Read This If You Consider Yourself a Christ Follower
Last week we learned that Carnal Christians believe in God, but not the word of God. They hesitate to trust what Jesus says about, salvation, sin and eternal separation. We learned that true repentance is the first step of spiritual growth. To be honest, repentance is arguably the most important behavior in spiritual development.
This week we dive into the behavior of Christ Followers. I’ll highlight one characteristic and how they can grow! I had two questions pop up last week. I took a couple of minutes to answer them.
Can I Habitually Sin After Being Saved?
This question is tricky; the answer has more to do with your heart than your actions. The keyword in this question is ‘habitual’. The reality is we are human! We sin every day! How we deal with sin determines everything. Do we justify and cover-up? (Adam and Eve) or do we repent and humble ourselves? (David and Nathan).
How is your heart postured? Is it toward God or away from God? If it’s away from God you can’t see Him looking for you. You can’t see His arms open wide. You’ll never experience His embrace. Your heart is turned away. The posture of shame. Christ Followers can get stuck here.
Here is the spiritual reality! God’sgraceis sufficient for your sin! You must face God to realize this wonderful fact! God is for you not against you! God’s heart breaks when we hide from Him. We think we’re hiding our sin, but really our pride shields us from His love. Facing sin is uncomfortable. That’s why Christ Followers struggle here.
What Happens After I Repent?
Once a person truly repents, they are spiritually born again! They are baptized in forgiveness. Baptism is a public declaration of dying to sin (being dunked underwater) and Christ becoming alive in you (being raised out of the water). Being underwater is a fitting analogy for being alive in Christ.
Imagine that God is an ocean of water. Carnal Christians enjoy watersports above the surface. They get a little wet, but they aren’t getting in. Christ Followers will get their toes wet and progress deeper. Eventually trusting God up to their necks. Radical Christ Followers will leverage the peace of God and momentarily submerge.
Disciples of Christ realize that the flesh cannot survive below the surface and dive in! They leverage all the promises of God and consider them far better than anything earthly. They break the bondage of fear and embrace their new identity! They die to the flesh and find NEW life in Christ!
Christ Followers
Ask any Christ-Follower the most important commandment and they will recite Matthew 22:37–40. Perhaps it’s one of several verses taped to a mirror; perhaps it’s highlighted in their favorite bible; or perhaps after years of Sunday school, church, youth group, and mission trips, it’s been inscribed on our hearts.
Christ Followers experience God at different depths. Perhaps you get your toes wet and pray out loud. Maybe you get your knees wet and pray out loud for someone else. Perhaps your waist gets wet and you lead people to Christ. Perhaps the water laps at your chest and you facilitate bible studies. Perhaps you’re radical and serve the Lord in the mission field.
Regardless of level, these Christians check-mark the tenants of Christianity. They attend church weekly and become members. They strive to love everyone to the best of their ability. They get involved with outreach programs. If their church has a fun event coming up maybe they invite friends and co-workers.
They find identity in the church. They find fulfillment being around other Christ Followers. Depending on their level of spiritual development, you may see them sporting church gear or posting bible related content. They frequent bible studies and buy the book. Their life revolves around the church!
Christ Followers do these things because they believe it’s what Christians are supposed to do. They are not wrong, but in some ways, they resemble Carnal Christians. They follow along until their uncomfortable. They believe Jesus is the only way but neglect the great commission. They say Jesus is “Lord of my life”, but their finances don’t reflect that.
There’s something else lurking under the surface with most Christ Followers. Something ugly. Something hard to reveal. Something hard to face. Something insidious. This one thing causes them to judge and condemn others. This one thing stunts their spiritual growth.
Characteristic: They Measure Good Deeds
Something happens when you start checking off boxes. You start adding them up. Seeing all your good deeds makes you feel good. As you sit upon your good deeds you ask “how do my deeds compare to others?” Then you stand up on your good deeds for a better vantage point. This helps you judge others more accurately.
Once a Christ Follower considers good deeds to be more than dirty rags those deeds become a shield to protect their religious image. It’s easy for Christ Followers to get caught up maintaining appearances. Instead of embracing the full grace of God, we polish our smiles and cover sin with good deeds. We are the new Pharisees.
I imagine Jesus wouldn’t flip tables in 2020. He’d deface the religious artwork on display at church. I imagine it would go something like “It is written, my house will be called a house of healing, but you’ve turned it into a museum for the proud.”
How You Can Grow:
Pride is a disease that weakens the Christ Follower. Humility is the cure! Without a doubt in my mind, in order for Christ Followers to grow, they must uproot pride and cultivate humility. Pride is the chief of all sin and humility the cornerstone of virtue.
And so pride, or the loss of humility, is the root of every sin and evil. …when the now fallen angels began to look upon themselves with self-complacency…they were led to disobedience, and were cast down from the light of Heaven into outer darkness. Even so, it was, when the serpent breathed the poison of his pride, the desire to be as God into the hearts of our first parents, that they too fell from their high estate into all the wretchedness in which man is now sunk. In heaven and earth, pride, self-exaltation, is the gate and the birth, and the curse, of hell. Andrew Murray – Humility
There’s an abundant amount of insight in biblical humility. When a fellow Christian pointed out my pride I had serious work to do. I found many answers to tough questions. I will write about humility in the future. Perhaps it will be a series.
Any Christ-follower stuck in a plateau of spiritual development must examine their garden. Are people spiritually growing because of the fruit you produce? Are you justifying the weeds (sin) in your garden? When’s the last time you confessed and humbled yourself before the Lord? Breakthrough is North of true repentance.
Philippians 2:3-43 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
Thanks For Reading!
As always, thank you for reading! Thank you for submitting questions, too! Christ Followers can get a bad reputation for judging, but there are nuances. Balancing sin, shame, forgiveness, and grace is tough! I will write more about The New Pharisees. I will also write more about Humility and how Jesus embodied it perfectly.
In the meantime get involved on The Humble Perspective Facebook page. Be sure to like, follow, and share! We have exciting developments to come! Do me a favor and leave a comment. I’d to hear your feedback on this post. Thanks for reading!
