What defines a good Christian person?
Perfect Sunday School attendance? Generous giving when the plates
come around? The words used in conversation on a Saturday night? The
music listened to when nobody is watching? Is it obedience? Does
going on a mission trip make a person a good Christian? Is it through
baptism, through communion? Is a good Christian person defined by
worship style, by being conservative or radical? Is a good Christian
walk about following the rules and checking things off a list of
appropriate actions and beliefs?
NO.
Who do we have to be for God
to love us? Well, we have to be exactly who He created us to be. Its
not about doctrine, its not about theology. The key is in the
relationship. I absolutely believe that baptism is essential for
salvation. But I have allowed that concept to become an idol in my
life, a thing that distracts me from what is the MOST important
thing…a relationship with my creator, with my father.
I was broken this past week.
I realized that I do not accept God’s love very well. I try to
fulfill His expectations to earn my way into good graces with Him.
When I finally grasped that, wow was I a complete mess. I have been
acting like a Pharisee for the past couple of months, letting laws
inhibit my ability to build relationships with my team and my GOD.
And when I say broken, I was on the floor, crying my eyes
out…completely outside of who I typically am. Actions and structure
replaced relationship. I was my biggest obstacle to a deeper
relationship with God.
All of this might scare some
people from back home. I just want you guys to know…I am not
abandoning my roots by any means. I am just seeing things with
different eyes. I am changing the order of importance on things. God
is shaping me into a better me. I am not going to be defined by being
a World Racer. I am not going to be defined by being a Church of
Christer. My identity is found in my relationship with God. I am
going to walk in that and grow into the person that God has created
me to be.
Thoughts?
