SUPERMARKET SALVATION
What is the secret to a deeper, richer, more powerful life in Christ? The Christian book industry seems to be thriving on the words of those who want to share their "secret". Most of us realize that there is more to knowing Christ, more to living for Christ, more to living in Christ, than what we have achieved at any particular moment. We realize this because we know that being intimately connected to Christ is an ongoing process — Faith is a way, a walk, a direction, not a final estination — at least in this life. We also know that our attraction and submission to Christ isn't always constant. Sometimes we rebel. Once in a while, self-centeredness spins us off in the "me first" direction. Occasionally, pride kicks up a "let me fix it fit".
Obviously, the Christian life, even though it is born out of grace by faith and not our good works (Eph 2:8, 9), still requires some effort on our part. Not effort unto salvation, mind you, but effort to grow. It requires effort to keep focused; effort to give God the room He needs to change us. It requires effort to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, instead of being deadened by the pattern of this world (Rom 12:2). But, in what form should our effort be applied? Is there a trick to this Christian thing? Is there an experience we must find? Do we have to buy some kind of a spiritual extended warranty?
A couple of weeks ago someone in our congregation was shopping in Saint John and returned to their car to find a flyer stuck to the windshield. The flyer contained this startling introduction: "Receiving Christ: this is the secret of obtaining Jesus, given to me by the Holy Spirit, this is the only way to become Born Again, follow it or lose salvation." If you have your wits about you, already the hair on the back of your neck should be saluting. According to this "inspired" supermarket message, here are some of the actions required to be "born again":
- Never allow yourself to become angry — never!
- Start thinking only with your heart.
- Only with love ruling your entire being can you understand the hidden meaning of the Bible.
- Feeling God's Love in the spiritual sense is receiving his Holy Spirit. He will only be sent if your temple (being) is pure and without evil.
Interesting little document isn't it? Notice the catch words, "secret", and "hidden meaning"? Notice the emphases on our efforts? We can only receive the Holy Spirit if we are pure and without evil. Hum . . . . The basic message from this windshield prophet is this: there is more to being a Christian than meets the eye. There are hidden things, secret things that are necessary, not only for our spiritual growth, but also for our salvation!
My question in regards to this spiritual manifesto is this: How come only those who are a few vowels short of a prophecy feel motivated to "share"? Thing is, you have to give this person credit. They believed enough in their message to pay for hundreds, if not thousands of photocopies. Then, they did the legwork and spread their message near and far. But all that aside, my point in sharing this persons' "secret" is that there are no secrets to either being a Christian, or growing in Christ.
God has laid out His plan and intentions very clearly in His Word. It is obvious that He wants us to understand who He is and what we must do to be saved; what we must do to grow. The secret to the Christian life is that there are no secrets to the Christian life!
Repeated throughout God's Word, in various ways, from numerous angles, in bold, italic and underline, is the same truth — If you want to know God and live a victorious life, you have to trust in, be dependent upon, submit to, and humble yourself before God. Just as we come to Christ by claiming His sacrifice for our sins, we must continually come to our Lord and claim His power to live, to love, to change, to give. Put another way, God wants us to have faith (Heb 11:6). He wants us to have faith enough to give our lives to Him, faith enough to immerse ourselves in prayer, faith enough to do what He empowers us to do, faith enough to stop trying and start relying. I realize this isn't the most startling revelation. That's ok. I'd rather have the simple truth than a secret lie. It's time for the Church to stop looking for the latest plan, program, or prophet. Let's instead put what we already know into practice — not a revolutionary idea, but certainly a transforming one!
'"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.' (Jam 4:6-8)
