Gents,
I wanted to recap our time on Wednesday morning, tie it to the new series we are launching next week called “The Greatest Story Ever misTold†and encourage you to invite someone to join us.
To build up to our series, we looked at the story in the bible of the demon possessed man, named Legion:
Mark 5:3 And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; 4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones. Basically, he was complete whack-job that scared everyone in the town, until of course, he met Jesus.
But within moments of meeting him, Jesus drove out the demons from this man, into a herd of wild pigs, whom then ran into the sea and drowned. Jesus set this man free. This man who desperately tried to control the evil spirits within, whom people tried to shackle and restrain to no avail was simply “set free.†Just because he asked Jesus…
I don’t know where you are or who you were… but I can tell you that I had a Legion of demons within me before I met Jesus too. But unfortunately, even though He set me free; I didn’t live free.
Because nobody told me the real story. Yes, my salvation was secure. But I exchanged one set of shackles for another.
So rather than living in freedom, I went on a quest of self-discipline, and developed a rather strong case of “spiritual B.O.†To my family and close friends, I became that “creepy born again†that believed that the only pathway to God was found through His Word, and my sanctity was going to be measured by my knowledge of Him. And it became all about how I could show God how worthy I was…because I could recite scripture. Because I could name all 66 books of the Bible. Because I stopped partying like John Belushi. Because I began to surround myself with Christian men, and led Bible studies, and was the King of Volunteers at my church. Because I was Captain Christian. And I just wore myself out, and anyone who came into contact with me.
And just like Legion, I began to scare the people around me, just in a different way. I had contracted a different type of Legionnaires’ disease. While I wasn’t running around naked…I was unfortunately equally as offensive.
And isn’t it the truth, that most people we know that don’t want to go to church or look to God, typically can point to a friend or relative that is a judgmental, self-righteous jerk that claims to be a Christian? Yuck.
In Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he wrote:
20 If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, 21 “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!†22 (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? 23 These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value…â€
No Value. That means the things that most men struggle with–(insert your vice here) and beat themselves up over for not controlling —is really of no value. Because its not about what we DO, its about what HE has done for us. Its about Him. Its about His glory, not about proving ours.
Paul also wrote, in 1 Cor 6:12 â€All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.â€
Guys, this means once we are in Christ, we have freedom to do anything. That does not mean our poor choices don’t have consequences, it just means our FOCUS should not be on our sins, because God has something BETTER for us, and He does not want us wrapped around the axel beating ourselves up over the stupid things we do.
We’re forgiven. Free. That’s the good news. Crack open a beer, light up a stogie. Just don’t become consumed by it, either way—by doing TOO much of it or focusing on how you are NOT doing any of it anymore at all.
That’s a pretty cool thing, right? You mean, its not about quitting drinking or stopping late night visits to the strip club? Or using bad words? Or not doing this or giving up that? No. It’s much, much more. And you need to bring some friends out an found out why…
Because that’s what we are going to address in the next 7 weeks at Fuel. And we need you to invite your friends to find out the real story. Christianity is not about a religion or a theology or a doctrine. It’s not a set of rules that only the most sanctified people can live up to. Its about the person of Christ, the redeemer of this world, who came to give us life and pay the penalty of death on behalf of all those who believe in Him.
Its as simple as that; and yet so much more.
And that’s where I am going to leave it up to you. Because all of us know someone who can use some hope, faith, and direction. But the church is the last place they want to go, because some don’t believe they are good enough to go. More than that, most are sickened by the hypocrisy of the Christians they see played out in their neighborhoods, or on the front page of the news, or at their family reunions.
We Christians do more to drive people away from Jesus than we do to pull people towards Him. And that’s because we are not good story tellers. We’ve been mis-telling the Greatest Story Ever Told, ever since Jesus walked to Emmaus.
But FUEL is going to change all that. But we can’t do it without you getting your friends out to join us next week.
So do it. Invest and Invite.
See you next week,
pat