Picture the scene. It's a sunny day somewhere in the Blue Ridge Mountains (feel free to substitute the name of your nearest park or church parking lot) and there is a party goin on. It's the annual church pig roast complete with bingo tables, the big music stage, and free elephant rides for the kids. Over there by the rotating roast is a group of guys making sure that the pork is done just right. Let's sneak over and listen in on their conversation.
Bill: "Oowee Ed, we're getting close. It's smell'in real good. Pretty good turn out this year."
Ed: "This is my favorite day in the church! Good people, good food, and good fun! Doesn't get much better than this!"
Pete: "Amen Brother! Hey, isn't that the new guy who moved in next to Sandy and Harv. I heard he might be the new youth leader but word has it that he's a bit over the top. 'Jesus this and Jesus that', always, talking about God. It's like he's obsessed with it."
Ed: "I know what you mean. It's like some of these "Born Again" types have a one track mind. They're always trying to get people to "Come to Jesus". Who are we to tell others that Jesus is the 'only way'. I say 'Live and let live!' This is America! Everything in moderation, know what I mean."
Bill: "That's right. I have a life you know. I do plenty for the church and I don't want to push my beliefs down anyone else's throat. Besides, I learned a long time ago that there are two things you never talk about: religion and politics! I do church at church. These religious fanatics make me uncomfortable."
Fred: "Radicals. That's really what they are. Jesus freaks. It's a shame the last youth guy left. The kids loved him. They sure had lots of fun and did a bunch of community service but he didn't get them all riled up to board the Jesus train. Last thing we need is for our kids to be going to school want'n to evangelize their friends. They'd be the laugh'n stock of the school."
Ed: "Don't worry fellas, I heard the Pastor will keep him on a short leash. We don't want to look intolerant of other religions so if he starts getting to be a Jesus freak he won't last long here."
Bill: "Hey Ed, wanna slice me off a little sampler. I think she's done just right!"
Someone once said to me, "You must be one of those 'born again' Christians." A strange though came to my head, "Is there any other kind?" Doesn't the word "Christian" imply that the one to whom the label is given has been born again of the Spirit of God? Apparently, for many in the church it is not the case. By the way, I want to differentiate the 'church' from the 'Church'. I use the little 'c' to differentiate the overall number of church attenders and professing "Christians" from those who have been truly born again of the Spirit of God through saving faith in Jesus Christ as their only means of salvation (ie. the Church or the Body of Christ). Surveys show that more than 70% of Americans identify themselves as "Christian". Only God knows but I think if it were so, the nation would be a very different place.
Let me cut to the chase. Christianity is RADICAL! Now, I don't mean radical in the fanatical sense. I don't mean hostile, mean, protesting, or self righteous. But it is not and never has been a passive, lazy, apathetic, pluralistic, or a part time hobby. I want us to take a good look at what the Church (capital 'C') looked like in the first century and then take an even closer look at our own lives to see where we are. Are we radical, on fire, Jesus freak, born again Christians? Or are we church goers who might do a few church activities and church functions but then Jesus fades when we get away from the church building and into our lives?
How passionate where the followers of Jesus Christ in the early Church? How dedicated? How caring? Let's look at what the Word says in the Book of Acts Chapter 2.
"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
What did the followers of Jesus endure as they boldly and unashamedly preached the Gospel?
Here is a list of Paul's struggles as he lived a radical life for Christ:
"Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers." 2 Corinthians 11:22-26.
The writer of Hebrew shares these words, "Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented-- of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth."
It is believed that 11 of the 12 Apostles were killed for preaching the Gospel and claiming Jesus was the one and only Son of God. Peter was reportedly crucified, hanging upside down because he didn't feel worthy to be killed in the same way as his Lord.
"Radical Christianity" Friends, there is no other kind. We can't water it down, tame it, temper it, fit it into the pluralistic world view of the west, or make it just a weekend hobby. If you're not feeling a bit of the heat, you might not be in the kitchen. Just for the record, I know that there are many of you and many churches that are on fire, radical, and doing radical things in the name of Jesus. And, to you I say, "Hallelujah!" "Keep the fire burning!" I pray that we would all have a new sense of awe and a revived passion for Christ. If you have not yet come to know Jesus Christ and are feeling the desire to keep listening, please stick with us and feel free to ask questions any time! You are why we are here!
A couple housekeeping notes. If you haven't listened to our audio podcasts you can find them at The I-61 Project.org or subscribe in iTunes. Also please check out Andrew Gommeson's Blog. His testimony is podcast episode #3. Thanks to all who have been following and commenting. You are a blessing to us!!
Peace,
David
I am listening to the podcasts as I read this post.
ReplyDeleteThank you for continuing to do this blog and praying for those of us who continue to struggle. You cannot begin to imagine how much it means to know that there is someone out there praying for me as I struggle through this "relationship with God". I would love to have it all wrapped up in a neat package and handed to me, unfortunately that is not happening. I can hardly wait for the day when I know the Jesus you know & talk about.
A good challenge and reminder about why we profess our Christianity!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I can imaging how much it means because I have found people who are praying me through my struggles as well. I wish I had it all together but I don't. It is a walk, a journey. Some days I feel Jesus like his arms are wrapped around me and other days I feel alone. But this I now know with all of my being, I am NEVER alone!. Jesus says, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." You will know him! He already knows you. Keep walking my friend. I'm glad your walking with us!!! Peace.
ReplyDeleteAmen, brother.
ReplyDeleteThought-provoking post. Christianity is radical -coming from the most radical of all - CHRIST!
So much of what His time on earth was seen as radical by the Jews.
Here's a great example of Christ's radical teaching - John 6:27-66
Six times Jesus said, "I am the bread of life."
