DEFINING CHRISTIANITY IN A DESIGNER WORLD
We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. . . .
But since we belong to the day, let us . . . [put] on faith and love . . . and the hope of salvation.
—1 THESSALONIANS 5:5, 8 NIV
DO YOU LIVE IN A WORLD ALL YOUR OWN? Society today reflects the culture’s craving for a designer world, one that suits every whim. We want things to go our way, according to our timeline, and at the pace of our own choosing. We want designer clothes, designer technology, designer homes and cars, even designer religion. We want either to simply belong to something or to belong to our own way. This is why so many seek to join the right clubs, gangs, or even churches.
Some time ago I spoke at Harvard University, and while visiting with the president, I asked him, “What appears to be the thing that young people are looking for the most?”
Without hesitation he answered, “They want to belong.”
How coincidental that Facebook, a twenty-first-century phenomenon, was conceived and given birth at Harvard. This social media networking website tapped in to the deepest of human need—to belong. In October 2012, Forbes reported Facebook had topped a billion users—one out of every seven people on planet Earth.1 One blogger stated that people’s obsession with Facebook lies in the “innate human drive for social acceptance,” which is “as old as human history.”2
The most popular feature is that it allows individuals to include or exclude friends, creating competition for popularity by befriending or defriending people they don’t even know. Facebook also gives members bragging rights to post how many friends a member has, and the most brutal is when a member’s Facebook page has “0 friends.”
Reuters reported that a young couple was murdered in their home by someone they had “defriended.” The murderer apparently could not bear the stigma of not belonging.3
Social media has become something like a personal billboard, where the most intimate thoughts are posted on a wall in cyberspace. Much of the messaging flashes with frustration like neon signs. One woman blogged,
I longed to belong. . . .
So, I embarked on a journey that involved serious soul searching. . . .
When we belong to a family, we practice its lifestyle. When we belong to a culture, we abide by its norms. When we belong to a religion, we follow its calling. When we belong to an organization, we conform [to] its protocols. We try to fit in.4
In another post she wrote:
I realized that the only life I belonged in was my own . . .
So, I set about creating it for myself. . . .
My life was custom-built for me. And I fit perfectly in it.5
If that young woman is honest, she will one day post what King Solomon did in the ancient book of folly and wisdom:
I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my labor,
and this was the reward for all my toil.
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.
(ECCLESIASTES 2:10–11 NIV)
The human race has always been on a quest for truth and acceptance, yet men and women are unwilling to accept the One who is the truth. His name is Almighty God, wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace. Jesus is willing to accept all who come to Him in truth, but the world doesn’t want to belong to Him.
USA Today recently featured a story about young adults and their changing attitudes about faith: “Young adults appear largely uninterested in . . . ‘correct’ doctrine. . . . Their God is a big God who is unbound by Scripture. . . . Clergy are seeing less emphasis on believing and more emphasis on belonging.”6
A steady decline in “the popularity of traditional Christianity . . . in England” has prompted advertising agencies to suggest “that the Church of England try promoting itself as a trendy place to meet other people.”7 But the head of a theological think-tank told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that “the [advertising] campaigns were pushing ‘designer religion,’ turning worship into just another consumer item . . . ‘putting the Church on the shelf next to the new cosmetic, or in the car showroom, as something to be bought.’”8
A similar news story in the United States, “More Americans Tailoring Religion to Fit Their Needs,” states: “The folks who make up God as they go are side-by-side with self-proclaimed believers who claim the Christian label but shed their ties to traditional beliefs and practices.”9
A leading research guru gave his findings: “People say, ‘I believe in God. I believe the Bible is a good book. And then I believe whatever I want.’”10 In the case of America, our country is moving in the direction of “310 million people with 310 million religions.”11 Professing faith in Christ is clearly not the same as possessing Christ, who is the source of faith.
“Whatever” has become a mantra for many, a trendy approach to a religion of belonging to self. In January 2012, Asheville Citizen-Times featured an article entitled “God, religion, atheism; ‘So What?’” In it one young man had signed up for online dating and answered the question about religion by calling himself “spiritually apathetic.” Others simply “shrug off God, religion, heaven or the ever-trendy search-for-meaning and/or purpose. Their attitude could be summed up as ‘So what?’ . . . Instead of followers of Jesus, they’re followers of 5,000 unseen ‘friends’ on Facebook or Twitter.”12
One woman tried out several Protestant denominations and finally settled on her own religion—a mix of the Baha’i and Native American traditional healing practices—while still claiming to be a Christian. She said, “I support people who do good wherever they are.”13
After the Jewish magazine Moment ran a headline asking “Can There Be Judaism Without God?” publisher Nadine Epstein reported that “Most say yes. It’s incredibly exciting.”14
Prominent sociologist Robert Bellah has written about a woman named Sheila who takes the “so what” approach to a whole new level. “I can’t remember the last time I went to church,” she says. “My faith has carried me a long way. It’s Sheilaism. Just my own little voice. . . . It’s just try to love yourself and be gentle with yourself.”15
Bellah adds Sheila is not alone: “Just because people showed up in church didn’t always mean a deep personal conviction or commitment.”16
Instead, designer religion is becoming what is known as the “one-person-one-religion trend.”17 And a Harvard psychologist once said, “We’re becoming a nation of the uncommitted,”18 which gives insight into why there is a spirit of hopelessness in the world.
