Remember that great scene in the last movie of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King, when Elrond meets Aragorn at the entrance to the Dimholt road. Elrond tells Aragorn of their bleak situation with little hope for victory over the powers of Mordor.  He restores hope to Aragorn though when he gives him the sword of his ancestors and challenges him to embrace his identity.  He tells him: “Put aside the ranger, become who you were born to be.”

We have a chance to be who we were born to be and to invite people to become who they were born to be.  They are meant for God.  They were made for Him.  Let’s introduce them to the awesome God they were made for.

For some more thoughts on evangelism, check out this post.

(for starters I’m always open for correction in my theology because I know I’m sinful and can be wrong, Second I apologize for my bad typing skills Also you can tag other people if you would like)

Christians,

I want to talk about something that I have been going through the past couple of days. Well, my roommates would say the last semester, and my journal would say the past year and a half. My point is that it’s been more pressing the past couple of days. Anyway, the issue that I’m talking about is my inner struggle with the desire to be married or to stay single. It has been a roller coaster ride for sure and I guarantee that I’m not close to the finish, but I want to just show what I have found.

First of all I want to say that both being married and being single are biblical principles. I’m not going to go through all of the arguments that people hold about these scriptures, but to show that they are in fact in the bible.

Marriage

Genesis 2: 18 “It is not good for man to be alone” This is a direct resemblance of God’s character. Gen 1: 27 “So God created man in his own image”.  Our God is a triune God, three in one, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, all each an individual but at the same time one. He has perfect community with Himself and we reflect that by having a desire for perfect community.

Genesis 2:22-24. Some commentators (Mark Driscoll) would say that this was the first marriage ever. The Father/creator brings his daughter/creation to the future husband. (v. 22). Man expresses his love and approval for her (v. 23). Then God gives a sermon on what marriage should look like (v. 24)

Ephesians 5:22-33. Here, Paul is writing to the Ephesians about the profound mystery that is marriage. This is one of my favorite passages. Paul goes into how the wife should submit and respect the husband. This is because this is how men feel the most loved. Then God calls men to love their wives as Christ loves the church. This is a call to die everyday for our wives, because showing unconditional love and showing we care for them that much is how they feel the most love. I want to really emphasize Eph 5:31-32, “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.”  The beautiful thing about marriage is that is reflects the loving and passionate relationship that Jesus has with His church, you and me. THIS IS AMAZING!!! What a powerful thing marriage is!

Singleness

1 Corinthians 7:6-8 and 32-35, “To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am.” Paul is now writing to the Corinthians. A lot of people disregard this passage because in verse 6 Paul says this as a “concession not as a command.” But I want to point out that in verse 32-35 he gives wisdom and logic in his reasoning.

32I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. 33But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, 34and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. 35I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

Yes people can argue if this is from the Lord or not, but I see truth in the claims that Paul is making. This is optional not a command.

Isaiah 56:1-7 “…To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbath who choose the things that please me and hold fast to my covenants, I will… give them a name better than sons or daughters…) I encourage people to look this passage up because there is more there. The reason why I give this verse is because a commentator by the name of John Piper gave reason that being a eunuch means more than just loosing body parts, but is equating to the people that remain single in the name of Jesus Christ. A quote by Piper,

“And with this promise there comes a unique calling and a unique responsibility. It is not a calling to extend irresponsible adolescence into your thirties. It is a calling to do what only single men and women in Christ can do in this world, namely, to display by the Christ-exalting devotion of your singleness to the truths about Christ and his kingdom that shine more clearly through singleness than through marriage. As long as you are single, this is your calling: to so live for Christ as to make it clearer to the world and to the church”

The Reason Why

I’m not really going to talk about marriage because people know that it is an awesome beautiful thing that God created. I’m not anti-marriage, I just think we put too much importance on it and there is a calling (for some people) that is higher than the calling of marriage. I was listening to a sermon and I realized in all of the conversations that I had with people about this subject, people mostly responded by defending why I should get married. A few people talked about how singleness is a calling for some people and it is a great calling. No one challenged me to seek out my singleness and take advantage of it, so that is what I want to do now.

This Is Me Stepping Onto My Proverbial Soapbox

Just like Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 7, singleness is a time where you can give your undivided attention to the Lord. When you are married you have so many things fighting for your attention. You have your wife that you are called to love and if you have children, you will have to constantly pour into their lives. You will also have a job because you need to take care of your family because “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (1 Tim 5:8)

SINGLE COLLEGE STUDENTS! We have an opportunity unlike any other where we have free time to devote to Jesus. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7:27 “do not seek a wife.”  He says this because the time we have right now has been given to us by God. We shouldn’t yearn for the future, but be exceedingly joyful where we are currently. I challenge the people that desire to get married to take this time of singleness and get to know your Savior deeply and passionately so you will be able to live your life with your family well. By doing this you will set disciplines in your life to put Jesus first above all. To the people that are not sure if you want to get married yet (I am in this boat still), I say do not fret over if your called to get married or not, but trust God that he has every good intention for you. While you are waiting for an answer or a clear sign, follow God with every minute you have. Finally to the people that are called to a life of singleness I say, GO! Live a life that gives God complete glory, a life that deserves a name greater than son or daughter.

