Even If i Walk Alone

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

Luke

First Steps in Following Jesus

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I continue to think about and be bothered by our modern evangelical methods. So many of us have grown up steeped in church culture and tradition, and we neglect our responsibility to test the things we are taught. I believe this has placed many Christians in great peril, in that many who believe they are “saved” are indeed not. We have glossed over one of the most frightening statements of Jesus when He said that He will turn away from many who call Him Lord because they truly didn’t know Him (Matthew 7:21-23). We teach that by simply believing in Jesus and saying a magic prayer that this guarantees our place in Heaven. There is no scriptural basis for this, yet the teaching has perpetuated through the Western church for the last couple of hundred years or so. We need to wake up to the realization that it takes more than a onetime prayer to truly know Jesus and to gain entrance into His kingdom.

To be a follower of Jesus first and foremost requires that we believe in Him, that He is who He claimed to be, the Son of the only God, the Creator of the Universe. We must accept the fact that we could never gain access to God save for the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross where His blood covered all of our sins. We can do nothing to earn our place in the Kingdom; it is only through the grace of God providing a way for us to enter in, that we gain the privilege of eternity with Him. His grace is available to everyone free of charge, but as with all gifts, this grace must be accepted. We accept this gift by allowing Him to glorify Himself through our lives. This is the purpose for which we were created. He glorifies Himself through us by the actions we take that reflect His character and fulfill His mission.

As we have discussed many times, we glorify God by doing the things Jesus commanded us to do: feed the hungry, provide water to the thirsty, give shelter to the homeless, clothe the poor, take care of the sick, visit those in prison and without hope (Matthew 25:31-46). We glorify God by providing for the needs of the orphans and the widows, and keeping ourselves from the temptations of the world around us (James 1:27). If we truly believe in the person and mission of Jesus Christ, we will glorify Him by working tirelessly for justice, opposing wickedness, and setting free all who are oppressed and enslaved (Isaiah 58:6). Finally, we glorify God by demonstrating our devotion to His son, regardless of the price. We must serve Jesus even if it costs us our home, our families, our possessions and even our own life. (Luke 9:57-62; Luke 18:18-23; Luke 9:23-27). This is a hard road to travel, but it is the only path that leads to the Kingdom of God.

The first step to true salvation is to believe in Jesus and that His death provides the forgiveness of our sins, without which we could never approach the Holy and perfect God. The next and equally important step is to accept His gift of grace by allowing God to glorify Himself through us. This is an ongoing active acceptance, not a onetime act. There are no free rides into Heaven. Jesus loves us beyond measure, but His perfect purity demands total devotion of our hearts toward Him. We demonstrate that devotion by our obedience to His commands and by continuing His mission on earth. If you have bought into the teaching that your place in Heaven is secured by simply reciting the “sinner’s prayer”, I urge you to prayerfully examine the Scriptures and seek out what it truly means to be a follower of Jesus. The time for this is now, we must not hesitate. Believe in Jesus and allow Him to show His glory through your life. Devote yourself to following His instructions and living out His mission. This is the only way to salvation. Don’t miss it and don’t be deceived. Determine today that you will grow to intimately know Jesus, so that you will never hear Jesus say the most chilling words ever spoken, “Depart from me, I never knew you”.

How (Not) To Grow a Church

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My Dad was a pastor so I grew up very aware of the inner workings of churches in America. I was privy to the strategies and techniques used to grow a church and the plans to attract more people each Sunday. It is both interesting and sad that church growth has traditionally been about the number of bodies in the pews rather than the actual development of the individual; but I digress. As an avid reader I have consumed many books on the subject of the Western church, megachurches, emerging churches, evangelism, church growth, etc. With that in mind, I believe I have discovered the one sure fire way to impede church growth (as defined by adding members): preach the Gospel. Most Christians I have talked to in my life attend their particular church because they preach the Gospel, or they leave a church because it does not. It makes me wonder exactly what Gospel they are talking about. Let’s take a quick look at a few teachings of Jesus to determine whether or not your church is actually preaching the Gospel.

