Even If i Walk Alone

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

Faith

Confessions of a Western Christian

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I have a few confessions to make. I have been a Christian for thirty-seven years now, but it’s only recently that I’ve begun to discover what it means to truly be a follower of Christ. I have bought into the false teachings of Western Christianity and have totally missed the point of what it means to be a believer in Jesus. I have practiced religious rituals that have little or no foundations in Scripture. Worst of all, I have lived a life that is much more about myself than it is about the One who gave His life for me. I am unworthy of His love, and I am ashamed of the number of years it took for me to begin to travel the narrow road that leads to life and glorious light.

The years I have wasted cannot be redeemed. The past has had its say and I stand in judgment without defense. The only thing more tragic than everything I’ve neglected in my past would be if I continued on that same path from this point forward; I simply refuse. Thanks to the teachings of men like Greg Boyd, Francis Chan and more recently, David Platt, my eyes have been opened and I am not going back to the old lies of Western Christianity. It’s not that these men have some new revelation, but rather they (among others) are returning to the roots of the early church. They are casting aside the perverted teachings of the past couple hundred years to uncover anew what a life devoted to Christ really looks like.

This is of paramount importance. Countless men and women are walking around today, convinced that their salvation is secure because they prayed a certain prayer to ask Jesus into their heart. They are convinced that nothing could ever separate them from Heaven or from Christ, and they have a handful of Scriptures they will use to defend their view. These are lives being lived in peril. These are people who are not acknowledging the whole gospel, but rather a gospel of prosperity, comfort and irresponsibility. The teachings of the Bible are plain and they are clear. We are saved because of our faith and acceptance of God’s grace, which is given to us for the purpose of carrying out His mission on earth. We are saved by grace to do the things He commanded us to do. If we leave off the second half of the equation, we become the goats that Jesus refers to in Matthew 25:31-46. We call Him Lord, but we do nothing to give evidence to our claim.

If we are to follow Jesus into Heaven, then we must be willing to follow Him to the ends of the earth and to the end of our own rope. If we are not doing what He commanded us to do, to care for the orphans and the widows, to bring justice to the oppressed and to feed and clothe those in need, then we are in danger of hearing those awful words, “Depart from Me, for I never knew you”. (Matthew 7:20-23) This is not a game. This is not something we can take lightly or put off until later. We have been deceived and we have believed the lie of Western Christianity. A Christian life that looks no different from that of any other is not a life that is devoted to the teachings and the ways of Jesus.

Where do you find yourself at this moment? Have you bought into the lies of Satan and become consumed with a happy and healthy version of Christianity? Are you content to go to church, give some cash and basically be a good person? Or are you dissatisfied with the hollowness of modern Christianity and long for something deeper, something more? A magic prayer won’t get you into Heaven, but a life lived in total devotion to Jesus, regardless of the cost, most assuredly will. There is no more time for contemplation; your life could end today. How will you live the rest of your life? It’s all or nothing. Don’t be satisfied with the lie you have been sold. Choose to abandon everything in order to gain what is more precious than all else combined. No more games, no more lies; no more goats. From this moment on, may you live your life fully for Jesus and for Him alone.

Are You Ready To Die?

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This past week I have been praying for the country of Oman. This is a country where it is illegal to evangelize others for Christ, and it is illegal for Christians to hold meetings. Followers of Jesus are not allowed to come together to encourage each other, nor are they allowed to tell anyone else about Him. It breaks my heart as I ponder how these people will ever hear the message of the Gospel. How will they ever know how much God loves them, and where will they find their hope? This isn’t a country where we can just write a check to a ministry serving there; to my knowledge there are no ministries serving there other than small covert networks. Having read Shane Claiborne’s excellent book, “Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers” earlier this year, I began asking how I might be able to facilitate getting the Gospel into the hands of the Omani people. It was during this time of prayer that I again came face to face with the realization that following Jesus is a dangerous proposition.

As I have read through the book of Acts recently, I was reminded how much persecution the early church faced on a constant basis. This same persecution continues today outside the confines of our comfortable Western society. If you have not done so in a while, take a moment to praise and thank God that you live in a place that allows you the freedom to worship Him and to gather with other Christians whenever you wish. Then remember to pray for our brothers and sisters who live each day in fear of imprisonment and torture. Most of us cannot fathom living life as they do. Pray that they would be encouraged and that their love for Jesus would grow daily and shine brightly in this dark world.

