Synchronous Experience

As I have been pondering Paul’s writing about baptism in Romans 6 there have been some incredibly powerful images that have been coming to mind. While I haven’t before thought thoroughly through Paul’s conception of being buried with Christ and being raised with Christ I have had some unspoken and unreflective assumptions. The sense of it that I was most comfortable with was the notion of being alongside Christ. The language that best describes this is “the journey with Christ”, a phrase I’ve used a lot. My unreflective, default belief is best described as proximity. Being with Christ was simply a matter of being close to Christ; and with a disciplined spirituality seeking to be as close as possible. A closer study of Romans 6 has drawn me to a new conception. When I got there, I’ve found that this new conception was already a reality that I have been living into over these last two years. I simply lacked an image that matched experience

When Paul speaks of being buried and resurrected with Christ this is not simply a proximity-based reality. Paul is speaking of a reality that is more like incorporation or even co-mingling. In our baptism, Paul points to a transformation of life, identity and perspective that is rendered at the very core of a person. This transformation is affected by God’s grace in and through the life, death and resurrection of Christ.

As I reflect on these words and my own growing experience, I am persuaded of the strength and power of this idea. Through living a more disciplined spiritual life I’m discovering a new heart and a new strength for living, loving and serving. This new strength is rooted in a deeper experience and understanding of how Christ is at work in my life. My relationship with Jesus is no longer a proximity experience. Christ’s life is becoming more alive in me and my experience is becoming more alive in Christ. I’m finding great vitality and joy in a synchronous experience with Christ.