P.S.

I want to be clear here that when I talk about how singleness gives God glory, that does not mean the opposite of singleness gives God the opposite of glory (aka singleness gives God more glory than being married). A good amount of people jump to that conclusion and I want to once again say that the bible gives accounts of how both give God glory. They just give Him glory in different ways. One is not better than the other, they are just different callings.

I would like to thank Mitch for allowing me the opportunity to post on his blog.  We’ve had a few small conversations recently about this topic and he invited me to write more about it, which I am more than happy to do.

“The Law” and How Christians Should Relate to It

An issue that seems to confuse and frustrate Christians is our relationship to the Law.  As Christians, we believe that we have all broken the Law and need to be saved from the impending judgment/wrath that the Law demands, death.  Jesus Christ saved us from sin and death and brought us into that right relationship with God.

If Jesus is our Savior, what is our relationship to the Law supposed to look like?  If we cannot be saved by the Law, are we as Christians just supposed to ignore it?  Do we ignore the Old Testament and just focus on the New Testament?  These are legitimate questions.  On the one hand, we have verses like Galatians 3:25 which states “Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.”  On the other hand, we have Jesus declaring in Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them”.  To a believer who is growing in their faith, this can be a tough and confusing topic.

I would like to offer a solution as to how Christians should biblically implement the Law into their lives.  Upon review of the many chapters and books in the early Old Testament which pertain to the Law, I believe that the Law can be summed up in three different categories:

Moral Law

This is the law that refers to principles or rules of personal right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong.  The clearest examples of this type of law are many of the Ten Commandments preventing humanity from stealing, committing adultery, murder, worshiping other gods, etc.

Ceremonial Law

This is the law that refers to the proper procedures that the Israelites were to perform to worship God as a result of their sin.  Examples of these types of laws include the Israelite requirement to bring offerings and sacrifices to the Temple or the Tent of Meeting.  Another example are the Celebrations the Israelites were commanded to perform annually to worship or revere God, such as Passover, Feast of Weeks, etc.

Civil Law

These are the laws that refer to how the nation of Israel is governed.  An example of these types of laws is the requirement that the Israelites eat certain types of foods.  Another example is God’s command that the Israelites not intermarry with other nations.

All of these laws in the Old Testament have their significance and purpose.  The Moral Law was given to show the perfection of God and how we cannot live up to that perfection.  Romans 3:20 says “through the law we become conscious of sin.”  Ceremonial Laws were given to remind the Israelites of their sin.  Hebrews 10:3 states “But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins”.  Civil Law was given to govern the nation of Israel as God’s chosen people to carry his name throughout the world.  Exodus 19:6 says “For all the earth is mine, and you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.”  Since God had not poured his Spirit upon every believer yet, in order for the nation of Israel to be a holy nation in the world, strict laws were given by God to set them apart from the world.

Here is how our relationship to the Law changed when Christ came.  When Christ came to earth, he did two things, he died for our sins to cancel the penalty of death due to us.  He also changed our relationship to the Law.  He didn’t cancel it, nor did he require the same act of obedience to the Law for those who believe in Christ.  Jesus explains it well in Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them”.  Jesus describes the Old Testament with the Law and the Prophets as being completely valid and necessary where he does not desire to abolish them, but to fulfill them.

I would make the biblical argument that Jesus Christ fulfilled two out of the three types of Law (Ceremonial and Civil) making them no longer necessary while upholding the necessity of the third (Moral Law).  I will go through each of the three types of laws individually to show how Christ either fulfilled them or upheld the same relationship to them.

Moral Law

I believe biblically that Christ upheld our mandate to follow Moral Laws outlined in the Old Testament.  We are not to seek salvation from Moral Laws, but yet as Christians, we are to strive to live holy lives as we grow closer to Christ.  One example of Christ upholding our relationship to Moral Laws is from his sermon on the mount.  He not only shows us how many of the Ten Commandments we have broken, but he shows us how we break them in our hearts on a regular basis.  Never once does Christ break a moral law or condone breaking moral law in the New Testament.  He does condone breaking other laws, but those are explained in different categories below.

Ceremonial Law

When Christ came, our conduct toward ceremonial laws changed.  Going back to Matthew 5:17, Christ said “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them”.  I believe ceremonial laws were fulfilled by Christ.  One example is Hebrews 9 which paints a beautiful picture of how Christ changed the mandate for ceremonial laws.  Yom Kippur, described in Hebrews 9, is the annual Day of Atonement in Jewish culture.  This was the one day per year that the Most Holy Place in the temple was to be entered by the High Priest.  He entered the Most Holy Place with blood to make atonement for his sin and the sin of Israel.  Christ fulfilled this as Hebrews 9:12 tells us “He [Jesus] did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.”  Jesus negated the need for presenting the annual blood reminder for our sin by paying it by his own blood once and for all.  By paying the sacrifice on the cross for our sin, we may now enter into the Most Holy Place, the most intimate presence with God.  Passover is another example of Christ fulfilling the Law for us.  While in Egyptian captivity, the Israelites were required to kill a lamb and spread the blood of the lamb on their doorframes, which would cause the wrath of God (death) to “pass over” their household.  The Israelites were required to hold an annual week of remembrance called Passover in the generations that followed.  When Jesus came and died for our sins, he showed us how his blood being shed meant that God’s wrath (death) would “pass over” those who believe in him, ultimately fulfilling the ceremony of Passover.

