Relationship and Not Rules
Dear Champions,
The short excerpt is by Andy Stanley, and the scripture is Matthew 4:19 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will send you out to fish for people."
I don't want to pastor a church and I don't want to attend a church that is all about believing and behaving the right way and forget that we have been called to call the sick and the sinners and those who need a Savior. The church that is content simply to believe and behave right eventually becomes judgmental. They become Pharisees. They come to you and say, "As soon as you change, you can be a part of us." In fact, that was the Pharisees' message. "Change and then you can join us." Jesus came along and turned it upside down and said, "No, join us and you will change. Just follow me!"
The invitation to follow is purely an invitation to relationship. It's not an invitation to the Ten Commandments. It's not even an invitation to obedience. Let me tell you why this is important. If you were married to someone who obeyed all of the marriage rules, and you obeyed all of the marriage rules, you would not necessarily have a good relationship. Rules don't make a relationship. It's actually God's kindness that leads to repentance. It is not fear. To experience someone's kindness you have to be in a relationship of some sort with them. The thing that leads to repentance which leads to change is not the fear of Hell, but it's God's kindness, especially as demonstrated through Christ.
Following Jesus forces me to focus on where I am rather than on where you are not. When I wake up every day my goal is not to keep 10 things and four things and never and always, but it is to do the best that I can to simply follow Jesus. Then I become so aware of my responsibility that I don't have time to judge you.
The question is not what do I know, how well do I pray, how consistently do I attend church, how much Scripture do I know, how obedient am I, or have I prayed a prayer. The question is. "Am I following? " Am I actively intentionally engaged in the process of following Jesus?
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining
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