"Swagger Like Us"

T.I. says in "Swagger Like Us", "You kick it like me, no exaggeration necessary. Livin' revolutionary, nothin' less than legendary-Gangsta [stuff] hereditary, got it from my Dad-Flow colder than February, with extraordinary swag...No one on the corner swagger like us!"


To have swagger is to have style, to be bold, to have confidence in who you are and what you can do. It's about how you carry yourself. Swagger!


And I just believe the Apostle Paul had swagger. You know the Apostle Paul, who once was Saul, the persecutor of the Church. Saul, who stood by holding the clothes of those who stoned Stephen, giving his approval. Ya'll know Paul, who once was Saul, the one who got knocked off his horse and met Jesus on a Damascus road. Ya'll know Paul, who once was Saul but who got sent by the Savior to a street called straight, where he was transformed from a thug into a theologian! Ya'll know Paul! And I believe Paul had swagger ya'll, but his swagger came from a different source than that about which T.I. raps. Paul's swagger was supplied by our sovereign Savior, Jesus!


Paul says in I Corinthians 15:58, "With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don't hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for Him is a waste of time or effort." (The Message Translation)


Therefore, I want to suggest that for Paul swagger means "living victoriously though living through vicissitudes!" Paul starts this verse out by saying, "With all this going for us..." All what Paul? C'mon and back up with me to verses 56 & 57. Paul said, "It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of life, all three-sin, guilt, death-are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!" (Message Translation)


Swagger for the Saints of God means living victoriously though living through vicissitudes, because Jesus was victorious over the things that taunted us; He was triumphant over the things that terrified us; Jesus overcame what Howard Thurman calls "The Hounds of Hell" that harassed us! Sin tries to stifle our view of self; guilt, because of sin, tries to grind our great expectations about our life into the ground; and death is determined to destroy any hope on our mental horizons! But thanks be to God for the victory through Jesus Christ. Glory to our Savior for suffocating sin, gaining the advantage over guilt, and defeating death on our behalf. You can have swagger, Saints, not because of you and your insufficiency, but because of Jesus and His total sufficiency that has stood up for us. So as Paul says.....stand your ground. Stand strong because the Savior has put steel in your back! When you have done all that you can, stand!


Secondly, swagger for the Saints of God means "being benevolently bold as a blessing to somebody else!" Paul says because of what Jesus has done for us, "Don't hold back, throw yourself into the work of the Master..." The work of the Master, as Pastor Marvin Wiley says, is "ministering to the misery of the masses through the mercy of the Master." The work of our Savior is being strength to someone who is weak through your relationship with our Redeemer. The work of the Master is boldly being a blessing to somebody else because God has bountifully blessed you! Don't let the limitations in life limit you lifting your hand to help somebody; don't let negative folks negate your confession to somebody else that God is still in command and still in control; don't let the enemy eradicate sharing your elation in the Everylasting Father, the Prince of Peace, and our Mighty God! Give God some irrefutable, unrestrained, incredible crazy praise so that someone else knows that there is a reality in serving a true and Living God!


But ultimately, swagger for the Saints means "what you do for Christ will last." Paul says, "Be confident that nothing you do for HIM is a waste of time or effort!" Beloved, all faithful labor for the LORD will ultimately be fruitful.


Be confident that bearing your cross for Christ means one day wearing a crown!

Be assured that your adversity cannot avert the Almighty's divine assistance giving you the advantage.

Be confident that your trials cannot curtail the triumph of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

What you do for Christ will last; what you do for the Redeemer will have a reward; what you do for our Liberator will lift somebody's life.

So go ahead and strut your saintly swagger; go ahead and be bold for the Balm in Gilead; be a blessing for our Burden-bearer; be joyful in Jesus, our Bright and Morning Star! Go ahead and let your light shine! The song says, "This little light of mine. I'm gonna let it shine; let it shine; let it shine!"