“Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Luke 10:20
I really enjoy my job. Not everyone can say this, so I know I’m blessed. One of the aspects that I like about my job is the fact that I get to lead people. Serving as a pastor, I have the opportunity to make agendas and conduct meetings, in addition to walking our staff and volunteers through problem-solving, creative solutions, innovative thinking, and hopefully, spiritual living. Too often, leadership is measured by the results attained. If a leader is not careful, he or she can fall into the trap of counting and measuring things that are not even important.
More than that, as Christians, we can spend our whole life aiming for the wrong thing; we can think that the sum of Christianity is measured in tangible quantitative ways, completely missing the mark. As a husband, father, pastor, but more importantly, as a disciple of Christ, I do not want to miss the mark. I don’t want to spend the days that God has given me achieving things that do not matter in the end. This idea brings up important questions: What is truly important? What never spoils or fades away? What can you give your life to, that in the end, really matters? I want to look at three things that matter.
It matters what you believe.
Truth does exist, and it is absolute. We can have different opinions and different ways of approaching situations. A person may have a diverse background or family situation which causes them to view life entirely differently. I have the privilege to pastor a wonderful church, and over the past 14 weeks, we have studied the book of Galatians together. Paul’s words throughout Galatians have challenged me and revealed idols that I did not realize were a part of my life. Paul writes the following in Galatians 3:3, “Having begun by the Spirit are you now being perfected by the flesh?” I would have told you that the flesh was not perfecting me, but that is precisely how I’ve lived a lot of my life as a believer. Growing up, I had a list of things that I used to judge another person’s spirituality. This list had one unifying principle; I did not struggle with these items. I was spiritual. I was a good boy, and I believed what separated me from less spiritual people was that I had my life under control. As I reflect upon those years, I am sad to say that many of my beliefs were rooted in my own pride instead of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It really matters what we believe concerning Jesus, his work on the cross, his resurrection from the grave, and his ability through the Spirit of God to change a heart. Christ alone is my anchor and my salvation. He alone has entered the Holy of Holy and forever will intercede for me in the heavenly places. He secured salvation for me one time, once and for all. Hebrews 7:27 states, “He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.”
You see, the sacrificial system in the Old Testament was a shadow of what would come in Christ. Each priest had to offer a sacrifice for sin daily. Not only did he have to think about his own sin, but the sin of all the people. Again, in Hebrews 7:22, we see “Jesus, the guarantor of a better covenant.” The sacrifices Jesus made are better because they are not based upon the frailty and weakness of man and his inability to live a righteous and holy life before God. Instead, our salvation is based upon the perfect, spotless, sinless Son of God. Any other way of belief does not save. Only Jesus saves. It matters what you believe.
It matters what you do.
One could quickly jump to the conclusion and say, “I am in Christ. I am not under the law. Therefore, it doesn’t matter how I live.” This way of thinking is not rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ. It matters how you live because sin matters to God and should matter to his people. Paul writes the following in Romans 6:12, “Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.” Again, he writes in verse 15 of the same chapter, “What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!” As Christians, we do not live by cheap grace, meaning the grace that provides our salvation was costly. The cross can be a significant stumbling block for some because the cross declares that our works are not enough, and they will never be enough.
We need a savior, and we have a Savior in Jesus Christ. Because of his great love demonstrated on the cross securing our salvation, we take sin seriously. Sin is what nailed Jesus to the cross. But, it goes deeper than that statement. My sin, my unholy choices, my breaking of his law, my unnatural desires, my renegade heart that loves myself more than God, his law, his word, and his people has nailed Jesus to the cross. But thanks be to God; my sin was nailed to the cross! You see, what I believe, my convictions will always influence my actions and behaviors. Every Christian will have to repent, every Christian will have a lapse of judgment, every Christian will have to be restored, but every dear brother and sister in Christ will have their sins nailed to the cross. Every follower of Jesus has to ask the question, “Do I love my sin more than the man who bore my sin?” I believe this is an excellent question to ask myself each day. If I am honest, there are times when I love my sin more than Jesus, but Jesus loves me more, and he brings me close and allows me to see the wounds in his hands. He beckons me to come, repent, lay my sins down and live a holy life through him to the glory of the Father. It matters what you do.
It matters where you go.
Finally, it matters where you go. One of the indictments of the contemporary church may be that we have stressed belonging before believing. Now, let me clarify, I think we should live with a strong urgency to love and share our lives, resources, time with those who do not know Jesus. We should fellowship, eat, and have strong friendships with those who have not placed faith in Christ. However, it matters what people believe. It matters that we communicate clearly about saving faith. Saving faith is not church attendance, saving faith is not just living a moral life. Saving faith is not bound to traditions and religion. Saving faith is believing and trusting Christ to forgive you for your sins. Saving faith is repentance from your old life and adherence through faith in the new and abundant life we find in Christ. I admit I do not live with a sense of urgency regarding those who do not know Christ through faith.
Often I live like it doesn’t matter what people believe because it has no bearing on where they go. But, what you believe has everything to do with where you will spend eternity. There is a heaven and a hell. The only hope for my eternity is for me to place my faith in Jesus. The Bible is abundantly clear concerning the destiny of man. Matthew 7:13-14 states, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
It really matters what you believe, and it really matters what you do and how you live. And, it really matters where you go to spend eternity. Each day is a gift from God. Each day without Christ is one step closer to destruction. Let us live lives that count and matter. Let us proclaim the good news to everyone, that hope and life are found in Jesus Christ.