When I was younger I used to always hear this phrase used to describe someone whose actions or way of life led to them being characterized a certain way or by a particular title.
A person who loved material items and a lavish lifestyle configured their entire existence around acquiring and maintaining that way of life, sometimes resorting to extreme measures to do so. “He did whatever he could to make the money to have the newest tricked out ride and the slickest clothes. He hustled hard to get what he wanted because he was all about “That Life”….
Sometimes the connotation of “Being about that life” was a negative one, used to describe those who were all about the bling and the methods they used to achieve their lifestyle. People resorting to measures that endangered life and limb to achieve and maintain an excessively materialistic way of life.
An example of a positive version would be an academic who pursued their course of study with a life encompassing intensity. “She stayed in those books and the library to realize her career goals. She was seriously “about that life” and you knew she was going to be a lawyer with her own firm eventually”.
When I consider my observations of the 50 years I have been on this earth, and the spiritual path I have been guided down and observed in myself and others I can truly say Christianity in its true sense has not had the effect on the world it was meant too because a lot of its adherents have just not been about “That Life”. That Life being the totality of what a follower of Yeshua truly is to be. What inspired my feelings of discontent and distrust of Christianity in my youth was I never “saw” God and Christ in anybody who called themselves “Christian”. I saw a lot of people who did a whole host of unethical or “un-Christian” behaviors but would be the most vocal about being “Saved” or being “Blessed” beyond measure. Actually for a lot of those who called themselves blessed, they were about a different type of life yet slapped the label “Christian” on themselves out of a desire to appear to be something they were not. All and all it wasn’t until I had decided to walk away from everything I had seen that the Creator in his mercy invited me into a relationship and onto the path towards Mount Zion.
What I have learned over the past 29 years since my baptism is that the Gospel is preached through the visible actions and way of life of the believer and that way of life is visible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Follower of Yeshua is truly “about that Life” as demonstrated by the quality of their life and their morality and their approach to the Divine. Its not an attitude of what little must I do to be saved, but rather what can I do to really reflect God and be like the Christ. Your not a kind, loving and compassionate person sometimes, rather you are the epitome of kindness and compassion and are defined by your love, sincerity, caring heart and over arching sense of justice. You grow into and begin to really reflect every aspect of Yeshua and the Father, being all about “that life” as a citizen of the Kingdom of God on Earth, giving mankind a foretaste of the kingdom and what Christ is going to establish when he returns to the Earth.
The ways we show we are all about “That Life” are defined by God and Christ throughout the scriptures. Here are a few simple references: Psalm 82:3-4
[3] Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. [4] Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked. Leviticus 19:15,17-18
[15] Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour. [17] Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. [18] Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord. 1 John 2:29
[29] If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
If I may add all of these behaviors (these and the fruits of the spirit, Galatians 5:22) are constants, and not one-offs. If the world saw more people who were about “that life”, the life shown to us by Yeshua, the world would be a different place. Calls and protest for justice in the face of blithering injustice and systematic oppression would be made by those who are about “That Life”, That “Kingdom Life”. Those rendering assistance if not being major players in the efforts to combat poverty and homelessness would be those who are about “that life”. Those making a difference in facing down and combating the social ills around us would be those who are about “that life”. Perhaps if I and others had witnessed more people who were in tuned to and about the life of a believer as demonstrated by Yeshua and the prophets of old then my trajectory may have been different, maybe starting earlier than it did. Regardless, the way to truly preach Christ, is to live like and imitate Christ. Those who claim Christ really need to be about “That Life”, because its truly whats expected of true and sincere followers of Yeshau. You can make a difference by the way you live and how that life reflects the power and love of the Devine.