"A friend of mine recently handed me a program from a large and successful church somewhere in the Midwest. It's a rather exemplary model of what the idea [of discipleship] has fallen to. Their plan for discipleship involves, first, becoming a memeber of this particular church. Then they encourage you to take a course on doctrine. Be 'faithful' in attending the Sunday morning service and a small group fellowship. Complete a special course on Christian growth. Live a life that demonstrates clear evidence of spiritual growth. Complete a class on evangelism. Consistently look for opportunities to evangelize. Complete a course on finances, one on marriage, and another on parenting (provided that you are married or a parent). Complete a leadership training course, a hermeneutics course, a course on spiritual gifts, and another on biblical counseling. Participate in missions. Carry a significant local church ministry 'load'.
You're probably surprised that I would question this sort of program; most churches are trying to get their folks to complete something like this, one way or another. No doubt a great deal of helpful information is passed on. But let me ask you: A program like this--does it teach a person how to apply principles, or how to walk with God? They are not the same thing. Change the content and any cult could do this. I mean, Gandhi was a remarkable man; so was Lao-tzu, Confucius, or Thomas Jefferson. They all had
principles for a better life. But only Christianity can teach you to walk with God."
- John Eldredge, "Waking the Dead"
The sad thing is, I'm inclined to agree with him. Our picture of living a "Christian life" has been so warped, we only know about a tenth of the things we should, most of which are not principles, but rather much more important things.
For instance, our picture of eternal life. The general mental picture I get, from what I've heard in the church, is that when we die, we'll go to a blindingly-white place in the sky somewhere, and life will be an infinite church service. Yuck. Luckily, that's not what God meant at all. I mean, this is GOD we're talking about here. And heaven is the most beautiful place we'll have ever seen, so amazing that our minds would explode if we went there now. Take the description of the New Jerusalem, for instance:
"And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.
Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with a reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal.
Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. The construction of its wall was of jasper, and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysophase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was a single pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
- Revelation 21:10-21
I included a little math about the size of the city, but I failed to account for square and cubic units of measurement, so it was a bit inaccurate. But suffice it to say, the city is
frickin' HUGE. The whole thing made
entirely of the purest gold, so pure that it's compared to glass. Now, when he uses the word "like", it's important to note that he's finding the closest comparison there is that we'll understand. However, this doesn't mean it's anything close to what it's being compared to. Think about it. A city made out of gold that's so pure that the closest comparison to its clarity is glass? (Not the grimy, water-spotted, dirt-covered kind; the shiny, crystal-clear, not-even-sure-if-it's-there, run-into-it-cause-you-don't-see-it kind.) And to think, that description probably doesn't even come
close.
The gates are made out of a single pearl, each. The wall is 216 feet thick. I think you're starting to get the picture. This city is
enormous, and the value of even one of its gates or a sliver of the wall are probably worth more than the combined currency of the entire world. And this is just a city. The world...well, imagine what it was like when it was first made. The most beautiful garden you could imagine. Even better, because it's been made better than new. And our new bodies? Probably capable of more than we would think humanly or superhumanly possible. Never tired. Never. You could run laps around the world without stopping once. Jumping over a lake would be a cinch. And God is right there. Think of the happiest moment of your life, those times when you thought your heart would explode with joy. Multiply that by...well...infinity. That's God. Small wonder we're drawn so easily to things that promise to fill that empty spot inside us, that place that God was meant to be in.
Okay, I think you're starting to get the idea now. A pharisee God is not. Or a sky-dweller. Or anything else that makes you think super-sanitized, whitewashed, etc. God is...well, he's a million times better than the best thing you could think of. A beautiful sunset, overlooking the most gorgeous of views? A finger-painting compared to what he can do. Those moments of pure and overwhelming happiness? A drop in the sea compared to what he is. Do you
really think the best he offers us in this life is a set of disciplines and principles to follow? Hardly.
Let's see...where was I? Oh, yeah. Eternal life. This does mean we get to go to heaven when we die. Awesome. But, when he talks about life, he doesn't just mean in the afterlife. He means now. Life, right now. And not just any life, but Life. Life in intimate connection with him, letting him guide us, heal us, make us whole, let his glory shine through us, help us fulfill our role in his great Story on earth. And when I say role, I mean spiritual gifts. But, again, here we've missed out on an amazing offer God's given us. We're also missing out on the bigger picture.
This life is a war. Yes, a real war. Not just a war against the flesh, but also a war between the angels and the demons. And we're in it. Or rather, we
should be in it. Sadly, most of us aren't awake to this reality, and so we live out our days trying to do the right thing, trying to follow the principles and give our 10% tithe, wishing we could be a better person, or at least sin a little bit less, and wishing we weren't such a rotten, horrible person. Most of this is a lie. Deep down, if we have truly accepted Christ, we are good. Our heart has been restored, replaced. Yes, we still deal with the flesh, since we live in it, but the fact that we are, at heart, evil, is totally and completely wrong.
Where does God send the Holy Spirit to dwell in us? In our hearts. We know for a fact that God cannot coexist with evil. At all. So how is this possible? The only answer is that God has made our heart new, taken away its evil. You doubt? He's God. What more do I need to say?
The fact is, we're totally oblivious to the level at which Satan is at work. You remember Satan. The father of lies, the leader of the demons, the ancient serpent who decieves the whole world. Well, he also decieves us, plays on our flesh, whispers lies about who we really are. If you thought your heart was evil deep down, well then. There's proof. Satan has whispered lies to all of us, without exception. He has vowed to tear down God's image-bearers, and he's done so quite successfully, it seems. How many people do you see living out of their hearts, fully alive, without false fronts or fear? Far too few, most likely. Even the "got-it-all-together Christian" can be, and is, a false front, one that Satan convinces us to wear. That sense of, "I can't let people know how bad it really is. They wouldn't understand," that can come from Satan. As can many other things. For me, it's been, "You're just a pest. No one
really cares about you. You'll never be a part of anything. You'll never be able to get the girl you want," and on and on it goes. So many lies, so many whispers. He'll jump in at every opportunity, every chance to solidify your doubts or turn your perceptions into "facts". He's hell-bent (literally) on destroying every last ounce of joy, freedom, and goodness you have.
I'll continue this in a later post. But remember: you are not evil at heart. You are a good person, deep down. Those lies about you are not true. Do
not give the Devil another inch. Pray ferverently against him. Pray for the freedom of your true heart. See if I'm not right.
