From converts to disciples

For my entire life, I have been told that salvation does not come through works. I have had Edwards,Calvin, and Luther quoted over and over. I do believe that salvation can not be earned. I do think that my good could never outweigh my bad. I am so very thankful that it is grace that redeems me. I am so thankful that the righteousness of Christ has been imputed into me. But I think it is time that we acknowledge that we must become doers of the Word. It is time for our actions to start reflecting the fact that we have been washed clean. I wonder why we(being Christians) go on and on about the magnificent work of Christ personally washing us from sin, and ignore every other person around us. We only worry about our personal sins, we never see that our sin effects other people, and we never try to become righteous. We are not concerned with the oppressed, voiceless, blind, imprisoned, or poor. We do not try to ease their sufferings. 

I think that the lack of our works, comes from the preaching of our Gospel as an insurance policy. We have preached over and over that the blood over Christ will act as fire insurance, that if you believe in Him, you do not have to worry about Hell. The problem is we have turned Christianity into a personal, introspective religion. We do not create a community of people who have been and are being redeemed, concerned with doing the same for others. We do not understand that being a member of the Kingdom of God, means being about reversing sin. We have focused on what Christ did for me and to me. But we never realized that the forgiveness of our sins was a means to an end.  God's story in history is the story of defeating sin. It is not about anything but victory over sin. 

Sin is the antithesis of God. He hates it. He is passionate about seeing it ended. He sent Christ into the world to reconcile man to Himself. Yet, we have turned God's actions intended for His glory into something that personally benefits us. In a way, we have turned salvation into an excuse to sin. We can be generally apathetic about the sufferings of others because we only have to survive this life to be with God. Yet, we have the ability to be with God right now. God is found in all of the hurting people. 

Our world has been ravaged by sin. It effects man at every level: socially, psychologically, economically, politically, physically, and spiritually. The Church has been given the job of reversing the effects of this great scourge. We have been given a vaccine, and we have used it to only treat one part of the problem. We have made Christianity into something less than a complete lifestyle. We have made it into something you believe like santa claus. If you believe in santa you get some presents. If you believe in Jesus, you get to go to Heaven. We have never told people what Jesus said His followers were in for. We fail to mention that a disciple of Jesus has to hand over all of his possessions, possibly change vocations, stop seeking luxury, and study tirelessly. We have made Christianity far too easy! We have gone from a movement which demanded all of you to a movement that demands a prayer of you.

I was driving through Dallas Texas once, and I saw a sign for a Church advertising 30 minute services. That is the epitome of American Christianity. Jesus is something you need, but it need not take much of your time. We can get you enough Jesus in 30 minutes to last the week. Jesus is not that important. You should spend as much time worshipping, loving, and following Him, as yo do watching the Office. The irony is so stark that I will say no more and let the effect sink in.

It is time that we stop telling people it is enough to pray one time. It is time to stop telling people all they have to believe is a set of statements. There can not be a disconnect between what we believe and what we do. We do not need any more intellectual believers. We need some disciples, people committed to following this renegade rabbi.