Another book I read recently was “Radical”, by David Platt. In the book, the author talks about his visit to a Bible seminary in Indonesia where, in order to graduate, each student must plant a church with 30 new converts in a Muslim community. When Mr. Platt spoke at their commencement ceremony, all twenty five of the students had successfully planted these churches. Two had died in the process. I am inspired and awed by the faith and courage of these people.

If you’ve ever read the biography of Jim Elliot (“Shadow of the Almighty”), you know the story of a young man wholly committed to bringing the Gospel to some of the most hostile places on earth. Jim was determined to reach those who had never heard the Gospel. He felt compelled to be a missionary to a tribe that was notorious for killing any outsiders who came into their region. I encourage you to read the story for yourself, but Jim was killed very soon after arriving to share the love of Jesus to this people group. Despite the tragedy, because of Jim’s effort, most of the Waodani tribe came to know Christ.

The call to follow Jesus is not one to be accepted lightly. Jesus told the people of His day that if they would follow Him, they must be willing to die. This wasn’t simply a metaphor for dying to self; it was the reality of dying a physical death. The martyrs through the ages prove that Christians often die horrific deaths. Yet they faced their death with joy, knowing that they had obeyed what Christ told them to do and they would soon see Him face to face. The faith of those who have gone before us should serve as both an inspiration and an encouragement as we live out our faith each day.

Most of us will never have to die for our faith as long as we maintain the status quo. America and most Western countries provide safety for the body of Christ. Yet for those living in other countries, death is an everyday reality. Some of us will venture into those places to help bring the light of Christ to others. All of us must pray for our brothers and sisters and for one another. All of us must realize that the call to die is not for a select few, but for every follower of Jesus. Do not pray for your safety, but rather pray for the effectiveness of your witness. Do not pray for comfort, but beg for boldness to speak the name of Jesus. As long as we have breath, we must be willing to lose it for the name of Jesus Christ. All we do should be done in honor of, and to glorify, God. If we love Him, we must do so with such intensity that we are indeed willing to die for Him. There may come a time when you must choose between your life and your love for Jesus. If that day should come, would you be willing to lose it all for the sake of Christ? Would you be willing to die for Him as He was for you? Live a life that reflects Jesus in every way; diligently follow Him wherever He might lead. We cannot know what situations may face us down the road. Stand fast in Jesus, take up your cross each day, and be ready to die.

Never Stand Still

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There is an old Chinese proverb that says, “Do not fear going forward slowly; fear only to stand still.” While each of us would wish to have already arrived at the place in life where our lives were fully dedicated to Christ, the truth is we are all on a life long journey. The simple fact of the matter is that we will never fully reflect the glory of God as long as we walk on this earth. It is in the striving to look like Him, the scratching and clawing along the way, in which we find satisfaction. As long as we are moving forward, drawing a little bit closer to Him, we find joy and purpose in our life. Forward motion is the key; there is nothing to fear as long as we keep looking at Jesus. When Peter walked on the water, he was not afraid; he showed great faith by focusing on Christ. It was only when he ceased to move forward, when he took his eyes off of Jesus that he suddenly had reason to fear; indeed, he was in serious trouble! The part of that story that always amazed me is when Peter began to sink, Jesus reached out and grabbed him. That means Peter was close enough to the Lord to touch Him when he chose to stop moving forward. I think we too tend to miss great opportunities and blessings because we stop short of the goal. We get tired and lose faith, rather than pushing on just a little further. Most successes are found just the other side of giving up. If we would only push ourselves a little longer, if we would only endure another moment, we just might find all that God has for us. The key is to keep moving forward no matter what.

