You’re alarm clock’s obnoxious bleeping pulls you out of a deep slumber, and your hand automatically hits snooze.
Ugg. It’s Monday morning. Between church, Saturday’s activities with the fam, and the game on Friday night, it all just flew by. And now it’s 6:30 on Monday morning, and a long day at school is staring you in the face. Again.
After you’re Mom knocks on your door for the fifth time trying to wake you up, you roll out of bed, pull on a hoodie and jeans, grab your backpack, and slump down the stairs for your usual Pop-Tart. Without even saying “hi” to anyone in your family, you head out the door with a sigh and get on the bus with all the other half-asleep people.
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| Do you bring glory to God at school? |
Finally, Wednesday rolls around, and it’s time for youth group. As you sit in your dimly lit classroom, your youth pastor starts to challenge everyone to invite their friends from school to church.
Your mind starts to wander: “I’ve invited people to youth group before. But no one really seems to want to come. They’re all too busy anyway. None of my friends really seem to care about God.”
If this story anywhere resembles your life, and you call yourself a Child of God, it’s time to take a serious look at your school habits. Are you giving an accurate picture of what someone who is saved from death by Jesus Christ should look like? Or are you just like everyone around you – lifeless, lazy, and joyless.
The Scriptures make it clear that as Believers, there needs to be something noticeably different about us. I Peter 3:15 says, “...Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” This verse implies that people should be asking us why we have hope – they should notice something different about us. And we should be ready with answers!
If you are a student and have wondered why no one seems to care that you are Christian, maybe it’s time you evaluate your own heart. Do you show honor to those who spend time and preparation to teach you? Do you have diligence in your schoolwork? Do you do it for the glory of God? Do you treat your peers with love and respect, or are you gossiping about them and putting them down? If so, you are not living any different than the world around you.
Let’s step up and be leaders in this generation. Let’s get people curious about Jesus and His life-saving power by how we live our lives. Let’s start making a real difference in the areas that we can influence.
Book Recommendation: Are you ready to start stepping out and doing “hard things” to bring glory to the name of Christ and bring transformation to this culture?
If so, read Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris. It just might change your life.
I'm concerned by this post. If Jesus has really made all of those changes in someone's life, why would they be gossiping and why would they need to be altering their approach to life or their behavior?
ReplyDeleteThose positive changes sound like these are things anyone could do... with or without Jesus.
Hey Justin! You bring up an excellent point. If we find our lives have not been radically changed by Jesus Christ, we need to ask ourselves the hard questions and see if we truly have made Christ Lord of our lives.
ReplyDeleteBut even after this radical heart change has occurred, the influence of the flesh doesn't automatically go away. We still have to fight sin and the pressures around us on a daily basis. I find myself failing daily, and constantly having to surrender areas of my life over to the Lordship of Christ, even though I have been saved by Him.
The Bible calls this process sanctification. And your right: in our own strength, we can try to make positive changes. But true change can only come when we truly lay something at the foot of the cross and let the Holy Spirit work in our life.
I really appreciate your concern and your questions!
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI have heard this before but it just doesn't feel at all like a real answer.
If Jesus is all of these things and He transforms lives, why are those who haven't come to Him able to personally transform without knowing Him? And why are those who've been transformed by Him still behaving poorly and unable to change? This is a problem for me to understand.
I have seen people truly change who are not Christian. I have seen atheists, agnostics and people of other faiths make permanent and wonderful changes in all aspects of their lives without Jesus. Do these changes not count? Are they not real changes?
If the transformation is ultimately up to us and done by us, and can clearly happen outside of Christianity, why do we need to involve Jesus? Especially when so many who follow Him are continuing to act poorly.
This is a great conversation. Justin, I know what you mean. I have friends and family members who are great and believe totally differently than I do. I also like what you mentioned about people you know who have made "permanent and wonderful changes in all aspects of their lives." Change is good, so long as the change is good, right?
ReplyDeleteI think the pivotal point in this whole conversation is your question "Do these changes not count?" Count for what? If they're for being a "good person" by the world's standards, then yes, I would have to say that they do count. However, if we're asking if they count for earning saving merit before God, I would have to say no. This is where your question "why do we need to involve Jesus?" is so important.
