In the spirit of the amazing #nofilter testimonies that people from the Cambridge Christian Union have been sharing over the past week (http://www.nofiltercambridge.com/people), in this post I hope to be similarly transparent as I explore what "being a Christian" actually means for me in the day-to-day.
From Failure to Faith
"Christianity is one beggar telling another beggar where to find food" - D.T. Niles
My primary aim in writing this is to show you that Christians are not flawless or doubtless or special - rather conveniently I am an excellent case study to draw out this point!
See, Christians can not be proud of anything in themselves but only of what Christ has done for them. The last thing we want to do is give the impression that we're somehow better than everyone else for being Christian. We don't think that we are better than you. And if ever we do, we're wrong.
Christians believe that through no goodness of our own we have stumbled across some very good news. We are, indeed, like beggars who have discovered a free banquet; we simply want to share the joy of what we have found with everyone we meet!
I fail at being like Jesus about 100% of the time. Heck, I fail to even be a particularly nice person a lot of the time! Every Christian is on a journey of faith, and none of us have it totally figured out yet. We all have moments of doubt and despite everything God has given me I still have plenty of them.
But this is not a weakness of Christianity. In fact, it is indicative of it's main strength.
It is so easy for us to think that we can do enough good things and few enough bad things for God to invite us into heaven. But the truth is that there is not one thing I have ever done that I could place before God and be able to say "you can not condemn me".
Joyously though, Christianity says that I don't have to, because on that day Jesus will absorb God's wrath in my place. This has been the substance and the treasure of my Christian faith.
"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." - Jesus (Mark 2:17)
From Religion to Grace
"As soon might you expect the lion of the wood to abjure his cruel tyranny over the feeble beasts of the plain, as expect the sinner to make any confession, or offer any repentance that shall be accepted of God, unless grace shall first renew the heart.” - Charles H. Spurgeon
It really is a beautiful story; that the author of the universe wrote Himself into our history. That the one who created trees allowed Himself to be hung on one for our sakes. That "He who knew no sin became sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21).
This is this glorious truth that I try to dwell on every day, and it is from this truth that I understand everything else. The beauty of nature casts my mind to His greatness, for "the heavens declare the glory of God". I can be comfortable with who I am, for God "will rejoice over [me] with singing". I try to love unconditionally because "while we were still sinners Christ died for us." (Psalm 19:1, Zephaniah 3:17, Romans 5:8)
This really captures the essence of my Christian life. It is not about doing Christian things. It is not even about my faith. Indeed, "We contribute nothing to our salvation except the sin that made it necessary!" (Jonathan Edwards)
Rather, it is about acknowledging the One who is "the author and perfecter of our faith", admitting that apart from Him "we have no good thing", and accepting the "life, and life to the full" that He offers! (Hebrews 12:2, Psalm 16:2, John 10:10)
Buddha's last words were, "Strive without ceasing."
In contrast, Jesus' last words on the cross were, "It is finished."
Religion is man straining for the heavens and failing; for me, Christianity is the beautiful story of God coming down to earth so that we need strain in vain no more; all we need do is accept Him.
“In love he predestined us for sonship through Jesus Christ…to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves” - Ephesians 1:5-6
From Reason to Affection
"The only theology worth studying is a theology that can be sung" - Sam Storms
God reveals Himself via our faculty of reason, but His aim in so doing is to affect our hearts, that we might conform ourselves to His perfect will. I have found that living as a Christian is only partially an exercise of the mind; it additionally entails both exercise of the will, and of the emotions.
I may accept John Stuart Mill's philosophical defense of utilitarianism, and may convince myself of the poverty statistics on the Oxfam website, but until I am affected by this knowledge not one pound of my money nor any hour of your time will be extended to those who need it!
If there is no emotional response, nothing is going to get done, and the (albeit correct) belief is of no consequence. So too does active faith necessarily rely on the affections, for lifeless faith fails to produce action; academic beliefs are perhaps enough to sustain passive theism, but have never on their own compelled anyone to attend early morning prayer meetings!
