I had the wonderful privilege of going to the theater to see “God’s Not Dead” with a group of great friends. My preconceived notion of this movie was fueled by only seeing the trailer and reading what others posted on social media. I was very excited to see it—based on the “reviews” of others as well as what the message of the movie appeared to be, based solely on the trailer. What I got was a spiritual wake-up call that I wasn’t expecting, and neither will you—when you go see the movie, because you are going to see the movie, aren’t you?
I’m not going to divulge a whole lot of information about the movie, mainly because I don’t want to be “that guy,” but also because, while the movie’s message is awesome, I’m not going to talk much about it in this post. I’m going to talk about how this movie warranted my need—and want—to evaluate myself as a follower of Christ. What am I doing to further the Kingdom; what am I doing to disciple others; what am I doing to fill myself with the spiritual nourishment I require? These are all great questions that every Christ follower should ask themselves every once in a while.
First, what am I doing to further the Kingdom? That answer requires the most honest self-evaluation possible. In light of that honest evaluation, I would argue that I’m not doing nearly as much as I should or could. Sure, I participate in church religiously (no pun intended); I volunteer my face off for as many events as I can do, etc. But, what does the Bible say about works (participation in activities, etc)? Let’s explore that for a second.
Matt Slick, the president of the Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry wrote a piece titled, “Are We Justified By Faith (Romans) or by Works (James)?” (http://carm.org/are-we-justified-faith-romans-or-works-james) In his article, Slick explains the difference between the two books. Romans says that we are justified by faith and James says works. In essence, we must review the Scripture in its intended context. He summed it up well, “James is simply saying that if you ‘say’ you are a Christian, then there had better be some appropriate works manifested, or your faith is false.”
So, in a nutshell, ‘saying’ you’re a Christian and ‘being’ a Christian is two different things. ‘Being’ a Christian requires work—sometimes hard work that, at the time, may seem meaningless or really poor timing. For all of us followers of Christ, God places things on our heart at some of the most inconvenient times. For example, while on a late night “I forgot something” grocery store run, God may place on your heart that the person in the cereal aisle needs to hear about Jesus. You think to yourself, “God, it’s 10:30 pm and I just need to get this for tomorrow’s breakfast. I don’t have the time or energy to do this now!” Take it from me…ignoring God is never a good idea. God is many things—one of those things is persistent. He will (and has, for me) continue to press upon your heart what He wants you to do. You can ignore, but it will come back until you fulfill His desire.
I suppose I should digress and answer the question, “What am I doing to further the Kingdom?” Not enough! I just learned yesterday that Minot State University was the only school in North Dakota that made a list that no institution wants to be on: the list of schools facing Title IX Sex Abuse Investigations! What is going on in this city that was once a coveted place for people to raise families and crime was nonexistent?! Obviously I am not doing enough. I am strong enough to say that I got stuck in the status quo and essentially kept blinders on my eyes and didn’t do what I needed to do to further the Kingdom. Who else is in this boat? I surely can’t be the only one! Being in the status quo is a dangerous place to be, especially when you’re referring to the Church. The church needs to do more. Christians are often called “Soldiers for Christ.” How many of us have “boots on the ground” sharing the Gospel to people? Not enough—we (I) need to do more…and immediately!
Let’s move on to discipleship for a second. I believe strongly that if we, as Christ followers, ‘be’ Christians as opposed to ‘saying’ we’re Christians, discipleship will fall right into place. We are commanded in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19) to “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations…” Are we doing that? I would say yes and no. We are making disciples, but are we doing it enough? Again, we need to do more to make disciples…period. For more on discipleship, see my discipleship series.
Spiritual nourishment is something that everyone needs. What exactly is spiritual nourishment? Let’s first look at what nourishment is in its most generic definition. Nourishment is what one needs in order to maintain life. You can live without constant nourishment, but you will eventually start to get frail, sick, and in general poor health. Spiritual is, in this post’s context is referring to God. So, spiritual nourishment is “God food.” We need to feed ourselves with God’s Word, prayer, and study. One of the many ways I feed my spiritual needs is writing these posts. I don’t write these blindly; rather I do some research, pray, and study the Scriptures to learn what God would have me write. I fear that a lot of us have become “too busy” to receive the required spiritual nourishment we need every day. Before you get frail and in poor spiritual health, you need to dig into the word, talk with God, and invite others to do the same.
