The late Dallas Willard was once asked how he would describe Jesus if he could only use one word.
Without much hesitation, and with a slight chuckle, he said, “Relaxed.”
I’m not sure what word you would have chosen, or which one I would have chosen, but my guess is that we wouldn’t have chosen that one.
A few days after reading about Jesus being relaxed, I stumbled across a remarkable fact about the iconic Olympian runner, Carl Lewis. Apparently, Carl Lewis was known as a slow starter, a runner who almost always found himself next to last at the start of his races. He also almost always ended up winning those same races, and his slow starts and fast finishes have been attributed to the fact that he always ran at 85% effort instead of 100%.
Why? Trying to run at maximum effort results in straining, striving, and <drumroll, please> not being relaxed. But running at 85% effort allowed Lewis to find a pace that enabled him to run with rhythm, solid form, and relaxed muscles. It allowed him to find a flow that seemed effortless.
Many of us have heard and maybe even memorized Psalm 46:10. “Be still and know that I am God,” the psalmist wrote. The Hebrew phrase for being still is more accurately translated as “cease striving” in the New American Standard Bible, and even carries the meaning of that word used by Willard to describe Jesus.
“Relax and know that I am God.”
Years later, another Bible writer would record similar words spoken by that same God as He walked this earth in the flesh as Jesus:
Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5, emphasis mine)
Jesus was telling His followers then and now to just be with Him. Paul echoes this in Colossians 3:1 when he encourages us to see things differently because we’re raised with and seated with Jesus.
Again, relaxed is the word that Dallas Willard used to describe Jesus. I want to be clear about that. We won’t find a verse in the Bible that says, “Lo! Behold, Jesus of Nazareth, the Relaxed One!” But when you take the time to read the Gospel accounts of His life and ministry, it’s easy to see that Jesus was never in a hurry, but He also didn’t waste time.
Jesus was never in a hurry, but He also didn’t waste time. Click To TweetHow is that possible? Because He often withdrew to lonely places to be with the Father, to hear from the Father, so He could speak to others what He heard the Father say (see Luke 5:16, Luke 6:12, and John 12:49). Jesus redeemed time because He had the Father’s perspective, and understood the weight of each moment. He didn’t have to strive for validation from men, or to prove His worth to the Father.
He was with the Father, and from that place He could flow in rhythms of peace and steadiness while He walked among men. He could relax.
What about you? Me? The Church today? How many of us who are following the ways of Jesus would be described that way?
When non-followers of Jesus are surveyed and asked to use words to describe Christians, guess what word they never use?
You already know. Words like uptight and angry are used long before a word like relaxed, and that’s a shame. Why? Because we’re living during the most anxious time in recent history, and if there’s anything the world needs now, it’s the non-anxious presence of a relaxed church.
A church that doesn’t have to strive for validation or prove its worth.
A church that is seated with Jesus, filled with people who are trusting Jesus.
People who have ceased striving because they know that He is God.
