Our religion, Christianity, is unlike other religions in a lot of ways. I’m not going to list them all. But this weekend we pointed out one major way our religious belief system runs counter to nearly all systems today.
It’s not that we have a list of doctrines. Many faiths do. It’s not our reliance on miracles. Those stories run rich and deep.
It’s that our faith can be summarized in two words: “With Christ.”
All month long we’ve looked at this massively powerful word “with”. With your spouse, your family, your church, your world, and your God.
Finally, we come to the one phrase that tops them all. But how is the “with Christ” life different? And how does it make us different? I think of my kids.
My love for my children is not functional but formational. In other words, it’s independent of anything they do. It’s determined by who they are.
Let’s unpack those words “functional” and “formational” a bit more. If you were with us this past weekend then you saw how Ephesians 2:1-10 really answers this question quite well. So I’m only going to highlight the important parts.
A functional faith asks, “What should I do to earn God’s favor?” That’s the starting point. A list of “shoulds” that we live our lives by. Functional faith looks to gain grace by working for it. Unfortunately, that often results in a self-centered spirituality. We believe we can work for our righteousness. In effect, it becomes selfish.
Selfishness is at the heart of transgression and sin. When we seek to meet our God-given needs and desires outside of the God-given design for those desires, we call it sin. It’s not a sin to want. It’s a sin to seek those wants in other ways.
One want that we all have because of the world we are born into is a spiritual life. We are, as a matter of fact, born spiritually numb. We lack the capacity of righteousness on our own. So we work for it, we strive for it, we “should” ourselves to death for it.
On the other hand, a formational faith puts all the work in God’s hands. We are merely recipients of it. We look to be transformed into a Christ-likeness. We “get to” not “have to” do good things. We are counted righteous not by what we believe but by who we trust.
And that brings us back to my kids. Man, I love them. And you know what? It’s not because they’re perfect. Oh no. They give me a headache sometimes. They mess up just like any other kid their age. (And truth be told, I mess up as much as any parent my age).
But I love them, not based on what they do but on who they are. They could never earn my love. When they do good, I’m happy. When they make their beds without being asked 100 times, I’m pleased. When they excel at sports and school, it makes me very proud.
But those aren’t the reasons I love them. I love them because they are my kids. I could never stop loving them. I won’t stop loving them. They can’t do anything to earn my love, and they won’t do anything to lose it.
We are God’s children. Get that into your heart. There is not one thing you can do to earn God’s love. And there is no list of mistakes you’ll make that will make him stop loving you. Why? Because you are “with Christ.”
When we accept Jesus as our savior, we enter into a relationship. That’s what faith really is. And that relationship is not determined by a bunch of “shoulds.” It’s grounded in the work of Jesus. Accomplished. Finished. Done. It’s just up to us to accept the free gift and live with Christ.
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