who i hope to be...

i remember back when i was in middle school, i was getting into rap music. i think this mortified my parents, so my mom went and purchased me two Christian rap tapes...yes, tapes...the groups name was the Rap'sures. yeah, that's right, the Rap'sures...a group of 8-9 white kids rapping about living for Jesus. in the pantheon of great rap...this crew...well...let's just say, one of the tapes never got played...

...Christian rap has come a long way, a looooong way, and while i might post about some of my favorites at some point, i want to reference Flame's song Like Christ...Flame took the old 'i wanna be like mike' commercials from the 80s and turned it into 'i wanna be like Christ'...really it was quite clever and done over a good beat...plus, Flame can flow. the reason I reference this song, is because I can't help but think about this song when I read:

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus..." (Phil 2.5)

...and so begins one of the two passages i mentioned last week. this passage has been so important to me because i believe this section in Philippians has the basics for who we are to be as disciples of Jesus...we are to be like him. Like him in how we see ourselves, relate to others, and relate to God...this was the basic 3 point outline for the first sermon i ever preached (filled with about a dozen football references, since that was my repertoire at the time)...but i want to focus on one word used in verse 7.

In verse 7 a form of the Greek word kenosis is used. in this verse it is used to describe Christ emptying himself of all personal desires, personal rights, to obey the Father and save us. When i think about who Jesus has called me to be, and who we believe we are called to be, it's people who empty themselves of all but love. i seek to empty myself in complete obedience to God...and that isn't an easy thing...i truly wish i did a better job. But imagine, imagine if all of Jesus' disciples sought to have his attitude...an attitude of complete obedience, an attitude that said my concern is for the others around me...imagine if Christians emptied themselves in love of God and service for others...who I hope to be is one who fulfills the charge Paul gave to the Philippians as he quotes what was probably a hymn sung by the communities of faith in the first century...

...so each day, i pray, i hope, i sing along with Flame and the kids "I wanna be like Christ"