Civil Law

In relation to Civil Law, I believe that Christ also fulfilled the need to follow the strict civil law guidelines of the Old Testament.  The reason for this is that something changed when Christ came.  Now that our sin is paid for, we can be indwelt by the Holy Spirit.  Paul mentions now in 1 Corinthians 3:16 that as Christians our bodies are now a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit.  Because we have the Holy Spirit and are led by God, we no longer need strict civil guidelines that the nation of Israel had.  Because the Israelites were not indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but only saw glimpses of the Spirit here and there, they were prone to wander as a nation.  Even with strict guidelines, they found several ways to wander from God.  Deuteronomy 14:2 says “for you are a people holy to the Lord your God.  Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession”.  The people of Israel were God’s holy nation on earth and sin could not be tolerated as God’s holy nation.  Christ confirms for us the change in Civil Law and how he fulfilled it.  One example is that Jesus declared in Mark 7:14-23 that there is not a need to abide by the strict Old Testament food regulations and that what makes a man unclean is not food that he eats, rather it’s what comes out of a man that makes him unclean.  Another example is that Jesus showed us the change in Sabbath regulations.  He heals many people on the Sabbath and picks grain with his disciples, both types of work required death by Old Testament Civil Law according to Exodus 35:2.  A third example is found in John 8 when Jesus was seen forgiving a woman who had committed adultery and stood up against the throngs that wished to stone her, as required by Old Testament Civil Law.  Not only does Jesus stand up against her stoning, but he declares her forgiven of her sin.  Jesus Christ’s numerous occurrences of treating Civil Law differently show that by his death on the cross and allowing a way for the Holy Spirit to indwell us, we no longer need the strict Civil Law to guide our daily lives, for we are led by the Holy Spirit.

I hope that this explanation of Old Testament Law and how Christians relate to it was helpful to some.  I especially hope that I can spur and encourage Christians to see that we should not abandon the Law, but recognize how Christ fulfilled the Law and what that means for our lives.  The Law is something that we as Christians should recognize are God’s holy standards that we cannot live up to due to our sinful ways, yet through Jesus Christ death and the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, we are declared righteous in God’s eyes.

“Is Christianity true” vs “do I like Christianity”

Admittedly there are some doctrines in Christianity that are tough to swallow, such as the doctrine of hell.  There are some questions that are hard to answer such as, “How is it fair that people in remote parts of the world die without hearing about Jesus and go to hell because they haven’t accepted him as their Savior?”  Difficult, challenging, and sometimes heartbreaking things to talk about?  Yes.  Truths that aren’t easily likable?  Yes.  Do the affirmatives to these two questions make Christianity less true?  No.  Does something that is easily acceptable make it more true?  No.  (It also doesn’t make it less true.)  Does something that is more difficult to accept make it less true?  No.  The likability of a claim (in this case, a religion) has no effect on its truthfulness.  I don’t like gravity because it stops me from being able to fly.  This doesn’t make the fact that gravity exists any less true.

“Is Christianity true” vs “do I have time for Christianity”

Often this comes out as, “I’m really busy right now so I don’t have time to get involved in Christianity” or “when I’m older and out of college I’ll look into it”.  I think this really brings out the heart of the matter in both of these questions I’ve highlighted.  Regardless of whether you share my beliefs that Christianity is the one true religion and Jesus is the only way to God, this is what Christianity teaches.  The message of the gospel is that we are sinful, we need Jesus, and without him we are on a path toward everlasting torment in hell.  Now that is pretty serious stuff.  These are the kinds of things the Bible teaches though.  It teaches that by the acceptance or rejection of Jesus as our Savior, our eternal fate is determined.  In my opinion, once hearing the Christian message, the most important question to be answered would be “is it true.”  Is what the Bible teaches reality?  Whether you believe it or not, this book claims to hold the words of the one true God and claims to teach the way for the only means of salvation.  Is the book right?  Are its claims true?

I think the most important question we can ever ask is “does God exist?”  Secondly, if he does exist, how do we learn about him?  By definition, Christianity says that God exists and that the Bible holds the means to know him.  It claims to have the answer to the question that has entranced human beings for ages.  Now what needs to be asked is: is it true?

“If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19).

Is this true of my life? Let’s imagine an audience sat down in a theater and watched the movie based on my life. The whole movie is about my hope that I place in a life after this one. Throughout the movie they observe how I live in relation to this hope. Would they pity me if at the end of the movie I died and found out there was nothing afterward? Would they feel bad for me for living the way I did only to get nothing?

