Enough about Us; Let's Talk about Him!

Monday, January 26, 2009
Dear Fellow Travelers,
The following is a quote from a book I am reading, a book that I highly recommend that you read: “The church exists in order to change the subject from us and our deeds to God and His deeds of salvation, from our various missions to save the world to Christ’s mission that has already accomplished redemption. He sends us into the world, to be sure, but not to save it. Rather He sends us into the world to witness to Christ as the only Savior and to love and serve our neighbor in our secular vocations. Evil lies not outside us but inside; it is salvation that comes from outside ourselves. Nothing the church does extends, completes, or fulfills Christ’s all-sufficient, once-and-for-all, completed work of living, dying, and rising for sinners. So enough about us! We are the sinners He saves, not the redeemers He inspires. That is the content of our witness, which is why we are heralds of the Good News rather than mere purveyors of good advice” [Michael Horton, “Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church” (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2008), 141].
How could I ever forget the day I realized that God had not called me to “win the world for Jesus,” but to merely (and simply, thankfully) preach the Gospel? Prior to that moment, I was fully convinced that every additional “notch” I added to the spine of my Bible made a huge impression on God; consequently, I was busy “MAKING converts” and, thus, adding names in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Tragically, I was devoting almost all of my energy into carrying out a task that was not mine. Until that incredible moment in my life, Christianity was about what I could do for Him, not about what He had done for me. Talk about deception!
As you might imagine, because I was convinced that I was called to “win the world for Jesus,” I was also convinced that I had been called to tell those I won how to live a much better life, aka the Christian life. The truth is, every preacher/teacher I heard in those formative years of my life was fully persuaded that Jesus came to be a role model, a role model that, if followed, would result in a truly blessed and prosperous life. You can guess the fruit of that mindset: a long list of “dos” and “don’ts” that were gleaned from not only the Ten Commandments, but also from the life of Jesus. There were a few problems: (1) no two Christians had the same list, which made things difficult to say the least, but, rest assured, I was convinced that MY list was The Correct List; (2) hypocrisy was prevalent be-cause I had to pretend that I was actually obedient to my certified-correct list!
How great I am, how great I am! Lord, I am more beautiful than silver; Lord I am more costly than gold! Come Holy Spirit, You need me! I love to tell my story of unseen things above, of me and my glory . . .! My faith looks up to me, the lamb of Calvary! ‘Tis so sweet to trust in me, just to take me at my word! Sound familiar?
ENOUGH ABOUT US!! LET US TALK ABOUT HIM!