In Luke 18:18-23, Jesus told the young man that if he wanted to follow Him, he would have to sell all of his possessions and give the money to the poor. When was the last time your preacher told the congregation they needed to start liquidating their material possessions and donate that money to care for the less fortunate in their town and around the world? How well do you think that sermon might go over? This isn’t some vague notion or the opinion of a learned scholar, these words came directly from the mouth of Jesus. How convenient that we have chosen to either ignore or explain away this teaching. This is part of the Gospel of Jesus. The good news is that He has come to bring life and justice, and sometimes justice means selling what we have in order to give to those who are hungry or homeless.

In the book of Matthew (chapter 8, verses 21 and 22), a man says he will follow Jesus, but first needs to go bury his father. Jesus rebuked him and told the man that if he wanted to be His follower, he would need to forget about his family. In fact, Jesus went so far as to say we must hate our mother, father, brothers and sisters if we would follow Him (Luke 14:25-27). I have heard more sermons preached on taking care of one’s own family than I have on hating them. The point is we must be so consumed with Jesus that everything we do in life is with Him in mind. All other obligations and responsibilities must be set aside when it competes with following Jesus. If a scheduling conflict forces you to choose between a kid’s soccer game and feeding the hungry at a soup kitchen, it has to be the soup kitchen every time. This is not going to be a popular message on Sunday morning, and I can only imagine the email the pastor would receive after preaching it. But this too is the Gospel. Our mission is to tell the world about Christ, to make disciples of all people. Everything we do must revolve around this purpose.

Finally, Jesus told another man who wished to follow Him that He had no home (Matthew 8:19-20). The implication is that if we would follow Christ, we too will be homeless; so much for the American dream. In the era of the “prosperity gospel”, this is not a popular topic. Western Christianity has come to be taught as some sort of slick panacea, a comfortable existence lived with a dose of compassion. The modern church has planted itself in the suburbs and consumed itself with programs to entertain and cocoon its members. Many churches have become nothing more than large social clubs where one must maintain a certain look and lifestyle in order to gain admittance; the homeless are often not welcome. Yet, the Gospel of Jesus, the true Gospel, states that if we would follow Him, we will have no place to lay our head at night.

Do you really want to attend a church that preaches the Gospel? The Gospel is amazing news indeed; it is the story of God’s love for His creation. It is the story of His redemption of our fallen and wicked world. It is the story of Jesus giving up His own life so that we might gain eternal life. There is more than this, however. The Gospel is also about our responsibility to spread the message to all nations. We are called to give up everything we own or hold dear for the purpose of furthering the Kingdom of God. We are called to sell our possessions, to renounce our earthly relationships and to live a life of utter dependence on Jesus. Not all will be faced with these trials, but all must be willing. If God chooses to bless us with even more than we give up, then it is for His glory. If He chooses to not return abundance to us in this life, it is also for His glory and we will be lavishly rewarded in the life to come. Are you willing to live your life in total surrender to Jesus? Are you willing to live out the whole Gospel, not just the comfortable parts? Your answers to these questions will determine whether or not you are a true follower of Jesus. Don’t get left behind.

Which Parts of the Bible Do You Ignore?

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In my reading this week I was challenged by a question that, on its face, seemed ludicrous. Yet I could neither ignore it nor get it out of my head. The question was, “Which parts of the Bible are you choosing to ignore?” It was preposterous in both its implication that I would even think of picking and choosing parts of the Bible to ignore, and also by the insinuation that I indeed was ignoring parts of the Bible. I have been diligently striving to follow in the way of Jesus Christ, to do the things that He would do. That involves not allowing any compromise along the way. So how could I possibly be ignoring parts of the Bible, much less by conscious choice? This story, however, does not have a happy ending. Prayer and introspection revealed that indeed I have been ignoring parts of the Bible. In fact, I have been ignoring multiple parts of Scripture. This realization has been both sobering and challenging. Allow me to share a couple of areas I have been choosing to ignore.

