Ponderings from Pastor Nate

Tuesday, Jul 27th 2010

If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

Is it really a duck?  For most things, my black-and-white brain would say, YES!  But in the case of Christians I don’t think it is that easy.  What do you think?  Shouldn’t we be able to believe that if someone goes to church, refrains from cursing, obeys the law, and is generally a nice person that they are what Jesus wants to see being labeled a Christian?  I’m not so sure.  Every Sunday there are a massive amount of people who find their way to church, but don’t really understand or live out what it means to be a Christian.  I should know; that used to be me.  But we are not Christians simply because of any of our practices or values.  We are Christians because of what Christ did on the cross for us and our accepting and believing in that.  That values and practices are simply what follows as the result of our hearts fully understanding and owning that truth. 

Unfortunately, many people have it reversed and think that if they can just avoid sin, they will be counted among those who get to go to Heaven and many of these people become quite good at creating the look of a clean life.  Most of us, if pressed, could behave well enough to pass as a “Christian.”  The problem is that the Bible tells us that we are all sinners and the only thing we can do to change that condition is to accept the free gift of atonement Christ offered to us when he died for those same sins.  “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins” (Romans 3:23-24 NLT). 

Iowa native Billy Sunday said it well when he said, “Going to church on Sunday does not make you a Christian any more than going into a garage makes you an automobile!"  Please understand I believe going to Church is an important part of anyone’s Christian walk, but we all need to remember that’s not what makes us a Christian.

-Nate