Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
Last night, our Small Group Bible Study took a break from our regular lessons and enjoyed a Christian movie night, watching “To Save a Life”. The key figure was “Jake” was a popular senior High School Basketball Star; a fun-loving, trendy party-going member of the “in crowd” with the cutest girl in school and a scholarship to a major University in the future. The world tries very hard to convince us that all we need is “more”, and we’ll be happy and fulfilled. But after the suicide of his outcast childhood friend, Jake comes face-to-face with the fact that life isn’t just about popularity, the next party, the next date with his girlfriend, or the next basketball game and learns that fulfillment in life comes from loving the people around you and finding God’s purpose for your life.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 tells us, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their wrongdoings against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
But we see that relationships are messy, and answers aren’t always clearly defined. We must see God’s view of people – how much they matter to Him, how much they should matter to us, and the purpose and joy we discover in life when we decide to love God and love other people the way God does. The difference in perception can come upon you suddenly or subtly. But developing God’s love for people results from His infusion of love in you. Yet to do this, one must truly repent of their sinful lifestyle, believe God, accept forgiveness through Jesus Christ alone and obediently follow His holy and righteous Word, Will and Way. Being a true Christian [a Christ-following disciple] means receiving a transformed heart and life; becoming a contender of the faith, not a pretender of the faith. A casual or nominal Christian going through the motions is a hypocritical fake Christian wasting their time in shallow, meaningless ways and everyone else’s.
In the movie, the Youth Pastor Chris of the local church tell the kids in his Youth Group that a recent survey showed that the place that people least like to be was the church, stating that it was boring, judgmental and hypocritical. He asks why is it that the church can be the exact opposite of what the Bible teaches? That is not how it is supposed to be! The church is supposed to be a place where you do not have to pretend that you have your life all together, or you don’t have any problems. Church is supposed to be a place that you can come and be who you really are and not feel judged by others. The pastor asked everyone to silently reflect on this, but looking around, Jake [struggling with true faith] sees people in the group not taking the request seriously, ignoring the pastor, talking, and even passing drugs to each other. Frustrated, Jake stands up and says, “Damn it, didn’t any of you hear what the pastor just said? My girlfriend came here today and left because she felt judged. And no one even noticed. My friend Roger came into school and started shoot; I knew him. He wasn’t crazy. And did anyone ever stop and ask why? How did it get to the point where his only option was to shoot himself? There are people killing themselves and you are playing games. What is the point of all this [Christianity], if you are not going to let this change you?” A serious and courageous question.
Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus replied: “‘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 the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Jesus gifts true Christians with the indwelling Holy Spirit as a life counselor and guide, which in turn helps them to see people as valuable, created beings with purpose. Once we experience the authentic love, joy, peace and friendship available in the body of Christ, we cannot allow anything less than the way of Jesus. When we decide to repent, believe and cleave to our Savior and Lord as a Christ-follower for life, often we become a walking-talking challenge to other who do not know the Lord. This transformed life is precisely how God intends us to spread the Good News of His love and redemption – saving lives one willing heart at a time. I highly recommend this movie to watch [link below].
In Christ, Brian
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