By the Book

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Growing up, I was exposed to several different pastors ranging from the biggest, most famous pastors with a worldwide following down to our local pastors with small congregations. I would say that my outlook on Christianity wasn’t that different from the average, complacent church-goer: Go to church, go home, go to work and try to be a decent person in the midst of carrying on with your daily life. This is what Christianity looks like for most of us in the western parts of the world.

I eventually realized that each pastor I would listen to had their own version of the Gospel. However, I never really questioned this until I got older. Why are there so many different versions of the same message? Despite there being several translations of the Bible, we could more than likely agree that a vast majority of them say the same thing.

A few years ago, God told me that I was struggling in my walk with Him because of the pastors that were influencing me. Not having much depth in the Word, I never realized that the pastors I would listen to usually just told me everything that I wanted to hear. I wasn’t taking into consideration if what they were saying was completely accurate or not.

As I got older, I started to not see the point in Christianity. It never seemed effective to me. Everyone claiming Christianity still struggled in the same ways and had basically the exact same life as those who didnt claim it, all while chanting that their lives are completely in the hands of God.

"24 So everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts upon them [obeying them] will be like a sensible (prudent, practical, wise) man who built his house upon the rock. 25 And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a stupid (foolish) man who built his house upon the sand. 27 And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great and complete was the fall of it. " - Matthew 7:24-27 AMPC

Unfortunately, as a vast majority of people, our experience is that the people and behaviors we see on Sunday seem to vanish during the week.

The more I began to study the Bible for myself, the more I realized that Jesus had a much harder message in His version (the only version) of the Gospel.

"33 So then, any of you who does not forsake (renounce, surrender claim to, give up, say good-bye to) all that he has cannot be My disciple. 34 Salt is good [an excellent thing], but if salt has lost its strength and has become saltless (insipid, flat), how shall its saltness be restored?" - Luke 12:33-34 AMPC

Why do we think we can serve a God who is out of this world without forsaking everything of this world? Even the people who walked on the moon had to leave everything behind to experience life on another planet. Is it possible for us to experience another realm of life without completely detaching from this one? Once a person sets off for a trip to the moon, they must learn and adopt a new way of living, all while knowing that a majority of their family and friends will not have the faith it takes to join them.

As a Christian, we must make these same tough decisions. To my surprise, the people that had the desire to sit and listen to Jesus for many hours, even up to a few days, were not considered to be Christians based on His standard. In fact, being a listener of Jesus didn’t actually mean much in the Bible other than you had an interest in who He was.

"22 But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth]. 23 For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror; 24 For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like." - James 1:22-24 AMPC

We have ventured off into our own version of Christianity that expects a lot from God while giving a little of ourselves. All over the world, we see people of God being put in positions that require them to give up every aspect of their lives in order to be a Christian. Even though this dedication isn’t typically on full display in America, we see this to be true in several other countries. The reality is that for a majority of people all over the world, claiming Christ means sacrificing the life and comforts that they previously cherished.

"25 Now huge crowds were going along with [Jesus], and He turned and said to them, 26 If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his [own] father and mother [in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God] and [likewise] his wife and children and brothers and sisters—[yes] and even his own life also—he cannot be My disciple. 27 Whoever does not persevere and carry his own cross and come after (follow) Me cannot be My disciple." - Luke 14:25-27 AMPC

In America, we have fallen for a different version of Christianity that allows you to do what you want while still being considered a servant of Christ. However, we are only fooling ourselves and lying our way to hell.

"7 Not that there is [or could be] any other [genuine Gospel], but there are [obviously] some who are troubling and disturbing and bewildering you [with a different kind of teaching which they offer as a gospel] and want to pervert and distort the Gospel of Christ (the Messiah) [into something which it absolutely is not]. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to and different from that which we preached to you, let him be accursed (anathema, devoted to destruction, doomed to eternal punishment)! 9 As we said before, so I now say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel different from or contrary to that which you received [from us], let him be accursed (anathema, devoted to destruction, doomed to eternal punishment)!" - Galatians 1:7-9 AMPC

A few days ago, I was talking to a guy who said, “What’s wrong with taking a vacation if I want one?”

My response was, “Absolutely nothing. However, if we claim to be servants of Christ but are still doing the things that we want, we must ask ourselves if Christ is truly alive on the inside of us.”

One of Jesus Christ's most famous phrases was, "Not My will, but Yours be done." If we are still focused on what we want or our own personal will, we must ask ourselves if the same Spirit that led Jesus into saying, "Not My will, but Your will be done," resides in us.

"20 I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 21 [Therefore, I do not treat God’s gracious gift as something of minor importance and defeat its very purpose]; I do not set aside and invalidate and frustrate and nullify the grace (unmerited favor) of God. For if justification (righteousness, acquittal from guilt) comes through [observing the ritual of] the Law, then Christ (the Messiah) died groundlessly and to no purpose and in vain. [His death was then wholly superfluous.]" - Galatians 2:20-21 AMPC

We have become so accustomed to not hearing the voice of God that we think He’s not supposed to speak. However, God’s Word says that He only hears the people that are committed to doing His will, not their own.

"31 We know that God does not listen to sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and a worshiper of Him and does His will, He listens to him." - John 9:31 AMPC

This is why we say long prayers hoping to impress God, because the commitment we have for Him is despicable. We have forsaken the dedication and discipline that comes with being a disciple and replaced it with just trying to be decent people who try not to argue with their neighbors.

"14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you swallow up widows’ houses and for a pretense to cover it up make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation and the heavier sentence." - Matthew 23:14 AMPC

We have orchestrated our own form of the gospel that requires nothing from us but expects everything from God. We live out our lives the way we please while expecting the Creator of the Universe to bow His will to our own, using God as a front to continue living to please ourselves. We have used our titles in religion to justify our faith instead of acts of obedience towards God, leaning on our charisma to gain favor with man instead of relying on our obedience to gain favor with God, the Maker of man. We have used our church attendance to cover up the fact that we have attempted to kidnap Jesus Christ and drag Him on our own journey that leads to nowhere.

"14 I do not write this to shame you, but to warn and counsel you as my beloved children. 15 After all, though you should have ten thousand teachers (guides to direct you) in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the glad tidings (the Gospel). 16 So I urge and implore you, be imitators of me." - 1 Corinthians 4:14-16 AMPC

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Question of the day: Would Jesus consider your life to be by the book?