The Bible Belt

In the south, we tend to all call ourselves Christian, without really knowing what it means. Growing up, I was no different. On Sunday mornings, my sister, brother and I would cut the volume down on our 4-channel, rabbit ear antenna bearing television.

The plan was to stay quiet long enough not to wake Mom. If we made it until Rocky and Bullwinkle came on, we were safe. There wouldn’t be enough time to get dressed and ready for church. Mom didn’t like to be late.

Living near a fundamental, legalistic, Christian college didn’t help my dislike of religion. Some kids of the students attended my elementary school. I judged them for the way they looked and acted. They dressed so prim and proper. And because they didn’t join in our mischievous ideas of fun, they seemed stuffy and joyless. I felt judged by them. But looking back, I was the one who was doing the judging.

In my eyes, they were a “born again,” “holier than thou” brand of Christianity I wanted no part of. Besides, I “believed” in Jesus. I’d tried to live a good life. I’d murdered no one or robbed a bank. I figured my slot in heaven was secure.

Searching for Joy

While in college, I realized that all the things I thought would bring me lasting joy, left me feeling empty. I knew a relationship with God was the answer, but I didn’t know how that worked.

My best friend, who had recently given His life to Christ, talked to me about how my “good works” would not get me to heaven. He said it was because of what Jesus did, not my following rules. Using the following verse, he convinced me that my present lifestyle was not one which reflected that I was truly a Christian:

You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? ¹⁷ So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit (Matthew 7:16-17).

But I didn’t understand why Christ would accept me because of my party lifestyle. This kind of grace seemed so foreign. Again, basing my conclusion on my faulty thinking that God loves us based on what we do.

Nevertheless, in 1977, I bent the knee and surrendered, best I knew how, to Jesus Christ as my Lord. I understood that at that point He took up residence in my heart by His Holy Spirit [1], but my life didn’t change for some time.

I believe my conversion to be genuine, but I really didn’t know how to follow Jesus as His disciple. What I saw around me was much like the kids I’d avoided in elementary school; folks trying hard to follow rules they’d read about in the Bible.

In 1985, things began to change. Susan and Louis Sutton, a couple in our church, asked my wife and I to be a part of a fellowship group. For about three years, before they began their missionary work in Chad, we did life together. During that time, I understood how completely different Christianity is from how I was living it.

I’d let following the rules become the most important thing.

Though it took years for the truth to become a heart reality, the Suttons showed us that Christianity, at its essence, is about a relationship with Jesus, not following rules.

The other stuff — the loving, the holy living, the following Jesus — flows out of my relationship with Him. 

Putting the Cart Before the Horse

We’ve heard the saying putting the cart before the horse. It’s about putting things in the wrong order.

Picture it for a moment. The cart is first, and the horse is behind it. How would we get anywhere? Does the horse push the cart?

As bizarre as this sounds, thinking that following the rules secures our relationship with Jesus is just as ridiculous. 

Righteousness is not because of anything we’ve done, but all because of Christ’s work on our behalf.

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and ]that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Ephesians 2:8-10).

As we focus on our relationship with Jesus, not on keeping rules for Him, we follow Him out of love for Him, empowered by His Spirit.

Prayer

Lord, please show me quickly when I once again lead with rule following as opposed to allowing what I say and do to flow from my relationship with You. You’ve called me to fiercely love the folks you’ve put in my life, regardless of how they treat me. I can’t do that if I cut off the flow of Your love by focusing on following rules.

I resolve to wait for You, to yield to You and to allow You to love through me.

Amen,

Your son

Reflection

Paul warned the Galatians about adopting a gospel of trying harder. 

I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. (Galatians 1:6-7)

Galatians 2:21 speaks of how ridiculous it is to try keeping the law to earn our righteousness: I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.

Don’t move quickly past the meaning of this verse. Us trying to earn God’s righteousness by following the law (rules), renders Christ’s death needless.

We must be vigilant in our thinking. Does reading the Bible, serving at church, talking about Jesus, earn God’s approval? No. It can be very subtle in this achievement based society. 

We must keep seeking to live in the flow of the Rivers of Living Water, [2] not in the dry and dusty land of self-effort. All our exhausting, self motivated rule keeping is worth nothing. [3]

At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.” But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions, how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent? But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire compassion, and not a sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.  For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:1-8 NASB)

[1] Ephesians 1:13-14

[2] John 7:37-39

[3] John 15:5

Note: Unless otherwise noted, all referenced Scripture is from the NASB 1995 version of the Bible. 

Other posts in our Everlasting Way Series:

Learning How to Overcome Emotional Numbness

Embracing God’s Amazing Love

Are we More Like Batman or Spider-Man

Transforming Awareness: The Power of God’s Love

Minding Your Busyness

Our Deepest Longings Filled

Joy in the Journey is about the gladness of God’s nearness in the midst of life’s adventures.

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