No, try not! Do, or do not. There is no try!
Luke ~"Alright...I'll give it a try."
Yoda~ "NO, try not! Do, or do not! There is no try."
What master Yoda was looking for in the young Skywalker was simple...commitment. Commitment to the jedi way. Luke must be certain that he CAN achieve what his new friend is asking of him...or he will indeed fail. Rather than scolding his young apprentice, Yoda is giving him one of his greatest lessons. There is no try...there is only do. Looking back on what I have accomplished, and that which I have not finished I can see the underlying lesson that Yoda was trying to get across to young Luke. For if we indeed persist in our belief that we are "trying" to accomplish that which we endevour in...then there is yet room for failure. When we reach that decision deep within ourselves that the time for trying, testing and attempting is through, then and only then will we become doers instead of tryers. It didn't take me numerous Star Wars movies in order to figure this truth out, but that little green guy certainly reafirmed that which I already knew. Do...or do not. There is no try. I thought for some time just how to integrate the lessons of Yoda into a lesson of following Jesus. There again, I must unlearn what I have learned. Are we not continually taught that we must be "like" Jesus? That we must be "followers" of Christ. This mantra from the modern institutional church looks good on the surface, but it isn't long before we long for something deeper and more personal. I know I did. Those early disciples of Christ weren't simply followers of an old school Yoda. No, these men from all parts of society were selected by Jesus to follow Him. But it became more than that. In the course of following Jesus, they shared their lives together. Now, it wasn't uncommon in those days for people to "follow" a teacher who people liked to hear. As millions of people tune into a weekly broadcast from a popular pulpit pounder, this is exactly what was happening with the followers of Jesus. One look at the definition of the word disciple reveals something interesting. A disciple is...a follower. So, in the time of Jesus, He indeed had his disciples (followers). In fact, in the book of Acts we are told of the early church of the "followers" of Jesus. But then something happened on the way to Damascus. It was here that He who had died was revealed in Saul {Galations 1: 15-16}. As a result of Gods revealing of Christ in Paul, Paul WAS Christ and not just a follower of Him. As the title of this post proclaims...I cannot be a follower of Jesus.
1When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Acts 2: 1 - 4 NKJV
Indeed, if Christ Jesus has been now been revealed in me, I have ceased to be a follower and I now LIVE as Christ Jesus. In each and every thing I do daily, I do it as Christ Jesus who is in me {Galations 2:20}. As the angel who stood at His empty tomb that glorius morning proclaimed, "why do you seek the living among the dead?" {Luke 24:5} Again the angel spoke to the women. "He is not here, but is risen!" Indeed, why is it that we still seek the living among the dead? Paul clearly tells us that we have DIED with Christ Jesus {Galations 2:20, Romans 6:6}. We are no longer followers of Jesus, but we LIVE as Christ whose Spirit is within us. We don't need to chase our own tails in the hopes of following Jesus the right and respectable christian way. We simply cannot follow one who we live as. That is why I cannot be a follower of Christ Jesus. However, if you ask me if I can live as Jesus, then I will definately agree with you! There is no longer a need for me to follow Him who is in me. I had to unlearn what I had learned.
6knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be adone away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7For he who has died has been bfreed from sin. 8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6: 6 - 11 NKJV
~Scott~
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