“No More Christians!”

II Timothy 3:1, 5 – “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. Holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power… (LB). They will act as if they are religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. You must stay away from people like that.”

“The last thing we need in our world today is more Christians!” I guess you never thought you’d hear a pastor say that, but when I get done with this message, I believe you will agree with me in principle.

When I ask people the question, “Are you a Christian?” the answer will usually will come back “yes” if they are born-again, Evangelical, Charismatic, Protestant, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Mormon, even Christian Science.  But, is there something wrong in that denominational or doctrinal answer?

The brutal fact is that 85% of Americans call themselves “Christians” — that’s about 247 million people. But I have been asking myself, and will ask you today, is this vast majority of Americans accomplishing Christ’s mission?

• Those who call themselves Christians are not more likely to give assistance to a homeless person than non-Christians.
• They are no more likely to correct the mistake when a cashier gives them too much change…
• They are just as likely to have an elective abortion as a non-Christian.
• They are just as likely to get a divorce as those who consider themselves non-Christians.
• Even though there are more mega-churches in the US today filled with people who proudly wear the title Christians, 50% of Christian churches didn’t help one single person find salvation.

Barna Research did a survey involving 52 separate items comparing the general population with those who consider themselves Christians, and found virtually NO difference between the two groups in the ATTITUDES of Christians, and ACTIONS of “Christians” when compared with non-Christians.

If the conception of a Christian is someone who is different from the rest of society, is “Christian” really the word we want to use to describe someone who is willing to sacrifice everything to follow Christ and see His mission on earth fulfilled before He returns?

The absence of any difference between the majority of 21^st Century Christians & the average non-Christian is a problem!

In a day when we have more Bible teachers on television and the media; more programs for every age in our churches; and bigger and better facilities for children, youth, and families than in the history of the Church why are we having less impact?

If Bible studies, church meeting, seminars, and exciting programs were the answer, we would have turned the world upside down in the past 25 years.  Yet today, the Church is influenced more by the world than the Church influences the world.

Please hear me out today: We don’t need more “Christians” to do the work of the Kingdom in our world today.  Today I am joining a growing crowd of people who are calling for a change in the word to describe a Christian that will clarify the calling upon those who would be Christ’s disciples in this century.

I want to suggest we start calling the true believer a “Christ-follower” — that totally changes what we mean by Christian! One who follows Jesus lives, does, says, obeys, and serves Jesus in the power and grace of the Holy Spirit living in their fully devoted heart.

II Corinth. 5:17 (LB) “Those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun! (MES) Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it!”

Let me speak to us today.  Is that true of our lives if we use the new term, a “Christ-follower” to describe the way we live?

That’s what Paul was telling about in II Timothy 3:1, 5- “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power… (LB) They will act as if they are religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. You must stay away from people like that.”

We have used that text to describe some mainline Protestants, Catholics, unbelievers, and “others” who call themselves Christians, but I believe that it can be applied to many Evangelicals and maybe some of us!

We are often guilty of making true Christianity a lot more complicated than Jesus did. In Luke 18:18, that rich, young, ruler (think of it) came to Jesus wanting a theological debate with Him on eternal life, but Jesus cut through the “deeper things” he wanted to talk about (sounds like us) and got to the simple core of the Christian life… “One thing you lack, sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven [take care of the things of this world & minimize them in your life] and come & follow me.”

Here it is…  Jesus is calling him to be a “Christ-follower,” plain and simple.  I am tired of the “deeper life” gang who wants the deeper things of the Word, and forget to get out there, live it, and follow Jesus!

What does GOD say about the way to become a true Christ-follower, one who is thoroughly committed to following Jesus?

In three of the Gospels, Jesus is approached by people who ask Him the question, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? (Matt. 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34; Luke 10:25-28- “And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live” Matt. 22:40 – “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Mark 12:34) “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

Though keeping any commandment does not save us, look at what Jesus says will be the simple task of His followers. Simply put…to LOVE GOD & LOVE OTHERS!

FIRST, “to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul (mind, will, emotions) and strength” (MES) “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.” “Good answer!” said Jesus. “Do it and you’ll live.

