Are we missing the point?

In reply to a comment on my last post, I made this statement; “Sometimes I think that people miss the point of Christianity.”

But as I have begun to contemplate that statement, I am beginning to understand how truthful that statement is. Also realizing that it was not my own, it could not have been. I had gotten it from somewhere, and that is what I am going to talk about.

Monday night, I lay awake staring at the bunk bed above me, about 12 at night. I can’t explain to you why exactly, but I could not go to sleep, my dad and I believe that my sister accidentally spiked our hot chocolate with some form of caffeine. But as I lay there, my mind began to wonder, as I often let it do. As I contemplated subject after subject, somehow or another I came to the subject of Matthew 7, verses 22 and 23 in particular. I played these words in my mind over and over again giving a commentary to myself;

“And in that day many shall say to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ some will even say ‘We have cast out demons in Your name, and done many great things.’ But I shall say to them; ‘depart from Me you who practice lawlessness, I never knew you.’ ”

Then something clicked in me, what it was I cannot accredit it to anything or anyone except God, even if I wanted to take credit for this one, it would not be practical as I look back at it. Read over that, these guys had done some AMAZING things, cast out demons for crying out loud!! And Jesus says; “I never knew you.” This is one of the scariest verses for me, not the scariest, but one of the scariest; because as I read it I realize a lot about me. You who are reading this may not know this, but never in my life have I ever cast out a demon, the greatest cure I have found is for hiccups. Imagine this scene, I walk to the throne of God and say;

“Lord, Lord! Have I not cast out hiccups in Your name??” I am laughing as I type that. These guys were something else, now, if they truly did cast out demons I do not know. My point is, not in fact what they said to God, but one single word that Jesus replies; KNEW.

I never knew you. I want you to point some personal questions at yourself, and answer them absolutely honestly to yourself.

Do you know God?

Or do you only know about God?

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 13:5;

“Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.”

I claim all the time that Christianity is not a religion; it is a relationship with Christ: Because the actual definition of Religion is; Man trying through works to bind themselves to God.

I honestly believe that, so, let us examine relationship then, if Christianity is truly that.

You see, I can say, that I know someone that I met at a summer camp or a leader at my church. But the reality is that when I compare knowing them to my family, I only know about them, whereas I know my family. See the difference? With a leader at my church, I may speak to him on Wednesdays and Sundays, but other than that I don’t spend time with him. With my family, I spend all the time with them; sometimes it is just me and them. I know them, I know their character, I know their personality; I know them.

So, by that we see that a relationship with anyone requires time spent with them, for a deeper relationship you need time with each other alone. Just there, together. Do you ever spend time with God? Not because you have to, but because you want to?

Some people—including myself—have referred to the Bible as “God’s love letter to us.” Why? Well, because the relationship between a married man and woman is supposed to reflect the relationship of Christ with His church, His bride. And is the church the building?? No! The church is the people, we are Christ’ temple. So, let us go over this, though I have never been married (It’s true.) nor am I old enough to consider that at this point.

I will claim that many relationships, marital or otherwise, crumble because of a lack communication. Would that be a fair statement? I believe so, now consider this;

“If you spoke to your wife/boyfriend/girlfriend/best friend/husband, as much as you speak to God, would your relationship with them be as good as it is now?”

What about with how much time you spend with that person?? No, of course not. If Christianity is a relationship it is time that we start treating it like that. I mean, do you ever take advantage of your good friends? You shouldn’t, I don’t suspect that you do.

But a lot of people take advantage of God. They say; “I prayed my prayer, I made my profession, and yes I do believe. I’m done.”

Jesus says that we are to be His servants. In that day and age servants were not like slaves, where as slaves had no choice, most times in that culture slavery was a punishment. Servants served by choice. Either to marry the daughter of their employer, or in some other service. In fact, if someone was a slave, when his ‘term’ was up, he could choose to continue serving as a servant. Servants were friends of their master, who talked to them about things a slave would not hear. And obeyed out of loyalty, not out of ‘I have to do this or else I die’ attitude.

Do you know God? Or about Him?

If the Bible is our love letter, than why don’t we study it like we would the words of a lover? Why don’t we yearn with our souls to be with Him, to talk to Him, like we do a lover?

God deserves better, far better.

I know that some of you may be thinking;

“You are saying that if I don’t spend time with God, then I will go to hell?”

I am not saying yes or no, I am saying that it is something to consider.

I believe it was C.S. Lewis who said; “I would rather live my life, and believe that there is a God, die and find I was wrong, then to live my life denying a God, and find out that it is true, that there is a God.”

Let me change that a bit; “I would rather live my life believing that I absolutely have to spend time with God, and get to know God, in order to be saved, and find out I was wrong, that I was ‘overly radical.’ Then to live my life as so many American Christians do, with God on Sundays and Wednesdays, believing that it is fine that way, than to die and learn; Jesus never knew me. And I never knew Him.”

I am not suggesting that you can lose your salvation, not at all. Once you are saved, you are saved. I just want you to consider, you entire life judged against how Jesus said His followers would live, and I want you to know, by all accounts, that you know God, and that you are truly saved in the  first place.

God knows of you, but He wants a personal relationship with you. So much that He is willing to send His Son to die if that is what it takes… Oh wait, He did do that.

I am NOT, what so ever, proposing a ‘do’ theology, I know that is grace through faith that we are saved. (Ephesians 2:8-9.)

But Jesus said that if you to be His disciple, you would have to love Him so much that in comparison you would have to hate your family. (Luke 14:26.)

But how can you love someone you do not know?! You may say to me, that Jesus said that we are to love everyone as ourselves, and that is how we love someone we don’t know. You don’t understand then, we are to love humans despite whom they are or have been. We are to love Jesus because of Who He IS. Tell me, can you love someone you do not know? If you look at a man on the street, lo according to the words of Christ you are to love him, though in your heart you may care about him, no, you do not love him. You have never met him! How then can you claim to love Christ if you do not know Him when we love Him because of who He IS?

Don’t think that I am asking these questions to everyone but me, believe me, I have been firing these bullets at myself all week, and as I write this. It is not an easy thing to imagine that our Salvation which we believed we had we never had because the definition of what we claimed to believe we never accepted. Do you KNOW God?

Even if KNOWING God is not a requirement, why wouldn’t you want to??

And if you are unsure about it, why risk it?

Spend time with God because you want to, not because you have to.

Thanks for reading,

John Mark,