A TRENDY FAITH
As 2012 began, Microsoft reported that its Windows Design Team was working on “How to Redesign a Religion.”19 Advertising agencies are expanding their advisory capacity by offering consulting services on how to brand religion. And many churches of all persuasions are hiring research agencies to poll neighborhoods, asking what kind of church they prefer; then the local churches design themselves to fit the desires of the people. True faith in God that demands selflessness is being replaced by trendy religion that serves the selfish.
Facebook helps connect users to a site known as Religion of Individualism, where individuals can customize their own belief style to accommodate and justify how they want to live.20 British comedian Stephen Harvey targeted this trend in a short film called “How to Start a Religion.”21
A religion designed to reflect one’s personal desire is contrary to having a personal relationship with God, who puts within His true follower His desires. Kristin Chenoweth, Tony Award–winner for the Broadway play Wicked, said, “I’m an actress and a singer and I’m also a Christian. . . . I just want to be like Jesus, forgiving and loving and nonjudgmental, accepting of everyone even if they don’t agree.”22
The Gospel of Jesus Christ has been watered down to a myth, causing young and old to doubt the authority of Scripture. Why is this? What is happening? God is viewed as less than the God of the Bible. Society is doing a good job of convincing the world that Jesus has no power to judge sin. Some believe that following His example of doing good to others is what empowers us to be good.
Our world does not object to this kind of Christianity—content to have only a social Christ who provides what we want for ourselves. There are those who would keep Him dying, bleeding, and incapacitated, a Christ who doesn’t come down and smash the falseness of their ideologies.
What the world does object to is a living Christ, a risen Christ who is all-knowing and all-powerful. People in general do not want to meet the moral conditions that Jesus Christ demands. So we try to rationalize away the fullness of Christ, which includes His resurrection and His demand that those who follow Him live in obedience to His Word.
One young woman spoke for her generation, “We live in a cruel world, so we only go to churches that make us feel good about ourselves.”
“Getting in touch with myself,” a young man bragged, “is true spiritualism.”
Such attitudes of self-worship are nothing new. You may be told that this form of religion is revolutionary, but the Bible says, “Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight” (Isaiah 5:21 NIV). Society may think itself clever in devising new ways and new things to worship, but the Bible tells us that “there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
Jesus indicated that there would be a permissive society right before He comes back. And the world seems to be on an immoral binge such as has not been known since the days of ancient Rome. We live in a hedonistic society, and what we are seeing is human nature expressing itself without God.
People are hiring life coaches to help them get “in touch with self.” A popular life-coach site claims to successfully get clients grounded spiritually, yet there is no sign of biblical authority, just personal experience extracted from the idea that if you “do for others and yourself,” you will discover personal satisfaction. The Bible warns against such thinking: “For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord” (Jude 4 NIV).
In designer religions social awareness has replaced the Spirit-filled life. The truth is people would rather put their energies into “working for God” than actively “believing in God” and obeying Him. There is a difference. Busyness is the devil’s playground. If we do not believe in Him and give Him the priority in our lives, working for Him is a futile exercise—because Jesus said, “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
What some think is a new idea is as old as the Bible itself. Jeroboam, the king of northern Israel, built temples in high places for the people to worship many gods, and “this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other” (1 Kings 12:30 NIV). In other words, the people continued worshiping God and also worshiping the golden calves that the king had set in place, a practice clearly forbidden by the first commandment to have no other gods but the one true God.
FAITH BLENDING
This is what is taking place in the twenty-first century—mixing claims of faith in God while worshiping other gods.
Religion is being rebranded as spiritualism and encompasses whatever it is people want to put their energies into, as long as it is cloaked with tolerance.
We see Coexist bumper stickers plastered on vehicles, hung in store windows, and pasted across the foreheads of rock stars. The Coexist movement is branded by spelling its name with the symbols of Islam, peace, gender, Judaism, Wicca/Paganism/Baha’i, Taoism/Confucianism, and Christianity. It is considered design history for religious tolerance.23 There is also a movement called “Chrislam,” blending Christianity with Islam and claiming that the differences should be overlooked in the spirit of unity.24
Actress Sharon Stone, an Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner, considers herself a Buddhist, but “nonetheless claims an abiding belief in a traditional God.”25
One news writer reported the following:
Today’s Christian hipsters retain their faith, but they want it to be compatible with, not contrary to, secular hipster counterculture. Their mission is to rebrand Christianity to be, if not completely void of its own brand altogether, at least cobranded and allied with the things that it had previously set itself in opposition to. . . .
As a result of its intentional melding of Christian and secular . . . one cannot easily decipher the [difference].26
Newsweek magazine reported in 2009 that “the rising numbers of religiously unaffiliated . . . are people more apt to call themselves ‘spiritual’ rather than ‘religious.’”27 In the years since that article appeared, the trend continues.
