It seems pretty obvious that we American Christians are our own breed. Not only do we have so much trouble trying to figure out our destiny and calling, putting much more focus on us then there should be, but we also, many times, say things like, “it’s between me and God” or “who do you think I am? JESUS?” Or my personal favorite, “well, you may be convicted by that, but I’m not, so God will have to tell me to change if He wants me to change”.
Yes, we have different backgrounds, upbringings, beliefs, views and ideas, but all of these life lenses have the same underlying problem: truly serving Christ has little to do with us and has everything to do with Him.
So I ask: When others get to know you, do they want to know your Savior?
Whether our individual beliefs and values are “correct” or not, it doesn’t matter. Christ never once called us to be right in every way – but he did call us to die to ourselves. What does that mean? It means that whether you’re right or not, reflecting Christ in how you live your life and daily becoming more like Him should be the most important thing in your life.
It’s probably no surprise to you that “Christian” is the new four-letter word. When someone who doesn’t know Christ hears that word, generally the first couple things that come to mind are: hypocrites, legalism, money hungry, judgmental people, clergy that use their position for bad reasons and the list goes on.
This perception leaves many people (and me) wondering, why? How did a group of people blessed with the task of being a magnet for Christ, end up being the same people that society hates? (and don’t be super-spiritual and says it’s persecution because that only applies when we’re truly reflecting Christ)
We have witnessed the sickest marriage of all time in this country: the fusion of a life following Christ with the culture of the United States.
Somehow we, over time, have come to believe that we can do, say, think, act and believe whatever we want. Hip, cool, post-modern young adult believers hold to the theory of “everything is permissible…” as an excuse to focus on each of our own wants and desires instead those of Christ’s.
May I submit to you that we need to STOP viewing life from a “what can I get” and “what can I get away with” mentality – we’re seeing it from the WRONG angle.
If someone told you something REALLY important, a secret to all life, but it was hard to hear, would you just forget it and wait for them to say something that benefitted you more? Of course not!
Jesus made some ENORMOUS blanket statements that should change from what viewpoint we see life on a daily basis:
“So in everything, do to others as you would have them do to you, this sums up the Law and Prophets.” – Matthew 7:7:12
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” – Matthew 22:37-40
“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.” – Luke 6:35
“What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean’, but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean.’” – Matthew 15:11
And one from later on in the NT:
“For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” – 1 John 2:16,17
If I were to say – “how do people view you?”, many people would say, “that’s legalism Ryan, get off my back.”
Here’s the difference: some believe we chose to follow Christ or that He chose us - either way, it’s the same: it is an honor and calling (or command) to carry the cross of Christ and die to yourself daily if you are a follower of His.
What’s a good heart-to-heart without pushing some personal buttons? If you loved The Other Guys, your favorite phrase is “that’s what she said”, your iPod only has music about getting your clothes taken off by someone, your role models are all celebrities, you snap at friends and family members for ever disagreeing with you, you talk more about that girl that everyone dislikes behind her back than you do actually talking to her or you get frustrated at your girlfriend because she doesn’t give you what you want when you want it…I submit, you’ve missed the point.
If you voted for someone who is pro-life, but you would never consider taking a young girl into your home whose parents kicked her out because she got pregnant – if you join a facebook group that is for “Adam and Eve – not Adam and Steve” – if you are aware of your peers’ faults and constantly view them as a person through that lense – if you love to talk about the glory days of President Bush, but don’t pray for President Obama and his family – if you are the proudest member of the NRA but just can’t muster up the courage to tell someone that you’re a Christ-follower – if you tell your co-workers you’re a Christian and then proceed to talk behind everyone’s back in the office…I submit, you’ve missed the point.
The Son of God, came to earth in the most humble of circumstances, setting aside his own fame and honor to come as a servant. And we are charged with the same decree – we don’t know it all, we never will, we all make mistakes, but at our core, we HAVE to know that we are called to servanthood like our creator.
Our viewpoint is to know that as children, made in His image, we are to be a reflection of Him and not the antithesis of Him. Yes, He hung out with some pretty risqué people, but His core, His basis, was love – not a strategy for being able to explain away pursuing His own desires and certainly not an excuse to sin.
Everything IS permissible, but truly, everything is certainly NOT beneficial.
May we lead someone to know Him just by how we live our life…just like Jesus.
Merry Christmas!!!
