I want to ask you a question.
Are you a Christian?
Now, don't get me wrong, I do not want to question your salvation. I want to awaken your soul.
John the baptist is what we would call today, a radical fundamentalist.
The dude's nuts.
Mark 1:4-6 sheds light onto who this man is.
"He was in the wilderness and preached that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God... His clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey."
Like I said.
Nuts.
But, as Shane Claiborne once said, the Kingdom of God is preached not by force, but by fascination.
As he preached, crowds would come to him, asking him what it means to be forgiven. And he replied
" Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don't just say to each other 'we're safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.' That means nothing! God can create children of Abraham from these very stones!" (Luke 3:8)
What does he say to the crowds? Don't just say your a Christian. Live it. Don't think that because you live in America, a country founded on "Christian" ideals, so I'm safe. Don't think "Well, my parents go to church." or "I go to a spirit filled church." "I sit under a great pastor." "My youth pastor challenges me." " I raise my hands during worship." These things are all great, but John's saying here that actions speak louder than this. Our lives away from church are what sing Jesus' songs.
John continues:
"Every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire." (Luke 3:9)
This intrigues John's followers. Or scares them silly. Pressingly they ask
"What should we do?" (verse 10)
'Okay John. I want to live this life of repentence. I want to live for your God. How do I do this? I certainly don't want to be thrown in the fire.'
So John explains:
"If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry." (verse 11)
John, in two sentences - one small verse of the bible - defines Christianity. He says "This is how you do it."
Right there.
Plain
as
day.
So many times in our Christian walks we want to make it all about not doing things. We believe that Christianity is going to church, avoiding the big sins, and voting republican. But John here says its so much more than that. We are defined by what we give.
Jesus defines Christianity in the harshest third-person narrative possible. In Matthew 25 he's chillin with his followers teaching them kingdom principals when he decides to shake things up a bit.
[ Turn to Matthew 25 and read verses 31-46]
That's intense. Jesus here is saying that if we are not helping others we are not His followers.
I've never heard this preached before.
And that
scares
me.
When did Christianity become unmoving? When did it become about us and what we can get from the Lord? Jesus says it's about taking up our crosses and following Him. Christianity is a hard, hard thing. It's a love the breaks our hearts and keeps us up at night. One that seeks to give of oneself rather than take for oneself. It is open-handed and compassionate. It hurts. Christ made salvation so easy to aquire, but it is a narrow road.
One day I was driving around downtown Indianapolis, just praying for the city, when the Lord told me to the Lawrence area (where calvary temple is). So my head started fabricating all these ideas of what his plan could be. So I decided that the Lord wanted me to donate some plasma to get some money so I could buy breakfast and take it back downtown in the morning. So I went to the plasma care center, pretty stoked about what was happening, only to be told that they were closed.
Bummer.
So I get back in my car, rather flustered, asking God
"Dude
what's
UP."
As I was driving back to the interstate I saw a man holding a sign that read "Hungry, anything helps, God Bless."
"OH!"
So I pull over and offer him a bottle of water. He hobbles over to my car and accepts the water. Literally as he was taking the water from my hands the Lord told me to take him to dinner.
"Lord, I only have like 5 bucks."
"Take him to dinner."
"But God, that's dangerous. I don't know this guy."
"Oh, I forgot."
"Okay okay okay. JEESH!"
So I invite him, and he get in the car.
His name was Danny.
He explains to me that he has a disease that clowds his eye sight and a bad hip which prevents him from work.
He literally couldn't see 2 feet in front of him.
So we go to taco bell and I buy us some food. We sit and he tells me his life.
It sucks.
There comes a pause in the conversation, so I ask
"Has anyone ever told you about Jesus?"
And his eyes weld up and a smile grew on his face.
His personna completley changed.
He grabbed my hand
looked into my eyes and said something I will never forget.
He said
"You know, there just aren't very many Christians anymore."
Jesus says in Luke 6:46, "Why do you keep calling me 'Lord, Lord!' when you don't do what I say?"
I looked at him, broken hearted, and could only agree with him.
-----
John, in prison, sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus a question. John, facing death, needed to make sure Jesus was who He said He was. Cuz if not
he's in trouble.
So, as John requested, the disciples ask Jesus "Are you the one we are waiting for, or should we expect another?"
And Jesus, throwing the ball back in their court, asks them "You tell me. Do I heal the sick? Do I bring hope to the hopeless? Do I feed the hungry?"
Do we have that kind of integrity, friends?
Are we Christians? Do we give? Do we love? Do we really look like Jesus?
That is my challenge to you, and to myself as well.
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