The Normal Christian Life
As I was thinking about how to begin this series about what a normal Christian life looks like God intervened. He asked me this question. If someone were able to look at your whole life today, every aspect of it, would they be able to tell that Jesus Christ was the center of your life? That Jesus defined your life.
My answer would of course be; no. To be sure if someone were observing my life that day they would certainly at least have seen that Jesus was a part of my life. I try to take time at lunch to read my Bible and pray. I pray with and for people at work. But would they be able to say Jesus defined my life or was the center of my life, no I don’t think so.
Have you ever seen the movie Gladiator? In it, the protagonist Maximus (isn’t that a great guys name, Maximus?) looks at what Rome has become and he declares; “Marcus Arelius had a dream that was Rome and this is not it!” I am convinced that Jesus Christ would say I have a plan for the life of my people, for Christians, and the life that you are living is not it!!!
We are satisfied with Jesus being a convenient side dish on the plate of our lives. Jesus is there to bless the plans we have for our lives. To bless our education so that we can get a good job, to buy a house so that we can have babies, payoff our house and retire in comfort, hopefully to some warm climate south of us. We want to be able to send our kids to College (and because we really love Jesus we hope it will be a Christian College of course). And after they get out of College they get to start the same process in their lives. Hopefully, we want them to do just a little bit better than us financially of course.
In the course of this we go to church to ask Jesus to continue to bless us. We do pray for the salvation of others, and that is honest, we want them to be saved. And we participate in committees and potlucks and the like. And everything is fine, right? Is this what the Christian life should really be about? Is this an example of a normal Christian life?
I believe that in a normal Christian life Jesus calls us to a radical commitment to Himself and the kingdom of God! This commitment looks much different than our lives ( I’m including my life as well). Jesus wants to be the main dish of our lives. Our lives are to be defined by our relationship to Jesus Christ.
Turn in your Bibles to Mark 8: 27-38.
In verse 29 Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ. This is great news for Peter. It means his plans for life, his highest hopes were about to come true. Because he was the leader of the disciples of the Christ. It means that his highest and best plans for life would finally be realized. A great new home in Jerusalem when Jesus took over. Jesus would bring back and exceed the riches of the kingdom of Saul and David. It means his family would never want for anything again. His would be a dynasty that would continue in Jesus kingdom forever. Jesus being the Christ ensured that his dreams were about to come true!
Then comes verse 30. Then Jesus said to tell no one. Wait just a minute Peter thinks, we should be telling everyone. Tell everyone that you are the Christ and that the kingdom of God would certainly suddenly appear. Jesus we need to tell everyone!
Then it gets worse. Then Jesus says, plainly says in verse 31 that he was going to die. That the Messiah, the Christ would be put to death! Unthinkable. What happens to me if that happens? What about my highest dreams? You’re here to make them come true aren’t you? This is unacceptable! Peter rebukes Jesus in v. 32. Get that Peter rebukes Jesus. He basically says this is definitely not the plan Jesus! I know the plan and this is not it! You can’t die.
Jesus then rebukes Peter in v.33. Because Peter was being used as an instrument of Satan and not of God. He was setting his mind on man’s interest (his interest) and not on God’s.
When we look at Jesus as someone who exists to make all our dreams come true, when we look at Him as a Jeanie to give us as many wishes as we want, when we see Him as existing for our sake instead of us existing for His sake then we have got our Christian lives entirely upside down. We are living upside down Christianity.
Jesus shows His disciples the remedy for this in vv. 34-38. He shows them what the normal Christian life is not a life of self-indulgence but a life of self denial. v, 34
Disciples of Jesus deny themselves take up the cross of death and follow after Christ.
- In the garden Adam and Eve traded their supreme love of God for supreme love of self. They became something different. In believing the lie of the ages that they could be their own Gods they became supremely concerned with indulging and living for themselves and abandoned entirely their love for God.
- A Christian, a disciple of Jesus, a Christian living the normal Christian life, is someone who believes the truth of the gospel and has rejected the lie of the ages.
- He does not seek to save the self-interest of his own life. His life is not centered on his own interest.
- He has given up a life of self-interest for the sake of Jesus Christ and the gospel. v.35
- A disciple of Jesus living a normal Christian life views life as it really is. He knows that if he can gain the whole world in indulging self-interest in pursuing the lie that he will lose any hope of real life, life in Christ. He abandons all for Christ. vv36-37.
- He is willing to live the life of Christ and proclaim His word regardless of the cost.
What does the typical life of an evangelical Christian in America, in the Northwest, in our town look like? I mean, not what it should be, but what does it usually look like? What does the American Christian life look like?
The church in America has not called the people of God to deny themselves and take up their cross and follow after Jesus. Instead the church has become complicit in proliferating the American Christian life.
- The church encourages the gaining of possessions “Rich Dad Poor Dad…”
- The church is agreeable to congregations that attend, give money, and participate in committees.
- The rest of their lives, how they earn their money, how they spend their time, how they raise their children is their business as long as it does not obviously conflict with the word of God.
- When it does conflict with the word of God the best course is to ask the person to leave the congregation quietly.