It was such a radical teaching, that the Jews and many of his disciples left. Jesus never ran after them to explain He was not talking literally - RADICAL!
God is literal throughout the Bible. When He was speaking symbolically or figuratively, He always explained when asked.
St. Paul goes on to say in his first letter to the Corinthians, Ch. 10:16
"Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?"
and again in Ch. 11:27
"Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord."
I like how you commented on the early church.
"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."
Amen to that! In the early church, they met for Eucharist - the Real Presence of Christ body, blood, soul and divinity - since the passover was complete with Christ's death on the cross.
Read this early account from Justin, martyr -
"This food we call the Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake except one who believes that the things we teach are true, and has received the washing for forgiveness of sins and for rebirth, and who lives as Christ handed down to us. For we do not receive these things as common bread or common drink; but as Jesus Christ our Savior being incarnate by God's Word took flesh and blood for our salvation, so also we have been taught that the food consecrated by the Word of prayer which comes from him, from which our flesh and blood are nourished by transformation, is the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus."
Pretty radical stuff coming from Christ and those who were the first disciples in the early church! It's a mystery we will never fully be able to wrap our foolish minds around. That's precisely where faith comes in.
Praise Jesus!
Keep on sharing, Dave.
How does one become a Christian? Can I just say I am and it happens? Do I need to do anything special? Do I need to wait for some big moment when God comes to me?
ReplyDeleteFirst a quick comment regarding Jesus as the "Bread of Life"..
ReplyDeleteJesus used many symbolic descriptions and he did not always explain what he meant. For example, Jesus said in John 2 "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." His was not talking about the actual temple in Jerusalem but was talking about himself. His disciples didn't recall this until after his resurrection and Jesus himself offered no explanation. Jesus was called the Lamb of God, The Good Shepherd, The Gate, The Word, and The Bread of Life. He was not a lamb, a shepherd, a gate, nor was he bread. Regardless, Green Mom for Jesus is right in that Jesus was RADICAL and he calls us to a radical faith and a radical kind of love. We as believers will take communion in remembrance of him as he commanded so I will leave it to my readers (for now) to examine the evidence as to whether the bread becomes the actual body of Christ. The biblical evidence does not support that. Lastly, I want the readers to know that I have many people asking great questions so I will not post and answer every question in this forum especially if it gets into a debate between Catholic and Protestant theology. I will be glad to do that (as I have time) directly with the questioner. Thanks Green Mom for your passion!
Wow Anonymous! Great questions.
ReplyDeleteI hope I can shed a little light on them and lead you to spend some time with God because ultimately the answer that will satisfy your heart will come directly from him. My answer will be in two comments because of size limits.. sorry.
1) How does one become a Christian?
The word “Christian” denotes a follower of Jesus Christ. So then what does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? Is it one who tries to do the good things Jesus said and did? Or, is it something more? The Bible makes it clear that becoming a Christian is an actual transaction and transformation that happens to a person spiritually. Jesus told a religious leader named Nicodemous that in order for a person to see the kingdom of God he had to be “born again”. Jesus helped him to see that we are born the first time physically by the union of our mother and father but “born again” by the Spirit of God. So, how does that happen? I want to point you to two scripture texts:
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
What did Jesus mean by “believes in him”? He didn’t mean an intellectual assent (ie. I believe that 2+2=4), purely head knowledge?No, the belief he was talking about was more of a believing on. The kind of belief a skydiver has about his parachute. He knows without it he is toast! Those with a saving kind of belief are those who know that without Jesus and what he did on the cross to pay the penalty for their sins they also would be toast.
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Paul tells us that becoming a Christian (being saved, being born again) is a gift of God by way of the kind of belief I mentioned above. We can never earn our way to God by our good deeds. That leads to the answer to your second and third questions:
2) Can I just say I am and it happens?
No. We often say things with our lips but our hearts tell a different story. Although the Bible does mention confessing our belief with our lips it goes further. Romans 10:9 says, “That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Faith is ultimately a matter of the heart. Jesus said that many would come to him on that day (the day of judgment) and say ‘Lord, Lord’ and he would say to them, ‘Away from me, I never knew you.’ God knows the heart regardless of what flows from our lips. You can become a member of a church, buy a Bible, slap a fish sticker to your bumper, and tune your radio to the local Christian radio station but none of those things will make you a Christian.
The next 2 questions will be answered in the next comment.
Here are my answers to your last two questions:
ReplyDelete3) Do I need to do anything special?
Although you can’t become a Christian by your deeds, it is clear from scripture that those who were saved (and those who were healed by Jesus) had a humble and repentant heart. I think we get "humble" but what does it mean to be repentant? It means to understand one’s brokenness and to have a desire to turn in the other direction. Look up the story of the two men crucified with Christ (one prideful and the other humble and repentant) and the story of the woman who anointed Jesus feet with perfume from her alabaster jar. I think you will get your part. The bible does tell us that after we have come by faith we should be baptized. It is a symbol of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. We aren't save by baptism but it is a public profession of that faith.
4) Do I need to wait for some big moment when God comes to me?
Jesus said in Revelation 3:20, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” It is a big moment, actually the biggest moment of your entire life, the moment you come to Jesus and confess him as Lord. When you finally see the predicament you’re in and the sin in your life as it really is. When you finally see the emptiness of life without God. When you finally understand that God opened the door to heaven for you and me by sending his Son to take our sins upon the cross, die in our place, be buried, and on the third day rise from the dead, once and for all conquering death! The moment you get that and ask tell him you’re sorry, tell him you believe, he will make you a Christian. The real deal! You will be born again and the Holy Spirit will live in you. Where you go from there is a life long journey and one that I hope we can help you travel!
I hope that helps! Long answer but powerful questions deserve a powerful answer.
Peace.