Tim Keller is my favorite preacher, but I have heard him say many times that a person is not a Christian if he thinks, says or does… fill in the blank. This has always upset me but I overlooked it because everything else in his preaching is so deep, helpful and meaningful.
I heard him
say it again last week. I listen to his old sermons on podcasts. Finally, I
thought I should write my opinion on this. It’s just my opinion that I have
come to through 53 years of being a believer in Jesus.
I was raised
in a strict, evangelical, Bible believing religion. When I became a Christian
at 19 years-old I thought the same way as Dr. Keller. If someone was smoking,
drinking, partying etc. then they weren’t a Christian. They didn’t have a
relationship with God. I was legalistic and judgmental.
I was also
super critical of myself and felt guilty over the least little think I did
wrong. I thought I could be perfectly like Jesus, but this didn’t happen. I was
changed, the Lord changed me so much in wonderful ways, but I still felt
hounded by guilt. I think it was because my church was horrified by any sin and
never told us that if we messed up, which we would all the time, we were still
okay with God and he would forgive us over and over.
It took
years for me to understand the grace and forgiveness of God. I love how Jesus
said, “If someone sins against you 7 times in one day and asks you to forgive,
you must forgive him.” Well, God must feel the same about us and our sins.
One thing someone
might say, “If you don’t love God with all your heart and your neighbor as
yourself, then you are not a Christian.” I don’t believe that. I believe this
is something to strive for through prayer. I myself have been through times
when I have hated God, gotten mad at him, or questioned his goodness. I have
doubts and fears all the time, yet I know I am a Christian.
Loving God
is complicated. We think of love as a feeling, whereas it is an action or
principle. I have had feelings of love and admiration for God many times, but this
comes and goes. I want to love everyone as myself, but I don’t always do it. I
pray for this teaching of Jesus to be in my heart every day and I should trust
he can do it.
I know a
Christian who hates people, so she says, yet she has done so much good for
people she has met, people she doesn’t even know. She has been hurt by people
since her childhood, so she has no trust. But the Bible says even Jesus didn’t
trust people because he knew what was in their hearts.
Does she feel
love for God, no, but she believes he is the God of the Universe and is all
good. She says she never wants to make a decision without asking him because
she has learned how she messes things up, but God doesn’t.
I think
loving God and all people is something we must learn all our lives. It’s a long
process called Sanctification. It is like Jesus said about our spiritual
growth, “The earth produces crops by
itself; first the blade, then the head [of grain], then the mature grain in the
head. Mark 4:28 Crops don’t
spring up overnight and we don’t become like Jesus overnight. We have a lot to
learn.
I think I’ve learned more
about God in the last ten years since I retired from babysitting my
grandchildren. I had a lot of time to myself. God showed me some things about
myself I didn’t know and wasn’t happy about. He also showed me how he is enough
for me. I don’t need anyone or anything more than him. It’s not that it’s been
all roses. I’ve gone through long illnesses and another death in my family.
Also, recently some conflicts with my daughters that were not pleasant and I
got angry and sinned against them by yelling. Didn’t know I had that in me
either, to tell the truth. The Lord showed me my sin and I asked for forgiveness,
but I’ll tell you I didn’t think it was that bad for two days! Yes, at 73 I am
still a sinner for sure, yet Jesus loves me just as I am.
I remember when my mom
lived with me, I could see God was teaching her things even though she was in
her nineties! I thought, “Man, he never stops!” When she was in rehab for her
hip operation, she was acting terrible, threatening people and refusing
treatment. I was afraid she “wasn’t a real Christian” and would be lost. But
God spoke to one of my daughters and said to her, “Call your mother now and
tell her, her mother is going to be saved.” So, she did. She also said, “God sure
is loud!” Lol Yes, I guess he can be sometimes. See, I was judging my mother
while God was accepting and loving her.
There are many verses in
the Bible that tell us we are saved, not by our works, but by our faith in
Jesus’ death for us. I know in many churches, including my old one, you can’t
get baptized until you stop sinning and sign a paper promising to keep all the
teachings of the church. In the Bible, people were baptized right away. All
they had to do is believe. We are so far away from that simple faith, and maybe
some of the books of the New Testament even sound like we have to be so
perfect. I don’t know, I just want to believe the simple things Jesus taught
and not worry about my salvation and judge other people about their salvation.
Jesus said we will know if teachers of the gospel are good by their fruits. I’m
going to list the fruits of the Holy Spirit. These are words of love we should
aspire to.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Galatians
5:22-23, NIV
