On
this Reformation Sunday, I am going to talk about the basic subject of
how one becomes a Christian. As you can see from the title, I think
“it’s like falling in love,” a subject which is of
interest to all of us and especially to the young people in the Youth
Conference that we have with us this morning.
1. It Starts with Attraction
As I see it, there are three basic steps to falling in love. The first
is--- you become attracted to someone. You feel emotionally drawn to
someone.
A man sees a woman in a crowded room. He likes what he sees
and
moves in her direction. He enters into conversation; is drawn by her
looks, her personality, her wit.
That happened to me. I remember seeing my wife, Carol, at the freshman
retreat when we first entered seminary together. Now days, the ratio of
men to women in seminary is 1 to 1. In those days it was 1 to
10. One woman for ten men. Carol was having a great
time
meeting all the men talking with them, laughing with them. The more I
watched her, the more I became attracted to her.
Now the first step in becoming a Christian is to become attracted to
Jesus Christ. Notice that I am referring to the person of Jesus. I am
not referring to a particular church or to a particular denomination. I
am emphasizing the person of Jesus.
Our Scripture lesson from John 1 describes how fortunate those two
disciples were that afternoon when they were first introduced to Jesus.
They were with their mentor, John the Baptist, who said, “Look,
There is the Lamb of God.” So the two men started walking behind
Jesus. Jesus turned around and said, “What do you want?”
And they said, “Rabbi, where are you staying?” Jesus
understood that they wanted to get to know him So he said, “Come
and see.” And they stayed with him the rest of the day. Notice
how approachable he was; how he responded cordially. He invited them to
his home. He spent the afternoon with them.
They were obviously greatly impressed by Jesus. We are told that
Andrew, one of the two men, went to his brother, Peter, and said,
“We have found the Messiah.” The Christ, the One Israel has
been waiting for.”
Our Scripture from Colossians 1 tells us about the divine nature of
Jesus. V.15 says, He is the image [eikon
- form,
likeness, direct reflection] of the invisible God, -- Do you
want
to know what God is like? By looking at Jesus you will see God’s
character: what God is concerned about, what God values.
v. 19 says that God was pleased to have all his fullness
dwell in
him. It’s hard for us to begin to grasp the full significance of
that statement. Imagine -- all the fullness of God, all of the love and
wisdom of God was pleased to dwell in Jesus.
How can you not be attracted to Jesus? He is acknowledged by millions
upon millions as the greatest personality of all time.-- The greatest
leader in all of history. --The greatest teacher who ever lived. The
person who lived the most pure and self-giving life. He so loved us
that he gave himself on the cross for our sins. How can we not be
attracted to Jesus?
Step 2 -- Getting to Know you
The second step in falling in love is getting to know the other person.
Let’s take Richard. He falls head over heels in love with
Ginger. He has that dreamy look about him, --that dazed, delirious
expression that sometimes comes over those who have fallen in love. Can
you remember being like that? He is completely wound up over
this
person. Whether you asked him or not, he will tell you how beautiful
she is, how intelligent, charming. She is a scintillating
conversationalist, great listener, and besides all of this she is
totally unselfish.
And as you listen to him you begin to suspect that he is not talking
about a real person. He’s talking about his dream, his fantasy.
And if he’s smart he will get to know this girl as she really is
-- her strengths, which we all have, and also her weaknesses
--which we all have.
Here’s a second scenario: This young man has been going with a
young woman and he admits that some of her habits really bother him.
For example, she's always late. She bites her nails. When
they go
out for dinner, she orders the most expensive item, takes two or three
bites and leaves the rest on the plate.
These are problems for him. But he figures that when they get married,
he will be able to reconstruct her, reshape her after the image of what
his wife should be like. And besides, deep down, he figures that he is
probably not going to do much better-- anyhow.
Now if that happens to describe the experience of anyone here, let me
clue you -- you are not in love, you are in trouble. You want to change
her? Forget it.
Here’s the real test for love, two people get together; they have
fun together -- I think that is basic. They have gotten to know one
another well enough so that they are aware of the strengths and the
weaknesses of each other.--they know one another’s character
scratches. But here’s the difference, those flaws do not disturb
them, they are not pushing for change, they are willing to accept one
another as they are. That’s a crucial difference and I would say
that’s a healthy relationship.
The second step in becoming a Christian is to get to know Jesus Christ.
Let me tell you the story of Lew Wallace. He was a general in the Army
and also a literary giant. Like a lot of people, he believed that Jesus
was a great man and a great teacher. But he was influenced by a man
named Robert Ingersoll, who was a famous skeptic. Wallace decided to
write a book about the real Jesus, which in his mind meant leaving out
the miracles and the resurrection.
For two years, Lew Wallace went to the leading libraries of the US and
Europe. He researched the literature looking for material that would
help him find the real Jesus. He was in the second chapter of
his
book when he became persuaded that the evidence in support of the
divinity of Jesus Christ was overwhelming. And so like Thomas he got on
his knees and confessed Jesus as his Lord and his God.
A couple of years later, Lew Wallace wrote the book Ben Hur. It became
a movie which some people call “The most honored film of
all-time.” In 1959 it won eleven of the twelve Academy Awards for
which it was nominated .
Am I saying that in order for you to become a Christian you have to
study in the libraries of Europe for a couple of years, or go to
seminary? No, presumably the thief on the cross knew very
little
about Jesus when he said, “Lord remember me when you come into
your kingdom.” And the Lord said to him “Today shalt thou
be with me in paradise.”
