uses His people every day as His hands and feet to reach out to other people in need.
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Vulnerable Children
Every child deserves to grow up in a loving, safe, and caring home, regardless of their background.
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Medical Needs
We are called to support and care for those in our world with health needs and disabilities.
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Impoverished
Everyone who has received financial blessings is responsible for giving to those who have not.
Becoming Christlike does not lead to salvation.
It is at this point that we must discuss the difference between becoming like Christ and our eternal salvation. Since Jesus' death and resurrection, there has been an ongoing debate and friction between the role of faith and acts (or the actions we take during our lives) in our salvation. I agree with the scholars, pastors, and brothers and sisters in Christ who put their soul in salvation through faith alone. This means the only way that an individual can be saved and made righteous for eternity is through earnest faith in God and Jesus Christ as His son, and our savior (read Galatians 2:16).
I would further argue that an earnest faith in God, and the life, sacrifice, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, leads to a transformed mind and heart of the believer. This transformed mind and heart compels a true believer to reshape the way they view their role in the world, to change how they treat the people around them, and to compel them to re-orient their mind, body, and spirit into the likeness of Jesus. These acts have no bearing on our salvation, that can only be earned through Jesus' sacrifice and gifted by God, but I believe that they are a natural outcome of true, transformative faith in God and Jesus Christ.