The second greatest commandment, according to Jesus, is to love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:28-31). I do my best to show kindness to my neighbors. I always smile and wave whenever I see them outside. In the winter I even clear their driveways and sidewalks with my snow blower. Therefore, I must be demonstrating love to my neighbor. So apparently I can check this box with an affirmative. Or can I? I am ashamed to admit, I’ve never invited one of my current neighbors over for dinner; I’ve never stopped over just to see if I can help in any way. I’m a great neighbor as long as we happen to be outside at the same time. Otherwise it takes a little work, and apparently that’s been a bit too much for me. For those who are way ahead of me at this point and are still content that they can easily check off the “love my neighbor as myself” box, let me ask you a question. Have you, like a great number of Americans, purchased one of the new, large, flat screen televisions in the past couple of years? If you answered yes to that question, did you purchase one for your neighbor as well? If not, why not? Do you not love your neighbor at least as much as you love yourself? In the interest of full disclosure, I picked the flat screen television example because I don’t have one. I figured that was fair since I took my lumps in the first half of this paragraph. How about groceries? When you purchase food each week, do you purchase a bag for your neighbor as well? I hope you see my point.

Most of us do just enough to make us believe we are doing what Jesus commanded us to do. But when we look a little deeper, if we’re honest with ourselves, we will be forced to admit that we are indeed ignoring parts of the Bible. We ignore that which makes us uncomfortable or requires too great a sacrifice. We give money to those in need, but will we sell all we have and then turn around and give all the proceeds to the poor (Luke 18:18-22)? We’ll volunteer at the soup kitchen, but will we take a stranger in to live with us (Matthew 25:35)? We are ignoring the parts of the Bible that most reflect the mission of Jesus. How dare we call ourselves disciples? We are at best a weak and hypocritical people. The Church is supposed to be the unified body, the very hands and feet, of Jesus. We are to be ushering in His Kingdom by doing the things He commanded us to do while we are still on this earth. We are only half committed; we speak the language but we fail in the execution of the plan.

We must all repent of the parts of the Bible we have ignored out of our selfish sense of comfort. If we would indeed be a follower of Christ, we must look again at what He expects of us. We must look again at the way He lived and the things He did. We must repent of the words He spoke that we have ignored. It is time to rise up as the body of Christ and leave behind the half-hearted effort most of us have given to this point; it is time to work in unison to accomplish the mission of Jesus. As you prayerfully consider the way in which you will live for Him, give fresh consideration to the parts of the Bible you have been choosing to ignore.

Know Your Enemy

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One of the biggest keys to living a life devoted to Christ is to have a clear picture of who our enemy is. You can’t live a victorious life if you don’t know who it is you need to defeat. While it is easy to think of the phrase “life is a battle” as being simply a romantic analogy, it is actually a fundamental truth of Christianity. We are engaged in battle twenty-four hours a day as we seek to live passionately for our Savior.

First, let’s make it clear who your enemy is not. Anything made up of flesh and blood is not your enemy. People are never the enemy. How could we possibly perceive any human being to be our enemy when Christ told us to love every one? Therefore, I submit that it is not possible to love your enemy because if you consider another human to be your enemy, then you do not love that person. I think what Jesus meant when He said to “love your enemy” in Luke chapter 6, was to have no enemies. It is consistent with scripture when we see that Christ did not treat those who would kill Him as His enemies. He knew who was behind their actions as evidenced by His requesting the Father to forgive the people killing Him because “they did not know what they were doing” (Luke 23:33-34). We first need to make the shift in our hearts of transforming our enemies into friends so that we can love them; we need to always see others as Jesus saw them. Satan loves to distract us and to shift our focus onto other humans. We blame other people for our mistakes or our circumstances. We cannot do this and love those same people, which is why we cannot consider anyone to be our enemies while at the same time say that we are followers of Christ. Jesus did not treat humans as enemies; He treated them as friends.