As I close, it is my prayer that you muster the courage to self-evaluate yourself as a follower of Christ. An honest evaluation will help you determine what you need to do and/or change in order to more effectively further the Kingdom, make disciples, and feed your spiritual needs. As always, please let me know if you have any prayer requests. May our merciful and loving God bless you.
Yours in Christ,
Jeremy
I’m not going to divulge a whole lot of information about the movie, mainly because I don’t want to be “that guy,” but also because, while the movie’s message is awesome, I’m not going to talk much about it in this post. I’m going to talk about how this movie warranted my need—and want—to evaluate myself as a follower of Christ. What am I doing to further the Kingdom; what am I doing to disciple others; what am I doing to fill myself with the spiritual nourishment I require? These are all great questions that every Christ follower should ask themselves every once in a while.
First, what am I doing to further the Kingdom? That answer requires the most honest self-evaluation possible. In light of that honest evaluation, I would argue that I’m not doing nearly as much as I should or could. Sure, I participate in church religiously (no pun intended); I volunteer my face off for as many events as I can do, etc. But, what does the Bible say about works (participation in activities, etc)? Let’s explore that for a second.
Matt Slick, the president of the Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry wrote a piece titled, “Are We Justified By Faith (Romans) or by Works (James)?” (http://carm.org/are-we-justified-faith-romans-or-works-james) In his article, Slick explains the difference between the two books. Romans says that we are justified by faith and James says works. In essence, we must review the Scripture in its intended context. He summed it up well, “James is simply saying that if you ‘say’ you are a Christian, then there had better be some appropriate works manifested, or your faith is false.”
So, in a nutshell, ‘saying’ you’re a Christian and ‘being’ a Christian is two different things. ‘Being’ a Christian requires work—sometimes hard work that, at the time, may seem meaningless or really poor timing. For all of us followers of Christ, God places things on our heart at some of the most inconvenient times. For example, while on a late night “I forgot something” grocery store run, God may place on your heart that the person in the cereal aisle needs to hear about Jesus. You think to yourself, “God, it’s 10:30 pm and I just need to get this for tomorrow’s breakfast. I don’t have the time or energy to do this now!” Take it from me…ignoring God is never a good idea. God is many things—one of those things is persistent. He will (and has, for me) continue to press upon your heart what He wants you to do. You can ignore, but it will come back until you fulfill His desire.
I suppose I should digress and answer the question, “What am I doing to further the Kingdom?” Not enough! I just learned yesterday that Minot State University was the only school in North Dakota that made a list that no institution wants to be on: the list of schools facing Title IX Sex Abuse Investigations! What is going on in this city that was once a coveted place for people to raise families and crime was nonexistent?! Obviously I am not doing enough. I am strong enough to say that I got stuck in the status quo and essentially kept blinders on my eyes and didn’t do what I needed to do to further the Kingdom. Who else is in this boat? I surely can’t be the only one! Being in the status quo is a dangerous place to be, especially when you’re referring to the Church. The church needs to do more. Christians are often called “Soldiers for Christ.” How many of us have “boots on the ground” sharing the Gospel to people? Not enough—we (I) need to do more…and immediately!
Let’s move on to discipleship for a second. I believe strongly that if we, as Christ followers, ‘be’ Christians as opposed to ‘saying’ we’re Christians, discipleship will fall right into place. We are commanded in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19) to “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations…” Are we doing that? I would say yes and no. We are making disciples, but are we doing it enough? Again, we need to do more to make disciples…period. For more on discipleship, see my discipleship series.
Spiritual nourishment is something that everyone needs. What exactly is spiritual nourishment? Let’s first look at what nourishment is in its most generic definition. Nourishment is what one needs in order to maintain life. You can live without constant nourishment, but you will eventually start to get frail, sick, and in general poor health. Spiritual is, in this post’s context is referring to God. So, spiritual nourishment is “God food.” We need to feed ourselves with God’s Word, prayer, and study. One of the many ways I feed my spiritual needs is writing these posts. I don’t write these blindly; rather I do some research, pray, and study the Scriptures to learn what God would have me write. I fear that a lot of us have become “too busy” to receive the required spiritual nourishment we need every day. Before you get frail and in poor spiritual health, you need to dig into the word, talk with God, and invite others to do the same.
As I close, it is my prayer that you muster the courage to self-evaluate yourself as a follower of Christ. An honest evaluation will help you determine what you need to do and/or change in order to more effectively further the Kingdom, make disciples, and feed your spiritual needs. As always, please let me know if you have any prayer requests. May our merciful and loving God bless you.
Yours in Christ,
Jeremy