An atheist was walking through the woods one day, admiring all that had been created through evolution. "What majestic trees! What a powerful river! What beautiful animals!" he said to himself. But as he walked along, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him.
Turning to look, he saw an eight-foot grizzly bear beginning to charge toward him! He ran as fast as he could down the path. Looking over his shoulder he saw that the bear was rapidly closing on him. Somehow he managed to run even faster. He was so scared that tears came to his eyes. As he looked back again he was horrified to discover that the bear was even closer. With his heart pounding in his chest, he tried to run faster yet. But at last he tripped and fell to the ground. As he rolled over to pick himself up, the bear was right over him and reaching for him with its left paw and raising its other paw to strike him. In sheer desperation the atheist cried out, "Oh my God!"
At that moment, time stopped. The bear froze in its tracks. The forest was silent. Even the river had stopped moving! As a brilliant light shone about the man, a thunderous voice came from all around. "You deny my existence for all these years, teach others that I don't exist, and even credit creation to some cosmic accident. Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer?"
Difficult as it was, the atheist looked directly into the light and said, "Well, I guess it would be a bit hypocritical to ask to be a Christian after all these years. Perhaps you could make the bear a Christian?"
"Very well," said the voice. And in that moment the light went out. The river ran. The sounds of the forest resumed. And then the bear dropped down on his knees, brought both paws together, bowed his head and spoke, "Lord, thank you for this food which I am about to receive."
Personal relationship.
Over the next several weeks I want to talk about how to become a Christian. When we talk about becoming a Christian we are really talking about how to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, who is God. One of the mistakes we often make is talking so much about the mechanics of Christianity that we fail to teach people how to develop a personal relationship with Jesus. It is important that we believe certain truths, or doctrines, about God. It is important that we follow certain moral guidelines, that we attend worship, etc. But these things only have meaning within a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They are the servant, not the master. Christian belief and lifestyle must never be divorced from that personal relationship.
What is becoming apparent is that churches today are full of people who believe in God and who mimic Christian behaviors, but who do not have a vibrant personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The consequence of religion that is devoid of relationship is passionless worship, mechanical belief, robotic profession, and joyless spirituality. And so what concerns us today is not how to become a Christian just in form or mechanics, but how to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. A personal relationship with Jesus Christ is the cure for passionless religion, joyless worship, mechanical belief, empty profession, and despondent spirituality.
If you are dry spiritually, if worship is awkward and artificial, ask yourself these questions. Have you ever developed a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Did the church you grew up in encourage this? Did they talk about it? Or did they emphasize form over substance and ritual over relationship?
Develop a relationship with Christ just as you would with a person on earth.
When we talk about developing a relationship with Jesus Christ, it is helpful to think of a person we have developed a personal relationship with. Many of the same ingredients that make our relationships work with people also make our relationship with God work. In my case, I can think of my personal relationship with my wife Lara. For most of my life I didn't even know Lara existed. At best, she was just another face in the crowd. She was just another face in my college wish-book, which is what we affectionately called our picture directories at Lincoln Christian College.
But then our paths crossed. We suddenly noticed each other. It was awkward at first. We generically talked about our lives, our classes, our majors, our dinner plans, and our favorite teachers. The weather was big conversation. We were cautious. Eventually I began pronouncing Lara's name properly. I stopped calling her Laura. I also stopped addressing her as, "Hey you!" We started to make time for each other. As conversation grew deeper we began talking about our dreams and aspirations. Trust was being built. Then Lara introduced me to her parents. And that's when I knew I was getting myself in trouble. What would her parents think? Would I pass the test? Would they encourage Lara to break things off with me? She was the daughter of a preacher! She was the daughter of the Vice President of a Bible College. And then there was me, the big ole' sinner. I'll tell you that I passed the test then, but I don't know if I'd pass it today!
The real test came when I introduced Lara to my family. I wasn't worried so much about her meeting them as I was about her discovering the real me. What stories would they tell? Would they try to embarrass me? What if they told Lara I left my socks and underwear on the bathroom floor? What if they told her how much of a computer geek I was? What if they told her about the time I walked in my sleep and mistook the kitchen for the bathroom? The question for me was, "Will Lara still accept me? Will she still like me?"
Well they filled her ears with all kinds of stories and none of them scared Lara off. As our relationship grew, there were times of testing. There were times that required grace, mercy, and forgiveness. There were times that required patience. There were times when we scrutinized each other's character, when we tried to discern each other's intentions, and when we had to dig deep to understand each other and empathize and communicate. But there also came a time when we were sufficiently satisfied with one another. There came a time when we didn't need to know anything more about each other in order to make a serious commitment to each other. That was when we trusted each other. And at that point we got engaged and then got married and things have been great!
The necessity of trust and faith.
If I were to summarize what we were doing throughout courtship, I would say we were building trust between one another. There is nothing more foundational to any relationship than trust. If you take away trust, if you violate trust, a relationship immediately disintegrates. An employee who violates his employer's trust by stealing gets terminated. The criminal who repeats his crimes loses the judge's trust and receives less mercy. The child who lies to his parents gets a shorter leash. The spouse who keeps a secret or lives a lie and is found out, endangers her marriage. The company that misrepresents its product to the public loses future business. The journalist who distorts the truth and misleads loses credibility and readership.
A simple maxim that applies to every relationship is that the only relationships that endure and stand the test of time are those built on trust. No relationship, outside of an adversarial relationship, can be built on distrust.
