In this age of technology, we have access to information about almost everything, instantly. There is news available concerning just about every conceivable topic. We especially love news about famous people. When looking at the news, I frequently see headlines like “What Jeff Bezos Said in His Last Letter to Share Holders” and “The Only Time Steve Jobs Turned Off His iPhone”. The founder of Amazon and The now deceased co-founder of Apple are two of the most materially successful people of our time and so it is certainly understandable that we would be interested in their thoughts and actions. I read both of these articles and I thought they were sort of interesting at the time but they didn’t have any real relevance to anything that was going on in my life and, at the moment, I can’t recall the details of either of them. I did enjoy reading them but they had no relevance to or impact on my life.
We also have easy access to documentation concerning the thoughts and actions of the most famous and influential person in history. I’m talking about Jesus, the Christ. The Bible is all about Him. His coming was foreshadowed and foretold in the Old Testament and recounted in the New Testament. What He did for us and what He requires of us are very relevant to all of our every day lives and also have eternal consequences. However, we tend not to be all that interested in His thoughts and actions. Why do you suppose that is?
I think I know one reason for the disparity between great interest in famous and influential people who dominate the news today and lack of interest in Jesus. Most of us don’t know much, if anything, about people like Jeff Bezos or Steve Jobs and so we jump on the opportunity to gain a little knowledge about these people. On the other hand, we already know about Jesus. Or do we? Many people who think they know all about Him really don’t, and this includes many in the Christian church. Many of us base our opinion of Jesus on what popular culture and the media tells us about Him and His followers. Many of us think of Him in the way we want to think of Him, giving Him attributes that fit with our preconceived notions and that are comfortable for us. There is a big problem with this. He is not at all who popular culture, the media, and our feelings tell us He is. Everything that means anything in all of our lives ultimately depends on who He really is and what we do or don’t do with that information so we can’t afford to just base our opinion of Him on assumptions and what other people tell us.
I want to ask you to do two things, if you aren’t already doing them.
The first thing I would ask is that you start setting aside some time every day to read the Bible. You may feel that the Bible is full of things that don’t make any sense. Logically speaking, that’s true. On the other hand, many of the things that science tell us don’t really make any sense either. Many of the things that science states as facts are actually theories, often with little evidence to back them up, and we are actually starting to find evidence that many of these long accepted theories are wrong. For example, if you really objectively study it, you will find that there is much more historical and archeological evidence that supports the Bible’s account of creation than there is scientific evidence that supports the theory of the big bang and evolution. I don’t suggest starting out by studying creation though. I would start by studying the One Who is at the center of it all, Jesus, and work my way out from there. Concerning translations of the Bible, I would recommend the King James Version (KJV), the New King James Version (NKJV), or the English Standard Version (ESV). I would suggest starting by reading the book of John. Start slow. Maybe read one chapter per day and take a little time after reading to reflect on what you read. I’m not just talking to nonbelievers. Even if you are already a Christian, you may be very surprised at what you read that you never realized or never fully thought through.
This request I’m making is very important. Don’t just assume you know Him. I have been a Christian for 33 years and I have been in full time Christian ministry for 7 years and I still learn new things about Him all the time. You may think you know Him but, I promise you, if you aren’t regularly spending time reading the Bible, you don’t know Him nearly as well as you think.
The second thing I would ask is that you start attending, in person, a local Christian church. If you don’t currently attend church, you may think that you’re just as good as the people who do attend. Here’s the thing. People are people, even in church. There are all kinds of people there and you’re probably better than some of them and worse than some of them, just as would be the case with a big group of people anywhere. How good or bad you are or they are has nothing to do with why you should attend. Attending church does not make someone a Christian but there is no getting around the fact that Christians are commanded, by God, to gather together to pray and learn and worship. There are reasons why God does that but that isn’t something you can really fully understand until you experience it. Just please give it a try.
You may have heard some bad things about church and you may have even had a bad experience with a church but I would ask you to set all that aside. You have probably heard bad things about and had bad experiences at some restaurants but you haven’t stopped eating. Let’s keep going with the food analogy. Can you live on nothing but fast food? Sure you can but you won’t live as long and your health won’t be nearly as good. Can you just occasionally catch a sermon on TV or YouTube? Of course but you will not grow spiritually or live your life in the way that God intended and you will not realize His best for you. There are certainly some bad churches out there but there are some really good ones too. Take a little time, perhaps visit multiple churches, and ask God to lead you to the one where He would have you worship and serve.
If you will do these two things, if you will start to get in God’s Word and start congregating with His people, and if you will do these things very regularly, I think you will find that His Son, Jesus, is not at all who you may have thought He is. I think that you will find that those who truly follow Him and truly do what He teaches are not who you think they are. I think you will find that He asks both much less of you in some areas and much more of you in other areas than you may think. I think you will ultimately discover that He can be the best friend you have ever had, if you will let Him. Don’t take my word for it. Don’t take anybody else’s word either. Find out for yourself.
I started to ask “What have you got to loose?” but, actually, you have everything to loose. So, just give what I’m asking a try, please.