BELONGING TO A DESIGNER WORLD
In the first decade of the twenty-first century the BBC ran a television series entitled Belonging, about a family who encountered the trials and tribulations in the changing environment of their South Wales town as they struggled to belong to an altered society.28
Hollywood actor James Caan rightly pointed out that “a sense of belonging is a big thing today.”29 Yet we live in a cyberspace world, where many people feel more at ease staring into the electronic face of a device than into human eyes, much less “the eyes of the LORD [that] search the whole earth” (2 Chronicles 16:9 NLT).
The word belonging is an endearing term in our designer society. A self-appointed pop culture philosopher wrote:
We are all longing to go home to some place we have never been. . . . Somewhere a circle of hands will open to receive us, eyes will light up as we enter, voices will celebrate with us whenever we come into our own power. Community means . . . arms to hold us when we falter. A circle of healing. A circle of friends. Someplace where we can be free.30
This is Heaven to her, but I would ask, “If she puts confidence in her own power, why does she need arms to hold her when she falters?” She cannot identify that “someplace” because when people operate out of their own feeble and powerless resource, it only leads to the place of defeat.
She is searching for God but in all the wrong places. Many others like her are in distress, refusing to submit to God who created them, exchanging God’s standard for alternative lifestyles that are not ordained by God, who is the very source of life.
The very first institution that God gave mankind is also under attack as same-sex marriage is being acclaimed. Families are fractured with single-parent homes on the rise. Acceptable now is the phenomenon of men and women living together outside of marriage while others look the other way. The parents of such a couple excused this behavior with sighs of relief that “at least they’re male and female living together” (and not in homosexual partnerships).
In fall of 2012, CNN Headline News carried a story about a woman who married herself, reciting the vow “with this ring I me wed,” giving herself a new name: “Only.” She spoke of the vow of self-commitment in her self-marriage that would provide her self-bliss.31 And this is not an isolated story. In May, another woman had exchanged rings with her inner groom, vowing, “I, Nadine, promise to enjoy inhabiting my own life and to relish in a lifelong love affair with my beautiful self.”32 When asked by CNN’s Anderson Cooper why she did this, she answered, “I started discovering that the love I need, it’s in here” [she pointed to her heart]. After a man was married to himself for a few years, he divorced himself, claiming irreconcilable differences, and said he would look for happiness somewhere else and a place to belong.33
In the 2011 primary election, my home state of North Carolina actually placed an amendment on the ballot to define marriage. I never thought we would have to debate the definition of marriage, something that God has clearly ordained as a sacred union between a man and woman. Nearly every major television network has incorporated programs into primetime viewing that promote homosexuality. Books such as My Two Moms highlight the fact that same-sex parenting is becoming an acceptable norm.34
In summer of 2011, Dan Cathy, CEO of Chick-fil-a, was assaulted in the press and by the public for daring to answer a question in support of God’s definition of marriage.35 I have known Dan’s father, Truett Cathy, founder of the popular restaurant chain, for many years, and I find it astounding to think that a movement would come against this Christian family for standing up for their moral values while popular media applaud immorality, spoof family values, and celebrate divorce, including on television programs such as Happily Divorced.
A brand-new business has opened in the Netherlands, called Heartbreak Hotel, but it’s not an actual hotel. It is a marketing package tailored to couples seeking divorce. The company discreetly puts them up in one of several hotels. They check in on Friday night as married couples, meet with relationship counselors and attorneys, sign documents during the weekend, and then check out Sunday morning as singles.36
Even as I write this chapter, network news is reporting on the gripping reality of gendercide—a form of abortion that applies a standard of systematic extermination to a particular gender, usually girls. The traditional preference for boys in many cultures has combined with the trend for smaller families and the ability to determine the sex of a child while still in the womb. This practice has led to a serious imbalance of the sexes in China and North India.37 And in spring of 2012, this procedure was actually being debated in the United States Congress, with strong support for allowing parents to rob the innocent of their right to life because they happen to be the wrong gender.38
We have dismissed God, resulting in skewed thinking and consciences that are desensitized to right and wrong, and base moral decisions solely on what “fits in” with our individual preferences.
Occupy Wall Street, a protest that began in September 2011, is self-described as a “people-powered movement”39 and really involves giving all the “occupiers” the opportunity to freely access whatever it is they want. People expecting to have the finest of everything without working for it—this is the designer world thought up by mankind’s total depravity that fails to bring contentment. In fact, the more we have, the more we want.
Many believe that pagan worship is a thing of the past, but it is ever present—we have just given it a new name: pop culture designed to satisfy self. Our self-designed world will face Almighty God someday. He has designed a particular time to meet each individual one-on-one, and we will all give account for our lives. God in His graciousness has given mankind ample notice:
And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord . . . and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being. . . . Now [God] commands all [people] everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead. (Acts 17:26–28, 30–31)
That Man is the Lord Jesus.
