First of all, let us talk about God’s will. As it is often asked,
what is God’s will for my life? Even
more than that, before we talk about how to know what is God’s will for my life?
Let’s get some things straight first. In order for any one to know what God’s will
is, one must first know God. One must
first be a Christian.
Then the question might be “What is a Christian?” Or who is a
Christian? What does it mean to be a
Christian?
Christian is a terminology that means many things to
many different people. Let me illustrate
what I mean here.
I have a friend whom I will call Jack here says he is
a Christian. Jack never goes to
church. In fact, he hates anyone who is
religious. He thinks it is a waste of
time to go to church especially every week.
His wife drags him to church at Christmas. Other than that, he never goes to
church. However, he insists that he is a
Christian. He thinks that anyone who
wants the phrase “one nation under God” taken out of the pledge of allegiance
should be shot. Yet he never goes to
church, because he thinks the churches are full of hypocrites and fanatics who
try to impose their morality on others.
He acknowledges that he is not perfect, but at least, he is not a
hypocrite himself. He says it is the
religious fanatics who lobby to make some counties dry meaning liquors are not allowed to be sold.
It is the religious fanatics who block state
lotteries in states like
John, as I call him here, goes to church almost every
Sunday. But
extent of his connection to church or his Christianity is about two hours a
week on Sundays. Of course, he tries to
be a moral and ethical person and does not do any thing bad or has committed
any crimes. After all, he goes to church
almost every week. Nonetheless, the
awareness of God’s presence in his life is more or less absent during the six
days of his week. What do I mean “the
awareness of God’s presence in his life?”
I am not talking about always telling people about Jesus or going to
church almost everyday and participating in many of the church meetings. What I am talking about is life style that is
completely disconnected and disassociated with God, Bible and the church except
for two hours on Sundays – that habitual trip down to church to hear some good
sayings and be back home just in time for football games. He enjoys singing and tells me that he
particularly likes old hymns. It brings
him back to his youthful days when he used to go to church with his parents and
singing those hymns. Other than that he is finding it hard to make any connection to his
church attendance and his life. It is
not simply making that trip down on Sunday and hurrying back home to catch the
football games. There is obviously more
than what I have described. Surely,
there is that time around Thanksgiving, John feels that he is blessed, and
gives credit to God. He volunteers to
feed the hungry by holding the serving spoon to a long line of homeless and
hungry people at a feed-the-hungry-shelter.
He collects clothes and toys at Christmas time and donates them to
charity, because it is a good thing to do and just because it is a good thing
to do. He believes it is noble to return
what he has so abundantly, with a caveat that abundance is only comparative
according to him. Other
than that, life goes on just like anyone else out there – just like millions of
others who are busy bustling and hustling and rarely take time to think about
why one lives and what God has anything to do with one’s life. His morality and ethics and his desire to
live “righteously” are not based on conscientious presence of
Christ in his life, but based on his upbringing and social demand. Most of the time, John is concerned about his
career and money. He talks about his 401K quite often and how to manage his money more effectively
and efficiently. Seldom he brings a conversation about spirituality or his church
life. Whenever I ask him about his
church activity, he gives me his obligatory answer and quickly goes on to
different subject. Rarely if not ever
thinks about “What is the purpose of my life in God?” and “How do I live a life
that is driven by the purpose?”
Then there is the third type. I know of a pastor in
It was the year 1989.
There was a revival meeting in the Bay area. Pastor Ken, his wife and the members of his
church went to the revival meeting every night of the duration of the
revival. Some of the members made it
every night and some others just some nights.
On the last night of the revival, the evangelist gave an invitation for
anyone to come forward to accept Christ as he had done every night of the
revival. To the surprise of many, Pam
went forward when the evangelist gave an invitation to receive Christ as
personal Lord and Savior. The members of
Pastor Ken’s church who were present at the revival thought she went forward to
rededicate her life. However, Pastor Ken
knew differently. He just knew deep
inside that his wife Pam did not go forward to
rededicate her life. Indeed, it was not
the case. Just as pastor Ken felt, Pam
went forward to receive Christ as her personal Lord and Savior for the first
time in her life. Indeed, Pam gave her
life to Christ on that night to Christ Jesus.
