- Not Judgmental, But Concerned

Some people have accused me of sitting in judgment. But I think I am examining, with Christian concern, the true spiritual condition of many within the church’s ranks. There exists a mind-set within present-day Christianity that supposes no one should get into trouble or suffer embarrassment for Christ’s sake.

What is our answer when the Holy Spirit whispers to us about the true nature of our professed love for Jesus Christ? Suppose a young man proclaims his love for a certain young woman and wants to have her for his wife. But there is a difficulty he must consider. The girl’s father is hostile to the match, letting the young man know that if he shows up again, he may be invited to leave under threat of a baseball bat—or worse.

If that young man schemes of ways to see the girl regardless of her father’s threats, I would call it a case of true love. But if he professes his love and then is frightened off by the threats, probably the girl was nothing more than a passing fancy.

I realize that my illustration has to do with human nature. Human nature is prone to measure the importance of benefits and to determine whether or not the benefits are worth the effort. Within our Christian setting, we presume we are talking about men and women who have been born again, brought out of darkness into light, transformed by the grace and mercy of God. They have tasted the benefits God has for them in Christ Jesus.

Throughout church history, millions of people have proven what it actually means to be loyal to Christ, what it means to say that Jesus Himself is more important than anything in this world.

“They tore at me!” A number of years ago, in Chicago, I was in a car with several young people on our way to a youth rally. One of those in the car was a Jewish girl. Why she was with that Christian group I do not know, except that God’s Spirit was still doing something in her life and soul. She told us of her experience in giving her heart to Jesus Christ and receiving Him as her Messiah. But afterward, at home with her family and relatives, she encountered not only the traditional hatred for Jesus but actual physical abuse as well. I remember the chills I felt as she emotionally described how she was attacked.

“They tore at me! They screamed at me! They literally ripped my dress and clothes from my body and demanded that I repudiate my faith!”
“What did you do?” her young friends in the car asked.

I remember yet the anger in her answer. “What could I do? It wasn’t worth it! It wasn’t worth what I had to put up with!” Yet, there she was, going with Christian friends to a youth rally. I never heard more about the girl. Deep in my heart, I believe that if she truly had found Jesus as her Messiah and Lord, God had something further for her. I do not think her angry outburst of “It wasn’t worth it” could have been the end of her faith.

I cannot describe what I feel deep within me when I hear of a Christian brother or sister who has suffered for the faith, or who has been martyred for the testimony of Jesus Christ. As I said earlier, my church is deeply involved in overseas missions. Just within the areas of my church’s responsibility, it would be impossible to say how many faithful pastors and lay people have actually died for the faith. With a sense of distant admiration, we call them simple-hearted nationals. God calls them overcomers! Professing Christians in our North American churches can hardly comprehend so costly a price for the faith we take for granted. Material prosperity and popular acceptance have sapped the vitality of our witness.

It is a completely distorted view of true biblical faith to personify Christianity by the wealthy, back-slapping boisterous businessperson who measures success by bank accounts, big cars, palatial homes and expensive vacations. I certainly am not saying that successful and prosperous people cannot be Christians—the grace and mercy of God sees to that. My point is that Christianity, in so many instances, is being equated with material wealth and affluence. These are the conditions that are facing us in Christianity, not only in North America but in other nations as well. Have we “eaten the book”? The question is this: What are we allowing the Word of God to say to us, and what is our reaction to that Word? Have we consumed and digested the book? Have we absorbed the Word of God into our lives? Or are we among those content to be a part of a Christian congregation where there are no extreme demands, where fellowship will be consistently pleasant and without responsibility? When we, as Christians, love our Lord Jesus Christ with heart and soul and mind, the Word of God is on our side! If we could only grasp the fact that God’s Word is more than a book! It is the revelation of divine truth from the person of God Himself. It has come as a divine communication in the sacred Scriptures. It has come to us in the guidance and conviction imparted by the divine Spirit of God within our beings. It has been modeled for us in Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word and the eternal Son.

Probably the majority of people who have lived in this twentieth century have held and hold to the idea that God is silent. I have talked with people who supposed that God spoke the holy Scriptures into being and then lapsed into centuries-long silence.

God is not silent, and His love for His creation is such that He has never been silent. We should realize, for the good of our spiritual lives, that the Scriptures are effective in our beings because the Living Word is speaking in heaven and the Living Voice is sounding throughout the earth: This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God has overcome the world. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. We accept man’s testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. (1 John 5:3-10)

We who preach the Word of God do not have the facility for plain speech that the Holy Spirit imparted to John. Can words be more direct than these? “This is love for God: to obey his commands.” The act of committal to Jesus Christ in salvation releases us from the penalty of sin, but it does not release any of us from the obligation to obey the words of Christ, our Savior. Rather, it brings us under the joyful necessity to obey. If we would have God’s blessing upon us, we must begin to obey.