If we have no hope after this life, Christians are most to be pitied because Christ asks us to live as if there is hope after this life. He tells us to rejoice when we are insulted and persecuted because great is our reward in heaven (Matthew 5:11-12).  He challenges us to have faith that this is not our home.  He says that if the world hates us, it’s because we don’t belong to it (John 15:18-19).  He tells us to not store up treasure here but to store up treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21).  He tells us to deny ourselves and give our life for the sake of the gospel so that we won’t forfeit our soul in pursuit of worldly things (Mark 8:34-36).

Paul took Jesus’ words to heart.  He lived as if death would be the door to something better.  That’s why he said that to live is Christ but to die is gain (Philippians 1:21).  He told people that he desired to leave this world because then he would be with Christ which is by far better (Philippians 1:23).  I want to live with this faith.  I want to place no faith in earthly pleasures while putting all my faith in the eternal joy I will experience in the presence of Christ when I die.  Do you?

What earthly treasures do you place your faith in over treasure in heaven?

The apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:9:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Every Christian has been brought into marvelous light so that we may proclaim the excellencies of the one who called us out of darkness.

Peter goes on in 1 Peter 3:15 to say:

but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”

Every Christian is to be ready to make a defense to anyone who asks us for a reason for the hope that is in us. The hope that we receive from Christ. This defense, though, is to be done with gentleness and respect.

While talking to somebody about my faith, I am not superior to them. I am not better than them. I am a beggar. I have nothing and am nothing. Christ has given me everything. I am nothing without him. What I am offering is an explanation of what I have been given and an introduction to the one who has given it.

People who aren’t Christians aren’t people who don’t share my beliefs. They are lost souls. They don’t have Jesus, they don’t have eternal life, and they are living in darkness. Evangelism is not to change someone’s beliefs or worldview. It is to change their eternal destiny. It is to point them to the only one who can truly satisfy. Evangelism is proclaiming the excellencies of the one who has called me out of darkness into marvelous light! Oh how good you are sovereign Lord!

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10), giving his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).  With Paul I say that “Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst” (1 Timothy 1:15).  He paid his life for me.  He bought me.  I am not my own (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  He has chosen me and made me his own so “that [I] may proclaim the excellencies of him who called [me] out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).  Thank you Lord for your grace and mercy.

The past couple months I have sought to gain a deeper appreciation for the Bible and to hold it as something sacred. It’s easy for me to fall into a mindset where I don’t value the Bible as a precious gift, even as I call it the very Word of God. This isn’t an uncommon thing though. Many Christians will call the Bible the very Word of God. It has been reported that 92% of homes in the United States have a Bible in them yet in most of those homes it sits not cherished, not held as something sacred, unused, and collecting dust. Why? Why is the Word of God, which articulates the things he wants us to know about him and how to live for him, left unappreciated and unread? I think that Bibles are so easy to obtain that they have become commonplace. It’s just another book. Like food, it has become something that we take for granted.

Take a look at the excitement of the Kimyal people of Papua, Indonesia when a plane arrived on their island bearing the first copies of the complete New Testament in their language.

I want to be as excited about the Word of God as the Kimyal people. I want to open it every day and realize that I am holding something sacred. Think about the Bible for a minute. It is a book documenting God’s interactions with the world. It’s a book revealing the plans of the Creator for his creation. It’s a book telling us about the characteristics of the Almighty. It tells us about our Savior, Jesus. It tells us what he did, what he said, and what he taught. This book reveals God to us and gives us the knowledge that we need to know him. This is an amazing book! Think if you were walking on a beach and you found a bottle washed up on the shore with a letter inside it. You open the bottle and look at the note. It starts off “Dear Beloved Creation of Mine,” and ends “Love, God”. That is the Bible.

Read the Word. Cherish it as it should be cherished.

Tonight in our series on the tough words that Jesus said we are going to be looking at Matthew chapter 7, verses 21 through 23.  Jesus speaks the words of this passage near the end of a three-chapter sermon called the Sermon on the Mount.  It’s debated whether Jesus preached this entire sermon all at once or whether it is a compilation of things he said on numerous occasions.  Either way, the high bar that the Sermon on the Mount sets for moral and ethical living has caused some people to dismiss it as unrealistic or as an ideal that will come to be in heaven.  Jesus did not intend for it to be dismissed though.

In the 1^st century when Jesus walked the earth, the hearts of many religious leaders had strayed far from God.  Being obedient to God and his commands was something that was practiced on the outside in a superficial manner to look good.   Jesus time and time again challenged the way these religious leaders thought and acted, often with very harsh language.  Many of the teachings from the Sermon on the Mount challenge people to examine their hearts, not just their actions, when it comes to being obedient.  For example, people followed the command of “do not commit adultery.”  Jesus took it a step further and said “everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”  He wanted people to be transformed from the inside by God, not just the outside.  In Matthew 23 he exclaims, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.  So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matthew 23:27-28)  Jesus hates outward acts without inner transformation.  He spent a great portion of his ministry rebuking those who lived in this way.

So at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, a long sermon where Jesus pushes people to examine their hearts, we have Matthew chapter 7, verse 21 through 23, our passage for the night.  Let’s pray.