It was because Lara and I trusted each other that our personal relationship could soar. This very same thing is true of our relationship with Jesus Christ. There is nothing more basic to our personal relationship with Jesus Christ than trust. Trust is the very bedrock of spirituality. It's the foundation. It's the prerequisite. You cannot have a relationship with God without first trusting in Jesus Christ. But this shouldn't surprise us because it is true in all of life. We cannot have a relationship with anyone without first learning to trust.
In the Bible the words faith and trust are used interchangeably. Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) tells us, "And without faith (trust)it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." Our relationship with God cannot move forward until we first learn to trust God! This is why Jesus continually calls his followers to believe and trust hundreds of times throughout the New Testament. This is the starting point of every relationship, and especially of our personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Let's consider two dimensions of our relationship with Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ has proven himself absolutely trustworthy.
There isn't one thing about Jesus Christ that isn't completely trustworthy. He has tirelessly proven his perfect character to us. Psalm 99:9 (NIV) says, "Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy." 2 Timothy 2:13 (NIV) says, "If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself."
God has proven his competence to us. James 1:5 (NIV) says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."
God has proven his intentions to us. John 3:16 (NIV) says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." 1 Timothy 2:4 (NIV) says, "(God),who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth."
God has proven to us that he fully understands and empathizes with us. Hebrews 4:15 (NIV) says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are— yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
He has proven his patience to us. 2 Peter 3:9 (NIV) says, "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:15 (NIV) tells us, "Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him." And in Jonah 4:2 (NIV) Jonah says to God, "I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity."
Jesus has proven that he accepts us. Romans 15:7 (NIV) says, "Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God."
He has proven that he is absolutely available to us through prayer and through his word. He has proven that he is trustworthy and that he cannot and does not lie, ever. He has proven that he exists and that because he exists, we can know him. He has made himself transparent to us. We know his heart, his will, what makes him happy, what angers him, and what makes him jealous.
God has proven his grace, mercy, and forgiveness to us. Romans 5:8 (NIV) says, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Jesus has proven that he will pursue us. Jesus demonstrated his willingness to leave the ninety-nine sheep to seek and to save that one sheep which was lost. Jesus has proven that he is benevolent, kind, generous, and affectionate.
The more we learn about Jesus Christ, the fewer excuses we have for resisting him. There isn't one reason any of us could find for not trusting God. He is absolutely trustworthy. He has proven himself to us through his word, again and again. We have no reason to doubt him.
So Jesus Christ is absolutely trustworthy. There is nothing deficient in him that might cause us to say, "Oh, yuck. No way. I won't. I can't." But there is another dimension to our personal relationship with Jesus Christ. First there is the issue of Jesus' trustworthiness, but then there is the issue of ours.
Jesus requires us to have faith and trust.
Let me say something you need to remember every day. God is head over heels about you. He craves a relationship with you. There isn't anything he won't sacrifice in order to make a relationship happen with you. He died on a cross in order to prove how much he loves you. He loves you so much that he was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. If you or I were the only souls on earth, he would have died on that cross just for us. Even though you have turned him down hundreds of times, he keeps asking you out. He keeps calling you. He keeps pursuing you. He keeps initiating. God believes that the best things in life are worth waiting for, and he has been waiting for eternity just to have a relationship with you. Call it irrational, call it whatever you want, but nothing can change the reality of God's undying love for each and every one of us.
So let's face it. Jesus Christ isn't what's wrong with our relationship with Jesus Christ. We are what's wrong with our relationship with Jesus Christ! We shouldn't have any problem whatsoever trusting an absolutely trustworthy God. But so often we do! At times we doubt God's existence. We question his love. We question his goodness. We question his intentions. We question his will. We question his power. We doubt.
But just think about how absurd this is! What more does God have to do in order for us to start trusting him? What more does he have left to prove? If anyone has something to prove, it isn't God! Rather, we are the ones who should be proving our trustworthiness. God has every reason to leave us out on the street. He has every reason to abandon his heroic attempts at reconciliation, but he hasn't!
But instead Jesus simply says, "Trust in me. Believe in me. Take me at my word. Trust in my goodness. Believe in my existence. Never doubt my love. Rest in my sacrifice for your sin. Know that you are forgiven through faith." Jesus doesn't make us prove anything up front. He doesn't even require us to trust in ourselves. He simply invites us to begin a personal relationship with him by trusting in his trustworthiness.
First things first.
You see, a lot of us have it all backwards. So often we are trying to prove something to God. We are trying to prove that we are good people and that we deserve his grace. But God says, "I loved you even before you knew my name. I loved you even when you didn't love me. I began loving you when you hated me! I've waited all this time just to have a relationship with you."
The first step in any relationship is trust. Trust is the foundation. Trust is a prerequisite. To have a personal relationship with God, you must first learn to trust in Jesus Christ. Without faith it is impossible to please God.
As I stand here this morning I wonder what excuses you might have for not trusting Jesus Christ as the Lord and savior of your life. He loves you. He forgives you. He accepts you. What more must he do? He doesn't have anything left to prove to any of us. He has clearly demonstrated his love through the cross. No, the last part is up to you. You must believe. You must have faith. You must trust. You must walk by faith to begin that relationship.
So why not begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through faith, today? Hasn't he been waiting long enough? He is head over heels about you. He died for you. He died for you! And most importantly, he is trustworthy.