There has obviously been a lot of reasons to be upset with 2020. However, there is one thing I continue to appreciate this year.
I appreciate how it has brought clarity to what it means to be a Christian.
For instance, many of us who grew up in and around the church have the understanding that being a Christian means going to the actual church building each Sunday. So did we stop being Christians when the doors to churches started to close this year?
Not at all.
It is important for Christians to gather with one another. The Bible refers to the Church as the Body of Christ. We need each other in our journeys. Being a Christian is so much more than the buildings we are used to going to each week.
Please know, I’m not trying to minimize the history and lives touched by those buildings either. However, I want us all to be reminded that being a Christian is part of who you are each and every day.
Being a Christian is NOT about saying one prayer to go to Heaven.
Being a Christian is NOT about studying your Bible to learn the Bible more.
Being a Christian is NOT about going to church once a week.
Being a Christian IS about following Jesus.
Following Jesus means hearing His words as He told Nicodemus that we must be born again (John 3). We understand our sin separates us from God. We need to be made new. This is Christ’s work in and through us.
So then, if anyone is in Christ, that person is part of the new creation. The old things have gone away, and look, new things have arrived! (2 Corinthians 5:17, CEB)
Why are we made new? As Jesus tells His disciples, we are to love as He loves. In fact, He tells the disciples that when we love in this way, then the world will know we follow Him.
Being a Christian is about so much more than Sunday mornings. It’s about being made new to love like Jesus. Consider the rest of Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 5:
18 All of these new things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and who gave us the ministry of reconciliation. 19 In other words, God was reconciling the world to himself through Christ, by not counting people’s sins against them. He has trusted us with this message of reconciliation.
20 So we are ambassadors who represent Christ. God is negotiating with you through us. We beg you as Christ’s representatives, “Be reconciled to God!” 21 God caused the one who didn’t know sin to be sin for our sake so that through him we could become the righteousness of God.
My prayer is that 2020 will be the year where many more people realize the beauty, life and love found in being a Christian.
Blessings,
Pastor Matt
PS - Don’t forget to check out our Facebook page as we post things on Tuesdays and Thursdays for encouragement and interaction. Videos from season one of Connecting LIVE can be found there and also on the Resource page of our website.