(Pray)

Imagine with me for a little bit and let me paint a picture for you.  It’s Monday morning and you just got done struggling through your two hour, 8 am biology class because you were up too late the night before celebrating the Packers victory in the Super Bowl.  You slowly pack up your stuff and sluggishly climb the steps out of your lecture hall.  You make your way towards the exit, barely remembering how to escape the maze of the science building in your sleepy daze.  You come to the exit doors and as you push them you feel the brisk winter chill on your face.  You trot down the stairs and head towards that magical crosswalk that cars just stop for you at.  You think about double checking to make sure they actually do stop but decide it’s too cold and need to conserve your energy for staying warm.  You begin crossing and immediately hear a car horn.  You quickly turn your head and are face to face with a blue Honda Civic.  It’s a terrible accident and you die.  You lift your head and standing before you at a distance you see Jesus.  You begin running to him but he doesn’t seem to notice.  When you get to him you say, “Lord, Lord!”  Jesus gives you a strange look like he doesn’t recognize you.  You return his perplexed gaze and say “Lord, Lord, didn’t I do many things for you?  Didn’t I go to church and serve in a soup kitchen and give money to charities?”  Jesus then looks at you and says plainly, “I never knew you; depart from me.”

Those are probably the last words that I would ever want to hear from Jesus.  “I never knew you; depart from me.”  Can you imagine what that would be like?  Jesus, Lord of lords, Savior of the world, telling you that he doesn’t know you and to depart from him.  But this is exactly what Jesus predicts and warns that he is going to do to certain people.

In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus says:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  And then will I declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

Now that’s some pretty serious stuff.

Several questions came up for me as I studied this passage.  First of all, when is this taking place?  When are these people saying this and when is Jesus giving this response?  Verse 21 says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.”  The kingdom of heaven can mean a couple things.  There’s a present kingdom of heaven that is here on earth but there is also a future kingdom of heaven, which people will enter when we die.  So which is this passage talking about?  In verse 22 Jesus says “on that day.”  What is that day?  It’s the day that we die.  So the kingdom of heaven is referring to heaven when we die.  This whole conversation Jesus is outlining happens after death.

Second question.  What is the “will of my Father who is in heaven”?  Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”  So we need to find out what God’s will is.

This could be said in many different ways but I think Jesus actually gives a good answer, huh weird, Jesus gave a good answer for what God’s will is.  In Matthew 22:34-40, the Pharisees, or religious leaders, heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, another group of religious leaders, and so wanted to lure him into a debate.  They wanted to trap him; they wanted to find fault in him.  They ask him what the greatest commandment of all is.  The Pharisees of the day had debates like this all the time.  Which laws are more important and which are less important?  They even had them categorized by importance.  Jesus’ answer to their question encompasses all of the Old Testament along with all of the New Testament, which wasn’t even written yet.  He says that the greatest commandment is, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”  This establishes a right vertical relationship, human to God.  He adds a second greatest commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  It establishes a right horizontal relationship, human to human.  They are not interchangeable though.  Love for God trumps love for people.  However, following the first commandment will make the second easier.  The second builds off the first.

Jesus ends by saying that all of the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.  They hang on them.  To paraphrase, if you were to take all of what is written in the Old Testament Law and all of what the prophets said and turned it into a daily vitamin, it would be called “love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself.”  Available at your local GNC for $29.99.  Or Wal-mart for $2.99.  Always low prices.

Anyway back to our original passage.  Let’s do some cut and paste and reread the first verse, Matthew 7:21.  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who follows the greatest and the second greatest commandments: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself. “  So there is God’s desire and will for us.  That is the standard he is going to measure us by.  Not an easy one to live up to but let’s pause on that verse for now and move on to the second part of our passage, verses 22 through 23.

“On that day (the day people die) many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many might works in your name?’  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

That is a lot to swallow.  Why does Jesus tell them to depart from him?  It looks like they were living for him.  They did a lot of things in his name.  Yet he tells them to depart, that he never knew them, and that they are workers of lawlessness.  Why?  Let’s hop to another passage to gain some more insight, the story of the rich young man found in Matthew 19.  It starts like this:

¹⁶And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”

First of all, this man doesn’t yet have a full grasp of who Jesus is.  He addresses him as “teacher” and doesn’t come to him as the one who gives the eternal life that he seeks but as the one who can give him answers on how to get it.  He doesn’t have the perspective that Peter had from the passage Tanya talked about last week when he said, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.”  He comes to Jesus desiring something from him, not desiring Jesus himself.

The passage continues:

¹⁷And he [Jesus] said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” ¹⁸He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said,  “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, ¹⁹Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  ²⁰The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?”

Jesus gives him a list of commandments to obey.  Notice that he includes the second greatest commandment, love your neighbor as yourself, but excludes the greatest commandment, love the Lord your God with all your heart all your soul and all your mind.  The young man responds to Jesus’ list of commandments, saying that he has done all this and asks what he lacks.

²¹Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” ²² When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Matthew 19:16-22)

Ok, picture this scene.  I think this is great.  This guy comes up to Jesus, looking to get this answer to complete his life.  “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”  They have their little exchange; Jesus gives him some commandments to obey.  The guy is probably feeling pretty good at this point.  “Jesus, I’ve got all those down.  What do I lack?”  Jesus tells him to sell everything he has and follow him.  Then the text says, “When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”  What does that look like?  To get an answer and then walk away sorrowful?  (really happy) “I’m doing all of that.  What could I be lacking?”  “Ok, sell all your stuff and follow me.”  (happy then sad, turn slowly)

Jesus says:

“If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then come, follow me.”