How is it possible?
What has happened? Here she is, a
pastor’s wife who has been a faithful partner of her husband’s ministry for the
past 17 years, teaching Sunday school lessons, teaching Vacation Bible School,
leading ladies’ Bible studies and so on …
But now she walks up to receive Christ?
How is it possible?
What we have seen so far is the three types of people
who claim to be Christians. There are probably more types in between those three I mentioned,
but largely there are these three types, not including the genuine and
dedicated Christians.
First type is “I don’t go to church, but I’m a
Christian.” These are the ones who
usually say one or more of the following:
the church is full of hypocrites; I don’t need
someone to tell me how to believe in God.
I believe in God myself. Just me
and God – what is there to learn about believing in God? Just believe.
I don’t understand why you have to learn to
believe or have someone tell you how. I
am an American; I am a Christian. I was baptized when I was a baby. This type of person is certainly not a
born-again Christian. He or she adheres
deeply to his or her upbringing and the familial tradition that his identity is defined by his own sub-culture.
American equals Christian?
Actually, we are all products of culture. Dr. Charles Kraft, a cultural anthropologist,
asserts in his book Christianity in
Culture[1] that we are all immersed in our own culture. Culture is socially learned ways of
living. It includes values, customs,
beliefs and perhaps most importantly the patterns of thinking and
perceiving. We are so culture bound that
everything we do is based on the way we think. This is the reason why we feel different,
awkward and uncomfortable when we go overseas even if we go to a place where
they speak the same language. It is worse
if we go to a place where they speak different languages. When we are in different cultural settings,
rarely do we realize that the change of modus operandi is due to the way people
think, not simply the way people do things.
I remember when I was in college, I spent about
eleven months in
I met a group of Americans in
Some people say that
Despite the fact that the
Culturally
bound
I have a friend who is a Muslim, or should I say, he
claims to be a Muslim. He is married to
a Christian, or should I say, she claims to be a Christian. Every Easter, she likes to have the whole
family get together and have a lamb dinner.
Every thanksgiving, she likes to have the whole family get together,
have a turkey dinner, and thank God for the blessings. Nevertheless, she never goes to church. Her husband, my friend, insists that he is a
Muslim, but he never goes to the Mosque either.
He does not object to Easter dinner or thanksgiving to God of
Christianity. He, however, refuses to
become a Christian. I asked him how he
could be a Muslim and never goes to a Mosque. His response was that he did not need anybody
telling him how to believe or what to believe.
Does it sound familiar? He says
that he is a Muslim because he was born a Muslim and he will always be a
Muslim. However, he does not need some
Mullahs[2]
who are nothing more than hypocrites to tell him how
to believe or what to believe. He says
that he is an intelligent man and he can read and be able to think critically
and logically, thus he is able to read the Qur'an
himself. Yet he never reads the Qur'an. He then went
on to say the same about Christians and the Christian ministers. He added by saying however that respected my
dedication to my religion, but it was not for him. Here again, culture plays a significant role
in the lives of both my friend and his wife.
She clings to her cultural upbringing the way she knows how. It is the world of her familiarity and makes
her feel secure and comfortable. When
she was little, on Easter Sunday, everybody in the family gathered together and
her mother used make a lamb dinner. It
was not a religious experience for her, but a very profound childhood
experience that lasted up to her adulthood.
