Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

Discipleship

What Are We Doing?

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As I survey the state of Christianity, particularly in the Western context, I can’t help but ask, “What are we doing?” I read accounts of believers like Pastor Abhaya in Bhutan who may have to move to another country because the government won’t recognize his marriage to his wife because he is a Christian. This means his children are denied citizenship, which will prevent them from attending school or ever having a meaningful job.

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Because Abhaya follows Jesus, the authorities deny him not only his rights but also the rights of his entire family. Then I peruse social media in America and see the ridiculous squabbles Christians are having over the most trivial of things and again must ask, “What are we doing?” As we feign offense and lash out at those who disagree with minor doctrinal differences, we don’t have a clue what it means to take up our cross and follow Jesus.

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Read the Book

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I’ve written nearly a million words (true story!) since this blog began back in 2010. Today, as I sat down to write the next instalment, it occurred to me that for all that writing, the only value I can add to anyone is pointing to what is written in the Word of God. No matter how clever the phrase or profound the thought, it is utterly meaningless because all truth is found in the Word of God (John 17:17).

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There is no wisdom apart from knowing Christ (Job 28:28; Colossians 2:3). Nothing I write will ever save your soul. Only the power of God’s Word can do that (Romans 1:16). So, as much as I genuinely appreciate you reading my work, if it’s a choice between reading this and spending some time in God’s Word, then I implore you to put this down and pick up your Bible.

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Live Slowly

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While doing some reading, I stumbled across this from J. I. Packer: “Live slowly enough to be able to think deeply about God.” It’s been some time since a statement hit me so hard. A myriad of health issues in my family have sent my life spinning like a top on steroids for the past year. Add keeping a small business afloat and the usual responsibilities of life, and there’s been little margin in my world for quite some time.

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I’m sure you can relate; we all go through these seasons. In the middle of these times, it’s easy to get lost as the competing urgency of so many things obscures your priorities. Life is speeding by and it’s all you can do to just hold on. We need to remember how important it is to slow down and seek God.

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Cheap Christianity

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Consider the following quote from J. C. Ryle: “There is a common, worldly kind of Christianity in this day, which many have, and think they have enough – a cheap Christianity which offends nobody, and requires no sacrifice – which costs nothing, and is worth nothing.” What’s remarkable is Bishop Ryle died in 1900, yet his observation over a hundred years ago is as relevant today as it was then.

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A quick survey of modern churches reveals a group of pastors, elders, and lay people who are bending over backward to accommodate and avoid offending any and everyone. It’s never been easier to attend a church and not have it cost you a thing, especially in the West. In most places, you can slip in and out and no one will even notice you were there. This is beyond cheap Christianity!

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Few Are Going to Heaven

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The greatest burden of my life is the conviction that so many, perhaps even most people who proclaim to be Christians are not. It’s not the first time I’ve written about this, and it won’t be the last. That’s what happens when a burden is constantly crushing down on you. When I look around at the modern church, and even more broadly at the industries that have sprung up around it, my soul aches for those who think they are on one path but in reality are on another.

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To quote J. C. Ryle, “According to the men of the world, few are going to hell; According to the Bible, few are going to heaven.” The great tragedy of our day is not that we aren’t bringing more lost people into the body of Christ, but that so many lost people believe they are already in the body of Christ.

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