You don’t need a lot of head knowledge. But, I do believe that
the more you know about Christ, the better off you are. The Bible says
that we are to be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you
to give a reason for the hope you have within you (1Pet 3:15). We are
to love God not only with our hearts but also with our minds. We are to
be intelligent about our faith. We are to understand our faith! The
second step in becoming a Christian is to get to know Christ.
Step 3 -- Making a Commitment
The third step in falling in love is to make a commitment.
John and Mary are standing before the pastor. The pastor
asks,
“John wilt thou have this woman to be thy lawfully wedded
wife, to live together in the holy estate of matrimony. Wilt thou love
her, comfort her, honor and keep here, for richer for poorer, in
sickness and in health, and forsaking all others keep thee only unto
her, so long as you both shall live.”
And John says, “I will.” Through the years I've noticed
that when men say “I will,” they say it with varying
degrees of enthusiasm. Some are very strong, very firm,
aggressive:
“I will!” He obviously means it. And then there are
others, a little weak, timid, “I will?” It almost sounds
like question. And there are those I can hardly hear at all -- I
especially worry about those.
Notice the sequence for falling in love. First, (#1) your emotions are
touched. You become attracted to a person. Next
(#2) Your
mind--the cognitive elements, your intellect gets involved.
You
spend time getting to know this person as she or he really is.
And Thirdly, (#3) Your will, your volition, your ability to commit,
comes into play You say “I will, “ for richer for
poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us
part.”
You see how the whole person is involved. The heart, the
mind,
the will. The emotions, the intellect, your capacity to
choose.
Now the same thing is true in the Christian faith. Not only must you be
(#1) attracted to Jesus, -- your heart and emotions are attracted to
him -- and also (#2) you have gained information about him
and
your mind is satisfied. But there has to come the day when you (#3)
make a commitment to follow him. This is the case whether you
have been baptized as a baby or not. There comes a day when you as a
thinking and mature adult have the great privilege and opportunity to
answer these questions:
Do you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord, and Savior and God?
“I do!” By saying, “I do!” you are affirming
your baptism. When you were young or an infant, your parents made that
confession for you. But each person eventually has to make that
confession for himself or herself.
Another question that is absolutely crucial is this: Will you follow
him? Will you be his disciple, (mathete) his student, his apprentice,
his practitioner?
I’ve been reading Dallas Willard’s newest book, “The
Great Omission.” He points out that many in the churches across
the US and the world think that they can be Christians and never become
disciples. That’s what he means by “The Great Omission. His
point is that a true Christian has to be serious about practicing what
Jesus teaches, otherwise we miss, omit, one of the main points, perhaps
the main point. I say the main point since Jesus’ Great
Commission tells us that our job is to go and make disciples, baptizing
them, and teaching them to obey everything that he commanded us
(Matthew 28:19-20).
Step 4 -- Growing in Love
Does that mean that once you become a Christian, you are not going to
sin anymore? You are not going to have any doubts? You are not going to
have any questions about your faith? No, it doesn’t mean that at
all.
The parallel with marriage continues to hold. What happens after the
wedding vows? We all know that marriage is not all hearts and
flowers.
Marriage is not one continuous Valentine’s Day. You
have two people who have committed themselves to each other. But,--
they are human beings. There will be tension, and clashes, and lots of
adjustment before husband and wife blend into one.
Do you know what makes a great marriage? There are many books on the
subject and I advise people to read as many of those books as
possible. And yet, in my mind, the number one thing, is that
both
persons have to be committed to a #10 marriage on a scale
from 1
to 10. You both have to decide that your marriage is going to be the
most important pursuit in your lives, next to following
Christ.
Number #10 means that you intend to give your full effort toward having
a fulfilling and happy marriage.
I think this is especially important for men. They are often built in
such a way as to take on one project at a time. When a man is in hot
pursuit of the girl of his dreams, he writes love letters, buys
flowers, composes poetry. I even wrote a couple of songs for
Carol. Every once in a while she asks me to sing them to her, and
I’m embarrassed when I have to ask her to help me remember
the words.
When Carol said, “I do,” that was it! The chase was over.
It was time for me to turn my sights on other objectives--grad school,
serving as a minister, etc.
The wife may want a #10 marriage, but the husband may be so caught up
in work, in other projects, other interests that he lets his desire for
a good marriage slip down to a #7, or a #5, or a #3. But the
Bible reminds husbands to . “love your wives as Christ
loved the church and gave himself up for it” (Ephesians 5:25).
Now, just as you grow in love for one another, you need also to grow in
your love for God. You have to have a desire to have a #10 relationship
with Jesus Christ. You can’t be casual about following Jesus.
Where are you this morning: Are you at stage 1, 2, 3, or 4?
#1 -- Have you felt yourself increasingly attracted to Christ?
That’s a good sign. It means that Jesus is drawing you to
himself.
Go forward to step #2
#2 -- Learn as much as you can about Christ! Read the Gospels and
meditate on the life and words of Jesus. Get to know the mind of
Christ. Get to know the heart of Christ.
#3 -- Have you come to that point where you have said, “I want
You to be my Savior. my Lord, my God.” “I will follow
You.” What a privilege that is! What an honor! It takes
courage. It takes commitment. That’s what’s required in
order to become a Christian. John 1:12 says, as many as received him
[that’s a decision -- as many as received him] to them he gave
the right to become the children of God
#4 Maybe you are in step four -- seeking to grow closer to Christ;
wanting to become more like him--in character, in his concern for other
people, in spreading peace and justice to your community.
Wherever you are, --1-2-3 or 4 keep moving forward toward Christ.
Ah, dear friends, having a fulfilling and happy marriage is one of the
great challenges and rewards in life.
But, the greatest challenge and the greatest reward is knowing and
serving Christ. Amen.