No, our battle is not against flesh and blood, but rather against spiritual forces. Yes, demons really do exist, and yes they can and do impact your life. Perhaps this is where the old “the devil made me do it” excuse came from. The devil cannot make you do anything; he or his demons can put the temptations in place to make you consider doing something, but only we – as creatures gifted with freewill – actually can choose to act on that choice. As a holiday season is upon us, perhaps it needs to be said that Santa Claus is not the enemy of Christmas, but rather it is the spirit of greed and selfishness. The Easter Bunny is not the enemy of Easter, but rather the spirit of denying the resurrection of Christ. Other nationalities are not our enemy throughout the year, but rather the spirit of pride, hate and covetousness. Demonic forces are persistently trying to shift our focus away from the good things of Christ and onto the ruinous things of self. Christ died to not only bring forgiveness for our sins but in doing so He defeated Satan and his demonic forces. He gives us the power to do the same. The good news is that the end of the story is already written and Christ, along with those who profess Him as Lord, will be victorious in the spiritual realm. While we are still on earth, however, the battle rages on.

Don’t mistake who it is that we are fighting. Don’t allow Satan to shift your focus onto the wonders of creation as being your enemy. Our fight is always against the spiritual realm, against Satan. We wage war against those forces by making Jesus the Lord of our life, doing those things he modeled for us and in so doing demonstrate His love to all of His creation. Be careful not to get caught up in actions or arguments that only advance a flesh and blood agenda. Engage only in those things that advance the Kingdom agenda. Love God and all of His creation and demonstrate that love in tangible ways every day that you have breath.

Love in Community

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The title of this blog is “Even if I Walk Alone”. That is a statement that simply means that I have chosen to follow Christ, I have chosen to love as He did, even if no one else will join me in doing so. Ideally I will not walk this path alone; I don’t want to walk this path alone. Being prepared to walk alone should in no way be taken to mean that this is the best way to go about following Christ. A few can accomplish more than one, and the many can accomplish exponentially more than the few. Perhaps the title of this blog really should be “Even If I Walk Alone (…but I’d rather walk together!)”.

Following Jesus is a group exercise, as demonstrated by Jesus calling His twelve disciples (Matthew 10:1-16), sending out the seventy apostles (Luke 10:1-12) and establishing His desire for followers to come together(Matthew 18:19-20). There are times that God has worked through an individual, but by and large God has always worked through groups of people. In our modern society it has become very easy to be self-sufficient. Jesus never calls us to self-sufficiency; He calls us to utter reliance. We are to rely on God in all things, and this includes relying on our brothers and sisters as we all seek to follow Him. Would you rather be self-sufficient or live a life of total reliance on someone else? As someone who grew up fiercely independent, this is a hard question for me, even though I know the right answer. I want, no I need, to rely on God with all that I am. Yet so often I opt for the prideful stance of self-reliance. I take pride in my ability to handle whatever may come my way. Slowly, quietly, my confidence is being swapped out from that of myself, to knowing I can handle anything this world throws at me because of the strength of Jesus within me. It is an agonizing but wonderful process.

Another problem we face is that we tend to not keep the same community for very long. A generation ago, people generally grew up and lived out their lives in the same area. Grade school friendships persisted into the twilight of life; you knew most everyone you came into contact with and strangers were easy to spot. In our current era, we are far less likely to stay in the same city we were born in, much less the same neighborhood. College, job advancements and a quest for a better place to raise a family all contribute to a nation of virtual strangers. Even small groups in churches tend to change faces every few years. We just don’t plant ourselves anywhere anymore. Perhaps we need to give more thought to our sense of community before we move on to the next big thing. Is it possible that we can serve God better by staying put rather than taking off to chase “the American dream”, leaving behind the relationships we have established? I’m not proposing that we should all stay where we grew up, but I am saying we are quick to leave a community for generally selfish reasons without ever giving much thought to the community of believers and would-be believers that we leave behind. It should definitely play a part in our decision process.

This brings me to the community where you are now. Are you nurturing your community? Are you seeking out others with whom to build relationships? Do you even know your neighbors? Are you demonstrating love to those with whom you work or are they “just the people at the office”? We are to live in community and we are to love in community. Our free time needs to be turned into community time. If we are passionate about living a life modeled after Christ, then we must be about living in community. It’s time to put selfishness and self-sufficiency aside. We must be willing to walk this road alone, but ever seeking to walk with one another.