Under New Management

Each week when I drove to church while I was in Kansas City this summer, I drove past a sign. This sign stood outside a rather ordinary apartment complex in the “okay” part of town.  In shiny white letters on a field of dark blue, the sign declared:

NOW UNDER...

New ownership
New management
New attitude

The pessimistic side of me wondered what terrible service had happened under the previous ownership that made the new owners want to so emphatically declare that they were new, and therefore (hopefully) different and better. But I won’t ever know that side of the story.

I do, however, know a different story, which could be introduced by the same declaration as above. It’s the narrative of every Christian who has given his or her life to Christ and is striving to live by His standards.

New Ownership

Isaiah 43:1 declares that God has ownership over us, and we are His:

“But now, this is what the Lord says—

    he who created you, Jacob,

    he who formed you, Israel:

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”

While we all are originally God’s creation, many of us he had to buy back, or redeem, from the grasp of sin. Now that we are under new ownership, some changes are expected. We must live like kids of the Kingdom and abide by its rules and standards. That way, the people around us can see the difference. We don’t need a blue sign with white letters declaring we’re different; people should be able to tell that from the way we think, act and speak.

 New Management

When we become owned by God, we immediately invite the Holy Spirit into our lives as the agent of change. While Jesus was on earth, he was able to guide, or “manage” his disciples and those around Him. Now, however, He is in heaven advocating for us at the right hand of the Father, and He has sent the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us. We’re under new management. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth (John 16:13).

The Holy Spirit serves lots of purposes, but one of His main jobs is to lead us and guide us to a deeper right relationship with our God and Savior. In Galatians 5, Paul lists what people who don’t have the Spirit in them do, and then contrasts those actions with what has come to be known as the “fruit of the Spirit.” He then concludes with this encouragement: Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25). The fact that we are “under new management” should be evident to those around us because of the Holy Spirit’s influence on our lives. We should “keep in step” with Him.

New Attitude  

Finally, after being bought back from sin and keeping in step with the Spirit, our attitude should reflect our new position as a child of God. As a child, I learned that I am supposed to be a light in the dark world around me. Both the song, “This Little Light of Mine” and a verse, Matthew 5:16, serve as reminders of that. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

For years I have loved the description Philippians 2 contains of Jesus’ attitude here on earth. I especially enjoyed how the Message put it [though it is not my normal reading translation]:

Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion. Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father (Philippians 2:5-11).

As we learn from Christ’s example, the rewards of having a godly attitude are huge. As sons and daughters of a living God, we have a great role model and a crowd of witnesses cheering us on.

So pick that white-lettered blue sign out of your yard and start living like people will notice. I need to do the same. Let’s do it!