The Essence of Christianity

By David Hobbs

Some time ago I went around town to various lodges such as the Elks and Moose to see what it would take to join their group. In every case it was ridiculously easy: fill out an application, pay dues, go through initiation… you’re in!
“Well what do I have to affirm or believe to become a member?”
“Here’s a brochure about who we are, and the benefits of becoming a Moose/Elk/Lion.” The Moose especially had a very attractive plan—a big retirement place in Florida you could go to: golf, fishing, cut rate medical benefits, wow it sounded great!
There were no special beliefs you had to ascribe to. You should attend meetings and be part of the group, give alms to “Mooseheart” (a facility for orphaned children back east). But it was pretty simple.
How does that compare with becoming a Christian? Well as a Christian there is more you are required to believe—the Nicene Creed spells it out nicely: all the doctrines of orthodox Christianity. And there is more change of lifestyle “demanded” of you—don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t cuss, don’t run around with floozy women, etc. That's more requirements than becoming a Moose. But the benefits are comparatively greater as well: eternity in heaven, provision on earth, a smooth transition to the other side…. If you stop and consider it, not too much to ask.

Just like the Moose you are expected to attend meetings and financially support the group, and try and get others to join.
And that’s the way many look at Christianity: you join a local church, ascribe to their beliefs, attend meetings, give financial support, and someday reap the benefits. That’s the americanized version. The biblical one is quite different.
The biblical pattern is to encounter God at some (crisis) point in your life, like the jailer in Acts 16:27+ who rushed into the jail where Paul was imprisoned, fell trembling at Paul’s feet and implored of him and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Or Paul himself, many years earlier on the road to Damascus, who was knocked to the ground and blinded by the encounter and could only ask, “Who are you Lord?” (Acts 9:5).
It was not a question of joining a group, it was having a life-altering encounter with Jesus that left you forever changed. As for benefits, God promise to Paul was: “I will show him how much he must suffer for my Name.” (Acts 9:16).

Luke’s Gospel tells the story of a group of ten lepers who were miraculously healed on their way to be examined by the priests (Luke 17:11). One came back and threw himself at Jesus’ feet in gratefulness while the others vanished. Where did they go? Probably to get the rest of their lives back together. “I wonder if my wife is still waiting for me? I wonder if can get my job back? I wonder what happened to the apartment I was living in? Leprosy had taken away their lives and now they suddenly had them back and it was a rush to re-enter life as usual and get back what had been lost in the interim.
It can be exactly the same when we get saved. We’re in a heck of a bind, about to be destroyed…. But that terrible situation drives us to Jesus and we end up getting saved and He rights the ship of our life. If we’re not careful, we can go back to the things we were pursuing before we got into the trouble that drove us to Jesus.
We can think, “Great! I’ve finally got that area of my life nailed down; I’ve gotten eternity taken care of, I’ve got somebody I know I can call on if I get into trouble again. Now I can go back to the other things I was pursuing; now I can go back to getting a wife, getting a job, securing my place on the corporate ladder, finishing my education…. All those worldly goals I was pursuing before I met Christ and became a Christian."
But that’s not how it’s supposed to be. When we meet Christ and are “born again,” our old life is dead. It’s over; it didn’t work; it was taking me down; but thank God He saved me out of it. We were saved off the deck of the Titanic just before it went under. Now why would we want to go back to it, to perhaps find a safer place to hang out there? The whole ship is going down, with everyone on board. The same can be said for this world—the whole thing is doomed to destruction, so why would we want to go back and try a different tack to making it in this life?
But that’s not even my point.
When we get saved, and our eyes are opened to see the truth, we realize we were in deception all along. We thought we were all right, but we were really on our way to hell without realizing it. And even if we had realized it, there was nothing we could have done about it—no person can save himself! It was in this helpless condition we were saved, but oh what a price had to be paid! God Himself had to become one of us, live His life among us being despised and rejected, and suffer terribly including the most cruel death imaginable, to win our release from our death sentence. He saved us from death, saved us from eternity in hell, and gave us an eternity of ecstasy in “heaven” with Him, but only by taking upon Himself the most cruel, unimaginable suffering, even unto death. And not for any good thing we had done, but only because of His love for us.
In view of all that, what should our response be? “Wow, I’m glad I have eternity taken care of. Now let’s see what I can do for myself in this life?” That’s the very selfish, sinful attitude that drove Him to the cross to save us. Now, saved and delivered, we’re going to take it up again?
The only reasonable response is total surrender of our lives to the will of God; surrender to that great love that suffered so much to rescue us from ourselves. When we were in charge of our own lives we made a mess of them—what else can we say? Our lives were total disasters when we were at the helm! The only way they could be saved was for God Himself to die on the cross for us. Now we want to try again and hope we can do better? No! A million times no! Self-life is dead. It’s over; it failed; it’s gone; end of story. The only reason we are still alive is because of Him. “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I but Christ liveth in me.”
We all know the importance of faith in Christianity. We are saved by faith, made righteous by faith, etc. But do we really believe that Christ died for us to save us? “Sure we believe.” But is it real faith or just a mental assent to a religious doctrine? “Here’s what you have to believe to be a Christian: Christ died for our sins,” check; “Jesus was the Son of God,” check; “Father, Spirit, Son,” check.”
If we really believed Christ shed His blood, was crucified and killed because it was the only way we could be spared an eternity in hell, we would be so blown away we would sit in prayer for hours at a time: incredulous, blown away, overwhelmed. We would experience crushing bouts of guilt, agonizing despair at our total depravity, but also overwhelming joy, ecstasy, giddiness, awestruck wonder at what He’s done and why He’s done it…. We would want to shout it from the rooftops, “I’m saved! I’m saved!” We would be praying, “Lord you’ve done so much for me, what would you like me to do for you? How can I please you? How can I repay you for your sacrifice?” Everything would be focused on him, on what He’s done.
The fact that most of these things don’t happen and aren’t happening means what? It means we don’t really believe! It’s become a religious doctrine instead of a living reality--a platitude we repeat over and over with no real meaning while we, like the other nine lepers, go on about our lives trying to put the rest of the pieces together.