“You’ve got to be bloomin’ joking! They don’t even know who Aslan is!”
“Change the channel!”
“We have got ears, saaaay cheers!”
“Change the channel!”
“Rodgers drops back…”
“Change the channel!”
A mixture of squeals and giggles filled our living room as my daughter pretended that I was a television, and I went through my repertoire of impressions to the delight of all three of my kids. They thought it was funny to hear my silly voices, and that they made me change them so quickly. The fun lasted a couple minutes, but my limited imagination ran out of content, and it was time to ‘turn the tv off.’
This small moment of mirth in my house reminded me of the words of St. Paul: I have become all things to all people to save at least some. Specifically as a parent and a father, it is important that I be what my family needs for their eternal success. Sometimes it means I am a coach, or a disciplinarian, or a provider, or a prayer leader, or a source of entertainment. Yet, in all of these moments, it can take a degree of sacrifice to give up what I want in that moment, to be what my family needs to flourish. And as St. Paul iterates and exemplifies, this is not only the call of all parents, but all Christians.
But how do we do this? How do we know what other people need? How do we have the strength to provide for others? We have to be rooted in the love of Jesus. He was the only person (with His mother) to be able to walk this earth and fully give everything to others out of love. He was a teacher, healer, and savior when He became incarnate for us, and now He invites us to do the same for others. But it takes a self abandonment and grounding in Him to be able to do this for others.
We see God do this constantly for His people even before Jesus was born of Mary on that first Christmas. He was a source of life, of celebration, of protection, of justice, of mercy, and of punishment to the Israelites as He prepared them for their savior. He was all things to His people without changing. He remained the same, but the disposition of the people allowed them to see the side of God that they needed to see for their betterment, even if it meant difficult moments of purification.
So if we want to be all things to all people, we must find our worth in being a child of the Father, and Jesus not only shows us the way, but gives us the means (His Word, the Sacraments, and His Church) to become that child. It is when we are filled with His life, that we can find the strength to give up everything for others as Jesus did, and we can know what we need to be for all people so that our families can be provided for and at least some might be saved. There is no secret formula. We do not have to be anyone’s savior (Jesus already is). We just have to know Him, so that we can become Him, and others come to know Him through us.
