The Mark

During a conversation yesterday a mature Believer and I were musing about the general levels of commitment within the Church. A widely accepted statistic is that about a third of Americans claim to be disciples of Jesus who believe the Bible is the Truth. That stat has to wrong! I am convinced that if 33% of Americans were serious about their faith and communing with the Spirit of God on a daily basis, most of our national problems would have disappeared. My assumption is that there is too much 'head' faith and not nearly enough 'heart' faith. As our talk continued, the man asked, "How many in our congregation would you say are really walking with Jesus?" I couldn't get away from the question for the rest of the afternoon. Because the next logical one, at least for me, is - "How do you measure that? How do you quantify 'good Christian?'"

The easy way is to take the road of the Pharisees, who earned scathing rebukes from Jesus for their faith practices. They measured another's spirituality by how well they kept the Law of Moses (or at least the Law as they interpreted it). If you attended synagogue, gave your tithe, were faithful in your marriage, observed the Sabbath rules, etc. - you were 'good.' Hey, that works for me, too. What's not to like about a person who goes to church, gives in the offering, and goes home to their wife every night?

Don't misunderstand, Jesus didn't condemn those things! What He pointed out - time after time - was that a person could live a moral, scrupulously outwardly respectable life and still be full of self, ignoring both God and other people! He said, "You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean." Matthew 23:24-26 NIV

Oh, that hurts! Looking good on the outside, while still filthy on the inside. Saying all the right words, but not really doing the work of letting those words do the spiritual work of transforming our hearts and renewing our minds is a first level grievance to God. If I may extrapolate a lesson from what Jesus says, one might this-- "It's none of my business to judge who is a 'good' Christian because I can't see the heart which is what matters most."

But Jesus did say that there would be a mark that is visible! Yes, it is true. So, what visibly marks a 'good' Christian if not the religious works that are so commonly accepted as indicators of spiritual transformation? Jesus said it was love.

A good Christian loves God more than anything in the world -- more than his wealth, more than his reputation, more than his family, more than himself! "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment."

And, a good Christian loves people as deeply as he loves himself. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’"

Truely right living will take care of itself IF we let God's Spirit work out the demands of these loves in our lives. What may seem a simple directive becomes a powerful life guide when we think through its implications. In fact the whole of God's demands on us will be satisfied, Jesus said, if we love God and others genuinely. -- All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” -Matthew 22:37-40 "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” (John 13:34-35 NLT)

I'm going to leave the question hanging today - "Are you a good Christian?" Make sure you use Jesus' evaluation standard when you start to answer. Your temptation will be to point out your goodness, your morality, your faithfulness -- and to ignore your failures, your sins, and the disappointments. If you do that, you may well polish the outside of the cup to a gleaming brilliance, but the inside will still be "maggoty with your greed and gluttony. ... Scour the insides, and then the gleaming surface will mean something." MSG
______________________
Power Of Your Love- Bullock, Geoff

Lord, I come to You,
Let my heart be changed, renewed;
Flowing from the grace
That I've found in You;
And Lord, I've come to know,
The weaknesses I see in me,
Will be stripped away
By the pow'r of Your love.
Lord, unveil my eyes,
Let me see You face to face,
The knowledge of Your love
As You live in me.

Lord, renew my mind,
As Your will unfolds in my life,
In living ev'ry day
In the pow'r of Your love.

Hold me close,
Let Your love surround me;
Bring me near,
Draw me to Your side;
And as I wait,
I'll rise up like the eagle,
And I will soar with You,
Your Spirit leads me on
In the pow'r of Your love.

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