Christ In All Y'all

It was probably about twelve or so years ago when I moved to Nashville from Cleveland, Ohio. Culture shock, for sure. I remember that Matt needed a new pair of sneakers to start kindergarten so shortly after we arrived (like the next morning) we hit the nearest Kid’s Footlocker. The clerk was very nice, young, blond and very cute. She said his name....

Ma..a…a…th..th...e…e…e…w,

with a drawn out southern twang the kids had never heard before….at least not in real life, up close, in person. It tickled them.

We soon learned all about the standard southern phrases. There was “hose pipe” instead of garden hose. "Reckon" for I suppose. "Fooler" instead of pacifier. “Fixin’ to” replaced I’m going to. “What do you lack” rather than what do you need.

I worked at Shoney’s for a while…supplementing the family income…where I got quite a bit of exposure to people from all walks of southern life. I single handedly brewed and sweetened enough tea to fill a small lake. Southerners love their sweet tea!!! Once I was taken aback when asked….”what kind of coke do you have?” Well, ahhhhh….”diet coke, cherry coke and coke classic?????” Not the right answer. You see, every carbonated beverage can rightfully be referred to as “coke” in the south. Not sure why that is but it includes sprite, 7-up, mountain dew, etc, etc, etc. Even pepsi fits in the category of “coke.”

And then there’s the infamous y’all...which everyone knows is the singular form of “all y’all.

To clarify….

-In the South, y’all is singular .... All y’all is plural.

And to prove that my mind works in odd ways….somehow I remembered that phrase and it occurred to me that it too (like the Popeye thing) fits with this theme I’ve been exploring. And that while many Christians (from the north as well as the south) don’t usually have a problem with Christ in y’all (singular) they start to balk about Christ in all y’all….as in everybody, everywhere…from sea to shining sea and beyond.

In a message called, Absolute Truth, Gary Sigler talks about the Christ in y’all…and, he talks about the Christ in all y’all. He says…..

Now Jesus is the head of the body but the mystery of Christ is that Christ is a corporate and Christ always has been and always will be. That is the real Melchizadec priesthood. To come into the understanding that I had no beginning of days or end of life. That's who you are. And when you begin to have a revelation of being the Christ on this earth, and begin to focus all that you are on that absolute truth, and refuse to look at your failings. Refuse to hide from them but don't focus on them because the more you focus on your weakness, your hang-ups, your inabilities the more they will become real in your life.

He says that regeneration occurs when….

you begin to hear the wonderful works of God

and are told that

you have the beautiful substance of the almighty God buried deep within you…even though you may not know it yet.

The result? That seed will be quickened and the process of regeneration will begin. Christ in y’all….Christ in ALL y’all. Isn’t that what Paul calls the “hope of glory?

To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.