One day we all will see what the pop culture philosopher says she longs for—true belonging—but it will not be a circle of hands that welcomes us into that Someplace. We will instead meet God on His terms, on His turf, and in His way. We will behold the nail-scarred hands of God’s Son that bear the marks of our sin. We will gaze into His eyes, which can see into our very souls. We will hear the voice of God pronounce a blessing or a curse and, in that day, we will be powerless to choose. Some will be welcomed into His arms, and others will be condemned to the never-ending distance that separates them from the eternal circle of fellowship around His Heavenly throne. We will know freedom from sin, or we will be cast into the everlasting bondage that we chose while on earth.
Do you belong to the designer world of futility or to “the Way” of faith (Acts 24:14), the eternal world that God has designed for all who live according to His truth?
SEARCHING SOULS
Pop culture is searching, perhaps today more than ever, for truth. But truth has become to many whatever they want it to be, bound up in lies from Satan that cause them to look in futility to others and, sometimes, to themselves. Rock star Jewel sings about being God’s eyes, God’s hands, God’s mind, God’s heart.40 While those who follow Christ may perform good deeds in His name, humanity will never be God’s eyes or God’s mind. Only His eyes can peer into our weary souls. He says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways” (Isaiah 55:8). God longs to fill our minds with His truth and heal our sick hearts. God’s heart’s desire is to love us and change us.
I was moved when I heard the story that at age sixteen Jewel was traveling through Mexico and observed that everyone seemed to be looking “for someone to save them.”41 Her evaluation was true. She later wrote lyrics to what would become a major hit, “Who Will Save Your Soul?” in which she reveals people’s worry about who will save their souls.42
I wish I could tell this talented young entertainer who is searching for God that humanity is not God and never will be. And aren’t we glad? No one cares for us as God does, and no one but God loves us with an everlasting love.
The world would have us believe that we do not have souls or that we are our own gods. The Huffington Post’s article on “25 Ways to Feed Your Soul”43 was really all about pampering self. Yet the world applauds the poets who have written about searching the soul and artists who have attempted to depict the depth of the soul.
Canadian writer Douglas Coupland tapped in to our cultural soul-confusion in a poignant line by a character in his novel The Gum Thief: “I don’t deserve a soul, yet I still have one. I know because it hurts.”44 So many men, women, and children in our society know that ache. How I hope they hear the message that can bring comfort to their aching souls. The apostle Paul wrote, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely . . . your whole spirit, soul, and body” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
Tormented poet Sylvia Plath famously wrote that she was terrified by a “dark thing” inside her.45 When the soul is separated from the God who made it, the soul is indeed dark. Edgar Allan Poe said when he was dying, “Lord help my poor soul.”46 It is said that this brilliant poet lived in a great neurotic darkness. But Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12).
Matchmaking has become a booming business from Africa to Asia, from Australia to Europe, in our culture’s restless search for a “soul mate.” Online services promise to bring light into your life by matching you up with someone just right for you. “Relationship experts” teach clients to practice “self-love” in order to attract a potential partner. One such expert wrote, “We . . . have the power to create our own personal movie-like narratives, love stories based on our own desires and hopes.”47
Since the subject of the soul has a prominent place in our thinking, may I ask: Have you found the sole source of the real kind of love that can bring light into your life? Salvation in Jesus Christ is the only hope for your soul. Only He can illumine the dark corners of your life and give you soul satisfaction. You can continue searching for some religion that fits your particular lifestyle, but your search will never come to a satisfying end. Or you can commit your life completely to the Lord, who brings true and lasting fulfillment to the human soul who sincerely seeks Him in truth.
You can belong to the Giver of life who saves souls from the weariness of manmade religion. You can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That’s what it means to be a Christian. Have you humbled yourself before Him?
NO RELIGION CAN SAVE
Perhaps your answer is, “I think so.” That answer will not bring peace to your soul. Nor will it enable you to walk in the power of knowing that Jesus Christ lives within you through His Holy Spirit, guiding you through the trials and tribulations of life that will surely come.
No religion will save your soul because religion did not die to redeem your soul. Only the Man Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died in order that your soul might live. And those whose souls bear the conviction of sin, guilt, and shame and who confess their need to holy God will receive the gift of salvation through redemption in Jesus Christ.
True Christianity is not religion. True Christianity is faith in Christ alone.
Just because people claim to be Christian does not necessarily mean that they are Christian. Christianity is not something you add to your life. Becoming a Christian means that Jesus Christ comes into your life and takes over. It is a totally new outlook that is not satisfied with anything less than penetration into the furthest corners of the soul and the understanding.
Christianity is not a spectator sport—buying a ticket and sitting on the sidelines. Becoming a Christian means no longer living for yourself but for God in obedience to Him. You must leave the old life behind and step into a new way of living, where Christ makes possible what you think impossible. To say you believe in Him and then continue living as though nothing has changed is to deny the power of God in your new life.
You cannot have Jesus in your life without change. Jesus is not an add-on. He is the Advocate to the soul who is willing to set self aside and let Jesus Christ reside within. The Bible says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
How does this happen? Christ indwells His followers by giving the gift of His Holy Spirit. He will not muscle His way in; you must invite Him in, accept His gift, knowing that He will never leave. The Holy Spirit then becomes your constant companion, a lifetime resident, One who will “never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). He gives you the power to begin thinking new thoughts and behaving in ways that please Him—not yourself.
