EDITORIAL: What difference does it really make?

Posted: 7/07/06

EDITORIAL:
What difference does it really make?

After dinner not long ago, a wonderful friend asked a poignant question: “What’s it mean to be a Christian?”

My friend is a lifelong Baptist and a serious Christian. We’ve known each other more than two decades, and we’ve talked often about the challenge of living the Christian life, particularly as parents, in a secular, materialistic community. She wasn’t asking how a person becomes a Christian or what happens after death. She was asking: What difference does it make—or should it make—to be a Christian?

My friend’s question stuck with me. A comprehensive reply could fill many books, but here’s the short version of my answer. I hope and pray it prompts you to think about the difference being a Christian makes in your life.

• Our lives have purpose. We are created, known and called out by God.

The Prophet Jeremiah insisted God knew us before we were formed in the womb, consecrated us before we were born, and made plans for us (Jeremiah 1:5, 29:11). Jesus told us we have been chosen and appointed for our tasks (John 15:16). So, God knows us and has specific work for each of us to do. Our lives are far from meaningless, because they fit into God’s plan—for us and for the world.

• Our priorities are clear. We’re supposed to love God with all we’ve got and love others at least as much as we love ourselves.

When a lawyer asked Jesus to name the greatest commandment, he named two: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. (And) you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:28-31).

What if we were to love God and others that much? If you absolutely love someone, you want to make that person happy. You arrange your life—activities, choices, thoughts, investments—to their interest. Imagine doing this with God and others. How would our lives be different? Would we purge wanting more, more and more? Would we give up on lust, envy, anger, suspicion and self-promotion?

• We put into practice the essential elements of our faith. Here are a few of those elements:

• Godly living. The Prophet Micah noted our spiritual requirements are “to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). If we truly are just, we seek right and fair outcomes for others, not simply for ourselves or people like us. We work for equitable treatment and opportunity for all people. We transcend the seduction of nationalism. We rise above racism and religious prejudice. Jesus also indicated the way we treat “the least of these” in society indicates how we have treated him. This should shape how we think about immigration, look at the tax system, and secure care for the elderly, children and the disabled. Jesus said we ignore him if we ignore them. Are we damned by our insensitive blindness?

• Faithfulness. The Apostle Paul promised that God “will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able” (1 Corinthians 10:13). Christians are most vulnerable to temptation when we think we’re invulnerable. The man who thinks he can’t have an affair better remain in his wife’s sight. The woman who thinks she won’t steal better let someone else handle the finances. Our culture blames circumstances for temptation and, ultimately, moral failure. But Paul promises God will “provide a way of escape.” We don’t have to fail, and our faithfulness in face of temptation in an “everyone’s doing it” world may be our finest witness.

• Persistence. The writer of Hebrews described a “cloud of witnesses”—Christians who passed before us and endured suffering and martyrdom—who cheer for us from heaven. He urged us to “run with endurance the race set before us,” realizing Jesus endured the cross to make our salvation available. Persistence enables us to identify with Christ’s suffering. Endurance makes us stronger, more valuable servants in God’s kingdom.

• Stewardship. In a harrowing parable, Jesus described the death sentence of a greedy person who hoarded all his material treasures: “You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?” (Luke 12:20). The Apostle Peter insisted we’re responsible for our spiritual gifts as well as our material possessions (1 Peter 4:10). We can determine what we really value by where we place our money, time and talents. So, what difference does our faith make if the way we invest our lives is no different than our neighbors?

• Confidence and courage. Jesus told us, “Do not worry about your life …” (Luke 12:22), and he promised to prepare an eternal “dwelling place” for us (John 14:2). This both is and is not about the “sweet by-and-by.” If we know Christ is watching over us and will provide our ultimate protection, then the small stuff of life shouldn’t shake our confidence or drain our daily courage. (By the way, it’s all “small stuff.”)

• Mission. Jesus commissioned us to lead others to follow him (Matthew 28:19-20). Since we have been so blessed, how dare we ignore him and hoard our salvation?

Marv Knox is editor of the Baptist Standard.