After you believe

My faith journey with Jesus began when I was 11 years old. In truth, having been raised in a Christian home, my faith journey probably began before that point, but when I was 11 I acknowledged that I wanted to follow Jesus. I can remember well the response of the small congregation in which I made public my decision to align myself with Jesus. Hugs. Tears. Congratulations. And, many, many statements about what an important decision I had just made. In the words of the pastor, “I had just made the most important, life-changing decision of my life.” Words like that were encouraging to an insecure, 11 year old boy. I couldn’t wait to see what they would entail.

Turns out I had to wait for a while, a long while. For the most part, my life changed little after that momentous decision. Life went on as usual, and I began to wonder just what was so momentous about what I had done. Ever the inquisitive fellow, I would ask those closest to me what was supposed to be happening in me and usually some sort of reply about joy, peace, Jesus being near and my friend were readily offered. Almost without fail, Jesus’ promise of abundant life was mentioned (John 10.10) and the conversation ended and the subject changed. It was almost as if everyone knew something I didn’t, but they didn’t want to talk about it. I kept asking and I kept getting the same answer followed by a change of subject. After a while, I really began to feel like an outsider. People knew something I didn’t and I wanted to know, so I stopped asking and started watching. As I watched, I began to realize the big secret no one wanted me to know.

The big secret was that following Jesus was such a big deal because nothing happened. Worry dominated. Anger still ruled. Angst was normal and cursing like a sailor was completely ordinary, at least among friends. Sexual immorality was OK, as long as it wasn’t on Sunday (morning, that is) and as long as you said you were sorry and felt bad about it. I could go on, but over time I began to discover that the big secret was there was no joy, no peace, no change. Jesus followers made a big decision to be just like everyone else! Some secret. I felt a little gypped, as if I had been cheated out of a year of Sundays and loads of fun shows which always seemed to premier when I was supposed to be at church.

I pressed in on those who were supposed to know best. Certainly this couldn’t be what I signed up for? Jesus promised that my life would be different if I followed him. For the most part, I just got blank stares. The most helpful patiently tried to explain that this is just the way it was. I was going to have to wait until heaven, to which I wanted to shout, “You mean I have to die to get what Jesus promised?” How come no one ever told me that before? Maybe the gospel should have been presented as, “Follow Jesus and then wait around to die to see anything happen!” No thanks. Had I known that I would have said, “NO, THANK YOU!”

Funny thing is, something gripped me and I couldn’t accept what I was hearing. So, I started reading Scripture, started praying, started asking Jesus about it rather than just people.  The more I pursued Jesus, the more I became convinced that Jesus didn’t misspeak when he promised abundant life. We just misheard. Here is what I mean. Jesus said that if we followed him we would find abundant life and we heard, “If you pray a prayer and sit in a pew you will find abundant life.” We heard something Jesus never said. Following, last time I checked, is a very active process. Following involves two parties, the one leading and the one following. There is interaction between the two and great attention is given by both to the other as they journey together. The leader moves forward and the follower seeks to imitate. This is the relationship to which Jesus called us, an active, ongoing relationship in which we are not finished after we begin to believe; our expression of trust in Jesus marks but the beginning of a new and wonderful journey. The biblical authors called this journey sanctification. Ancient Christian thinkers referred to it as the pursuit of virtue. I prefer to refer to it as taking up the life of Jesus, the practical outworking of following after him.

When I tried my new thoughts out on a few of those “wait around to die folks” I at best I got a patronizing look. At worst I got accused of working for my salvation. It seemed that the prevailing thought was we follow Jesus by doing nothing; but the words of Jesus wouldn’t let me go, nor could I forget the words of Paul to the Philippians telling them to “work out their salvation” (Philippians 2.12-13) and the Ephesians to put off old ways and to put on new ways of being in their following of Jesus (Ephesians 4.22-24). I could not put aside Peter’s discussion of the active and practical outworkings of grace, which by the way, looked nothing like doing nothing (2 Peter 1.3-5). So, a few years ago, after more than a few years of doing nothing, I decided to do something. I decided to follow. I decided to take a gamble and actually act on Jesus’ words, to take up this pursuit of virtue, this taking up of the life of Jesus. Here’s the funny thing. When I decided to do something, some things began to happen. In small ways and big ways, I began to look, to think, to experience life very differently. I catch glimpses of peace. I have been known to find myself experiencing joy. Anger has less and less of a grip on me. I suppose I could go on but let it suffice to say that the more I follow Jesus in this way, the more I realize that I have truly made the most important, life-changing decision in my life.

A fellow traveler,

Blake

What’s my next step?

We encourage you to consider engaging in the following as a way of handing off faith in your family.

Emphasize God’s love: Following Jesus is a journey, a journey which begins and is imbued with the love of God. If we are to follow and pursue his way of life, we must be secure that our pursuit of this life is motivated by the possession of God’s love rather than motivated as a means of possessing God’s love. As a family, you might consider ways of emphasizing God’s constant, never-giving-up, always-and-forever love. You might consider making the recognition of God’s love a regular part of thanksgiving at meals. You might also consider emphasizing God’s love by blessing your children each night with reminders that they are loved by God.

We encourage you to consider engaging in the following as a way of deepening your own faith.

Soak in God’s love: The journey of faith is a journey fueled by the love of God. Before we can begin this journey we must come to grips with the reality that we are surrounded with an unstoppable love which comes from God himself. This week consider memorizing and meditating upon Paul’s prayer about coming to grips with God’s love in Ephesians 3.16-19. Consider making this prayer your own, personalizing it and offering it to God throughout each day of the coming week.