The Bible says, “Put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him” (Colossians 3:10). That is what it means to invite Jesus into your life.
He is not going to come in and ignore the chains that bind you to sin. He is not going to come in and close His eyes to the immorality that governs your relationships. He is not going to come in and overlook your indifference to His commands. He is going to mold you and make you new by changing your very nature.
BORN TO CRAWL, REBORN TO FLY
Perhaps you are saying, “That is impossible!” That is what the caterpillar might say to a butterfly. But the same God who transforms the caterpillar into a butterfly can also change you.
Who would ever look at a caterpillar inching on its belly in the dirt and think that within a short time it would be transformed into a flying wonder? Let’s look at the nature of caterpillars. Some are poisonous and capable of spewing acid. They are colored to resemble the plants on which they feed and often mimic plant parts, such as thorns. Some caterpillars are unaffected by the poison they consume from the toxic plants they feed on. And caterpillars can be a nuisance, harming the growth of food-producing plants.
When it is time for the caterpillar to transform, it attaches itself firmly to a stem or branch and forms a chrysalis or spins a cocoon for protection. Then it waits—usually for months. While it appears motionless on the outside, a tremendous amount of activity is taking place inside. The caterpillar’s anatomy is miraculously disassembled and reconstructed. Wings form and absorb a great deal of nutrients, preparing for the day their veins will engorge with blood, stretch out, and fly. No doubt its view of the world will be quite different in the air than from the ground. From a slithering and destructive insect emerges a magnificent creature, feeding on the sweet nectar of the flowers. The beauty the butterfly adds to nature is intriguing as their wings absorb, reflect, and scatter light. The caterpillar is born to crawl, but it is reborn to fly.
What a picture God has given us from nature. It is interesting that the ancient Greek word for butterfly is psyche, meaning the very life of the soul. The caterpillar’s transformation is a wonderfully symbolic picture of the miracle work of Christ in transforming a lost soul into a vibrant believer. The metamorphosis is a recurring miracle that He masterfully accomplishes in those who entrust their lives to the One who does His transforming work.
Lost souls feed on the toxins of sin. Many are immune to the poison and unable to notice the damage that has taken place in their souls. But when lost souls find salvation in Jesus Christ, they attach themselves firmly to Him. They feed on the nutrients of His Word and emerge as new creations. The blood of the Savior cleanses their dirty souls, which have groveled around in sin, and His life-giving blood infuses them with His light-giving nature. He lifts them up out of the darkened path and points them to a better way—scattering His light into the dark world from which they came. This is what it means to be a Christian. Have you experienced this transforming miracle? To be a Christian, one is born anew. This is why Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3 NLT).
Jesus often used nature to illustrate His truth, and one of His most powerful illustrations involved a vine and its branches. He said, “I am the true vine. . . . You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches” (John 15:1, 3–5).
The analogy is clear. Christians draw holy strength from the vine that makes holy living possible. You may say that it seems a little egotistical to claim to be holy. But read carefully what the Bible says: “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:14–16 NIV).
When Christ transforms us into new creations we have new positions in Him, and He helps us to reflect the holiness of His character. The Bible says, “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you” (1 Corinthians 6:19).
Living a holy life means that you give yourself wholly to Christ. That doesn’t mean you will be perfect, for perfection in Christ will be a Heavenly transaction. But if you do not desire to live according to the ways of God, your longing for salvation is insincere. If the cross of Christ has not changed you, then you are not following Him.
You may ask, “Will the world think I am strange if I commit my life to Him?” Probably. But stranger is the fact that while the world accepts enthusiasm in every realm of life but the spiritual, the world does expect Christians to look different, talk differently, and act differently.
I’M A CHRISTIAN BECAUSE . . .
There is great confusion today in what it means to be a Christian. It is frequently debated in news forums on network television and on the Internet. Many think that going to church makes them a Christian, especially those who belong to a particular church. Others say that they are Christians because they believe in Jesus Christ. Some say they are Christians because they pray and read the Bible. Multitudes believe that going to confession makes them a Christian, while others believe they are Christians because they were born into a Christian home.
Then there are those who believe they are Christians because they give to organizations that feed the poor or go on mission trips to help build houses for the homeless or give medicine to the sick. Some believe they are Christians because they deny themselves sinful pleasures. Many people believe they are Christians because they try to love their neighbors. Many others believe that because they prayed a prayer they are Christians. People say they are Christians because they follow Jesus’ example of loving their enemies, and others claim Christianity because they have faith that Jesus will grant them their desires.
Do you fit into one or more of these categories? Do you really understand what it means to belong to Jesus? How many know beyond a shadow of doubt that they are a Christian and truly follow Him?
You see, the issue is not “What does becoming a Christian mean to you?” but “What did Jesus say about becoming one of His followers?” The Bible says,
He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (1 John 5:12–14)
It should not be surprising if people believe easily in a God who makes no demands, but this is not the God of the Bible. Satan has cleverly misled people by whispering that they can believe in Jesus Christ without being changed, but this is the devil’s lie. The Bible teaches that belief in Him changes the person. “If anyone loves the world,” the Bible says, “the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world” (1 John 2:15–16).