At this, the rich man went away sad because he had great wealth.  He was fine with superficially following the commandments, making himself into a Pharisee, but when Jesus dropped the greatest commandment, love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind, he wasn’t having it.  Jesus knew this man was worshiping something in his life that wasn’t God.  He was worshiping and in love with wealth.  The man could follow all of the other commands because they didn’t require him to give up anything he didn’t want to give up.  Then Jesus asked him to stop worshiping money, give it away and replace it with God, and he couldn’t do it.

Notice that Jesus didn’t say to this man, “Oh that’s fine if you can’t follow me, you’re still doing well in following all the other commandments.”  The man comes to Jesus and asks what he must do to have eternal life.  Jesus tells him: have a real, trusting relationship with me.  Not able to do this, the man walks away sad, without eternal life.  The man walks away not saved, not a Christian, and not having a relationship with Jesus.

At the end of our lives, before the judgment seat of Christ, there are not “good” and “bad” people.  There are perfect and imperfect people.  Good and bad is not how the Bible separates people.  Good and bad is so ambiguous.  We could argue about it all day.  How many good things make up for all the bad things?  How many bad things does it take to taint a good record?  Which good things are worth the most?  This just doesn’t work; there is no way to measure it.  On the other hand, there is either perfect or imperfect.  I am either perfect or I’m not, there’s no in between.

The rich young man was good and he knew it.  Jesus knew it too.  So Jesus said, in order to be perfect, stop loving money and love me.  We are only made perfect through Christ.  The same thing happens in Matthew 7:21-23.  Jesus says that only those who do the will of my Father will enter the kingdom of heaven, his will being that we love him with all our heart and all our soul and all our mind.  At this people will say, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons, and perform many miracles?”  In other words, “Lord, were we not good?  Did we not do good things for you?  Are we not good people?”  To which Jesus will reply, “I never knew you, depart from me.”

Don’t miss what Jesus is saying here!  Jesus is predicting that on the day people die, they will think that because they did all the right things, they are Christians and are going to heaven.  Jesus wants us to be in a relationship with him; this is the only way that we are made perfect.

Let me show you some of the pitfalls in my life that I’m prone to.  As an intern with Campus Crusade for Christ, my full time job is ministry, which is a huge blessing but also poses a danger for me.  I need to be sure that I don’t replace Jesus with the work that I do for him.  Sometimes I need to check myself and say, “OK Mitchel, are you loving what you are doing for Christ or are you loving Christ?”  It would be extremely easy to transition from finding my satisfaction in Christ to finding my satisfaction in doing ministry for Christ, thinking that I am walking closely with him because of all that I do.  Just me being on stage talking right now probably causes all of you to assume that I am a strong Christian.  You have no idea if I am walking closely with Jesus or not.  This is why doing things for Christ is not the same as having a relationship with him.

I can also start to stray from being focused on Jesus during the time I have set aside in the morning to meet with him.  I’m a huge achiever, so for me to finish a study on the book of the Bible can make me feel accomplished and satisfied.  I don’t want to get so caught up in studying and gaining knowledge that I miss actually meeting with Jesus.  I don’t want my time that is supposed to be meeting with him to become a time for me to achieve something.

I want to warn you against this as Christ is in Matthew 7.  Don’t turn your Christian life into a system or check list of things to do.  Quiet time today?  Check.  Prayed today? Check.  Went to Bible study today?  Check.  Went to CRU this week?  Check.

Those things do not equal a relationship with Jesus.  Jesus wants a real, life-changing, walk with him every day relationship.

If I would treat my relationship with any person like a checklist of things to do they would find a cooler, less robotic friend.  This would especially be true if I did this with my girlfriend Katie.  Picture this.  Ask her how her day was?  Check.  Give her a hug?  Check.  Buy her flowers every three weeks?  Check.  Spend a minimum of 30 minutes talking with her so that she feels we had some quality time?  Check.

This isn’t a relationship and Katie would be hurt if I started interacting with her in this way.  The same is true of Jesus.  Jesus rejects people and tells them to depart from him when they show him a list of things they have done for him.  His reasoning is that he never knew them.  Jesus doesn’t want us to do things for him, that’s easy. He wants us to know him.  He wants us to trust him and follow him.  He wants us to have a relationship with him.  But let’s face it.  Relationships are hard.  My relationship with Katie would be way easier if she just gave me a list of things to accomplish each day.  However, that would mean that I could just focus on this list rather than focus on her.  I’d be interacting with a list and not with a person.  This is the danger with religion.  Religion often times creates a system around Jesus.  Enact these traditions, say these words, do these deeds, perform this service.  We can then focus on being good at the system rather than having a relationship with Jesus.  In creating a system around Jesus, we lose him.  This is why he spent so much time shaking up the system that the Jewish leaders had put in place.  They had lost the heart of it.

