My Early Story (25)

 

Coming to Know Jesus - One

 

I’m going to take a step back and talk about coming to know Jesus. Perhaps I should have included this earlier in these reflections, but I didn’t want to disrupt the action in the narrative. I struggle with the concept of coming to know Jesus, the title, because there is so much mystery about coming into a relationship with Jesus Christ. Sometimes I wonder when I really came to know Him, and sometimes I wonder how deeply I know Him, and sometimes I wonder how He ever puts up with me and why He didn’t just dump me in the garbage years ago.

 

I don’t buy the idea that we say a few words and call salvation a done deal – sorry about that, but I just don’t see that in the Bible and I don’t see that in real life. Repentance means that we change direction and follow Jesus, simply confessing our sins is not repentance – we are often confused about this – repentance includes confession of sins, but confession of sins need not include repentance. For those of us who quote 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” let me remind us that this is written to Christians, to those who have already repented and are already in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

 

Mark 8:34 – 38 is Jesus’ call to us to follow Him, if you read Jesus’ words you’ll see that this is a decision that is life-changing, a new way of life, that includes self-denial and the Cross and witnessing. This is hardly a picture of getting a salvation ticket validated and going our own merry way.

 

This is not to say that we can’t have dramatic salvation experiences that usher us into repentance and eternal life, my own wife has a dramatic testimony. It is, however, to say that we would do well to revisit the Parable of the Sower, there may be something there for us. We would also do well to heed Bonhoeffer’s warning about “cheap grace,” which we seem to be selling and mass marketing. When Jesus says that the way and the gate are narrow, I think He means what He says.

 

I passionately believe in what we often term the “assurance of salvation” and the “perseverance of the saints,” but I also passionately believe that if we aren’t preaching the Gospel and the call to discipleship, that we likely have many folks with a false sense of security. This is like the religious leaders of Jeremiah’s time, who taught, “Peace, peace,” when there was no peace.

 

I think it was Ian Thomas who wrote something like, “There are those who try to live a life they have never had, and then there are those who have a life they never live.” I think this is probably true in just about all Christian gatherings, a pastoral challenge is to help both groups along the way…to the Way.