True Christianity

I regularly pray for my Sunday School and Junior Church students and my junior/senior high girls (and the boys) (and that covers most of the kids in church) is that they will know what it really means to be a Christian. I have known too many people who think that it is enough to have prayed a prayer once upon a time without any actual change, without anything that resembles repentance. They go through life fully convinced that they are Christians while living lives that completely ignore what Christ taught, that are totally self-focused, that are no different from the rest of the world. So I pray, and we talk a lot about what repentance is and what being a Christian really is, and then I pray more. At the very least, it will not be my fault if they go through life thinking that a vague belief and a few words are enough to make a person a Christian.

(Disclaimer: Yes, I know that I don't live up to Christ's perfect standard by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm talking about overall lifestyle that ignores Christ and often a willing pattern of sin. I also know that you don't have to agree with everything I say to be a Christian; the issue here is an unwillingness to listen to or consider what the Bible says.)

Today I was reading The World-Tilting Gospel (you should all read it) and Dan Phillips expressed exactly my concern and the reason for my frequent prayers:

"It is a mistake to parcel off this or that proposition and make it the Gospel. I squirm when I hear people say, "Believe that Jesus died for you, and you will be saved." I am afraid that someone will think, "Ah, so, if I just believe that one thing, I'm 'in'!" Then that same person will feel free to disbelieve Jesus when He talks about sexuality, about the OT, or about a host of other things -- because, after all, he believed that one think he had to believe, so he's saved.
The Gospel does call us to hear and understand truth. It does call us to accept certain propositions as true. But it also calls us to believe in Christ, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ -- all of Him; and, believing, to rest on Him wholly." (167, emphasis his).

See: this is what I pray about: that they will not just go through life thinking that "Jesus died for my sins" or any other part of the truth is enough. It needs to be all of Christ, and He needs to be Lord of every part of our lives.

Okay, one more quotation from The World-Tilting Gospel, about what repentance is:

"The issue is whether your whole way of thinking pivots, from a world in which you and your wants, needs, biases, and desires are paramount ("lord") to you, to a totally different world in which Jesus is Lord, and you are His slave and student." (159).

Just saying the words, even in prayer, is not enough. Going to church regularly is not enough. There must be true repentance and true change.

(A side note about The World-Tilting Gospel: I'm only on page 175 and I've wanted to quote large portions of the book from the start, but I'm resisting. In about 130 more pages, I'll write you a proper review, but don't wait: go read the book.)