It was the time of gathering of the family,
feast and good time that made her feel warm and fuzzy. She merely wants to continue the same
tradition in her own family, because it is a good thing to do. At the same time, gathering of the family and
lamb dinner is a common Easter practice in
Nonetheless, Christianity is supra-cultural. In other words, culture does not define what
a Christian is, but only the Word of God defines what a Christian is. Certainly, in the Bible, God communicated His
truth in cultural terms in order that the people of biblical times may
understand, however, using cultural terms was to aid people to grasp the concept,
and that is all it was. One’s earthly
citizenship is not a qualification for an entrance to the
Have to give up too much?
Some say that they don’t want
to become a Christian because they don’t want to give up their life style. I have a friend who works hard to make money
and tries to succeed in his business. He
has, what the world says, a fine work ethics.
When it comes to his business, he is diligent and always tries to
deliver superior products and quality.
He keeps all his appointments on time and has a reputation as someone
who can be trusted for business purposes.
He truly excels in everything and tries his best when it comes to his
business. However, his personal life was
a little different. He does not have a
regular sleeping habits or eating habits.
He sleeps and eats when he could or when he has
time. He enjoys drinking at such places
like a club. When there is an occasion
to meet his friends, his friends always arrive at the meeting place at least 20
to 30 minutes late, because they know he is always at least 20 to 30 minutes
late. He leads a promiscuous life style
and does not think twice about jumping into a bed with a stranger. He and I went to the same college. After graduation, we both headed out to
Hypocrites
Then he went on to add that he knows quite a few people who attend the
church, but they were all hypocrites. In fact, this is one of the top reasons people cite as the reason
for their not going to church. There are so many people who are turned off by so-called
“hypocrisy” that they refuse to go to church.
I keep saying that this is one of the top reasons, but
actually, it is one of the top excuses among the unsaved people. What they do not realize is that, first of all, we are not to look at people for standards of
life. Bible commands us to fix your eyes
on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2a). If you look
at people for your standards, first of all, you
yourself are such an inconsistent example.
Also, others have different standards that it
would be impossible to find any objectivity in anything. I realize that it is hard just to ignore
those so-called “hypocrites.” It can be
very discouraging. Life, however, can be
discouraging period. Does it mean that
you live in isolation? There once was a
very rich man who led a very flamboyant life style, then disappeared into
isolation. He had a mansion and
servants, but he lived in one room without going outside of that room and
seeing only one servant for his daily needs plus his doctor. Eventually, he died in that room and left
enormous amount of money to medical research.
I do not know why he did what he did, but we know that we cannot live
that way.
Secondly, you have to remember that not everyone who
goes to church is genuinely saved. Even if some are genuinely
saved, they are still not perfect as you are not perfect. It is always easy to spot what is wrong with
anything. When you have a room full of
people and ask what is wrong with something, they will come up with a list of
things without any difficulty. But if you ask what they could do to resolve those wrongs,
most of the time, they will have hard time coming up with the words.
When I was a missionary in
It is always easy to see what is wrong with other
people. Jesus pointed out to us that it
is always easy to see the “speck” in the other person’s eye while we are unable
to see the “log” in our own eyes (Matthew 7:3, 4). Indeed, we are all guilty of this
infraction. We may point our fingers to
those who are not walking the talk.
However, when we look at ourselves, there is always a rationale for what
we do. Even if it is wrong, there are
always legitimate reasons for it.
When you look at Christians acting in a hypocritical
way, it is easy to spot and point fingers.
First of all, they may not all be genuine
Christians. Even if they are genuinely
born-again Christians, they are all on the way of becoming more and more like
Jesus Christ – at least that is the intention and the goal of many. Would you not spend any money and burn all
the cash you have, because there are so many counterfeit bills
circulating? The same is true for life
in the church. Ignore the
hypocrites. Just as the people who had
winning speech at the speech contest, look for the good in people
and imitate the good and shun the bad.
At the same time, fix your eyes on Jesus Christ the author and perfecter of faith (Hebrews 12:2). Do not make excuses for your not going to
church to hypocrites or label someone you do not even know as hypocrites.
