July 26, 2021,
Dear Grandchildren:
Last month, I talked about being a follower or disciple of Jesus Christ instead of being a Christian. This month, I want to explain how that may be lived out using our experience as an example.
Your grandmother grew up with very little going-to-church experience because her parents worked every Sunday in their grocery business. I started attending a Baptist church and was baptized as a ten year old. What I experienced was merely following a procedure of the church I attended. It had nothing to do with following Jesus.
When we were married in 1963, I, more or less, decided we should attend church, so we did. I became a leader, and we became youth leaders. Even though we were sincere, we were not yet following Jesus.
For the first eight years of our marriage, I believed in Jesus. I became a lay speaker, filling in for pastors when they were on vacation. I’d speak about Jesus, but I didn’t have a personal relationship with Him as the Bible explains. I needed to personally receive Him into my life as my savior and lord.
In the fall of 1971, we had a weekend retreat with lay people sharing their experience of being born again and following Jesus Christ. Grandma stood up and received Him as her savior and lord and has never looked back.
About three months later, I made the same decision to not only believe in Jesus, but to follow him with my heart, mind, and soul. That was over fifty years ago, and life for us has never been without His love and leading.
So I ask, what was the difference in what we did? To explain myself, I want to ask you a question:
Have you made a decision to believe in Jesus or have you committed to following Jesus?
There is a difference. There shouldn’t be, but there is a difference. Many have made a decision to believe in Jesus “without” making a commitment to follow Him. The Gospel allows for no such distinction. Many people have repeated a prayer, or raised their hand, or walked forward at the end of a sermon and made a decision to believe, “but” there was never a commitment to follow Jesus.
Jesus never offered such an option.
He is looking for more than words of belief. He desires to have an intimate relationship with His followers. He is looking to see how those words are lived out in our lives. When we decide to believe Jesus without making a commitment to follow Him, we become nothing more than fans.
This is what we have done with our approach to discipleship. In teaching people what it means to be a Christian, we spend much of our time and effort bringing them to a point of belief without calling them to follow.
Maybe that’s your story. When you heard the Gospel, someone talked at great length and passion about you making a decision to believe, but said very little about the fact that this commitment would be very necessary in your relationship with Jesus.
My second question is: Do you just know about Jesus or do you really know Him? Many have a tendency to confuse their knowledge for intimacy. The problem isn’t knowledge, but that you can have knowledge without intimacy.
Everyone loves to quote John 3:16 (ESV) which says, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” This scripture emphasizes believing. Luke 9:23 (NASB) says, “If anyone wants to comes after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.” These two actions-believing and following-must go together. There is no believing without following. There is no John 3:16 without Luke 9:23.
You see, Jesus desires to have a close and intimate relationship with you. That’s why He created you. When is the last time you demonstrated your love to Him? When’s the last time you poured yourself out to Him?
You see, Grandchildren; I’m not asking if you know about Him, I am asking if you know Him.
Always remember how much I love you.
Grandpa