To those who say you can have Christ without giving anything up, Satan is deceiving you. Do you become part of your country’s military force by just saying you are? No, you join up, knowing that it may cost you your life. Before you ever put on a uniform, you must swear an oath, undergo extreme training, and submit yourself to superiors. The wonderful thing about Christianity is that when God’s grace saves, God’s Spirit moves in and makes the changes possible. Love for the world is replaced with love for God and the things that please Him. If this is not a burning desire, then a person has reason to question the authenticity of his or her faith.
Martin Luther said, “A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing, is worth nothing.”48 We can have faith in Jesus Christ because He sacrificed everything—His life’s blood. He suffered the pain of every sin that man could imagine, and He is worthy of all our surrender of self to the Savior. We give it all up . . . and in return we get all of Him. This is what the Bible means to be “clothed with salvation” (2 Chronicles 6:41). This is what it means when it says to be “in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17). What richness there is in Him.
That’s not to say we should expect Jesus to make us rich . . . or beautiful . . . or give us whatever our hearts desire. Becoming a Christian means God will provide for our needs according to His standard, which is higher than ours. We exchange our wills for His will.
The Bible says that we are “enriched in everything by Him” (1 Corinthians 1:5). He changes our countenance to reflect His heart, which is righteous. He begins a work in us that will transform our selfish desires into what He desires so that we glorify Him. He replaces what is most important to us with Himself, and He becomes the most important thing in our lives. Why? Because He is going to guide our every step.
Jesus is bigger than life, so when He comes into yours, there is no room for anything that does not glorify Him. When Jesus came to earth as a baby, there was no room in the inn. And people today still refuse to make room for Him in their hearts.
What about you? Will you make room for Him?
You cannot offer Him a stool in the corner of your heart. When He comes into your life, it is because you have set yourself aside as you stand in His presence. In doing so, He will sit on the throne of your life and teach you His truth, and His Spirit will transform your spirit. He becomes the center of life for the Christian, where the mind, heart, soul, and body are focused on the glory of Christ.
Are you willing? He seeks and saves those who are lost in sin (Luke 19:10). They exchange living in sin for living in Christ. Do you hear His voice? If so, that is the Holy Spirit speaking to you.
You may listen to many voices that tell you what it means to be a Christian, but here is what Jesus said:
He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. (Matthew 10:37–39)
These are hard words, aren’t they? The crowds who followed Jesus thought they were hard as well. But taking up His cross means to identify with the suffering of Jesus and accept his lordship. This is the glory of the cross.
I have often emphasized that becoming a Christian is more than making a decision to live a better life or to attend church more regularly. When we receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, something happens supernaturally. Christ comes to dwell in our hearts and gives us His own supernatural life—eternal life. But it is a mistake to imagine that from then on we are automatically and almost magically victorious over sin and doubt. Not so!
Each day we must have the same trust we experienced when we first came to know Christ. This is made possible by the fact that He becomes the predominant Person in our life and empowers us to think differently, to walk in truth, and to follow an upright path.
The Bible says,
“Now the just [the righteous] shall live by faith;
But if anyone draws back,
My soul has no pleasure in him.”
But we are not of those who draw back . . . but of those who
believe to the saving of the soul. (Hebrews 10:38–39)
We cannot do this in our own power, nor does the power come before we receive Jesus as Savior. It comes when we receive Him as the Lord and Master of our lives, and we cannot live this kind of life apart from Him. This is what it means to be a Christian. And this is the secret of living the Christian life—everyday faith, trusting Him every moment. Each day we renew our faith in God’s assurance that He will give us the faith to follow Him.
COUNT THE COST
I am afraid that many Christians, in their zeal to share their faith in Christ, have made the Gospel message of making disciples for Him too simple. Just to say “believe in Christ” can produce a false assurance of the hope of Heaven. Jesus spoke often about the gift of eternal life. To make it clear, He said, “Count the cost.”
What does that mean? When Jesus traveled the countryside, great crowds sought Him. They were called disciples because they followed Him and longed to hear Him preach. But He knew many of them desired to see His great miracles more than hear His words, so He told them: “Which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost? . . . So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:28, 33).
Jesus emphasized this more personally when He told a crowd that had gathered, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38). He went on to tell them that He would die and be raised to life and that those who follow Him must be willing to identify with Him in death and in life. Just as Jesus did the will of His Father, so too must Christians do His will.
Many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”
When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you? What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (John 6:60–64)
Then the Bible makes a startling statement: “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (v. 66).
These followers loved the excitement of Jesus’ miracles. They were drawn to His compassion and mercy extended to the poor and hurting. They were captivated with His promise of eternal life. But they were repelled by His insistence that they must count the cost and identify with Him in death. His words revealed the truth—they were disciples in name only—and they walked away from the truth because their faith was insincere. This is illustrated in the sad account of a successful young man—often called the rich young ruler—who sought Jesus, wanting eternal life, salvation. In fact, the Bible says that he actually “came running” and “knelt before Him” (Mark 10:17), urgently seeking truth. Every preacher, every pastor, every evangelist, and every true disciple of Christ longs to meet such a seeker and answer the question he poses.
