Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…Last week I had the opportunity to attend a luncheon sponsored by The Integrity Resource Center. If you are not familiar with the IRC, it is headquartered in Kansas City and is a movement in the marketplace that has encouraged, equipped and trained thousands of leaders to do business God’s way. My wife, Pam, had the privilege of being a Consultant for that organization a few years ago, so consequently I became interested and supportive of their effort as well.
The keynote speaker for their event was Jason Dellinger, who challenged us with his first three words: Do you believe? He then told his personal story regarding that question. He became one of the top insurance agents in his national company in 2006. On his personal cell phone (not his business phone) he had an out-going message that said, “Have a blessed day, and remember…Jesus loves you!” He was told by his executives to remove from his voice mail these words, “Jesus loves you” or lose his job. He refused to submit to that request, and it did cost him his job.
That question from him to us warrants some serious thought. What would you do in that situation? It is easy to grow in our knowledge, understanding, and even our relationship with Jesus Christ, but when the rubber hits the road, are we willing to live by the words and the consequences of the response, “Yes. I Believe!”? If you will recall the horrific incident at Columbine High School in April of 1999, Dylan Klebold had Rachel Joy Scott on her knees in front of him with his gun pointed directly at her when he asked, “Do you believe?” Her answer was, “Yes. I believe” and she paid for that answer with her life.
No doubt Christianity is under attack today, so more and more people have to make difficult decisions about their faith. Not only is this a personal matter, but today – just like Jason – we have to deal with that dilemma in the work place too. So, let’s take a moment and recall what being a Christ-follower really means, and how and why we made that choice.
God’s Gift of Grace is the ultimate present. It has always defied logic and rational thinking, and it still stands as the ultimate challenge to man’s intellect. That is why God revealed through the Prophet Isaiah, “My ways are not your ways; My thoughts are not your thoughts. As high as the heavens are above the earth, as far as the east is from the west, My ways are not your ways; My thoughts are not your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9) And again in Psalm 46:10 we are told, “just be still and know that I am God.” In other words, I believe God is telling us not to spend an inordinate amount of time trying to figure Him out with our own finite minds, because we will never be able to do it!
I have many “smart friends” – and even some “brilliant friends” – who just cannot bring themselves to submit to “a power” greater themselves, especially if that “something” claims to be the “only way”, or is something they can’t see or touch. I can only chalk that up to their ignorance…not ignorance in terms or “stupidity”, but ignorance of The Truth. I can unabashedly say that, because there was a time when I was one of them. I had the same doubts and asked the same questions. But today, John 8:32 IS my story: “Jesus told His disciples, if you follow My teachings you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Jesus was very specific in his directions: He was referring to His teachings being the pathway to freedom. He wanted to make a clear-cut distinction between His teachings and worldly teachings.
So the obvious question now is…“what did Jesus teach?” First of all, Jesus was/is the Word incarnate, meaning He demonstrated the truth of God’s Word in human form. We are told in John 1:14,“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Jesus taught about love, forgiveness, compassion, mercy, grace, and acceptance. He also taught about the Father, and being of service to our fellow man. He taught about “loving God with all our heart, soul and mind”. (Luke 10:27) He told us to “Repent! The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17) He told us “I am the way, The Truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) FYI: .Jesus did, in fact, put into practice everything He taught.
If you look up the word “truth”, you will find slight variations in the definitions. But the one I think is most applicable here is, “that which is in accordance with fact or reality.” Since Christianity is based on faith, if we as Christ-followers hadn’t experienced The Truth of these words coming alive in our own lives, how could we believe they were (are) true? Without that life experience, we couldn’t! But we all have been transformed by The Truth of these words, so our faith is experiential faith, not blind faith. We know it’s true because we have experienced it, and we now stand on it.
Look at this paradox. For the Believer, the fact that The Truth of God’s Word does not change is where we find our confident assurance, our comfort, peace, joy and serenity. For intellectuals, that same truth is way too confining because it thwarts their desire to live the way they have chosen to live. Therefore, intellectuals try to create as much grey area as possible around the truth so they will have wiggle-room to carry out their plan or agenda. For instance, the issue of murder vs. abortion or the issue of lying vs. deception. The intellectual (or “enlightened one”) wants God’s Word to be a “living, breathing document” that changes as society changes. But just as God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, His Truth also remains unchanging.
As we look at our culture today, we can see the disastrous effects of turning away from God and His Truth. In Galatians 5:19-21 He reveals what such a culture would look like and the penalty for such disobedience: “sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, participation in demonic activities, cheating, hostility, quarreling, lying, jealousy, out-bursts of anger, selfish ambition, social divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” Can you see any of this in our culture today? Just compare the content of this paragraph with the reference to Jesus’ teaching three paragraphs above. Do you think that if Dylan Klebold had had the teachings of Jesus in his heart rather than hatred and anger, he would have been in that library doing what he was doing? “As a man believes in his heart, so he is.” (Proverbs 27:3)
When we make a choice to stand on the truth of God’s Word, we have made a decision to live contrary to the teachings of this world. But as Christ-followers, that is what we are called to do. In John 17:14-16, Jesus was addressing this situation in a prayer for the safety of His followers: “I have given them Your Word, and the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not. I’m not asking you to take them out of this world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They are not part of this world any more than I am.” And again in John 16:33, Jesus told His disciples, “Here on this earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” The good news for us is, we too have overcome the world because we are in Christ.
There’s not a day that goes by when I don’t thank God for His Gift of Grace. When I think of the truth found in Roman’s 5:6: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners”, I realize that I have a second chance at life today because of what Jesus Christ did for me. Now my goals are to live my life in a way that says, “Thank You, Jesus, for what You did for me”, and to make choices that bring honor and glory to Him. Now I ask the Holy Spirit to give me the strength and the courage to say, “Yes, I Believe” whenever I have the opportunity. His Word tells me that if I acknowledge Him on earth, He will acknowledge me in heaven.
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May God Bless Ya…
Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)
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