Discernment
Some of these people always say, “Didn’t Jesus say we are not supposed to judge
others?” “How can you say that I am not
a Christian just because I don’t go to church?”
They seem to know the Bible by quoting Matthew 7:1, but if you carefully
examined this Christ's command, "Do not
judge, or you too will be judged” (Matthew 7:1), in light of what He said
following, we would know exactly what He meant by the preceding command. He said, "You hypocrite, first take the
plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck
from your brother's eye” (Matthew 7:5).
He was simply saying that we should not seek to correct a person when we
are guilty of the same. We need to deal
with our own sin, and then we can help others.
Jesus never intended that His disciples or us for that matter that we
should set aside all exercise of discernment or judgment.
Later in the same message
Jesus told us to watch out for false prophets.
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good
fruit. Thus, by their fruit we will be
able to recognize the good fruit and the bad fruit (Matthew
It is also important to consider the
spirit in which we seek to correct others.
Even if we had been guilty of the same wrongful deeds, we need to judge
or correct another in a spirit of love, compassion, and humility. The Bible says, "Brothers, if someone is
caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself,
or you also may be tempted. Carry each
other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians
6:1-2).
Genuinely saved?
There are some who go to church
regularly, but when he or she
leaves the church parking lot, he leaves his or her Christianity at the parking
lot too. Occasionally, he or she may be motivated by some great sermons or some special
speakers’ passionate and convicting messages that motivates him or her to seek
to live a more spiritual life, but the flame fizzles quickly as time goes on
and the busyness of life catches up with that person. Before you know it, this person is right back
to his normal way of life in which he is occupied with
the daily concerns and things such as career, money, problems with children,
etc. while living-according-to-God’s-will takes a back seat until I-have-time.
One of the colleagues with whom I used to work
attended the church just about every Sunday.
He drove quite a distance to go the church. The church he attended was a well known church in the Southland (
There is a difference between being committed to the
idea of faith and being committed to the object of faith. My colleague was committed to the idea of
faith. For whatever reason that
motivated him to be committed to the idea of faith, he was satisfied with the
extent of his commitment, but not to the object of faith through a personal
relationship with Jesus.
While I was attending the seminary, I went to Urbana
Mission Conference.
In order to enter this particular
Christian university, one must be a born-again Christian. In the application form, one is to write out
his or her testimony regarding how he or she became a Christian. The problem here is that everyone knows the
right answer. If you have been in a
church long enough, you know the right answer, and it would not be difficult to
write the right answer down. I do not
mean that these students outright lied or wrote what they did not feel at all
in order to be admitted to the university.
I am sure almost all of them wrote what they felt was their
experience. The key word here is
“feel.” They felt that
way because of the environment they were in or because they thought being a
Christian is the right thing to do or to be. They have heard the right answer over and over that when it became necessary to articulate
their faith, the best-known answer – the standard one that they heard over and
over – came to be the basis of their personalized answer. Don’t be deceived
just because you are in an environment.
I personally know many teenagers who spend countless hours at the church
while they were in high school, but when they went on to college, they stop
going to church. When they left the
environment, they left their faith also.
They left it at their high school as well. The statistics show that seven out of ten
teenagers do not attend the church when they go to college. Were all these seven teens basically wasted
their time at the church or did they just have a good time at the church,
because after all, the kids at the church are supposed to be better than the
kids you hang around else where?
People usually know what is
appropriate. At a stranger’s house, it
is not appropriate to “make yourself at home.”
If you go to a wedding, it is not appropriate to wear Jeans and
T-shirts. At a Rock concert, it is
appropriate to scream yet only at the right moment. At the church, it is appropriate to do what
is “church-thing.” While doing the
“church-things” with the close friends, you may have good times together and at
the same time, you may hear the messages over and over,
but if you do not have a genuine relationship with Jesus, it is no more than a
noble activity in a setting of noble environment. Feelings and environments can play tricks on
hearts and minds of those who are not mindful.