Every time I read this story in Matthew, Mark, or Luke, I am moved with compassion because of how Jesus dealt with him—in love but also in truth. The young man respectfully knelt at the feet of Jesus and said, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16).
And Jesus answered the young man very directly. “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments” (v. 17).
The young man gave an interesting response by asking which commandments he must keep. That answer alone indicates that there were some he knew he hadn’t kept; otherwise, he would have answered, “I have kept all the commandments.” But it is impossible for anyone to answer that way because the Bible tells us that no one is good apart from God.
Jesus listed some of the commandments. The young man assured Jesus that he had kept all of those. Then he asked, “What do I still lack?” (Matthew 19:20).
The Bible says,
Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”
But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Mark 10:21–22)
This is one of the most misunderstood passages in the New Testament. Many think that Jesus was giving a requirement for salvation. But there is no work we can do to earn salvation. Jesus paid our ransom with His blood. Rather, Jesus knew the young man’s heart. Scripture gives us this astonishing picture of the love Christ has, even for those who reject His truth, for we see here that He gazed at the young man and loved him.
The eyes of the Savior looked into this heart and saw that while he desired eternal life, having it wasn’t the burning passion of his life. And while he boasted that he had kept the commandments, he was actually in violation of the very first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). In essence, Jesus was telling him to count the cost. This rich man was knocked off his self-proclaimed pedestal of goodness. He thought he was willing to do whatever necessary to receive this gift, but when he learned the truth about himself, he rejected the truth for self-centeredness.
He had come to the right Source. He asked Jesus to design something “good” for him to do, but he didn’t like the solution. When Jesus exposed the young man’s own lack of truthfulness, it was evident that he didn’t want to be saved from what kept him from eternal life. His riches were too precious to him.
He convinced himself that he was good, but his encounter with Jesus showed him otherwise. His designer world crumbled when he could not obtain salvation because of his refusal to give up his almost-perfect world. The very thing he already had—great wealth—was what kept him from accepting the very thing he requested—the treasure of Heaven, eternal life. The Bible says, “[Jesus] is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20).
This would-be believer stood to his feet and walked away in sorrow. Why? When he counted the cost of his vast fortune, he was not willing to give up the world that suited him. He didn’t want to be saved out of what mastered him if it meant making room for Christ to be the Master of his life.
Giving up something to follow Christ is not earning salvation; it is giving up what keeps you from salvation. When we hold on to something that is dearer to us than receiving the greater gift of salvation in Christ, we lose.
Simon Greenleaf, chief legal figure in the early days of Harvard Law School, said, “The object of man’s worship, whatever it be, will naturally be his standard of perfection. He clothes it with every attribute, belonging, in his view, to a perfect character; and this character he himself endeavors to attain.”49
The story of the rich young ruler cuts to the heart of what it means to belong to the world—or to the world you are trying to personally design. It also cuts to the heart of what it means to be a Christian.
What’s the difference? you may ask. Belonging to the world means that you do whatever it takes to be part of it, to relate to it at every level—to be joined to its philosophy and purpose, believing that it will bring happiness. That is the devil’s lie.
To be a Christian means to surrender yourself to the lordship of Jesus Christ, to give up whatever stands between you and the Lord. This is God’s truth.
You must be willing to be changed. Oh, don’t try to clean up your life before coming to Christ. It cannot be done in your own power. But you must desire to be changed—redesigned. When Christ comes into a life, He gives the power to turn from sinful ways and walk a different path—His path of right living—because He changes our desires. But if we continue to feed our desires and serve our imaginations, there is reason to doubt our Christianity.
An article in the Furman University alumni magazine entitled “Finding Faith,” observed that
The belief system [of many young people today] . . . consists of four parts. First, there is a God, or higher power. . . . Second, God wants people to be good and nice. . . . Third, the central goal in life is to be happy. . . . Finally . . . God [becomes] involved in . . . lives only when needed. . . . Adolescents seem to think of God as a combination of a divine butler and cosmic therapist.50
And why not? They live in a culture where “the individual has become the center of society, and therefore focusing on and developing ourselves as individuals is of utmost importance.”51
Many people who think about becoming Christians ask, “What’s in it for me? How can I benefit?” If the answer is only to keep you from Hell, you haven’t considered the cost of living for Christ on earth.
The right question is not, “What’s in it for me?” but rather, “Is Christ in me?” That very idea is unsettling for many because it means forfeiting control. It means the Lord Jesus Christ will come into your life and reform, conform, and transform you into an obedient follower. If that is not your desire, you have every reason to question whether or not you have been saved.
Most people are not willing to take their hands off their lives to that extent. But this is Christ’s offer. When you acknowledge your sin and ask His forgiveness, He cleanses you from the sin that has entangled you and kept you estranged from Him: immorality, pride, selfishness—it is all sin just the same. The great sacrificial work of the Lord Jesus was accomplished for you. For Him to save you and then leave you to clean up your life would be impossible. So the Lord Jesus moves in and takes up residence in your life. That means things are going to change.
