DEVOTION TO JESUS--OR TO OUR BELIEFS?


Sometimes God just makes me laugh! The way He seems to orchestrate things, put things in order, or drive home a point--it’s amazing! This happened to me again, shortly after I posted my last blog. And wouldn’t you know it? It came once again through the insight of Oswald Chambers.

It has to do with one small part of what I quoted in my blog, about the difference between believing in GOD or believing our beliefs ABOUT God, and the line, “Jesus said, ‘Believe also in Me,’ not, ‘Believe certain things about Me.’” I delved into this a bit and tried to highlight the difference. Then on July 2, here’s what the day’s offering was in “My Utmost For His Highest” (emphases are mine):
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"If any man come to Me, and hate not . . . he cannot be My disciple." Luke 14:26, also 27, 33

If the closest relationships of life clash with the claims of Jesus Christ, He says it must be instant obedience to Himself. Discipleship means personal, passionate devotion to a Person, Our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a difference between devotion to a Person and devotion to principles or to a cause. Our Lord never proclaimed a cause; He proclaimed personal devotion to Himself. To be a disciple is to be a devoted love-slave of the Lord Jesus. Many of us who call ourselves Christians are not devoted to Jesus Christ. No man on earth has this passionate love to the Lord Jesus unless the Holy Ghost has imparted it to him. We may admire Him, we may respect Him and reverence Him, but we cannot love Him. The only Lover of the Lord Jesus is the Holy Ghost, and He sheds abroad the very love of God in our hearts. Whenever the Holy Ghost sees a chance of glorifying Jesus, He will take your heart, your nerves, your whole personality, and simply make you blaze and glow with devotion to Jesus Christ.

The Christian life is stamped by 'moral spontaneous originality,' consequently the disciple is open to the same charge that Jesus Christ was, viz., that of inconsistency. But Jesus Christ was always consistent to God, and the Christian must be consistent to the life of the Son of God in him, not consistent to hard and fast creeds. Men pour them selves into creeds, and God has to blast them out of their prejudices before they can become devoted to Jesus Christ.
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There it was again! “There is a difference between devotion to a Person and devotion to principles or to a cause.”

“Many of us who call ourselves Christians are not devoted to Jesus Christ.” “We may admire Him...respect Him...reverence Him, but we cannot love Him.” “The Christian must be consistent to the life of the Son of God in him, not consistent to hard and fast creeds. Men pour themselves into creeds, and God has to blast them out of their prejudices before they can become devoted to Jesus Christ.”

This really caught my attention. It seemed like I was on to something, which started in my last blog. So what does all of this mean? What is the difference that Oswald is trying to make in these statements? How does this play out in our lives, individually and as church congregations? Here are some of my musings about this:

--I wonder how much of the struggle, division, and fracturedness that seems to be present in many Christian churches today is just because of the beliefs, creeds, and “outer issues” that believers push and demand and challenge one another with.

--I wonder how much of our culture’s aversion to the Church and to Christianity today is a result of the energy and attention we inside the Christian faith give to “being right” in our theologies and doctrines, rather than pouring that energy and attention into concern and love for people.

Ever hear this quote? “Being kind is more important than being right.” Or perhaps, in the words of Scripture, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Matt. 12:7) and “Mercy triumphs over judgment.” (James 2:13)

--I wonder how much of our good intentions to study Scripture, make church a priority in our lives, and to be good Christians is really about lining ourselves up with a correct Christian ideology (evangelical, fundamentalist, liberal, literalist, etc.) or with a particular denomination (Lutheran, Baptist, Catholic, Presbyterian, Covenanter, etc.).

As I reflected on the implications of Oswald’s distinction, it became obvious that most if not all of the disagreements and squabbling that goes on in churches is over ideas, beliefs, expectations, expressions of faith, personal perspectives, maintaining past preferences, traditions, and habits--again, stuff about our convictions and beliefs ABOUT God and ABOUT our faith (how we practice it, how we understand it, how compelled we are to be “right”) rather than in God Himself. This made me wonder:

--What would it look like if we who claim to follow JESUS (not beliefs, creeds, ideas ABOUT Jesus) made this our only priority, living it out in our ordinary, everyday, where-the-rubber-hits-the-road, real lives?

--What if we kept our convictions and opinions and perpsectives as “sidebars” in our lives and simply spoke and acted and lived in accordance with the message and model of Jesus?

--What if we focused on people, with all of their imperfections, faults, hidden sins, issues, not-like-us appearances, and with intentionality just cared about, accepted, and loved them?

I imagined what this scenario might look like in my own church. I wondered how congregations might be different if people embraced this way of “being church” instead of the current patterns and models that seem to typify American Christianity.

It would be terribly disruptive! It would certainly be extremely hard, for there would always be some individuals who would resist, who just couldn’t make the shift, who would even declare this mode of faith wrong, weak, compromised, or unrealistic. It would also mean doing something else that Oswald often highlights: engaging our wills! Purposefully and intentionally going against what is easy, natural, our habits, our prejudices, and so forth and, instead, willfully choosing to live and act and even believe differently. More in harmony with the “good, pleasing, and perfect will” of God Himself (Romans 12:2).

All of this kept percolating inside of me, and I had to get it out. I decided to share it with the guys in my small group, so Ed, Wade, Gary, and Bob received an email from me, recounting this amazing devotional and my spinning out of the implications of this careful distinction Oswald Chambers makes.

Their responses were almost instantaneous--and certainly hit a nerve with every one of the guys! They said: “You can’t be more honest than this! God bless you for your thoughts and insight. [This clarifies] the challenges we face to make significant change.” And this: “Holy cow, Dan! You not only hit the nail on the head but you drove it clean through the 4x4!” I know my belief in Jesus has been more about understanding who and what He was rather than developing that deep personal and intimate relationship with Jesus and how He lived His talk and walk. Daily the Holy Spirit is revealing to me and giving me a hunger to be someone different.” Or this: “I think you’re absolutely right, Dan. We get too caught up in STUFF to simply worship GOD.” Also this: “I feel like we have been stuck in carrying on the principles, creeds, and practices we have learned all these years.

It hasn’t been enough about learning and loving who Jesus Christ is, but about the “do’s and don’ts” of how we interpret the teachings and principles left to us. I want to live for Jesus!”

What do you say? How would you delineate the difference between being devoted to a person--Jesus--and being devoted to beliefs, principles, creeds, and causes?

I’d love to hear from you, so once again: “The comment line is open...”