Be a Christian!
By Dom François de Sales Pollien | 19 June 2024
Extract from Lived Christianity
Now it is time to explain this expression to you, which is the substance of this book. I wanted to reserve this explanation for the end, because this title is the summary of everything I have tried to teach you.
“Be a Christian!” To be a Christian means to be formed in (and transformed into) the image of Christ. And who is Christ? If you want to have some understanding of the mystery of Christ, it is necessary to consider four things: 1) His divinity; 2) His humanity; 3) the union of these two natures in Him; 4) the suppression of the human person.
1) His divinity: He is God, perfect God. He is the Son of God, the second of the Divine Persons. He is God from eternity and for all eternity. God does not change (cf. Mal 3:6).
2) The human element: the faculties of your soul and your body — of your mind, your heart and your senses — are the human element. Have I recommended often enough that you develop them? Have I begged you often enough not to drift along, occupied with trivial matters?
3) The union of the divine and the human: do you not remember how much I preached to you, in Part Two, the union with God alone and absolute detachment from everything that is not Him?
4) Submission of the human to the divine: in Part Three, what did I do but teach you to submit and conform your actions in everything to the will of God — to let yourself be led and directed by Him?
Did I show you the background of the work of a Christian? Now you do the work, and when you have magnified God’s glory in you to the highest possible level; when you have magnified your powers, your union with God and your submission to His action, then you will be worthy of your divine model. You will be a perfect Christian.
Here is Christ, and here is the Christian. Christ continually exhorts you to be a Christian; the Christian, in order to bear the image of Christ, must have the four characteristics above, in the measure proper to him. We talk unceasingly about Christian life, piety, education, formation, society, Christian institutions, etc. Do those who say this word “Christian” so often know what it means? Do you have a clear idea of what it means? Remember that you cannot and must not apply the label of “Christian” unless you find together the four characteristics, that make up Christ: 1) the perfect divine element; 2) the perfect human element; 3) the union of the divine and the human; 4) the annihilation of human independence before God.
Everything in Jesus Christ was perfect from the beginning. His life was a fullness that could have an exterior growth only in its human element. Your own life is a seed that must develop until you are a perfect man — “unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ” (Eph 4:13). Consequently, you must become a Christian — that is to say, you must work within yourself to perfect the divine, the human, their union and the submission of the human to the divine. The work and purpose of the Christian is the perfecting of these four characteristics. Here is a final word about each, in order to see how they are contained in the four parts of this book:
1) The divine element: the glory of God is the divine element of your life. You see with what insistence I have asked you to expand it in yourself. The whole of this book resounds with it.
2) The human element: the faculties of your soul and your body — of your mind, your heart and your senses — are the human element. Have I recommended often enough that you develop them? Have I begged you often enough not to drift along, occupied with trivial matters?
3) The union of the divine and the human: do you not remember how much I preached to you, in Part Two, the union with God alone and absolute detachment from everything that is not Him?
4) Submission of the human to the divine: in Part Three, what did I do but teach you to submit and conform your actions in everything to the will of God — to let yourself be led and directed by Him?
Did I show you the background of the work of a Christian? Now you do the work, and when you have magnified God’s glory in you to the highest possible level; when you have magnified your powers, your union with God and your submission to His action, then you will be worthy of your divine model. You will be a perfect Christian.
What splendour is in the Christian soul! O Jesus, how little-known is the meaning of this word, which is talked about so much! If it were known, we would not have the audacity to call by the name of Christian those things and people who are unworthy of Thee; who resemble Thee so little and take so little care to resemble Thee; who, even if they did make an effort, have such little knowledge! To be a Christian, to wish to be one: what a great thing, and it is something so rare!
Lived Christianity is available to buy on the Voice of the Family website