Jesus is Calling. Will you answer? The most familiar Christian conversion stories involve brothers and sisters who lived lives very far from Christ. Just like the Prodigal Son, they strayed far from the father's house, got caught up in addiction, mixed with the wrong crowd, made unfortunate choices, and ended up in very bad places in their lives. When they hit rock bottom, they reached out to Jesus Christ and submitted their lives to Him and rose up new people. These stories are powerful reminders of Christ's power to transform people and his unquenchable love for us regardless of where we are in our lives or the choices we have made. These conversion stories make it clear that no one, absolutely no one, is 'too bad' to accept and be transformed by Christ's atoning sacrifice.
The problem is that by looking at conversion stories as mainly involving 'hitting rock bottom' or 'living life far from Christ then returning,' we might be compartmentalizing the power of Christ's love as well as shielding ourselves from the fact that Jesus is still calling to us. The truth is is Jesus is calling us even when we are already in the church or are active in the church. The truth is Jesus is calling to use even when we already read the Bible and pray every day. He is calling because he wants our relationship with him to mature. We have an immature relationship with Jesus when we have a proud attitude, often unconscious, where we say to ourselves 'I already know Jesus', or 'I have a relationship with Jesus.' There is a false pride present in these statements, and it truly takes a heart fully submitted to Christ's humbling power and love to be aware of the slippery slope we're on when we presume to know him.
The Danger of Recreating Christ in Our Image
Humans have fallen natures. Most Bible-believing Christians can agree on this. As part of our fallen tendency to gravitate towards self, flesh, and sin, we have this tendency to look at the world through our lenses. In short, we are selfish and self-centered Is it really that big of a stretch to say that we tend to look at Jesus from our own self-centered and selfish perspective as well? We tend to reinvent Christ by either positioning him as some sort of cosmic Santa Claus, vindictive bully, pushover emotional door mat who only seeks to love but never punish, and other images. When we do this, as part of our sinful nature, we recreate God in our own images. We commit idolatry. The truth is that Jesus has a separate reality from what is comforting or preferred in our eyes. The truth of Jesus, as revealed through the Scriptures, might be uncomfortable to us. It might be inconvenient. But his truth and his reality continuously calls Christians to rediscover him.
Jesus is calling
Faith, real faith, is not a hand-me-down. It is something we experienced for ourselves. It is something we go through. Jesus is calling us back to His Word to rediscover Him. Not the comforting images we have of him or the assumptions we have regarding His will but he is calling us to have a relationship with him. This is jarring. This can be downright upsetting to many Christians. Often, we may feel like the older brother of the Prodigal Son who was upset when the Father showed love and compassion to the younger son. The older brother only saw his rights and how he felt slighted. If he had a real relationship with his father, he would know his father's true nature and his father's kindness would not have been upsetting.
Let us heed Christ's constant call to a deeper relationship. It is not enough to be in church, participating in activities, and doing things for the Church. He wants a relationship with us first and foremost And this means truly knowing him and putting ourselves aside and humbling our self before his Will. Jesus is calling, will you answer ?
Robert Moment is a life coach, personal growth strategist, speaker and author. Author of several life changing and transforming books including, Christian Youth: It Cool to Believe in God for Love, Acceptance, Friendship, Protection and Direction, Christian Women: Blessed Wherever You God, Faith: Living Your Life Fully and Freely Without Fear and others. Robert specializes in maximizing human potential for happiness, purpose and success. Visit http://www.AChristianYouth.com and sign up for the FREE 5 Day e-Course titled, Christian Youth: Be Inspired to Live for God.