Greg Boyd recently commented, “The past is gone. The future is not yet. This moment is all that is real. And it’s full of God! Don’t miss it. Don’t miss Him.” Once we have moved beyond this moment, there is no way we can recapture it. That opportunity for achievement has passed, never to return. Was it a moment that we moved forward or was it one we spent standing still? Did we make a difference in the life of anyone in the moment that just passed? The next moment of our life has not yet occurred, but we can prepare for that time to come by moving forward in this moment. Every time we choose to move forward, we create momentum. The more momentum we create, the more difficult it becomes to stop. We want to be forward moving people, people who seek Jesus in every moment of our lives. We can’t redeem a past moment and we can’t fully control what our future may bring, but we can choose to move forward right now, and that is all that matters. If we move forward now, we can look back and see progress. If we move forward now, we can influence the future with our momentum and prepare for whatever may come. They key is what we do right now, and we must move forward; we must never stand still.

Jesus calls each of us, just as He called Peter, to come to Him. He calls out to us through the storms of life, through the waves of emotion and the winds of change. In faith we walk towards Him, and when we do, we have nothing to fear. All our problems, frustrations and worries melt away when He becomes our sole focus. We know as long as we keep our eyes on Him, we are safe and nothing this world can throw at us can deter us from our mission of seeking Him. There is security in keeping our focus on Jesus and walking on the path that leads to Him. It is only when we pause to take in our surroundings, it is only when we look back at what we have left behind, it is only then that we falter and become lost.

Are you keeping your eyes on Jesus and moving toward Him in this moment? Is your focus now on Him and Him alone? There is no fear in Jesus, and there is no fear if we would but have the faith to seek Him and only Him. No matter what happens in life, as long as our eyes are locked on His and we are moving toward Him, nothing else matters. The key is to always follow Him, to always move along the path He walks, no matter how slowly we might be following. The longer we follow, the more earnestly we seek to keep to His way, the faster our pace will become. Speed is not the goal, persistence is. Each moment carries the opportunity to turn back, to rest or to move on. The choice is ours right now; in the blink of an eye the moment, and our opportunity, will be lost forever. Are you moving forward or standing still?

Are You a Christian Or a Disciple?

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I recently attended the North American Christian Convention as it afforded me the opportunity to see one of my favorite speakers, Francis Chan. If you’re not familiar with Mr. Chan, I would highly recommend that you check out his books (“Crazy Love” and “Forgotten God”) or listen to one his messages at the website of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California. Chan’s topic for the day was the issue of being a Christian versus being a disciple. As he pointed out, there really is no difference, at least by Biblical standards. However, Western Christianity at large seems to be perpetuating the lie that it is possible to be a Christian without being a disciple of Jesus. This resonated deeply with me as one of my own personal mantras is “repenting of Christianity for a life of following Jesus.” One of the ideas promoted by the modern church is that by simply having someone pray a prayer and raise their hand, we have added one to our convert count for the year. Chan stated that he believes this is the most dangerous teaching in the church today. I couldn’t agree more.

Jesus told the people of His day that if they would follow Him they had to leave everything behind. They had to sell their possessions, they had to give away their money, and they had to forsake their friends and family for the sake of following Jesus. There is no hesitation and no compromise in the life of a true follower of Jesus. For someone to be a follower of Jesus, they must be “all in” or left out. From my study of Scripture I just don’t see any wiggle room on that. If you would call yourself a follower of Jesus, you must be willing to give up absolutely everything for Him.

Incredibly, some of the comments posted after Chan’s message were very negative. People were complaining that Chan was only saying that Christians must be disciples rather than giving them practical steps on how to become a disciple. I want to be as sensitive as possible here, but the last time I looked, those steps were quite clearly defined in the Bible. I think we have become a people that expect others to teach and lead us to such an extent that we no longer seek answers for ourselves. Worse still, in our ADD influenced society I think we often fail to even think at all. If something requires any level of depth it seems most are eager to move on to the next shallow but stimulating topic. Let me reiterate what is becoming a recurring theme here: following Jesus is hard. It’s not for the weak or the squeamish, but it is for anyone who loves Jesus with absolutely everything they have.

We need to stop being concerned with counting how many our church has “led to the Lord” and start making sure we invest in each one of their lives to encourage them to grow and mature in their faith. In other words, we need to be following through on the great commission and not just tell people about Jesus, but make disciples of all people. We need to spend enough time with new believers to ensure they understand what the next steps are and what God expects of them. Following Jesus is not a one time commitment, but rather a commitment that requires renewal every second of every hour of every day.

