10.26.11

by CJ Unruh

“Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem.  Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”  He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’  But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’  Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’  “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.  Away from me, all you evildoers!’”

This story, in a way, makes me cringe.  I find myself frantically filing through the chapters of my life, trying to sort out all of the “worthy” things I have done for Jesus, and all the sinful behaviors that I have also committed.  This story automatically makes me want to compare the righteous things I have done in God’s name, and the evil things that I have done out of my own selfish desires.  If my good deeds out-weigh my bad decisions, than lucky me, I’ve earned my way through that narrow door.  On the other hand, if not, looks like those gold stars I earned didn’t quite add up to the black ones and I’ll hear God’s voice saying, “I don’t know you or where you come from.  Away from me, you evildoer!”  Although this is how I sometimes react to life situations, God calls us to something far greater!

God calls us to a life of believing in Him as well as service and doing His will in our lives.  The act of believing is very important and must be done, but it can’t stop there.  God wants us to be active participants in this life He has created for us.  I believe that God’s will for our lives is to primarily love and serve Him, and by doing so, love and serve others.  We can’t only believe in Christ Jesus; we must put our faith to action!  This doesn’t mean that we can be saved by our works or earn our way to Heaven.  If that was so, we would all still fall short of completing that “check list” of good deeds. 

I know many times in my life I find my own selfish desires getting in the way of servant-hood living.  Often, I’d rather spend my free time focused only on “me time”, or spend my extra savings on clothes, massages, etc, rather than giving it to a neighbor in need, or a good cause.  Although, I am finding in my life, that Jesus is reaching out to me, asking me to step out of my comfort zone, and be a good example for others around me.  He’s not asking for me to be perfect, He’s just asking me to strive for that perfection. 

Finally, I love how Martin Luther defined our personal walk with Christ: “We are saved by faith alone [not our works], but not by faith that remains alone.”  As Tim Keller wrote, “Nothing we do can merit God’s grace and favor, we can only believe that he has given it to us in Jesus Christ and receive it by faith.  But if we truly believe and trust in the one who sacrificially served us, it changes us into people who sacrificially serve God and our neighbors.  If we say “I believe in Jesus” but it doesn’t affect the way we live, the answer is not that now we need to add hard work to our faith so much as that we haven’t truly understood or believed in Jesus at all.”