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WHAT
IT MEANS TO BE
A ChristIAN
by
Islip Collyer
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Having
Christ "In" Us
This
expression is much more than a form of words. It defines a
change of mind and a development of character quite as real
as the growth of the body: the permeation of something into
the individual as real as the taking of food. A newborn babe
has the germ of human character which needs to be nourished
by food from without as the body does, only the food is of
a different kind. On all planes of possible development-physical,
mental, moral and spiritual-we need nourishment and use if
we are to grow. Too much exercise without adequate nourishment
has a stunting and deforming effect. Too much food without
sufficient exercise leads to unhealthy fatness and not to
strength. If there is a reasonable balance of food and exercise
there may be healthy development.
All
wise parents try to achieve this balance with their children-sufficient
food but not excess, sufficient exercise but not too strenuous.
On the physical plane the facts are so obvious that only foolish
or careless parents fail to see them. Sometimes on the mental
plane, the effect is not quite so clear, and grave mistakes
are made. The same principle prevails, nevertheless. Robert
Hall once said of a certain man that he was clever, but that
he had so many books on his head that his brain could not
work. Such a result will sometimes follow when children, urged
on either by their own ambition or that of their parents,
study too hard and read too much. They imbibe ideas, but fail
to make them their own by thought and exercise. They may end
by having a great knowledge of books but little capacity for
using their knowledge. Less reading and more exercise of thought
would have been better for them.
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Chapter 3
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page
5 
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Strength
Comes With Use
In
moral and spiritual things the need for proper exercise is even
greater. A mere knowledge of right only brings added condemnation
if it is not rightly used. Moral truths need to be expressed in
action, coming to life and developing through deeds and words. Spiritual
truths need all this with an added exercise of contemplation and
integration which
may end by making them more real in the make-up of a man than his
physical frame.
The
Lord Jesus offended the Jews of his day by saying that a man was
defiled not by the physical food which builds up his body but by
the thoughts which come from the heart. There are many different
foods for our physical frames, and so long as they are adequate
for the renovation of flesh and blood it matters little what we
choose. A few microscopical specks of dirt such as might come from
unwashed hands cause no defilement. Even on the physical plane there
are worse things which we do not see and which we cannot possibly
avoid.
Surely
we can all see the force of the distinction drawn by the Lord. If
we admire and love a man, it is not for the excellence of his physical
frame or the beauty of his countenance. It is true that the face
often reveals something of that which is within, but it only acts
as the index of something more important than flesh and blood. If
we feel that a man is a defiling influence, it has nothing to do
with his flesh and bone, or the kind of food out of which his substance
has been built. It has to do with character, and the kind of mental
food by which that has been nourished. We are led to the conclusion
that this unseen mental and moral growth is in a sense more real,
and certainly is far more important, than the growth of the body.
A man may be full of the spirit and essence of art or poetry; he
may be the embodiment of revolutionary thought and political reform;
or he may be so fully imbued with the thoughts of a teacher that
his mentor seems to live again in him. Just occasionally we meet
one who perhaps with rough appearance and little of superficial
culture, thrills us with the conviction that Christ is in him. This
ideal should be the aim of all disciples, as it was the subject
of the Lord's repeated exhortation and prayer.
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Chapter 4
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