Are you a being or a doing?

For in him we live and move and have our being.”  (Acts 17:28)

  imageThis verse in Acts 17 caught my eye again.  I linger over its implications and marvel at its truth.  It certainly makes the point that we live–whether we acknowledge it or not–before the face of God!  That “reality” is Him–not an idea but a personality.

Ravi Zacharias’ way of saying this is:

In every other religion the teachers point to their teaching to show a person the way.  It is instruction and a way of living that is commended.  It is not Buddha who delivers but his “Noble Truths” that instruct you.  It is not Mohammed who transforms you, it is the beauty of the Koran that woos you.

By contrast, Jesus is identical with His message.  “In Him” dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily. (Col. 1:19)  He did not just proclaim the truth.  He said, “I am the Truth.”  He did not just show a way.  He said, “I am the Way.”  He did not just open up passageways.  He said, “I am the Door.”

We are not called “human livings” or “human doings”— we are called “human beings.”  Teaching at best beckons us to morality,  Jesus held up a mirror to show us our dirty face but by His person He transforms our will to seek Him.  It is our being that Jesus wants to feed.