Can Authentic Christianity Be Private?

You've heard it. I've heard it. May have even said it at some point. "My faith is a private matter." 

Sometimes the intent is healthy. We aren't here to coerce and back people into corners regarding matters of faith. Jesus' method wasn't like that. He was winsome, invitational, welcoming yet passionate. The only people He truly backed into a corner were the religious folk who were convinced they knew it all. 

So I get it. I don't want to be coercive, manipulative or zealous with a bad dose of social ineptitude.

On the other hand, authentic, Biblical Christianity isn't a private matter. It may begin privately. But after you say "Yes" to Jesus, it's anything but private! True love always go public at some point and love for God and each other are no different. I'll paraphrase Timothy Keller here, "You know someone has really experienced God’s love when they stop saying, Christianity is a private matter."

That’s why water baptism is a public exercise. Baptisms were never meant to be private. When Jesus loves you on the inside, it’s the most natural thing to show it. Baptism doesn’t save you, but I would question whether someone has experienced Jesus if they continue to say, “My faith is a private matter.” 

Have you gone public with your faith? No? Maybe you haven't met the real, powerful, winsome, mighty, unique, glorious Jesus who gives life to dead things. 

Are we wasting our lives?

How long have you lived? I don't mean days or years. I'm talking about being alive while you live.

Consider this,

•     Harris Interactive survey revealed the average eight- to twelve-year-old gamer plays fourteen hours of video games per week [source]
•     American seniors (65+) watch an average of 47.5 hours TV per week. American adults average 34 hrs per week. [source]  
•     Number of minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children: 3.5 minutes. [source]

I watch TV too. But my question is: How much of that time is spent really "living?"

“There are those of us who are always about to live. We are waiting until things change, until there is more time, until we are less tired, until we get a promotion, until we settle down / until, until, until. It always seems as if there is some major event that must occur in our lives before we begin living.”   (George Sheehan)

Spend 30 minutes sometime in a quiet place. You fill in the blank:
"I know I'm living when ________________________________."
"I feel alive when _________________________.

Problems

Sometimes I just wish I could remove people's problems. I hear them and immediately I put on my "fix it" hat, my counselor hat, 'how can I take away their pain' hat? If life just wasn't difficult for them...

•  a single woman? My solution? She needs a good husband. "Come on, God. She's faithful. Give her a good husband, now!"
• a feeble woman with Alzheimer's? My solution: She needs to “go home” to Jesus
• A marriage that is hanging on by a thread? I need to get them in counseling.

The sanctifying work of the Spirit is a mystery. What is God doing? Does He still love them?

And as a pastor, I make it my goal to fix it. But is that the 'Jesus method'?  James and John wanted the glory without the gory (Matt 20:21-22). They wanted the fame without the shame. They wanted the testimony without the test. Not possible.

The best part of who I am was forged in the fire. I don’t like the fire. I don’t want the fire. I don’t ask for the fire. But there is no testimony without a test. There is no diamond without pressure. There is no leader without…problems. Let’s face it: if leadership was easy, everybody would be doing it.  The best leaders are the ones who have had to go against the current of naysayers, personal doubts, insecurity...problems. Sometimes, lots of them. They’ve overcome some of them, they are still facing a few. A leader who hasn’t been tested by some fiery problems will melt when the heat is turned up.

You can’t rush the testing of a leader, nor can you rush the sanctifying work of...problems. Notice Jesus words to Peter, “What is that to you? Follow me.” Your path will be unique.

Parents make the mistake of protecting their child from hurts, from peer pressure, from persecution, from disappointment. The end result is a 30-yr old adolescent who doesn’t want to grow up. Their life is virtually without problems. But it's usually also without joy, personal victory and maturity.  

Is our purpose to eliminate the problems in people's lives or to help them see Jesus in their problems?

No, not every problem is a test. We bring some problems on ourselves because of dumb decisions. But God can still use those dumb decisions, thankfully! 

So bottom line, which guy would you rather follow:

·         Jacob before he faced his past at Mt Penuel? Jacob the deceiver/supplanter? Or Israel, the man who walked with a limp?

·         Daniel without the jealous peers and lions den, or Daniel, the man who faced the lions?

·         Samson the brave, strong man before he failed, or Samson, the man after he was blinded and realized his mistake?

·         Paul before he was shipwrecked at Malta or after?

·         Peter the brave, brash character before the denial? Or Peter, after his comeback?

·         A Jesus born in Jerusalem or a Jesus born in Nazareth?

Those problems actually provided the fire needed to forge the character that makes a person worth following.

So do we deliver people from all their problems? Or do we point them to Jesus in their problems?

Do we alleviate the burdens of life or help them get stronger so they can bear them?

Do we ask for a level road with no mountains or do we pray for His strength?

What are you possibly learning from your problems? How about that friend you're so worried about? Might God be using those problems you so desperately want to free them from? Maybe so.