It is simply a part of the human condition that we are not fully rational creatures, and as such it is not enough for us to merely hold beliefs about God; I must also rejoice in these truths, or they will be dead to me. Most days I struggle against emotional apathy in my own heart and say along with the Jewish king David, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits." (Psalm 103:2)
Though I love learning about God it is critical that this head-knowledge be continually turned into affection and thanksgiving towards God; theology must always lead to doxology. To know of God but to not know God would be the greatest tragedy of all, and this is something I daily lift up to God because I know it's a vice I slip into easily!
“But it is doubtless true, and evident from [the] Scriptures, that the essence of all true religion lies in holy love; and that in this divine affection, and an habitual disposition to it, and that light which is the foundation of it, and those things which are the fruits of it, consists the whole of religion.” - Jonathon Edwards
From Services to Service
"Going to church no more makes you a Christian than being in a garage makes you a car" - Billy Sunday
My church leader once closed his sermon with "That's the end of the meeting. The service starts now." He was making the point that meetings are not the main event of the Christian walk, and rightly so. They should funtion more like a pit-stop that sets us up to continue that walk the rest of the time, where going against the grain might be more necessary.
Church is an amazing time to encourage other Christians, to remind ourselves of what we believe, and to celebrate God together. But this should not be where we do all the Christian things. Jesus' brother says "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress" (James 1:27)
This is a big challenge for me personally - I am often content with going to loads of Christian meetings and leaving the rest of my life pretty much unchanged. But this is not what God wants.
He doesn't want people to sing about Him, and then get on with the rest of their lives as normal.
Rather, He wants people to encounter Him, and to be so affected by His love that they go out and spread that love wherever they go. Again, I am bad at this. But by God's support I am slowly learning, and by God's grace that is all that matters.
Jesus cares not for what we do, if it is not done in love. Hang around church long enough and you'll act Christian just so you'll fit in, but this is not indicative of any internal change. Jesus looks at our hearts, and I for one know that my heart rarely has purely selfless motives! How often do we make sacrifices to do good things, without secretely hoping for the affirmation from others for doing so?
In all that I do, I try to question my motives; "am I doing this for God, or for the affection of others?"
God cares intimately about every single one of us, and wants us to live lives laid down for each other rather than lives lived comfortably for ourselves.
In so doing, we reflect something of the infinite love He has for us. This really is at the heart of the what God wants for us, and I try to live it out each day - to be kind as Jesus was kind; to care as Jesus cared; to love as Jesus loved,.
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" - Romans 3:23-24
From Faith to Obedience
"Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams." - 1 Samuel 15:22
Despite knowing the corruptness of my heart more than I do myself, God sees me and He loves me. Not because of who I am, but because of who He is. And I believe the same is true for you also.
And as He offered His all for us on the cross, I believe He offers us everything He has now.
To whom should I give thanksgiving and praise, but to the One "by whom everything has its sustenance and has its being", the One "from whom every good gift is given", and the One "by whose scars we are healed"? (Colossians 1:17, James 1:17, 1 Peter 2:24)
And whom should I obey and submit myself to, but the One who "knit me together in my mothers womb", and "works all things to the good of those who love Him"? (Psalm 139:13, Romans 8:28)
So I pray. I study my Bible. I fight lustful thoughts. I try to love the unloveable. I try to be generous. I endeavor to do all that God tells me to do. Not out of religious obligation, but because I believe that He knows best how the human machine functions, and thus knows how I can best live my life.
Every hour I obey Him confirms this to me. In doing as He says I find an abundance of joy like I've found nowhere else. My experience has been that the more I pursue God, the more sensitive my conscience, my mind, my emotions - my whole being - becomes to His Work. As such, being a Christian is (in my experience) a very exciting adventure - I'd recommend you try it for a week!
Every day I fail to glorify Him with my life, yet every morning He sets the sun upon its path to shine upon me once more, thereby giving me a million more chances. I have nothing to offer Him that he does not already have, yet He adopts me into His family, and showers His blessings upon me without restraint!
I am not worried about academic success or anything else, because my identity is in Christ. Having God as my firm foundation has got me through my lowest moments unshaken, because I know that the author of the universe cares for me. If God is for me, whom shall I fear?
I know this all sounds very comforting and convenient. But what if it were true?
If this has whetted your appetite and you want to know more, I'm more than up for a chat so please do ask me, or any other Christian for that matter! Investigate for yourself; what is there to lose?
"Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important." - C.S. Lewis
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