God does not expect you to transform yourself before coming to Him in repentance. He calls you to Himself just as you are. But don’t make the mistake of thinking He is going to leave you in your sinful state, for that would negate His work on your behalf.
THE TRAP
The Bible has a lot to say about belonging. The great prophet Daniel spoke about the search for belonging when he prayed, “O Lord, to us belongs shame . . . because we have sinned against You.” But, he adds, “To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. We have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us” (Daniel 9:8–10).
Christians do not belong to this world, and they cannot create their own world. Christians belong to the world where Christ reigns supreme, where He is at the center of everything. For those who sincerely confess their sins to Jesus Christ and sincerely want to follow Him, they will “be longing” for a different kind of world, absent from the trappings of carnality.
What is carnality? Living a life consumed by satisfying fleshly desires, feeding selfishness while serving the body and starving the soul. Carnality is the state of depravity. Even the dictionary defines it as “the opposite of righteousness.” Those who desire to become Christians must not long to live in such a state of self-service. Belonging to Jesus Christ will cost you your sinful pleasures. You cannot invite holy God into your life and continue in sin.
It is human nature to desire something cheap and easy. Christ’s requirements were so demanding that many people refused to go with Him any further. They would go so far, and then they would turn away. That is why He made such a point of telling the crowds who followed Him, “Count the cost . . . count the cost . . . count the cost.”
Jesus is saying to you as well: “If you follow Me, that means I become Lord and Master of your life. That means you become My learner, My disciple. And you must do My work by obeying My commands. You must be willing to take up My cross and follow Me. I died for you on that cross. I was tortured and executed on that cross to win your freedom. That means you must turn your back on sin. You will have to stand strong in My name even when it means being subject to abuse and ridicule.”
I can remember visiting with a successful businessman who lost his job and position because he refused to cover for top executives who were padding their expense accounts. He was distraught, but he knew covering for dishonesty would tarnish his testimony for the Lord. He put his confidence in the Lord instead of the power of others and eventually led one of the perpetrators to Christ. He counted the cost—a personal cost—and had the joy of winning a soul to Christ.
That won’t be easy. But if you let others see Christ in you, He will strengthen you and give you a boldness you have never known. He doesn’t ask us to live the Christian life alone. I cannot live the Christian life alone. But Christ can live it through me if I will let Him, and He will do the same for you. The reward of His shed blood was the saving of lost souls.
Who said that becoming a Christian was easy? It certainly was not Jesus. Going to the cross for us was no easy task for Him—it cost Him His life’s blood. Being resurrected was no easy happening—it took a miracle. “Easy believism” is an insult to the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made for us. The reward of His shed blood was the saving of lost souls.
Today people are charmed by the love of God without realizing the curse of God’s judgment. Multitudes claim to follow Jesus but curse the changes He demands. The Bible says, “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3–4).
There are two roads of life, the world’s path and God’s path. Imagine a very wide road filled with people, all walking in the same direction. In the center of that road is a narrow path that goes in the opposite direction—it can be a lonely road—but it’s the right road. Jesus plainly pointed out these two roads. One is broad, lacking in faith, convictions, and morals. It is the easy, popular, careless way. It is heavily traveled, but it leads to destruction. The other road is narrow and unpopular. This is why Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:13–14 ESV).
People who follow the broad path are shallow. The path they choose is riddled with compromise. Standing for Christ means that you will walk the narrow way and stand for righteousness, honesty, goodness, morality, and justice. This is not easy in our world today.
Perhaps you are at a crossroads. You find yourself gazing into the faces of those living for popularity and self-pleasure. That road leads to Hell. You are right to look at the narrow path and consider the journey. It can bring persecution because of faith in Christ, but He will walk with you because this is the road that leads to Heaven.
The work that Jesus Christ does is transforming. He does not do a superficial work. When doctors prescribe medication, its purpose is to begin healing the diseased organs and tissue deep inside of us. When Christ grants salvation, He begins a lifetime work deep within the heart. Change begins inwardly and comes to the surface. The Bible says, “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).
Just as the characters on the television program Belonging struggle with their changing environment, those who are truly saved by Jesus Christ cannot stay the same once they have met Him at the foot of the cross, and carrying that cross will bring struggles and testing. But we are told, “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be . . . complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:2–4).
The rich young ruler asked what he was lacking, but when he was given the remedy, he was unwilling to apply it. The Bible says, “Salvation belongs to the LORD” (Psalm 3:8). God has opened the door of faith (Acts 14:27). Those truly seeking salvation will run to Jesus, kneel before Him, examine their hearts in His presence, confess their sin, and renounce whatever is standing between them and the Savior. They will surrender it all to Christ, who will forgive and grant the faith to believe in His power to move into their hearts and transform their lives. HE WILL MAKE THEM FIT FOR ETERNAL LIFE WITH HIM IN THAT WONDERFUL SOMEPLACE CALLED HEAVEN.
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
(GALATIANS 5:24 NIV)