In summary, let me voice my agreement with Francis Chan. God didn’t call us to make Christians; He called us to make disciples. Let’s be certain that we as a church are not more concerned with someone raising their hand saying they’ve made a decision, than we are with discipling and nurturing that person. Leading someone to Christ and having their lives immersed by the Holy Spirit is only the first half of the commission. The second half requires that we make disciples of these individuals, so that they do not fall away from the faith and can positively impact the world with the love of Jesus.

Tithing

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One of the most controversial subjects among Christians inexplicably seems to revolve around the concept of tithing. Since this was an Old Testament principle, doesn’t the cross of Jesus nullify the tithe? Is the tithe figured off of my gross pay or my net pay? Do I have to tithe on money given to me as a gift? Is the tithe supposed to go to the local church? It is mind-boggling how such a simple concept can become so twisted and convoluted. The uncomfortable truth is that the root of all the questions and disagreement is greed and selfishness. Let’s face it, the reason we argue for tithing less is because we wish to keep more for ourselves. Now that we’ve gotten that ugly truth out of the way, let’s take a look at a few of the questions above.

Yes, the tithe is indeed an Old Testament principle, but no, the cross does not make the Old Testament law irrelevant. Jesus clearly stated in Matthew 5:17-19 that He did not come to destroy the law, but rather to fulfill it. He told those gathered there that anyone who breaks the least of the laws or teaches anyone else to break them will be the least in the Kingdom. Jesus’ blood on the cross fulfilled the need for sacrifice in the law. He became that sacrifice. But His blood did not mean that we were to stop living by the remainder of the law. For example, we never seem to argue that it’s okay to murder or steal or commit adultery because the cross of Jesus made those laws irrelevant. We also seem to fight for our day of rest, even though that too was an Old Testament principle. Like speaking out against one sin while engaging in others, we pick on tithing only because it disrupts our own lifestyle. We want to keep more money for ourselves. It is a case of idolatry, for as Paul states in Ephesians 5:5, a greedy person is an idolater.

Whether or not one tithes on their gross or net pay is another example of greed. We are simply looking for a way to give less. Your gross pay is your salary. We pay taxes from our salary, just as Jesus said that we should (Luke 20:25). Just because the laws of our land take taxes out of your check before you ever see it does not change the fact that you are simply paying taxes out of your salary. Taxes are a bill you pay, no different from your electricity or water bill. I’ve never really heard a debate about whether we should tithe on the amount of money we have left after all our bills are paid or before all our bills are paid. Again, the gross vs. net argument is one for selfish people seeking to keep more of God’s money for themselves. Keeping money that isn’t yours is called stealing in most cultures. I would never want to be the one who stands before God and has to explain why I stole money from Him. I can’t imagine a much more uncomfortable or dangerous conversation.

I think the answers to the remaining questions above can be summed up with a simple story. I was recently asked by a group of friends for my opinion on the tithe, whether the amount was truly the Old Testament principle of 10% or not. My response was simply, “As long as there are people living in poverty, as long as there are people without food or hope in this world, then we haven’t given enough.” It distresses me that the question is always, “How much must I give” rather than being overwhelmed by the opportunity to give all that we can for the purpose of carrying out the mission of Jesus Christ. Where you give that money should be where it is needed most in order to fulfill the teachings of Jesus. Perhaps that’s to an orphanage in Russia or a food bank in your city or a refugee camp in Darfur or a school in India. Perhaps it is to your local church if they are wise stewards of that money and use it to meet the needs of the orphans, the widows and those in need. We are the hands and feet of Jesus, entrusted with His money to do His works among His creation. That is the only litmus test we need keep in mind.

Remember that most arguments over tithing boil down to our own selfishness, greed and lack of faith. I have yet to meet someone who gives back to the Lord a portion of what has been given to them, who doesn’t have their needs met. God will bless you based on the attitude of your heart and the faith you place in Him. He cares for His children; He knows your needs. Let go of the earthly things to which you hold so tightly. Give all you can because it is our good pleasure to serve the One who gave His life for us. Total sacrifice was not too great a price for Jesus to pay for us. He asks for nothing less in return.