Is your faith
real?
C'mon. Is it?
How do you know? What makes it real? What makes you sure that the faith you have saves you? Can you tell me right now why? How do you know? When did you realize it? C'mon, tell me! Just say it!
Do you know your faith is real? How? Why?
Here's a better question: Have you ever even
thought about it?
You know what? I'd be willing to bet that for a good part of you, the answer's no.
Don't lie to yourself, now. If the answer's yes, then you know, and you probably already see where I'm going with this. But for a lot of you out there, especially if you're my age, don't fool yourself. You haven't even
thought about how you can live out your faith, if it's even there. Or maybe you have, but you've since dismissed it, reasoning that you'll have time later to think about it and make sure things are real. I'll get things under control later. It'll just come to me. I'm sure I've got faith. I really don't know what else I can do but just keep doing whatever it is I'm doing and just wait. It'll come. I know it will.
If this is your reality regarding, then you know what I mean when I say you feel like your faith is stagnant.
But doesn't "stagnant faith" imply that you can have
non-stagnant faith if you want?! Doesn't it mean that there's something more you could be doing with your faith?! Yes! Yes, it means that your faith isn't at its full potential!
It means you're not living it out all the way.
To have a real, ongoing, give-and-take, saving relationship with Christ, there
must be a point in your life when your faith is
real, and it's
here, and it's
now, and it's
yours, and
you're doing it.
You've
gotta' own it. This realization, the
owning of your faith,
making it yours,
must happen. It
has to! This is the
total idea of the phrase, "God doesn't have grandchildren." If you grew up in the Church, you've heard, "It can't be your parents' faith! You've gotta'
make it yours!" This always made me so
angry because I had to say, "Yeah, yes, of course. Oh of course it must be my own faith. Oh yes, it's mine, definitely not my parents'." but I never knew what it
meant! They never
explained it to me!
And you know what guys, I think that this, to this day, is most Christians are still missing. And as far as that goes, let me present my observation/theory:
The average Christian life never moves past mediocre.
It's TRUE! MOST people never move past mediocrity! And it's what everyone who has the real deal hates to see! I know because for all five years of my Christian life, MY faith has been mediocre! And if you don't know what in the world I'm talking about, then your life has probably never moved past that very first infant-like stage! And that's just not gonna' cut it!
And thus comes my question, "Why?!" Why is it that for five years I never understood what a relationship with Christ was supposed to be like, and then all of a sudden I just got it? Why could I suddenly understand the imperative need to appropriate my faith, and make it mine and no one else's? Where was that feeling for five years? And why does it seem that none but a few other people my age seem to have had the same realization?
To answer my first question, it's because I wanted to. Something in me desperately wanted to taste "the real deal", and I didn't have any idea how to do it. I have no idea when this desire hit me, but somewhere along the line, I had to have started taking seriously the idea that the Christian life was just that: A life. A new life. And other than an understanding that I was now supposed to be "saved" and living a different kind of life, I wasn't living any differently. Other than knowing I was supposed to lead a different kind of life, I wasn't living any differently.
HEllo!
Do we not hear all of our lives that a life of faith looks different than a life without it? And yet, looking at yourself honestly, without being ashamed, ask yourself, is there anything different about your life other than the fact that you go to a Church on Sundays that distinguishes you from the non-Christians around you?
Maybe you don't swear, but do you still disrespect your parents? Guys, maybe you're not having sex, but are you still looking at porn? Girls, maybe you're not anorexic, but do you lack self-esteem? Maybe you're not a popular jerk, but are you puffed up with pride?
Think about it. Tell me if you don't look at non-Christians and feel like in some small way you're better than them. I know I sure do. That's pride. That's self-centeredness. That's putting other people down for the sole purpose of feeling better about yourself.
The Bible makes it clear that sin is sin! It doesn't make a difference if you kill someone or if you only wish they were dead. It's all the same. You're just as guilty.
So with that in mind,
what makes you different?!
You see? Some of us truthfully aren't living any differently than a "good person" might that is outside of Christ. And Christ makes it clear that when we have fellowship with Him, when we have a legitimate relationship with Jesus, people will be able to
tell that we are His disciples.