Being a part of any organization and doing the “thing” that the
organization endorses should not be confused with
genuine surrender to Jesus Christ and the need for continual nurturing of such
relationship.
Habitual?
Then there are those who are far more than just a body
count at a church. She or he not only
participates in many of the church activities, but also from time to time,
leads some of the activities including teaching Sunday school lessons, working
with the youth, singing in the choir, visiting the infirmed at senior homes,
etc. Nevertheless, this type of person
may never have surrendered her life over to Jesus. How is that possible? One may ask.
Let me talk about Mary, as I will call her here. Mary was a very dedicated college student who
was involved in many church activities including playing the keyboard for the
church praise band that performed on a weekly basis. She was always the first one to arrive at the
weekly praise band practice on Saturdays.
She came to every college activity at the church. Some of her best friends were from the same
church. She even took leadership
positions on some of the special programs at the church. One day, as I was starting a discipleship
program for the high school students, I was looking for a female college
student to disciple some of the high school girls. Mary somehow found out that I was looking for
someone to disciple high school girls, and came to me to volunteer for that
very position. I asked her about her
baptism and salvation experience. The
response I got was not surprising. She
told me that she never chose to be baptized because
she did not see the need. If she knew
that she was saved, what was the point of being
baptized since baptism itself does not have the power to save her. As far as she was concerned, she was saved and that was good enough. She did not need any ceremonial or
conventional superficiality according to her.
I went on to ask her about how she became a
Christian. Again, her response was as
follows. She was
reared in a church. As far back
as she could remember she had always attended the
church. She knew she was a
Christian. She just knew and that was
the end of the story.
She could not articulate the experience of surrendering
her life to Christ. She did not have a
definite point in her life or a period in her life where she came to know Jesus
in a personal way. She had always been a
Christian as far as she was concerned.
She thought it was not necessary for her to have a so-called conversion
experience, because her whole life was an experience with God. She had always attended the church with her
parents first, and now she is a college student, she
came on her own and came willingly. She
knew that the church was a place for Christians and gradually she came to know
that she was one of the Christians. Besides she never did any drugs or anything bad that she did
not have to have any drastic change in her life style. That is where we finished our
conversation.
When someone says, everything is good, to me, it
usually means nothing is really good. When she said she had been a Christian all of
her life, it meant she was not sure if she really was a Christian ever. According to her, she gradually came to
realize that she was a Christian. She
had no instance or a period in her life that could demarcate a new life in
Christ. The Bible tells us that when you
become a Christian, you are a new creature (2
Corinthians
About a year after this conversation, I left that
church to become a missionary to
What happened here?
Here she is, dedicated and so involved in activities wanting to disciple
younger girls how to be a better Christian.
She all of a sudden doubts everything and she did not want to have
anything to do with church or Christianity any more? How is that possible? Jesus said, “You search the Bibles, because
you think that in them you have eternal life” (John 5:39a). You may be engaged in all kinds of activities
at your church thinking that you are indeed devoted, but Jesus said “it is these that bear witness of Me” (John
5:39b). What He meant was that all that
you do must be based on the genuine relationship with
Christ Himself. Without knowing Jesus
personally, all that you do are in vain; the end result
is like Mary did not know Jesus personally, but busy doing the
“church-thing.”
Many of us go through the motions of familiarity and
stay in our comfort zone without realizing what we do is nothing more than a
routine. Mary had never
surrendered. Today, Christians talk
about commitment all the time. How one
is committed and so and so is a committed Christian, etc. The result of commitment is your active trust
in that which you have committed. To
surrender is to give up completely of yourself over unto the power of the one
to whom you are surrendering. We need to
surrender ourselves to Jesus Christ.
Commitment is commendable, but surrender is obligatory.
Bible talks about a person who built his house on the
sand. When “the rain fell, and the
floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell and
great was its fall” (Matthew
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