Real Christians
“Then he called his disciples and the crowds to come over and listen. ‘If any of you wants to be my follower,’ he told them, ‘you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will find true life’” – Mark 8:34-35 (New Living Translation).
I remember going into a restaurant recently where I ordered mash potatoes with gravy. Now I love mashed potatoes, and was looking forward to slamming some into my mouth! However, when they came and I tasted the first bite, my taste buds were very disappointed. These were not real potatoes, but artificial ones out of a box. They didn’t taste much at all like the real thing, though they were eatable. They looked and smelled much the same, but they weren’t the same at all.
Now there are real Christians and phony Christians. There are Christians that are genuine converts to Jesus and those that are like spuds from a box; they look like Christians and even smell much like Christians, but they aren’t real Christians. How do we tell the difference? Jesus gives the answer.
He says that his true followers put aside selfish ambition, shoulder their cross, and follow him. They aren’t interested in the things of this world so much as they desire to be sold out for God’s causes. You don’t have to beg them to serve in the church, they are eager to do it. You don’t have to coax them to give of their money to God’s work, they do it cheerfully. You don’t have to convince them to obey God’s word because they are falling all over themselves trying to do it - - albeit imperfectly sometimes. Prayer for them is not the last, but the first resort, and they don’t see reading or listening to the Bible as a burden, but a joy; even though they may get busy and miss reading here and there, in their hearts they WANT to do it.
Real Christians can’t go to work and turn their Christianity off like a spigot to the point that no one there would ever know they were a Christian, and they don’t stop being a Christian when they’re doing business, or traveling. They don’t work at a place for years without ever mentioning God to their coworkers - - God is so much a part of them that he just spills out of their mouth sometimes. They are sold out, and it shows. And even though they might be discouraged or hurting or doubt God for a time, they never stop clinging to him or being willing to speak for him when opportunity offers and the timing is right.
They lose their life for Jesus’ sake and for the sake of the Good News. Nothing means quite so much to a real Christian as seeing lost people find salvation in Christ. He or she actively participates in helping this all-important process of evangelism to happen. Through giving, serving, sharing, singing, comforting, writing, visiting, calling, praying, teaching, listening, inviting, smiling, and more they desire to impact others with the Good News. They aren’t very interested in having things their own way so long as lost people are being saved. They don’t care if they have to sacrifice some time or money or energy or comfort or personal preferences if it means snatching a lost soul from damnation. And they don’t care who gets the credit as long as heaven gains a soul and hell loses one. It’s all about the Good News, and they know it deep down in their bones.
Now real Christians aren’t perfect. They sin and fall short of God’s glory. They don’t have perfect attitudes all the time. In fact, sometimes their attitudes may stink to high heaven. They may even make bad choices or disappoint the Master. But when God’s Spirit convicts them of their wrong, real Christians feel deep sorrow over their sin and repent. For this, too, is part of being selfless and shouldering a cross for Jesus. Crosses are all about sacrifice and death - - so real Christians sacrifice pride and put stubbornness to death by quickly admitting wrong and forsaking sin. It may take some time to get it right, but they are in agony about their sin and are determined to improve.
I don’t know about you, but I want to be a real Christian - - the real deal; a true disciple of Jesus. I want to be sold out for his causes and in so doing find true life - - life with real meaning and purpose; life that is so grand and so great and so fulfilling that I wouldn’t trade it for anything or anyone.
So God forbid that I should ever become spuds in a box.