It’s Not Cool To Be A “Christian”

Summary: Desiring the blessings of faith without putting in the ‘hard yards’ will not yield the results that we expect.  God may, in fact, not be impressed with us at all.

Scripture focus: John 16:23b–30; James 1:22–27

Date: Sunday, 2 May 2010 (St John’s Sutherland, 7pm)

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On God’s Expectations

I became a Christian when I was a child, probably about aged 10 years.  At the time, I was attending a Salvation Army church.  As I grew older, I started to notice that our church had a Junior Choir and that the girls in that choir were quite cute.  So, I decided that I should join the Junior Choir.

However, to join the choir one had to be a Junior Soldier, which is a young member of the church.  This involved making a public confession of one’s commitment to Jesus and signing of a statement of adherence to the doctrines and lifestyle promoted by the Salvation Army —for instance, that I would not drink alcohol, smoke or gamble, etc.  If it got me closer to those girls, I was more than happy to sign anything; so, I joined the Preparation Classes.

As the time for my public confession drew near, I started to realise that I really wasn’t prepared to make a commitment to a lifestyle for which I wasn’t ready.  I enjoyed playing poker and Bingo and winning money or prizes.  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to smoke or drink as I wasn’t really old enough to try them anyway.  I can’t actually remember whether I made the public commitment or not, but I do remember soon after setting my faith and lifestyle aside.  I just wasn’t ready and was not of the personality type who could make a commitment without meaning it.

I never joined that choir and never had a date with any of those girls.  Their loss.

A few years passed and I returned to church.  In time, I joined the Preparation Classes for becoming an adult member of the church.  This time, I understood the decision that I was making for myself and was fully prepared to make that decision.  I became a soldier-member of the Salvation Army, a branch of the worldwide and universal Church of Jesus Christ.

Becoming a member of the Salvation Army meant that I was expected to begin wearing the uniform to official Salvation Army events.  And I resolved to wear it proudly!  I was not ashamed of my Christian commitment and even went out of my way to walk to church just so that I would have optimal exposure of my uniform-wearing Christian commitment to as many people as possible.  I wanted them to be intrigued by this confident looking young man, so that they might consider faith in Jesus for themselves.

As admirable as my determination to witness boldly was, it did not protect me from the lapses in faith that would come … and I am sad to say that they did come.  I have not been as consistent in my faith as I would like to have been.  My belief in Jesus has never wavered, but I sought to enjoy the benefits of my faith by putting on an outward show.  Unfortunately, my lifestyle has not always reflected my faith, nor always brought glory to my God.

In the scriptures that we have read together tonight, we discover that the disciples of Jesus’ also sought to take the ‘easy road’ of faith.  Yet, when we look at the ‘big picture’ of faith, we will discover that much is expected of us by God.  Of this we need not be afraid, but be sure of our commitment to remain faithful.

John 16:23b–30 vs. James 1:22–27

Our first biblical focus comes from The Gospel of John and is part of Jesus’ final speech to his disciples.  With this speech, Jesus was preparing them for what was about to happen to him, as well as preparing them for what their lives would be like afterwards —and, indeed, everything changed with Jesus’ death and resurrection!  Jesus encouraged his disciples to look beyond the grief that they would soon experience in favour of the joy which would soon be theirs (Jn 16:22).¹

In John 16:23b-30, Jesus made two promises to his disciples, both of which were to be fulfilled after his death and resurrection.  They are: 1) Prayer in Jesus’ name will be answered (Jn 16:23b-24; 16:26-27); and, 2) Jesus will teach the disciples “plainly” what they need to know about God (Jn 16:25).

We’ll talk about this more about this second promise in a couple of weeks, but for now you need to appreciate that, before Easter, God’s people did not relate to God with the intimacy that we now enjoy.  Throughout Jesus’ three years of ministry, he tried to teach his disciples that now they could relate to God like they would with their biological parents, as with a “daddy” (Mt 6:9ff).  Because Jesus’ disciples could now address God as “our Father”, they could also now address God directly in prayer (Jn 16:26).

You might also remember that Jesus taught the people of his time mostly through the use of parables, what we might call “illustrations”.  He did this intentionally because he wanted to attract those who did really want to know about God.  Many people just want to have their ears ‘tickled’, and so listen to the latest and greatest speaker and his or her podcast.  But Jesus knew that people often “listened without hearing” and he wasn’t going to make it easy for such as those.²

The problem with Jesus’ parables is that their meaning was not always entirely obvious —which is why people like me will always find an audience when trying to explain them!  In this passage from John, Jesus promised to speak to the disciples without the use of parables, to speak “plainly” to them.  Add to this his promise that they could now pray directly to God and it is not surprising that the disciples got a little excited by the introduction of these changes (Jn 16:30).

However, this is the point at which I began to get a little concerned, when preparing this sermon.  It seems to me that, in a sense, Jesus promised the disciples that the practice of their faith was about to become “easier”, or at least that’s what I think that they heard.  If I’m correct, then what they didn’t understand is that their faith would not become easier, it would simply become different.  Before Jesus’ death, their faith was based on abstract teaching about God and Jesus; it would not be until after Jesus’ resurrection that they could say that they now understood that Jesus actually was who he said that he was —their declaration “Now we can see that you know all things [...] This makes us believe” notwithstanding (Jn 16:30).

Nevertheless, Jesus did present them with a positive glimpse of a comfortable Christian life and, it seems to me, they then stepped forward as if he was offering them “cheap grace”.