What’s your “love-quota” for God today?  How much to you love Jesus in your mind, will, and emotions?  Is He first in your life?

I John 3:23-24  “This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”

Here is that “new creation” Paul speaks about, “when a man becomes a Christ-follower.” Old attitudes, actions, prejudices, habits, philosophies, “pass away,” “step down,” “diminish” as the Holy Spirit teaches us “new things” from God.

I John 2:3-6 (MES) “Here’s how we can be sure that we know God in the right way: Keep his commandments. If someone claims, “I know him well!” but doesn’t keep his commandments, he’s obviously a liar. His life doesn’t match his words. But the one who keeps God’s word is the person in whom we see God’s mature love. This is the only way to be sure we’re in God. Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived.”

Are you getting it?  So-called “Christians” in America are obviously not. “Christ-followers” simply follow Jesus in radical obedience, touching every area of their lives from family to finances, marriage to ministry, professions to politics!

“God said it and that settles it!” is the attitude of a “Christ-follower,” because he as been “born of God” by the Holy Spirit, and from a heart of love and devotion says, “YES, LORD!”

That’s why we have chosen WORSHIP as one of the four focuses of our ministry at Gateway. Worship includes our Sunday services & ministry, our daily passion for intimacy, and the many other ways we live to please Him.

Second, “that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.”

Right after Jesus said that, the Scribe asked, “Who is my neighbor?” The Parable of the Good Samaritan followed.

Loving others will fall into two categories for the Christ-followers: Insiders (true believers in the Body of Christ) and Outsiders (unbelievers, the “de-churched” in the world)

1. Insiders – Our love for each other is the basis of our obedience to Christ.  We can’t say we love God and not love others in Christ. I John 4:19-21-“We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.”The Bible goes so far as to say that others will know we are Christ-followers by our love for one another.  How do we have to audacity to call ourselves Christians and not love others? That’s why we have chosen Small Group Ministry as a focus for Gateway.We learn to love oneanother by developing relationships with other Christ-followers in our community or affinity.  “No one is an island.”  If the Father, Son, Holy Spirit needed to be together in a Trinity, how can we live, grow, mature alone?
2. Outsiders – Our love for the world is the basis of our identity with God. “For God so loved the world…that He gave His only Son” How much do you love your neighbor, as well as the people we meet from Africa, Asia, India, Europe, and Latin America?I John 3:18 (LB) “Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions.”That’s why we can’t just enjoy the blessings of God in our lives when the suffering world around us waits with their hands stretched out for help.  That’s why we must support missions, and build schools, orphanages anywhere the Lord allows us to go. That’s why we can’t horde the blessings of God in our church buildings, but we must reach out from here to the community around us and the Nations that need Jesus.

I want to see us reaching out in love to those around at school, work, business, community and even political groups.

Can you see the Gateway we are seeking to build for the future, having learned from the lessons of the past?  “No more Christians” like the ones filling American churches today.

Our goal is fully committed Christ-followers, with maturity measured by demonstrative growth in our love for God and others.  1) Growing intimacy with God; 2) Increasing community with insiders/believers; 3) Effective influence with outsiders/de-churched/unbelievers in our world.

“Connecting people to God and others” is our mission; our strategy is to do this through Worship, Children’s, Student and Small Group’s ministries.

Don Everts says it this way in his book, “Jesus with Dirty Feet” “Jesus was not a Christian. He never asked anyone to become a Christian, never built a steepled building, never drew up a theological treatise, never took an offering, and never wore religious garments, never incorporated for tax purposes.  He simply called people to FOLLOW HIM.  That’s it. That, despite its simplicity, is it. He called people to follow Him.

It is never more than Jesus’ call: “Follow Me” and a response: dropping familiar nets and following, in faith, this sandaled Jewish man. It is never more than that.”   Two thousand years of words can do nothing to the simple, basis reality of Christianity: Those first steps taken by those two brothers.  Peter and Andrew’s theology was as pure as it gets: Jesus said, “Follow Me.” And they did.”

Will we?  I think you now know what I mean when I say, “No more Christians!” We don’t need more Christians like many of the more than one billion who call themselves Christians in our world today.

We need a new breed of “Christ-followers.” Will you be one?

~October 25, 2009