It was too late, my eyes had already seen the words and now they were on their way to my hard drive, preparing to be etched in my mind forever. The words became like a missile to a target, my heart. I sat completely still and stunned for a moment as I pieced together the words into a life-changing sentence. The words penetrated not only my heart but what felt like every bone in my body. The words read, “It’s time to give up your good Christian life and start following Christ.” If my dragon had never been raised before, it was showing its fierce head now. Who is this guy? What gives him the right to be so quick to judge? My response was…now wait just a minute! I am a follower of Christ, and it is evidenced by my good Christian life, right?
It was the shock of it all that knocked a hole in my wall of security and protection. The wall that had surrounded me for so many years had now been breached and much of what I knew about being a good Christian was now in question. If following Christ is not a good Christian life then what is it? In fear of us accepting religion and pursuing good behavior and calling ourselves Christ followers, Jesus made it a bit more clear in Luke 9:23, when He said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
It was the first part of Jesus’ statement that stalled my attention to the rest. He said, as if I were hearing it whispered in my very own ear, “If anyone would come after me.” Christ was inviting me to make a directional decision. Would I choose to allow Christ to be positioned in my life as my singular focus and pursuit? Would I choose Christ or a good Christian life? Then it dawned on me…it was not a good Christian life that led to Christ, it was Christ that led me to a good Christian life! Joseph Stowell said it best, “If Christianity is dull and boring, if it is a burden and not a blessing, then most likely we are involved in a project, not a person – a system not a Savior, rules rather than a relationship.”
Pastor Andy Veith