So then it depends not on human will, but on God

             Something that’s been on my mind lately is this feeling that Christians are approaching the Gospel “wrong?” The whole premise of the Christian faith is love, but when observing my own actions and the actions of other Christians, love seems to be so absent. Instead, it has been replaced by greed, self-ambition, striving, and force.

Whenever we meet a new person that isn’t a believer, we quickly make it our “mission” to shove as much Christianity in their face as possible. Their salvation somehow becomes our responsibility. I’m not writing this to condemn or as an outsider looking in and nitpicking all of the things that I think Christians are doing wrong, but as a perpetrator myself. I’m writing it as someone who has come to the realization that I do all of these things myself.

Honestly, I don’t even know where to start with this next thought but let me just try to make some sense. I think that sometimes we as Christians get overzealous. We want something so bad, that we end up forcing it too much and it puts un-needed pressure on a situation. Yes, I’m talking about sharing the Gospel. And if this doesn’t sit well with you that’s totally fine, because it’s just a humble opinion of mine.

Let me use a personal example to help you understand what I mean. When I meet a new friend, and they seem like a nice person, I oftentimes just assume they are a Christian. But upon hearing that they aren’t, this switch flips in my mind and I no longer see them as a child of God, but as a prize to be won over. My focus is no longer on the friendship for the sake of the friendship, but my mentality has switched to let me stay in this friendship for the sake of the “Gospel” aka the satisfaction of knowing I shared Jesus with this person that NEVER would’ve know about Him apart from me. (That last sentence was meant to be taken extremely sarcastically and as conceited as it sounds, that’s my mindset at times.) But, as you can probably already tell, there are so many things wrong with the previous example.

1.) God does NOT need me to save that person and I can guarantee you that God could reveal Himself to that person had they been friends with me or not.

             2.) Hearing that they aren’t a Christian shouldn’t be what changes the game. If I need to alter the way I act based on circumstances, then I need Jesus just as much as that person.

We are called to share the Gospel. Not force, push, or distort the beautiful message of the Gospel. When I hear the word share, I think of two kids sharing toys and the innocence that is associated with that. I don’t think of deception and condemnation or scare tactics. When I hear the word share, I think of a simple presentation done in love, and not a forced decision. Because when it comes down to it, we don’t decide or change anything. God, the author and finisher of our faith, is the one who changes hearts and lives. We are simply called to share His message in obedience and I think that’s the part we fail to remember.

The question that comes to mind after all of this is how can an imperfect person present the Gospel? Well, the Gospel is the greatest love story ever written so what better way to show it to others then with love.

 

¹⁴ What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ¹⁶ So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

Romans 9:14-17

Peace Among the Chaos

*Before I start, just a warning, I'm feeling a lil bit cheesy right now. So if you choose to read this post, you have been warned.

     Now that I got the disclaimer out of the way... Let's see, where do I even begin. Well I guess I'll start by addressing the purpose writing this post in the first place. These past two days I have felt completely overwhelmed. When I say that I don't mean that I am doubting God, but rather that I am having to completely and totally rely on Him because my own strength just won't do it these days (which isn't a bad thing). But it's exhausting. When circumstances bring you to your knees and you find yourself in the midst of total surrender, it's never an easy thing. Its a constant minute-by-minute second-by-second decision to give these things up to God instead of trying to control them myself. But don't get me wrong, I never regret that decision to place my problems in the hands of my Almighty and totally capable God. In life there's a Plan A and Plan B, but the beauty of surrender is that it takes the Plan B out of the equation.

    Although being in a state of surrender is something that I know is absolutely essential for the Lord to work, it's difficult. Surrender is a battle term which has to do when an opposing army lays down their arms and gives up all rights to the conqueror, allowing them to take control from then on. Surrendering to God works the same way. In order to experience the fullness of the plans He has for our lives, we must surrender to Him by setting aside our own plans. Just like no army wants to be "conquered", nobody wants to lay down their defenses. It's in our nature to want to look out for ourselves and to do our own protecting. We live in a world that sends this message to "trust no one",  so to lay our arms at the feet of God sounds absolutely ludicrous. How can we be safe if we have nothing to protect ourselves with? The Bible tells us that "God is a refuge, a stronghold, a very present help in trouble." (Psalm 46:1) "In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me." (Psalm 120:1.)

    The past few days of "laying down my arms" have been some of the most difficult. I feel extremely vulnerable. But at this very moment, the verse that keeps coming to mind is Philippians 4:7. It says "And the peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." In the beginning of this post, I described how I was feeling overwhelming by my circumstances... now let me tell you how I am overwhelmed by Christ's peace.

    Lately I've been into painting so let me describe to you this cool image that I guess you could say in my mind goes with this verse. Here's an image that unfortunately many of us with be familiar with. Imagine the destruction in Oklahoma from the tornados of the past week. There's flattened houses, splintered wood, and shards of glass from chinaware... Now imagine a pre-K classroom with about 15 children. Some are crying, while others are running about, while still others are banging toys against tables. Now I want you to imagine any restaurant of your choice (preferably a very popular one.) Its loud inside. About 10 different conversations are taking place in your vicinity and on top of all that, the waiter just dropped a tray of plates, which causes the patrons to collectively yell, "Opa!" All of these images together create a symphony of chaos (it stresses me out just thinking of it.) But amid this collage of chaos is a person simply standing. Just standing. And here's where the verse comes in. All of these events are taking place around them, natural disasters, yelling, screaming, but in the midst of all of that, there is this unexplainable peace. This peace that, given the situations, shouldn't be there and makes absolutely no sense, but it's there and it's real. I wish I could do a better job of explaining it but that's just what it is. A peace that is so unexplainable that it could only be from God.

    So I could ramble on for a few more paragraphs, or I could just leave off with this. This peace is real and God offers it to you. It doesn't matter how far you've run or how damaged you think you might be. This might be the truest thing I've ever heard in my life: "God accepts you the way you are, but refuses to leave you that way." So don't just take my word for it, go see for yourself. Take it all to the feet of Jesus and exchange your efforts for His peace.

The Only Difference Between "Christians" and "non-Christians" is the Cross