The brother of Jesus, James, presented a counterpoint to this passage, in his letter to the churches of his day, a selection from which forms our second biblical focus for today.

In that passage, James, without mincing any words, made a clear distinction between those who “merely listen to the word” with those who “do what it says” (Jas 1:22) —in other words, between those who profess to be “Christians” and those who love, trust and obey Jesus Christ as his followers.

For the first group, being a Christian is merely a label; for the second, being a Christ-follower is their very identity.  James highlighted this point when he criticised those who “merely listen” as “people who look at their faces in a mirror [...] go away and immediately forget what they look like” (Jas 1:23–24).  In contrast, those who go beyond hearing to “look intently into the perfect law that gives freedom [...] they will be blessed in what they do” (Jas 1:25).

These “blessings” are what the disciples previously were hoping for, but got excited about having without putting in much effort.  These blessings only come to those who live what they have heard “plainly” from Jesus, as if they could not do otherwise.

James gave us a couple of examples: The Christ-follower “keeps a tight rein on their tongue” (Jas 1:26), as if the tongue was a wild animal that one could lose control at any moment.  Does anyone know what he means by this?

Example two is of the Christ-follower who “[looks] after orphans and widows in their distress and keeps oneself from being polluted by the world” (Jas 1:27).  For the professing-Christian, his behaviour does not change because of the teaching that he hears then promptly forgets.  He is easily influenced by the world’s attitudes and behaviours because he does not really have a solid grounding in a biblical worldview to know what is right or wrong.

For the Christ-follower, she is concerned to reflect her biblically-inspired beliefs and values in all of her behaviours and lifestyle choices because she has come to appreciate that “the perfect law that gives freedom” is eminently superior to the fallenness of the world.

We learn from the first disciples of Jesus that faith and lifestyle go together —we cannot have one without the other and both influence each other irreparably— and that is exactly what God expects from us.  Do not be fooled that it is otherwise!

Something to Think About

What is saddest of all is that the professing-Christian may not even realise that he or she is missing the mark, that he or she is disappointing God with their double-mindedness.  They have their heart set on the “blessings” of faith in Jesus without paying any attention to God’s expectations.

It is written,

He has shown all you people what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)

Notice first that God actually requires something of us! “But I thought all of this was only about what I believe?”, you might be thinking.  This famous verse does not even mention anything about requiring belief from us; that is presumed.  Instead, what God requires of us is that our belief in him results in actual behaviour change and a change in our values: Acting justly and loving mercy.

Tim Keller tells the following story:

My brother-in-law would never wear a seat belt in the car.  I berated him for it.  Then one day he picked me up at the airport, and he had on his seat belt and shoulder harness.  I asked, “What happened?  What changed you?”

“I went to visit a friend of mine in the hospital who was in a car accident and went through the windshield”, my brother-in-law said.  “He had two or three hundred stitches in his face.  I said to myself, ‘I’d better wear my seat belt.’ ”

“Did you not know that if you didn’t wear your seat belt you would go through the windshield if you had an accident?” I asked.

“Of course I knew it”, he said.  “When I went to the hospital to see my friend, I got no new information, but the information I had became new.  The information got real to my heart and finally sank down and affected the way I live.”³

Hearing information, or even hearing the Word of God, is not enough; both expect to change behaviour.

Another, even sadder example, is told by Stephen Nordbye:

At the 1993 annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Atlanta, three hundred thousand doctors, nurses, and researchers came together to discuss, among other things, the importance a low-fat diet plays in keeping our hearts healthy.

Yet during mealtimes, they consumed fat-filled fast food, such as bacon cheeseburgers and fries, at about the same rate as people from other conventions.  When one cardiologist was asked whether or not his partaking in high-fat meals set a bad example, he replied, “Not me; I took my name tag off.”⁴

Perhaps the even-more-important behaviour change expected of us is the point that we “walk humbly with our God”.  For the professing-Christian, he will presume that faith is about feeling good because God walks with us —the emphasis being on himself.  On the contrary, the Christ-follower has come to understand that she needs to consciously choose to walk with God, which is itself an act of humility, of surrendering oneself to God’s authority.  In walking with God, he will demonstrate the way to live right and well.  He will take you where you need to go and show you how to get there, if you follow him.  Your faith is about your choice to live with-God.

Make no mistake, God is already and always on the move.  He is inviting us to walk with him.  And he is not at all impressed with “professing-Christians”, only followers-of-Christ (Rev 3:15-21).

Conclusion

God is not impressed with our Christian t-shirts, bumper stickers, or even our tattoos that bear his name.  God does not think that being a “Christian” is cool if all that means to us is a bracelet on our wrist.  God looks deep into our hearts and whatever is inside he will find.  He wants followers of his Son who count the cost and accept that whatever cost is worth the price of the prize!

To profess to be a Christian may score points with your parents, get you a discount on a purchase, or even land you a job with a Christian organisation, but this only looks good on the outside.  God knows what is in our hearts and, in fact, so does the world know a fake from the ‘true blue’ Christ-follower.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open,
all desires known,
and from you no secrets are hidden;
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word and deed.
We have not loved you with our whole heart
nor mind nor strength;
we have not loved our neighbours as ourselves.
In your mercy forgive what we have been,
amend what we are,
and direct what we shall be,
so that we may delight in your will
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your holy name.  Amen.

Friends in Christ, hear and believe the good news!
“If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just,
and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
We may trust the mercy of God:
in Jesus Christ our sin is  forgiven.
Thanks be to God.

Endnotes