But if nobody can tell the difference between you and a good person, what good is that?
Well, in all honesty, I can't say what'll fly and what won't when it comes down to it. After all, if a person accepts Christ into their hearts at one time, and then continues to lead a "fairly good" life by human standards, showing no real change, but "Christian" nonetheless, who am I to say their decision to follow Christ was worthless? I cannot judge the heart. I'm only human. Ultimately, God is the only one who knows the heart.
However, the Bible does have a few things to say about our faith (fyi, I'm using the words "faith" and "relationship with Christ" almost interchangeably in this post, even though that's probably not correct. Oh well!), and I want to lay two out right here. In James 2:17 and in John 13:35 we read that
- Faith without works is dead, and
- People will know we are God's disciples by our love.
In other words, when we're following Christ, it should be glaringly obvious to others! True faith in Christ produces obvious external signs! It's called "fruit"! You can't be in Christ and have it make no difference in your life. It's just not possible!
And so I say again, if your life bears no signs that you have chosen to follow a path that's different from the rest of the world, then you aren't moving down that path!
C'mon guys, how many ways can I say it? It's what we were told at least once a month in Sunday school. It's what we heard all the time in Junior High church service.
You've gotta' make your faith your own.
Own it! Dominate it!
You'll never be able to tell me that your faith is real until it actually belongs to you and you are doing it every single day.
I seriously have no idea how else to put it.
Your. Faith. Must. Be. Real.
You. Must. Live. Your faith.
You must make a point to live it every. single. day. Or else it's just gonna' get away form you.
Dudes, there's no other way to put it
. If you accepted Christ a long time ago, but you're just not feeling it, you don't really know what you're doing, you write on important lists that Jesus is your main priority, but in the end your "faith" has always just kind of "been there", then you
JUST AREN'T LIVING IT!
You've gotta' live it. You've gotta' want it. You've gotta' truly, deeply desire the Truth. You've gotta'
thirst for it. You've gotta
' crave wisdom. You've gotta' want
more, and more, and more, and
never stop wanting it.
And so now I want to challenge you. If you feel like your Christian life has become stagnant, like it's just sitting there, then I want to motivate you. I want to motivate you to try and
want it. I want you to want the real deal. I want for you to want the knowledge. To want to know your Bible. To want to learn so much more about Jesus than you could have ever imagined! To want to learn somehting about Him every day. To want to get better and better,
never stopping. Never being satisfied with "good enough".
To
want it.
For reals. To strive for it, to try to establish regular habits, and then with time, to see that
it's working! To grow. To grow and grow and grow and never stop.
Do you get me?
God
always wants us. He
always does. But He's a gentleman. If we want to move into a deeper relationship with Him,
He wants it too! But if we're comfortable right where we are, and we never consciously decide to move on past the introductory phase and into the
real deal, into
what Christ wanted for us all along, then He doesn't force it. I'm not saying it won't cut it. God knows. But if you don't ever decide to move on into the
best relationship you will ever have in your entire life, then you're cheating yourself.
So,
"...let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith." (Hebrews 12:1-2)
Let us throw off all our mediocrity. Let us throw off our fear of what will happen if we actually decide to follow Jesus. Let us throw off every desire to simply stay right where we are, on the fence, gazing out at the green pastures and cool waters that can be ours if we'd only decide to
start putting our faith into practice.
Let us read the Word. Let us pray constantly. If you're wondering
how in the world it is that you even
start living out a life of faith in Jesus Christ, do these two things.
Read your Bible, and I promise, even if you don't want to at first, it will
change your life. Just
do it! Give it a try for once! And then do it the next day, and the next, and the next. And pray! At first you may feel really silly or uncomfortable just sitting down and praying, but do it! Thank God for everything in your life, good and bad! Give him praise!
Ask Him to increase your faith, to help you grow it! To help you desire it more! He won't fail you. He already knows what it is you want and need. Just tell Him!
Read your Bible! Pray! Just
do it, and I promise it will work. You won't regret it once you decide to start living for Jesus for real.
Do it. You won't regret it.