You Can’t Follow Jesus In Neutral

I witness too many Christians trying to live a life of faith in a lopsided way because they just learn more and more information about God without actually changing how they live. When I became a true believer, I knew I had to change my thinking as well as the life I was living.  Now, more than 50 years later, I am still in the same place…..learning and engaging in the changes that Christ compels me to make.

As a former master mechanic, I was taught about rebuilding transmissions, both automatic & manual. In fact, I started tearing apart four speed manual transmissions before I knew what I was doing because the used junker car I bought had problems. What I discovered was the previous owner must have tried to force the transmission into different gears wrongly because the gears were all torn up, not to mention that it had very little gear oil in it. As Christians, I think there are similarities.  As new believers, we try to change without being ready or instructed how to make changes.  Consequently, we stay in one gear all our lives, which is something we were never designed to do. We were designed to travel in all the gears available, not just one.  Consider the analogy of staying in first gear as a Christian. You’re moving forward, but everyone is passing you by, even the old people! You would be frustrated to say the least and might stop driving. Many a believer has been in such a place and abandoned their faith by thinking it doesn’t work, at least for them.

The title I am using in this article actually came from a book I am reading by Erwin MacManus called “Chasing Daylight”. It is an awesome book about pursuing your life of faith and developing to be the Christian that God intended. His point in the chapter I pulled this from stood out to me because of my mechanical background. How many Christian believers have resigned themselves to just learning about God and the world he has made for us but never really traveling that life of faith? The book of James, which was probably the first book written in the Bible, states the following:

James 2:18-20

But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?

When James uses the topic of “Works” he is talking about “Action” and how it affects our belief. You see, when we just capitalize on learning without applying what we think it’s not faith at all. At best it’s just philosophy and at worst it is deception because God designed the human soul to function with both. To learn about God and his ways without engaging in action only breeds guilt and condemnation in our soul. Many Christians claim the verse which states there is no condemnation when we are Christians yet what it really says is for those who are in Christ. meaning abiding in that relationship. It requires real faith and action to be in Christ, not just religious thoughts or theology.

Before becoming true believers we had to learn about our rebellious ways in order to repent of them. That repentance should produce all kinds of pain in us, which should motivate us to surrender completely to Christ. Unfortunately, many never saw their rebellion, only the need to want God in their lives and thus they are what James calls, “Being Double Minded” by thinking one way and living another. But, when we act on the knowledge of our rebellion and embrace the love of Christ and His redemption, guilt disappears we start learning to live a life of faith.

As an early believer, Christianity showed my soul the path to life and resonated in me that this was truth. However, I also was in conflict because of the selfishness in my soul.  I refused to yield to the authority of Christ. The more I learned, the more I wanted to learn. The enemy of my soul used this hunger to confuse me and keep me bound to a life of darkness by telling me I needed more information. Now, you might ask why Satan would encourage me to read and study the truth of God’s word?  It is because Satan knew I was attracted to it so he leveraged it against me to keep me bound. One of the greatest tools Satan uses with us is to tell us to only learn and not apply. Why? In order to keep us bound in guilt and away from the Father’s love for transformation.

Now consider the Magi traveling from Babylon to Bethlehem.  These men didn’t have all the truth they desired, but they used what they knew to seek out the messiah. History says they were philosophers, scientists and astronomers. Some translations of the Bible say they were astrologers, which in our use of the word today is incorrect. These men were not waiting to discover, they were acting on the knowledge they had and that involved sacrifice.

Psalms 119:29-32

Remove the false way from me & graciously grant me Your law.

I have chosen the faithful way; I have placed Your ordinances before me. I cling to Your testimonies; O LORD, do not put me to shame!

I shall run the way of Your commandments, for You will enlarge my heart.

They were smart enough to realize it is not enough to get rid of false beliefs, they had to replace those false ways with the standard of God’s word if they hoped to change. They would then have the guidance of God to go deeper in their pursuit of Him.

The other day I was having a breakfast with a police officer and sharing my testimony of how I came to Christ from a life of rebellion. As I finished sharing, a woman approached our table with tears in her eyes and confessed she was listening to our conversation and said she needed a miracle in her life and asked if I would pray for her. She could have just received the information of my testimony and walked away, but instead she acted on it to the degree that she made herself vulnerable to a total stranger. She took information God gave her about miracles and acted on it and that’s what we all need to do.

Can you imagine the Magi studying the scripture in a foreign land and then studying the stars to discover the possible birth of a messiah? Consider that they had little to go on and yet they traveled many, many miles to see if what they learned and hoped for was real. They gambled their wealth and their reputations on a possibility and God blessed them with seeing Jesus in person. God shows in his word how delighted he is when we act as they did.

Matthew 2:1-2

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

The Holy Spirit is today giving humanity enough information to act on. That information doesn’t become faith until it is acted on, but when we do He blesses us in ways we least expect. The police officer and myself were so blessed that God used us to touch this woman in need. Maybe the Holy Spirit is giving you information so that you will act on the Father’s behalf today? Act on that information and see yourself grow in your faith and touch the world that desperately needs the message of Christ this Christmas.

Questions :

1) Are you just learning and not applying?  You can change that with one prayer asking God to give you the strength to apply.

2) Are your aware that broken people need what you know?  Only by offering your availability to God will that change.

Pastor Dale