So what can we walk out of here with tonight?

Even though these are tough words spoke by Jesus.  Words that are meant to warn us and to challenge us, they are also beautiful words.  They reveal Jesus’ heart.  They reveal that we can know him and that he wants us to know him.  How else could not knowing him be a basis for condemnation?

No matter where you are in relation to this passage, it holds the same hope.  Whether you feel secure, knowing that you have a relationship with Jesus, that you walk with him every day and put your trust in him.  Whether this scares you to death because you don’t have a relationship with him yet and have been outwardly living the Christian life but not inwardly.  Whether you have never heard of Jesus and a relationship with him.  The same magnificent, mind-blowing, universal, glorious, supernatural, hope exists.  That Jesus does want to have a relationship with you.  Think about of this crazy reality for a minute.

The God of the universe.  The God who created everything that exists.  The God who designed how our liver works, who created the chemical compound for water, who dialed in the settings for our planet to make it the perfect environment for life to happen.  That God came to earth and became flesh.  He became a human, like you and me.  He called himself Jesus and walked the earth for 33 years.  He talked with people the same as we do every day.  He taught people about himself and about the Bible.  He performed miracles.  He ate dinner with people, he went to weddings, he laughed, he cried, he was sad and he was angry, he was loved and he was hated.  He came to earth as a human, living in human form, with the purpose to change everything.  He suffered and endured the cross so that we could be made perfect.  After his death, he came back to life.  He was resurrected and revealed himself to people so that they could see that he was the real deal.  That everything anyone ever spoke about him and everything he spoke about himself was true.  Then he went back to heaven.  And the Bible says that because of his sacrifice on the cross, because of his obedience in all things, the name that is above every name has been bestowed on him and that “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:10).

Guys, this is Jesus.  This is the Jesus who wants a relationship with us.  Isn’t that crazy?  Isn’t that just mind-blowing?  Think about all that Jesus did for us and that he not only did it for us but also wants to continue doing things for and in us.  He wants to pour supernatural, heavenly life into us that can’t be obtained from anywhere else but from him.  He wants us to spend eternity with him.  He doesn’t want us to go to a place of eternal conscious punishment when we die.  He wants us to enjoy him and the life he offers both in this life and the next.  Jesus is who we sing to every Thursday night at CRU.  He is the topic that the entire Bible talks about.  He is almighty, all knowing, all satisfying and he doesn’t want us to go through this life without knowing and experiencing him.  Isn’t that amazing?

Campus Crusade for Christ: At the beginning of each semester, we gather our student leaders together for what we call a “Leadership Gear-Up”.  During this time students are able to reconnect with each other, receive training, plan evangelistic strategies, and receive vision for the semester.  I gave the last talk of the weekend which was intended to give students vision and excitement for the semester to come.  I hope it was successful   Here is the transcript.

We have in this room about seventy people.  Seventy people who said, “Yeah, I can commit to two days for a leadership gear up.”  And that excites me.  When I think about the seventy people in this room, I think, what would it be like if these seventy people met on campus and spent an hour doing evangelism, sharing the gospel with others.  For just one hour.  Think of the momentum we would have.  Think of the amount of people who could possibly have the gospel explained to them clearly for the first time in their lives.

I have thoughts like this pretty often.  Back in November, my roommates and I had a mini-Thanksgiving party for our disciples and we had a total of sixteen guys in our apartment.  Sixteen guys.  I looked around and saw men living their lives for Christ all gathered together for the same event.  What if instead of that event being about playing games and eating food, it was to huddle together in prayer and then disperse to start spiritual conversations all over campus.

Again this past weekend I thought about this when we had a Packer party for my roommate Travis’ birthday.  At one point that night we had at least 35 people in our apartment and to be honest, I had legitimate fears about the floor collapsing.  I advised some people to stay near the edge of the room with me because the most likely place for it to collapse would be in the middle and if we are on the edge we won’t be susceptible to falling through the hole and crushing the people who live below us.  Fortunately, the floor didn’t collapse, and we have not yet been evicted.  But I think about the amount of people who were willing to get their warm clothes on, get in their cars, and come to our cramped apartment to watch the Packer game and celebrate Travis’ birthday and I think, why not for the gospel?  Why don’t we make that effort and commitment to share Jesus with people who don’t have a relationship with him?

I’m not sharing this to make you feel bad about going to Packer parties.  That’s not why at all.  I am sharing it because it gets me excited to think about the potential we have as a group of believers.  In this room we have some people who have been Christians for three years who are more equipped to share their faith and disciple than people who have been Christians for decades.  You are some of the most equipped, most energetic, most passionate, most excitable Christians on the planet in a period of your lives where you are the most free and most available and every day you walk through an environment filled with the most open, most inquisitive, most easily influenced, most pliable, most lost people in the world.  The question is, what are we going to do about it?  At this time in your life, you have people who seek you out because they want to help you grow in your faith.  You have full time Campus Crusade staff members on your campus who have dedicated their lives to seeing you mature in your walk with Jesus.  This is the easiest time you will have in your life to find someone who will sit down with you every week to invest in your life.  This is also the easiest time in your life for you to do ministry.  You have a group of 150 other student leaders to support you.  You probably have the most freedom you have ever had, the least amount of responsibility, and the most free time.  Plus you have thousands of people at your doorstep who don’t know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

I want you to realize the potential that you have for your life and I believe Jesus does as well.

