Enough with Pretense: A Call to Second Generation Christians
Denouncing the Lie
To start off, let me take a leaf out of Paul's book (2 Cor 11:23), I was born in a Christian home. I said 'The Prayer' when I was four. I attended church school in my younger days, and the youth fellowship throughout my teens. I led in prayer for the first time when I was 13, started chairing when I was 15, I made countless 'commitments' to follow Christ in my late teens. In my freshmen years, I pursued every opportunity to 'catch fish', spoke in the evangelistic meeting during Christmas and maintained peace with all my brethren. I gained popularity of knowing the Bible like the back of my hand, able to quote verses off the hook and to identify chapters at whim.
In spite of that, I am not a Christian.
Some will argue that I have received Christ into my heart early on, and that commitment is guarded by God although I do not remember it. Others may argue that I am just having a 'valley of the shadow of death' moment (Psalms 23), and that God will soon bring me back into the light. Then comes a long list of prescription to 'cure' my doubt: go to church, fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ, be consistent in Quiet Time, etc.
None of these are wrong in themselves. However, the prescription misses the main point as it tries to treat the disease by curing the symptoms. Look carefully at Scriptures, and you will see that salvation is dependent on other factors
Sacrifice - the key of Christianity
If anyone should come after me and not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple... In the same way, anyone who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. (Lk 14:26,33)
Not everyone who says to me "Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ...And they will say "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?" Then I shall tell them plainly, "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!"
He who seeks his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for me and the gospel's sake will save it.
The Lord does not say "If anyone should come after me and read his Bible everyday, go to church 52 Sundays a year, win many to Christ, jump for joy before Him, call me Lord, he is my disciple." Instead he points out that only those who 1) are willing to take His side against everyone else in the world, 2) give up everything they have, and 3) do the Father's will will inherit the kingdom of heaven.
The first question that comes to my mind is that, if we heard this statement before we 'received Christ', how different would our response be? Would we still be willing to follow Christ? Would we be okay with sacrificing everything to follow Him? Yet this is what God says, and His Church has wilfully chosen to disregard this in favour of 'winning others to Christ'. Let's be honest here: have we ever seen people emphasise on this when we 'share the gospel'? Is it any wonder why Christianity is despised throughout the atheist and unbelievers? In Christ's words, we travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and then make them twice a son of hell as we were! (Mt 23:13) Preposterous and disgraceful!
A Wholesale Sacrifice Demanded
Coming back to the passage, let us deal with what the Lord demands of us. The above three pointers deal with a single keyword: sacrifice. The key of Christianity starts with the sacrifice of animals in Eden, to the sacrifice of the ram on Moriah, culminating into the final, continuous sacrifice on Calvary.
To be a Christian means to sacrifice all other dear things to you. It means sacrificing your relationships; it will entail facing the wrath of your father, the tears of your mother, the coldness of your wife, the disgust of your children, the apathy of your siblings and even worse than these.
To be a Christian means to sacrifice everything you have: the titles you've earned, whether as an international speaker or as a 'preacher boy'; the accolades, the dean lists, the privileged positions you have; and to bear the insults that the Lord bore to Calvary.
To be a Christian means to follow God's will; that entails the sacrifice of all of your life's dreams, regardless to be a global figure, a family man, a business tycoon, an honored professor; to live to a ripe old age, to see your grandchildren, to have many mentors - all these need to be redefined in the light of eternity.
Carrying the Cross Daily
These sacrifices are not once-off, they are consistently done throughout your life. At any point of time, you will be forced to take a road less travelled. There will be many changes of plans because of God. There is no part-time Christianity, and this is something every Christian needs to be clear on.
The cross is the metaphor of death, insult and shame; it means being willing to suffer the same shame, insults and torture that Christ faced. It means being willing to die to our own desires every day, and one day, perhaps giving our life for His sake.
Crossroads of Destiny
If you are like me, a second generationeer and have made it thus far, a choice lies before us. The cost has been calculated before us. We can either choose to 'follow him no longer' (pp Jn 6:66) or choose to bear the cross and follow through. What we cannot do is to make the classic delegatory statement - I still have time to choose; I can decide later. Even an enemy who makes his stand and lives by it is honoured by the opponent; but woe to those who are 'neither hot nor cold', who live mediocre, hypocritical, lukewarm lives.
Being a Christian means following Christ independently of any external influence other than the Spirit's convicting and the Word of God; this includes going to church, 'fellowshipping' with other Christians, doing devotions, discussions with church leaders, leading in worship, speaking in services and leading people to Christ.I am done living like this; I hereby denounce myself before the King - I have lived a lie, thinking I was close to God when I was estranged from Him. I shall either know Christ, or live estranged from Him - there is no in-between.
Epilogue: The Spirit's Prompting
A word of consolation to those who take this badly: They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. (1 Jn 2:19) If you wish, pray that the Spirit will take the seeds in my heart and cause it to blossom, and that in the end, I may stand shoulder to shoulder as one who has counted the cost and committed to the life of sacrifice. However, until then, you will not see me until I am ready to drink the cup anew with the brethren.