You see, Jesus didn't come to change our lives and make us better people. He saw that we are all wicked (Romans 3:23), and in need of salvation. The Bible says we have all sinned and fallen short of God's glory (Romans 3:23). In Romans 6:23 it says that the penalty for our sin is death (read eternal separation from the God who created us and loves us). In the same verse, though, it also says that God offers the gift of eternal life THROUGH Jesus Christ. Later on in Roman's 10:9-10 the Bible tells us how to receive that gift; it's through faith. You see, Jesus (the sinless Son of God) came to this earth to take our punishment for sin, and all we have to do is realize our need for Him (what the Bible calls repentance), and trust Him.
So to answer your question, "why do we need to involve Jesus?" He is the only One who can do anything about our sin; apart from Him, no one is saved (John 14:6).
As for the grand issue at stake here, namely the poor actions of those who claim to have trusted Jesus, this is actually a completely different topic from salvation. It's discipleship (or follower-ship, if you will). It is very important not to confuse these two things. Salvation (while the concept is HUGE, I mean we're talking eternal life here) requires NOTHING of the sinner--no good deeds (Ephesian 2:8-9). Discipleship, on the other hand, is fully dependent on the saved person. Note that discipleship comes AFTER salvation. Discipleship is just what it sounds like, being a disciple, or a follower. A disciple is one who submits to the will of his teacher, in this case Jesus. As time goes on, God changes the believer to be more like Himself in the process Becky named before, sanctification. Again, this "upright living" is NOT what saves the person. We put our faith in Jesus, and He does the saving. Then out of obedience for what He has done in our lives (giving us the gift of eternal life), we submit to His will.
The changes that you and I both have seen people around us make are wonderful, but the bottom line is that nothing that we ever do will do anything about our sin. This is why Jesus must be involved.
I would love to keep this conversation going. Let me know what your thoughts are on this. I really hope this has helped.
Hi Matthew,
ReplyDeleteYes, this is an interesting conversation. Thanks for your thoughtful and honest reply.
Although I have very serious questions regarding the need for salvation at all... or how an entire population can be guilty for something done by one person thousands and thousands of years ago, I have larger questions regarding Jesus' role in all of this. And you touched on this in your reply.
First, we have a violent and bloody death somehow paying for the sins of humanity... with the debt being paid to the very man being killed. I don't understand how a death pays a debt and I certainly don't understand how a person can pay a debt to themselves. Why not simple forgiveness without the bloody killing? Second, how is Jesus' death paying a debt to Himself when he is not actually dying?
Then we have multiple older faiths claiming similar death and resurrection stories. I've looked long and hard and I can't find a single thing unique to Christianity that isn't already in place in previous older faiths.
So, I admit that I struggle quite a bit with this... and the apologetic books only try to gloss over these issues.
Thanks,
-Justin
Let’s start off with the notion of “original sin.” One man’s sin condemned the entire race (Romans 5:12). We have a problem with this today because we’re all taught that we are inherently good. Criminals commit crimes because they had a “bad home life,” and those convicted of the most heinous crimes (murder, rape, molestation, etc.) have a “problem,” or they’re “sick.” None of us like to hear that deep down we’re wicked, and that there is nothing good in us. We are told that we’re taught to be bad, and that that accounts for our fallen state. But think about this example an evangelist named Brian shared with me (supposing you have siblings—if not, think of someone who does): when you were playing with your brother or sister as a small child, did you mom or dad ever pull you aside and say, “Ok Justin, now I’m going to teach you to take your brother’s truck and hit him over the head with it. Take notes.”? Of course not! What was one of the first words you and I ever learned? “NO!” And who did we first say it too? Our parents! You see, no one had to corrupt us to be bad; we were more than capable of that on our own. The concept of sin (and its penalty) being “passed down,” or “inherited” from Adam makes a little more sense.
