What is Normal Christianity?
1) Big Brains & Simple Saints: How Important Is Christian Apologetics?
2) Conflicting Extremes in the Christian's Life
Preface
Facing Up To Hard Sayings
Does being a Christian significantly affect the way you live? To what extent does the Bible influence your thinking and decision-making? Important questions. And our honest answers will be telling.
In John 6 we find that Jesus' message went down badly with everybody! The Jews argued among themselves, probably because they were rankled. His disciples complained because they were offended. Arguments and complaints. Not much has changed. The words Jesus used were “a hard saying” (v. 60) because He spoke figuratively about eating His flesh and drinking His blood. As a result “many went back and walked with Him no more.” It was a weird concept to them.
But many choose to go back even when more agreeable language is used. They find the real message unacceptable. It's too much to ask. Not long after I became a Christian a man I worked with told me he wouldn't become a true believer because he couldn't live up to the high standards of the Christian life. His behaviour and talk confirmed he was as far from God as it's possible to be. It's worth mentioning he was very active in his church.
I was reminded of the “hard saying” when I'd finished getting my head and heart fully around what The New Testament has to say about typical, or normal Christianity. It's been a slow evolution for me with more than a few intellectual snares along the way. I know that many Christians, myself included, fall far short of what God intends for them. But when a concerned minority take time to grasp what Scripture says about the Christian life some initially conclude it's all a bit extreme and too hard to accept.
The more you understand, the more God requires of you. In the very act of moving closer to God you open up yourself to His loving discipline. Life can be very hard indeed. I know. Whatever the cause of the hurt, He wants your whole heart and He despises half measures.
A “very rich” young ruler came to Jesus and asked Him what he should do to inherit eternal life. He told Jesus he had kept the commandments even since his youth. Hearing this Jesus bypassed the man's religious props by shining a light into his sinful nature. He told him to give away his riches and follow Him. But when challenged in this way the young man “went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions” (Matthew 19:22, NKJV). He chose to go back; he wouldn't walk with Jesus. Are we among those who sorrowfully turn away? What price is to be paid for holding something back?
When you read over and over again The New Testament and The New Testament only, God turns on a very bright light. He helps you understand what your daily walk with Him should be like. Being born anew in Christ is a radical event. It's an all-encompassing challenge. It's about denying yourself, your old nature, and instead putting on your new self that's Christlike.
It's about your behaviour, how you talk, who you identify with, where you go, what you think. It's about faith and trust. It's about making the most of the time for the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16). Life is very short. It's about moving on from learning about God to knowing Him personally. If you are a real Christian you can be confident the Spirit of Christ lives within you, whether you 'feel' it or not. We find freedom when we simply believe it.
Will we turn away and pretend we haven't heard the truth? Are we too afraid to know the fullness of it because we realise we will have to change our lifestyle and priorities? If we should find out, do we fear we won't be able to live up to the high standards? Those who stop short of responding to what they know to be true must realise that some day they will stand before Him and give account. We won't escape judgement and there are no second chances.
True Christians are not on their own because they are not their own: they were bought with a price and now they are in Christ. Christ lives in them. Christians owe God everything.
As we draw near to God in simple faith He promises He will draw near to us. We need to understand our own baseness and God's power and provision. The Christian life is a mix of our humanness and God's full Salvation. The Christian life isn't a religious performance – it's a spiritual relationship with a Person.
We must go to Him in faith and ask.
1) Big Brains & Simple Saints: How Important Is Christian Apologetics?
2) Conflicting Extremes in the Christian's Life
3) Are We Normal Christians?
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