It is better to swallow a bitter truth than to enjoy a sweet lie.
To start off, let me take a leaf out of Paul's book (2 Cor 11:23), I was born in a Christian home. I said 'The Prayer' when I was four. I attended church school in my younger days, and the youth fellowship throughout my teens. I led in prayer for the first time when I was 13, started chairing when I was 15, I made countless 'commitments' to follow Christ in my late teens. In my freshmen years, I pursued every opportunity to 'catch fish', spoke in the evangelistic meeting during Christmas and maintained peace with all my brethren. I gained popularity of knowing the Bible like the back of my hand, able to quote verses off the hook and to identify chapters at whim.
In spite of that, I am not a Christian.
Some will argue that I have received Christ into my heart early on, and that commitment is guarded by God although I do not remember it. Others may argue that I am just having a 'valley of the shadow of death' moment (Psalms 23), and that God will soon bring me back into the light. Then comes a long list of prescription to 'cure' my doubt: go to church, fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ, be consistent in Quiet Time, etc.
None of these are wrong in themselves. However, the prescription misses the main point as it tries to treat the disease by curing the symptoms. Look carefully at Scriptures, and you will see that salvation is dependent on other factors
Sacrifice - the key of Christianity
If anyone should come after me and not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple... In the same way, anyone who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. (Lk 14:26,33)
Not everyone who says to me "Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ...And they will say "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?" Then I shall tell them plainly, "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!"
The Lord does not say "If anyone should come after me and read his Bible everyday, go to church 52 Sundays a year, win many to Christ, jump for joy before Him, call me Lord, he is my disciple." Instead he points out that only those who 1) are willing to take His side against everyone else in the world, 2) give up everything they have, and 3) do the Father's will will inherit the kingdom of heaven.
The first question that comes to my mind is that, if we heard this statement before we 'received Christ', how different would our response be? Would we still be willing to follow Christ? Would we be okay with sacrificing everything to follow Him? Yet this is what God says, and His Church has wilfully chosen to disregard this in favour of 'winning others to Christ'. Let's be honest here: have we ever seen people emphasise on this when we 'share the gospel'? Is it any wonder why Christianity is despised throughout the atheist and unbelievers? In Christ's words, we travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and then make them twice a son of hell as we were! (Mt 23:13) Preposterous and disgraceful!
A Wholesale Sacrifice Demanded
Coming back to the passage, let us deal with what the Lord demands of us. The above three pointers deal with a single keyword: sacrifice. The key of Christianity starts with the sacrifice of animals in Eden, to the sacrifice of the ram on Moriah, culminating into the final, continuous sacrifice on Calvary.
To be a Christian means to sacrifice all other dear things to you. It means sacrificing your relationships; it will entail facing the wrath of your father, the tears of your mother, the coldness of your wife, the disgust of your children, the apathy of your siblings and even worse than these.
To be a Christian means to sacrifice everything you have: the titles you've earned, whether as an international speaker or as a 'preacher boy'; the accolades, the dean lists, the privileged positions you have; and to bear the insults that the Lord bore to Calvary.
To be a Christian means to follow God's will; that entails the sacrifice of all of your life's dreams, regardless to be a global figure, a family man, a business tycoon, an honored professor; to live to a ripe old age, to see your grandchildren, to have many mentors - all these need to be redefined in the light of eternity.
Carrying the Cross Daily
These sacrifices are not once-off, they are consistently done throughout your life. At any point of time, you will be forced to take a road less travelled. There will be many changes of plans because of God. There is no part-time Christianity, and this is something every Christian needs to be clear on.
And anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
The cross is the metaphor of death, insult and shame; it means being willing to suffer the same shame, insults and torture that Christ faced. It means being willing to die to our own desires every day, and one day, perhaps giving our life for His sake.
Crossroads of Destiny
If you are like me, a second generationeer and have made it thus far, a choice lies before us. The cost has been calculated before us. We can either choose to 'follow him no longer' (pp Jn 6:66) or choose to bear the cross and follow through. What we cannot do is to make the classic delegatory statement - I still have time to choose; I can decide later. Even an enemy who makes his stand and lives by it is honoured by the opponent; but woe to those who are 'neither hot nor cold', who live mediocre, hypocritical, lukewarm lives.
And do not begin to say to yourselves "We have Abraham as our father." For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. (Lk 3:8)
Being a Christian means following Christ independently of any external influence other than the Spirit's convicting and the Word of God; this includes going to church, 'fellowshipping' with other Christians, doing devotions, discussions with church leaders, leading in worship, speaking in services and leading people to Christ.I am done living like this; I hereby denounce myself before the King - I have lived a lie, thinking I was close to God when I was estranged from Him. I shall either know Christ, or live estranged from Him - there is no in-between.
Epilogue: The Spirit's Prompting
A word of consolation to those who take this badly: They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. (1 Jn 2:19) If you wish, pray that the Spirit will take the seeds in my heart and cause it to blossom, and that in the end, I may stand shoulder to shoulder as one who has counted the cost and committed to the life of sacrifice. However, until then, you will not see me until I am ready to drink the cup anew with the brethren.