Do You Kenosis?

April 2007

In last month’s article I promised to write about the contribution of the Christian disciplines to our spiritual growth. You can find it at http://www.baptistdigest.com.

The end in view of the practice of the Christian disciplines is always conformity to the image of Jesus. Delores Dufner puts it this way: “So dare to be as he [Jesus] once was, who came to live, and love, and die.” I claim that the disciplines will contribute to our spiritual growth “to live, and love, and die” in the spirit of Christ.  C.S. Lewis boldly claims that “the church exists for no other purpose but to draw all men into Christ, to make them little Christs.” (This quote and the previous one come from the book: A Pilgrim Heart by Darryl Tippens.) Notice that in Lewis’s mind, evangelism and discipleship are fused. It is a fusion, we, in today’s churches, can no longer afford to ignore. I claim that there can be no life transformation without training in the use of the practices of Christ, his disciples, and the church ever since.

The river bed in which the waters of disciplines of Christianity flow is paved with kenosis, itself a necessary and foundational discipline. Blessed is the hymn writer who gave the Church these words: “Let the same mind be in you that was in Jesus Christ, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard…. But emptied himself…” (See the whole hymn as quoted by the apostle Paul in Philippians 2:5-11). Verse 7 is where the word kenosis is used. There is a range of meanings this word can carry: “emptied himself,” “poured out himself,” “he made himself nothing.” These nuances impress upon us that Christ relinquished his divine “authority, power, and prerogative” (Tippens, 41). Read or reread the Gospels and you will see this relinquishment in every aspect of Jesus’ life, and death. The Christian life begins and continues with kenosis. It’s the pattern of Christ’s life. His followers can do no better.

Notice the brilliant double-sided truths Jesus taught and lived. Love your life (selfishly), and you will lose it. Lose it and you will keep it for eternal life. Empty your self of yourself, and of your will, and God will exalt you. A grain of wheat has to die before it will grow. Finish last and you will be first in the kingdom of God. Become strong by becoming weak. A great power is available to those who submit. It is clear to me that to achieve Christlikeness, I have to move in the direction of submission, of letting go. Those who grow spiritually drop the pretense of a do-it-yourself philosophy of life. They cease from strive control, direct, and order their lives by their own will power. They loosen the grip on their own vision, plans, strategies, and let Christ lead. The Danish theologian Kierkegaard said it like this: “Everything which God is to use, he first reduces to nothing.” Ouch! He is joined by many who understood this great reversal of moving ahead by moving down from the throne of ego, like T.S. Eliot, who said: “And the way up is the way down, the way forward is the way back.” (Tippens’ A Pilgrim Heart).

Jesus spoke about the kenotic way of life in the kingdom of God:  “Blessed are those who are poor in spirit, who mourn, the meek, etc…” for they shall be Christlike in the way they live. (See Matthew 5:1-12). I take one implication of this and other beatitudes as a divine invitation to enter into kenosis, or self-emptying, or intentional loss of power, authority, and prerogative just as Christ did. Christianity will make greater strides today if Christians live the kenotic way. Here is how.

Self-emptying must become constant in the life of each follower of Christ. A discipline by definition is an activity we do constantly. Self-emptying is not a once for all times kind of event. It is a habit. Really, we should be speaking in Christian circles of daily self-emptyings. Daily life with its myriad of ordinary experiences, invited and uninvited, affords us the opportunities to practice self-emptying. Do some revile you? Here’s a chance to lose. Lose an argument intentionally. Take it “kenotically.” Are you persecuted for righteousness’ sake? Practice the kenotic way; turn the other cheek. Accused falsely? Determine to lose the reputation and cling on to your identity of innocence in Christ. Expect to be treated like the child of King Jesus, who for the sake of the joy set before him, endured suffering. Life, work, and church are unfair to you? Silently, take it to the One Who endured all, even to the point of death. Disappointed by lies, and false promises? Love never gives up. That, too, is the kenotic way of life.

Some may see the kenotic way of living and make accusations of weak character. Take comfort in the fact that Jesus was no doormat. No! In kenosis, his character could not have been any stronger; his meekness and gentleness could not have been any more powerful.

The way of Christ is the way of being poured out. Walking with the Master demands letting go of our rights for the sake of others. Diminish in importance, relinquish authority, drop the power, lose the prerogatives, these are the steps to death and through death to victorious living.

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