I’ve always been a fan of the word… juxtaposition.  The official Webster’s definition is:  an act or instance of placing close together or side by side, especially. for comparison or contrast.

You can call me a nerd, geek, dork, or heave any other name at me you can conjure, but it won’t change anything.  I get great definition and understanding to many of life’s little quirks just by applying the principle of juxtaposition to every day life.  Let me explain…

Humans have this odd system of identification in which we define things not by what they are… but by what they aren’t.  It’s backwards.  Without the presence of the color black, we have no real definition or brilliance by which to measure the color white.  When placed together, each color defines itself by what it’s not.

Hang in there, we’re getting somewhere…

The brightness of a light can only be defined by the presence of darkness.  The height of a mountain is measured by the flat land around it.  Are you tracking with me on this?  Keep moving forward with me.

The vastness of outer space defines how miniscule Earth is.  The sphere of our influence is measured by the amount of people who aren’t in our sphere.  People who are control freaks and want power and influence define themselves not on their accomplishments… but on what they have no control over.

Evil whispers in the ears of men and tells us that we should continue to conquer and rule because our influence is too small.  We are tempted to forget our own peers and continue to conquer new heights of influence.

This is juxtaposition.  The act of people defining themselves on who they aren’t… rather then who they are.

There is complete emptiness, hopelessness, frustration, and self-hate that grows inside the man who is trying to conquer the world by his own hands.  There will be great triumphs in his life, but there will always be more to conquer than he can handle.  A life will be spent on chasing the next victory while passing by the countless blessings and contentment that lives within reach.  I pray for men like this.

Does this make sense?  It certainly can be very easily applied to any business man that can’t reach or maintain satisfaction.  But can you see how it can be just as easily applied to Christians?  The yearning to do more for the sake of doing more… that somehow this “doing” will satisfy the void of relationship.

We are saved by God’s grace.  And once we find peace in His grace, are we satisfied and content.  And it’s in this contentment that we reach out to touch another life and do more.  In the end… we convert the definition of our lives.

We stop being defined by who we aren’t.  And we allow Christ Jesus in us… to define who we are.

I could tell you that love without hate has less depth.  I could tell you that life without death has no urgency.  I could tell you that good with no evil has no appeal.  But I’m not leading you there.  Before man came along… Love was without hate.  Life was without death.  Good was without evil…. and it was perfection.

Our own sinful nature is lured into the trap of thinking that If I am not bad… then I must be good… therefore, I don’t need God.  The measuring of one life against another life is straight from the mouth of hell and has no place in your life.  We must help each other define ourselves not by what we “aren’t” but allow Christ in us to be who He wants us to be.

If you are the guy that is scouring the earth for contentment by gobbling up power, commanding influence, and conquering… you aren’t happy… and you don’t know who you are except that you aren’t “that guy”.

We can’t help but use what we know to identify what we don’t know.  And we are forever tempted to measure our lives against some contrasting ideal to give us definition.

What is your day made of?  Are you on a conquest?  Are you searching for some type of defining moment where you can say “I’ve arrived”?

May your day be defined by the transforming love of Christ.  Doing this will make the ways of the world grow strangely dim and you will be defined by whose you are instead of who you aren’t.

Peace,
Greg
Acts 4:31
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