I mean, look around your city, read some national newspapers, and watch local news channels; and you will realize it certainly doesn’t look like 77% of us are Christians. It is said that the ocean is about 3.5% salt; and yet it keeps the water from rotting, preserving life. Jesus said that we are the salt of the world. If 77% of our nation really are Christians, our nation would be different and transformed; don’t you think? Think about cooking up any kind of dish with 77% base salt, it would make a difference don’t you think? I mean, if 77% of our nations citizens were Christians, not only our city, our state, our nation but our whole world would look more like the Kingdom of God!
The issue is how little followers of Jesus appropriate Jesus’ lifestyle. We save up all our worship for one day, Sunday. More specifically, 2 hours on Sunday morning, in a church service. Sometimes we spend the worship service checking Facebook, Gmail, fantasy football...etc., while worship service is taking place. Haven’t you been in a church service where people have whispered while the sermon is given [supposedly the message from God to us], messed around with the person next to them, and completely behaved as if God does not exist? I don’t know about you but I have. I remember being a Sunday morning Christian. Friday night Christian. "My mom forced me to church" Christian. But by in large, outside of the few times I was at church, no one would recognize me as a follower of Jesus. Is this what we see happening in the United States: Sunday morning Christianity? Do we see people who are disciples of Jesus for two hours a week; and then for the rest of the week, they follow their dreams, desires, egos, pride and purpose?
Now, I want to be completely clear! I am in no position to judge whether someone is a disciple of Jesus or not! That’s not my job nor do I have the ability to discern that. But considering how generous and loving God is, I get the feeling a lot of folks whom we might not consider devoted followers of Jesus, may very well be. After all, we are saved by grace, not by works! Thank God! Most of the time, our work isn’t much!
Think about Samson, a famous Hebrew judge in the Old Testament. He was probably an ordinary guy; not all ‘steroided’ out like we imagine, but a normal guy with maybe some chest hair, who was obsessed with shikas and prostitutes. I guess if he were to live today, he would be addicted to internet porn. That was Samson’s Achilles' heel. In fact, in the Bible, he was a jerk. Killing people to pay off debt, lying to his girlfriend for fun, and setting up fire for revenge... but to our surprise God empowered him to get out of all the crisis created on his own. Ummm... say what? It just shows that God is much more forgiving than we are, and is willing to work with what he has.
Is Samson the image of American Christians -- self-centered, misdirected, confused, broken, and too busy pursuing the world and condemning others to love our neighbors?
We don’t live like Jesus - supposedly our Master and the One we are called to imitate. That of course includes me! I spend way too much time preoccupied with my finances, my wants, and my dreams over enjoying God the Provider of all. And if you were honest, so are you. Compared with Jesus, our works are horrible... again thank you Jesus for grace - “Grace, grace, Lord I thank you for grace!”[old song that popped into my mind while writing this].
That’s why Disciple Church exists. It’s for those of us who are tired of thinking of God as a distant and apathetic One. It’s for those of us who hunger to recapture the first love that flowed through our veins when we first declared, “Jesus come into my life. I will live for you!” It’s for those of us who really want an intimate relationship with Jesus; and by relationship I mean actually walking and talking with him, not just believing a bunch of doctrines, as important as they are. That’s why I am so proud of those of you who serve at our community services that are offered, packing food for the hungry and ‘have not’ because that’s an expression of Jesus’ love.
Disciple Church is for those whose circumstances are unbearable and don’t know what to do, hurting inside from the screwballs life throws at us at times because we want to be Jesus’ hands to comfort and embrace them. Disciple Church is for those who want an actual relationship with Jesus, the one that actually transforms lives inside out. For those pursuing God at all cost for the glory of Jesus - trusting that Jesus will lead us to abundant and eternal life as he promised in the midst of tragedies and difficulties that exist in life. We want to be trained disciples of Jesus, going far beyond what we think we are capable, giving up time and energy and resources, because of our insatiable hunger and thirst for the beauty of Jesus who is all in all to be displayed in our midst! You want that too right? You want that for your kids as well, right? I want our belief to lead to action - becoming a daily follower of Jesus who interacts with the world and serves the world for which Jesus came to save. I want us to be so empowered by the Holy Spirit, we can actually live out the calling as the first century Christians did in deeds and in power! Amen? I am so proud and thankful to those who make coffee, bake macaroons, clean the church, set up the stage, lead growth group and pray in the wee hours for our church! I am thankful to those who provide financial means to do all this; more often than not, timing has been divine! And I am proud of those who consistently, even though your schedule is packed and busier than most, come to be trained so you can serve as a passionate, no compromise followers of Jesus! Thank you.
Friends, it’s a friendly reminder why we started this whole thing few months ago. Let us not grow weary in doing what is good; rather let us spur each other up to do the work God has prepared in advance for us! Remember you are God’s poetry - emotion, creativity, and expression of His love to this world. I love you in Jesus! ~ Pastor Sam
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