What Kind of Christian Are You? (Part 4)

This is the fourth post exploring what it does and does not mean to follow Christ as a Christian. All too often people who identify as followers of Jesus merely do so intellectually but fail to put their knowledge of Christ and his transformation into practice. If you have not, please read the first three articles so you can follow my train of thought on being a solid follower of Jesus.

I have talked about a numbers of aspects relating to being a solid Christian. The first article we talked about the apostle Paul’s belief and teaching that as true believers we are now called to walk as “Saints” and should not identity ourselves as “Sinners” because our identity is in following God rather than rebelling against Him. Paul said we are to have a clean conscience as our normal behavior and when we do sin we confess and renounce it.

The second article talked about our “Minds” needing to be changed since we have walked away from the kingdom of darkness and embraced the deliverance of Christ.  This transformation is not automatic but takes effort to experience the transformation that Paul talked about in 2 Cor 5:17. Transformation is offered but not guaranteed unless we engage in kingdom thinking.

Lastly, part three talked about how “Faith and Work” mesh together to secure our lives in God and referenced what James wrote.

James 2:14 & 17

[14] What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?

[17] Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

In this fourth post I would like to talk about something I read regarding Richard Dawkins, a famous atheist, who was quoted as saying that getting rid of God would make the world less moral. It was a powerful statement and, in my mind, is deserving of an answer by those of us who claim to believe in God.

A question….if an atheist claims morals are linked to our belief in God  then we must ask how our beliefs change our lifestyle and, in particular, how does our belief change how we approach non-believers?

Christians throughout the ages have engaged in sharing their faith because they believed they had the truth about what this world, and the life to come, is all about.  The unfortunate reality is that somehow people who call themselves “Christians” for the most part feel no urgency to reach others with this truth.  This begs the question……do we really believe what we say we believe?

How can we believe that humanity will be judged for the life they live and, if they refuse the claims of Christ to repent and be saved, that they will spend an eternity separated from God and anyone they ever loved?

Jesus uses a parable about a shepherd leaving the 99 to find one lost sheep in Luke’s gospel.

Luke 15:4                                                                                                         

What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?

Jesus was being criticized for eating with common people who the Pharisees considered “Sinners” and should to be avoided.  Jesus, on the other hand, believed that God loved the whole world, which included sinners. He went so far as to say he was called to serve them.

Mark 2:17                                                                                                            

And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus sent out his first twelve disciples to minister just as He had shown them in order to help people see their need of God’s transforming power and heart so that could respond and be saved. The same calling is for every believer today!

Matthew 28:19-20                                                                                               

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord is called to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. We are called with the same heart that Jesus had in reaching out to a lost and dying world. We may have different gifting in working in the church but all of us are called to have the same heart that Jesus did for the lost. Some of us may use our voice, others may use acts of kindness while others may use music or many other things.  What is clear is that we are all called, in our own way, to communicate the gospel even if we don’t believe we have the gift of evangelism.

Paul made an astounding statement about us all striving to behave like Jesus in 1 Corinthians 11 when he cut away any excuse of believers not living like Jesus.

1 Corinthians 11:1                                                                                              

Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

So, let’s close this statement. It is impossible to live like Jesus, with the heart he has for the world, without being constantly filled with the Holy Spirit. Paul knew this and basically said he was challenging us to do was “Impossible” without the Holy Spirit. He said so in Ephesians 5 when he said to be careful about how we walk and not to be foolish.

Ephesians 5:15-18                                                                          

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, ¹⁶making the most of your time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,

If we are to live truly biblical lives as Christians we will see the need to share our faith with the people we meet. We will cultivate a love for the lost and the fellow believer so that the world does not steal our love for God and cause us to grow cold towards God.

Questions:

1) Are you living responsibly with the love of God? If not, why not?

2) Are you relying on your strength to share your faith or are you being filled with the Holy Spirit regularly? If not, why not?

May the Holy Spirit of God fill all of us and provide divine appointments so we can share our love for God to a lost and dying world!

Pastor Dale