I think he would speak to us as he did his disciples in John 4:35 when he told them, “Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for the harvest.”

I mentioned this when I spoke at CRU, but my heart is broken by how misunderstood Christianity and the gospel is in our society.  When I talk to students on campus, and I ask them, “If your friend asked you how to become a Christian, what would you tell them”, and I am saddened by the answers I receive.  Ninety percent of the time I get an answer like, “Start going to church.  Start doing good things.”  Doesn’t that make you guys sad?  Where is Jesus in that?  Where’s grace?  Where’s, as Paul said, the free gift of God that isn’t a result of what we do?  Where’s the relationship with the greatest being in the universe?  This is an unsatisfying, do it yourself, I mark “Christian” for my religious affiliation on a demographics survey, type of Christianity.

Every day, we walk by people who are looking to alcohol, parties, sex, drugs, relationships, grades, success, eating, body image, money and popularity to satisfy them in life while we hold the key to the only thing that can truly satisfy.  The key is the gospel and the satisfaction comes from Jesus.  Who is going to tell them about the all satisfying Savior?  Paul asks this same question in Romans 10:

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?  And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?  And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  And how are they to preach unless they are sent?  As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

So who’s going to tell them?  Who’s going to share the gospel with them?  You are.  Some group of missionaries isn’t going to come in to reach the college campuses in central Wisconsin.  You are those missionaries.  As Christians we have been sent to reach central Wisconsin.  God is always asking as he did in Isaiah, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”  Who’s going to tell people the good news who don’t know me?  Who’s going to tell them that their sins have been forgiven, that I paid the price?  I pray that you all, myself included, would answer as Isaiah did, “Here am I!  Send me.”  No matter where you are in life.

But, “no matter where you are in life” is a multidimensional phrase.  Does it mean where you are geographically?  Where you are emotionally?  Where you are financially?  Where you are age-wise?  Where you are relationally?  This is the best part about the phrase “no matter where you are in life.”  It’s ambiguous.  It isn’t specific.  It’s up for interpretation.

God wants us to say, “Here am I!  Send me” in whatever stage of life we are in, no matter the conditions.  Jesus said “Go and make disciples of all nations”.  It’s a command with no conditions attached.  He didn’t say, “When you have nothing better to do and are 25 years old and are in a foreign country, if you feel like making some disciples, you should maybe think about it.”  No. He said “go” and “make”, no matter where you are in life.

The last thing that I, and any other person on our staff team, want to see is for students to be involved in ministry with CRU for a couple years in college and then stop living a missional lifestyle.  Jesus has not called us to share the gospel with college students.  He has called us to share the gospel with everyone. While in college, if you have been discipled and have been trained in how to share your faith, you are in a minority among Christians. Most Christians won’t be personally invested in or trained in how to share their faith.  Your potential for making an impact in this world for Jesus is huge. As I said before, you are some of the most equipped people in the world to do discipleship and evangelism, but that means nothing if you’re satisfaction isn’t found in Jesus.

I’d like to share a video that I saw at CRU last year which had a big influence on me. I actually downloaded the mp3 and would often listen to it on my way to school to remind myself of what I should be living for.

“The way we display the supreme worth of Jesus is by treasuring Him above all things and then making choices which make the joy we have in his supreme worth manifest.”

I want you to ask yourself, “What do I treasure above Jesus?”  Is it popularity, being known?  Is it being comfortable?  Is it money?  Is it free time?  Is it video games?  Is it hanging out with friends?  God has given us the gift that is the most satisfying gift we will ever get: Himself.

In 1983, Steve Jobs, founder of a relatively small upstart computer company called Apple, walked into the office of John Sculley, the president of Pepsi.  Jobs talked with Sculley about coming to work for Apple as their chief executive.  In his own words, Sculley recalls Jobs’ pitch to have gone something like this:“he looked up at me and just stared at me with the stare that only Steve Jobs has and he said ‘do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life or do you want to come with me and change the world?’ ”

You can judge for yourself whether Apple has changed the world or not, but there is no doubt that Jesus changed the world.  The amazing thing is that he has asked us to change the world as well.  We have been commissioned by Jesus himself and given his authority to “go and make disciples of all nations.”  God has given us the Holy Spirit to empower us and He has provided us with his very Word to guide us and teach us.  We have everything we need.

Let’s switch the characters around in the Apple and Pepsi story.  Jesus is Steve Jobs and we are John Sculley.  Jesus has sat us down and then he looks us in the eyes with a stare that simultaneously communicates his supreme kingship over all creation and his personal, unfailing love for us.  After a few moments, he asks, “do you want to drink from empty, unsatisfying wells for the rest of your life, or do you want to follow me and change the world?”  I say we treasure Jesus above the sugar water this world offers and make an impact in central Wisconsin and the world for Jesus Christ.

What do you treasure above Jesus?

What are four things you can do to change the world through your campus?