I have had some down time the last couple of weeks. Recovering from something private, something that I am not quite ready to share publicly yet. Something that has given me much time to think, to pray, to ponder. I have had more time than usual these past couple of weeks to read my Bible, seek the face of the One who loves me more than any other, and listen to some amazing speakers in lieu of going to "church." All in all, it has been a good time of reflection. Can that happen in the midst of pain? I will testify that it can.
According to Francis Chan, these are the scariest verses in the New Testament:
Matthew 25
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
I will add to them these verses found written in the book authored by our Savior's own brother.
James 2
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! (emphasis mine)
Neither of these passages refers to "earning" our salvation. God forbid we ever fall for the heresy that tells us that there is anything "good enough" inside of us. "All of our good deeds are as filthy rags before the throne." Believing that salvation can be earned will always leave you frustrated, overwhelmed, and despairing. Salvation is a gift, free to all who will receive it - never earned and never lost. It is wholly dependent on the One who bore our sins in His body - we were dead in our transgressions and He redeemed us. He loved us first.
The end.
It is finished.
However, anyone who tells you that "all" you have to do is walk an aisle, repeat a prayer, and go home to be a "christian" is also deceived. Re-read verse 19 of James 2, "Even the demons believe - and shudder!" Friends, the devil believes in God, he believes in Jesus, and He knows that the Bible is true. He is NOT saved!!!
Jesus changes you. Always. If your salvation experience didn't leave you changed, you must ask yourself if you really had one. Sanctification is a process, never complete until we meet Him face to face. We will slip, we will stumble, we will never on this earth be perfect. What we must be though, is in forward motion. Head knowledge is not the same as salvation. An emotional experience is not the same as salvation. I know this from experience. I lived my entire childhood, teenage life and the early years of my 20s with head knowledge and emotional experiences. But, I remember as clearly as if it happened yesterday the moment I was truly changed. There was no fanfare, it wasn't at a revival, it wasn't at an alter call - it was in the quiet places of my heart and it was more real than anything I have ever experienced. Since then I have make some major mistakes in my life, my mothering, my marriage. I have still nagged my husband and yelled at my children. I am far, far from the person I want to be. One thing I have not done though is look back at my "old self." It is gone, washed clean, and being renewed day by day.
The above verses are not meant to replace your salvation experience. They come after that. They tell us how our life is meant to be lived in representation of Jesus. In Acts chapter 2 we read about the early church and we see that the way they lived was a clear representation of Christ. It was "proof" that He lived, died, and was resurrected. I heard Francis Chan speak recently and he posed the question, "If someone who only had the Bible and had never attended church walked into an American church building today, would what they saw there be proof that Jesus lived, died, and was resurrected?" That question would make me laugh if it were not so serious. Most often today the "church" is pointed to as "proof" that the Bible is false. The way we shoot our own wounded, turn our backs on the needy among us, and back bite with each other is enough to make those of us who love Jesus with all of our hearts not want to go to church - much less those who don't know Him at all.
"No other commandment greater than these." Why is that? Probably because if you are doing this, there is no room in your life to break the other ones. If you truly love your neighbor as yourself you won't be tempted to kill him, or lie to him, or covet his wife. If you truly love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength you will do what He commands - which we can see from the above verses is pretty simple - feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and those in prison.
Could it be this simple? Why have we made it so hard?
Why have we made it about multi-million dollar buildings, entertainment, lights and concerts? Why have we made it about "canned Bible studies" where other people tell us what God meant by what He said. I think He meant exactly what He said and we really don't need any interpretation.
"Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and those in prison. Care for the widow and the orphan."
What about their souls, you ask? Shouldn't we tell them about Christ? Of course we should, but let's be honest, if you are a mom who is forced to feed rocks to your baby in order to fill the void and stop the crying and someone fat from their last meal comes along to "preach" at you about how much Jesus loves you and your need to pray the "sinner's prayer" so you don't go to hell - what is your response going to be? These people already live in their own hell and probably can't fathom anything much worse than watching their precious babies starve to death right in front of their eyes. I think that for too long we have separated "them" from "us" and somehow we have come to believe that these people in desperate need are less than human. We don't realize that they have dreams, hopes, and goals for their children - just like we do. We don't realize that they love their babies with the same deep mother's passion as we love ours. Somehow we have come to believe that their babies are not as important as ours. This is a dangerous disconnect, because it makes us apathetic. It makes us not care as much, because let's face it - caring so much sucks. It hurts, it takes the fun out of everything, and it makes you more than a little bit depressed. Going out to eat just doesn't taste as good anymore.
Personally, I am so sick of church building projects, children and youth programs aimed at entertaining our young people too death in the name of Jesus, and justifications about not being able to "save the world." The early church didn't make excuses. Scripture tells us that they "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved."
For far too long we have pretended like God expects more of us than He really does. His expectations are far more simple than we would like to believe. Saving people is NOT our job, check out verse 47 "And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved" - living lives that glorify Him is truly what He expects and He clearly tells us how to do that. Let's stop making it so hard and just start glorifying Him with our lives. Loving Him, loving our families, and loving those made in His image all over the world. Truly, if we all did that no one would be able to resist His call.
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