ReplyDeleteMoving on to the impetus of this portion of our conversation, we begin to see the universal need for salvation. Everyone starts off as guilty, true; but we also are guilty by our own actions (Romans 3:23). That’s not difficult to see. We have all been wronged, and we’ve all wronged others; to deny this would be a wrong—lying. According to Romans 6:23, the wages of our sin (read disobedience to God) is death. Simply put, God has a Law, and we broke it; because of this we must die (read eternal separation from God in a real place called hell). Now we’re going into some of the attributes of God. Because He is just, sin must be punished; our death sentence must be carried out. Because He is eternal, sinning against an eternal God entails eternal punishment. This is why there was the bloody, violent death, and why simple forgiveness could not be handed out. To have done so would have meant God denying His very nature. However, because of His love and mercy, He took the penalty of our sin upon Himself. Because of His holiness, He (incarnate in the God-Man, Jesus Christ) came into the world and died for the sins of the world since He had never committed a sin (2 Cor. 5:21).
Concerning the apparent “paying a debt to Himself” I can understand your confusion, but as I think you’re seeing, it wasn’t His debt; rather it was ours. So you have the two entities—God and man—separated by the sin of mankind. Death was due because of this sin, but because He loves us, Jesus (an appropriate substitution because He was 100% man, and able to satisfy the requirements of God’s Law because He was 100% God) paid the debt (or penalty, to use another phrase) for us. This is where you’ll also find that Christianity does indeed differ from “other faiths” because where they require righteous living to satisfy their gods, God the Father was satisfied by the self-sacrifice of His Son Jesus, and we are made right with the Father through faith in Him (Romans 6:23b, 2 Cor. 5:21).
“but we preach about a crucified Christ, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (1 Corinthians 1:23). The apostle Paul, inspired by the LORD said that this stuff wouldn’t make sense. And you’re right; many apologetic books try to “convince someone to salvation,” almost thinking that their answers will save someone. True, sometimes people really do need their questions answered before they cross that line of faith (I hope I can be some help to you in that way if this description fits you). Eventually, though, a decision has to be made. Do I see my need and believe, or not? In the meantime, I’m here to provide all the answers that I have, however few they may be.
Zealous forTruth,
-Matthew
Matthew,
ReplyDeleteWhat I'm going to say might sound like a personal attack but it isn't. My words are directed at this kind of thinking and not you personally.
I am familiar with this odd explanation and I have struggled with it for a few years now, but I'm finally free from it. I find what you have articulated to be an awful explanation and I now realize that I am leaving Christianity because of this thinking.
When you can finally free your mind to ask these fundamental questions and hear the weak response parroted back to you it is eye opening. It feels good to finally be free.
Thank you for reminding me that at the end of the day, Christianity demands a belief that we are all evil and that we will be tortured by our "father."
I'm all done and it feels great!
-Justin
I understand where you’re coming from. To hear the same answer to the same questions again and again does begin to sound like Polly. Here’s the thing, though. No matter how many times you ask the question, “why does 2 + 2 = 4?” the answer is always going to be, “that’s just the way it is; the answer is 4 and it will always be 4. Period.” Truth is like that, you see. It doesn’t change. It really is the same for all people, in all places, at all times. However, the fact that the answers are always the same has had a drastically different effect on each of us—faith destroying for you, faith affirming for me.
ReplyDeleteJustin, the truth is I have objectively asked the same questions you have asked, and I do so more and more each day. And you know what? It was liberating for me too! I was able to bask in the understanding that Christianity really is the only logical explanation to reality. The pseudo-spirituality of the New Age belief system and the Eastern tradition from which it springs doesn’t come close to explaining reality, and neither does the “superstition-abolishing” naturalistic viewpoint.
For me (and many others), faith isn’t blind, nor is it a “leap.” It is a logical step toward that which is backed up by the evidence, and nothing in the world has more evidence behind it than the Bible. Evidence for the veracity of the Scriptures are either accepted or denied, but it certainly isn’t lacking. At the end of the day, what I know is that Truth is Truth. Deciding to believe it or not believe it doesn’t make it any more or less true.
Help me out, Justin. Tell me, what is it that you have found that offers such greater compelling evidence that you would choose to grant it authority over the way you live your life instead of the Bible? Abandoning a bankrupt ideology for a truer one is a wise decision; abandoning your once-held Christian beliefs because you don’t like them anymore is something else all together. We are not all going to find our own version of the “hereafter” once we die—only dirt for the Naturalists, and Heaven for Christians. Two such diverging viewpoints such as ours mean that at least one of us is wrong. What EVIDENCE, not AESTHETICS, convinces you that you have come upon ultimate reality, and what is that reality? I’m ready to take this journey as far as it takes us if you are.
Matthew