I asked this friend a couple of honest hard questions and one of their responses was that when they were leading a "Christian life" before, this person constantly felt like they were trying to live up to everyone's expectations and in doing so, they were always faking it. I thought about this. I know that it is not uncommon for people to feel pressure from their families to live or be a certain way. Often this feeling of having to "measure up" can seep into all our relationships and the enemy can even twist it so that we feel like God has this long, endless list of expectations that we have to fulfill to gain His approval and love. This is such a LIE!! He just loves us because that is who He is. He created us to love and be loved without conditions, expectations, or demands. He is Love itself and so I am constantly challenged in my own life to love just for the sake of loving. I hope my life is a song of loving others for the sake of Love. That by me loving others without bias or restraint, others might encounter Love Himself and enter into a relationship with Love, Jesus Christ!
Another thing that this friend said, which I have heard from many others before, is that they are not sure that there is just one way to Heaven, or God. As I was meditating on this afterwards, I asked myself "Why do I believe that there IS only one way?" I think that as Christians, it is really important that we are not afraid to ask ourselves this question (and others) and genuinely search out the truth to each one.
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect... 1 Peter 3:15
God wants us to be wise, and prepared to give an answer for our faith and the hope we have in Christ. God never wanted us to be robots. That is why when He created us He gave us free will, so that when we choose to love Him, it is real, genuine, and not because we have to, but out of the passionate response at experiencing His amazing love for us. Then, after we have that first encounter with His love, He wants us to continue to seek Him out on our own, read His word while asking Him what He wants to tell us through it, and bring the questions we have to Him without hesitation or fear. Just as a small child goes to their parents when they see something new for the first time asking "What's that?" or the relentless "why?" at so many of the things this child observes in the world around them. I don't think God ever wanted us to just swallow everything that is preached to us, taught, or told as "second-hand revelation".
There is nothing wrong with listening to the teaching of godly, spirit-filled men and women of God; pastors, prophets, teachers, evangelists, apostles. But in order for God's word to take root in our heart's and bear fruit, we must search out the word for ourselves, read the truth for ourselves, personally invite the Holy Spirit into our lives, and ask Him to reveal the deeper truths hidden in His Word. No human being is perfect so even godly leaders sometimes (if not most of the time) preach or teach with a little bit of their own thoughts or ideas mixed in and part of being good "students" or disciples of Jesus, is be asking God personally "What are you specifically speaking to me through this message?" We need to be discerning and prepared to ask the Holy Spirit what is from Him, and what is carnal.
An old saying I heard many years ago was "Chew the meat, spit out the bones." I applied this to various churches I was a part of over the years, or visited. Because the church (or body of Christ) is made up of humans, it is not perfect. We are in the process of being refined and perfected into the fullness of His image, but we have not yet arrived. While there might be one or two things I occasionally hear a pastor say that I don't totally agree with, or might be slightly off base, or even theologically correct but spoken from the wrong heart motive... there is still plenty of truth that I can receive and choose to apply to my life. Metaphorically speaking, if we were to avoid every piece of meat for fear of the bones, we would starve ourselves! So many people are hurt by one church, or even just one or two people in one church, and from that one bad experience, they forever banish themselves from having anything to do with all the churches and in doing so, they cut themselves off from the entire body of Christ, starving themselves of fellowship and life!!
Here is the great thing about God. He does not want one of us to live in ignorance, just faking it to fit in, but not really knowing in the depths of our hearts what we really believe. He doesn't want us just going through the motions or trying to fit into some particular mould that the world has put out for us.
You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13
It is a comfort to me to know that when I choose to truly seek after God with all of my heart, I will find Him.
I did a little study on this verse and here is what I found: "You will seek" in the Hebrew the root word is baqash which means to search out (by any method, specifically in worship or prayer); by implication, to strive after. "Me and find" comes from the root word matsa' which means to come forth to, i.e. appear or exist, to attain, find or aquire; to occur, meet or be present. "Me when you search" comes from the root word darash which means to tread or frequent; usually to follow (for pursuit or search); by by implication, to seek or ask; specifically to worship. "for Me with all your heart" comes from lebab meaning the heart (as the most interior organ).
I picture searching for God as going on a treasure hunt. He has already mapped out hints and dropped clues all over the place for us to follow. Just as a miner who pans for gold does not simply walk to any river, dip his pan in, and lift it out having it filled with gold and nothing else... we have to go to the right river, and dig deep, sifting through the silt, rocks, sand, and dirt, to find the treasure God has hidden for us there. To be consistent in our pursuit of Him, frequenting our times of hearing and listening to His voice, of asking Him what is on His heart, of studying His character by the stories of our faithful God recorded for thousands of years along with current testimonies that are happening every day all around the world.
For missionary kids and pastor's kids, it is easy to ride on the faith of their parents, learn how to behave, learn what is expected of them and how if they act a certain way they will be accepted and approved of. As I encouraged this friend, I would encourage anyone the same way; find out what you believe for yourself. Search out the truth with persistence and vigour. Don't dismiss the faith of your parents for the sake of being independent or doing your own thing. On the same note, don't accept it if the motive is to be loved and approved of by them, but not because you really believe in the depths of your heart. God only wants a real, genuine, love-relationship with us, and when we fake it we certainly don't make it. The only one's we are deceiving is others and ourselves. God is never fooled. If we can't be real with God, then we certainly can't be real with ourselves or others.
So I will return to that initial question I asked myself "Why do I believe that there IS only one way?" Although I have not yet studied other religions in plunging depths and great detail, I have done some reading and research over the years. Because I know others who have very different beliefs, I wanted to better understand what they were into, how they thought and lived. There is one huge difference between true Christianity, and all other "ways". Jesus took the punishment that we deserved and instead offers grace and salvation through nothing more than faith. All other religions or "ways" teach that in order to find your way to heaven, you must perform and achieve this salvation through works and good deeds. You must meet certain expectations and follow a certain set of rules. All of these expectations must be met and carried out through sheer will power. Yikes! God gave us the 10 commandments simply to show us that we can't keep them. That our will power is not enough. That we are inherently sinful (before we accept Christ), and that we need the Holy Spirit living inside of us to help us do what we could not do on our own. It is such a radical grace! Of course these commandments were also for our own good, as we know that by dishonouring our parents, or lying, or stealing... the consequences we bring on ourselves are not good. God, in His mercy, wants to spare us the pain of bad decisions, so He tells us, just don't do it! Just like a parent who loves their child will not sit back and watch as their child goes to the stove and touches a hot burner. The parent will stop the child and tell them that it is dangerous and not to touch it. Not to prevent the child from having fun, but to spare them the pain of being burned. The one true God is the only one who is three beings in one, and therefore operates as "family" and also wants all His disciples to act, live, and love as family. Not as an institution, or a club, or a hierarchy. God is the only one who sent His son to die for us and be our Advocate and Defender in the face of the enemy, or the accuser. He actually took all of our sin and in return gave us mercy, grace, the righteousness of Jesus He bestowed on us. So when He looks at us He doesn't see all of our past mistakes. He sees us through the blood of His son and because of that, we are able to be in relationship with a holy God. No other religion is so personal, so intimate, so face-to-face... no other religion's god has offered him/herself for the people who are supposed to follow him/her. The one true God doesn't just offer personal relationship, but He invites us into an entirely different way of living. A Kingdom Culture way of living that is contrary to everything about our worldly culture. It is so refreshing actually. The more I learn about it, the more I want to apply it to my everyday life. I have so far to go, but I am determined to get there.
Aside from all that, perhaps the most important answer is Jesus' words Himself, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6
I might continue this train of thought in another blog... but going to say goodnight for now.
