Bibliography: Becoming a Contageous Christian by Bill Hybels, Can We Talk? by Robert Tuttle
This summer, we have been traveling with Paul, taking a trip down the Roman road of salvation. On our journey, Paul has taken the time to share with us the following things:
1. There is nothing you can do to earn God’s grace. Paul tells us that no one is righteous, not even one of us, no matter how hard we might try.
Though we might wish to have a good relationship with God, inevitably we will fail without the forgiveness and redemption we receive in Christ Jesus.
2. Paul therefore calls us to focus our attention on what we want. If a life of sin, of misery, of condemnation is what we wish, can certianly achieve it, simply by focusing our attention and pursing such a lifestyle.
If, however, we wish to be made right with God, wish to live a life that manifests itself in the virtues of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control,
then we don’t have any time to spare in pursuit of anything that might take us away from God.
3. To pursue such virtues, is to know God by your heart, not just by your intellect. Many people know about Jesus. Many people know about religion. Many people will tell you what they believe and what they don’t believe, what they agree with from each denomination and what they don’t agree with. That’s a different thing entirely from having a relationship with Jesus.
Its the difference between knowing who your mother is and loving her. Its the difference between recognizing your children’s faces and loving them.
There is no substitute. The only way to recieve salvation in Christ is through faith, and by loving him.
4. Although we can never earn God’s love, once we accept it, it is not an easy grace. As with any other relationship, in order to work, it takes a full-fledged, no turning back, all out commitment.
Paul calls us to be living sacrifices for Christ. Paul invites us to take it personal, to let Christ really make a difference in us by infiltrating every aspect of our life - our job, our home life, our conversations, even our recreation. As Christians, we are called to be outward signs of the grace within us, to be living symbols of that grace and conveyers of God’s grace, as well.
5. To show you how far we are to go, we are even to love our enemies.
This is not an easy road to follow.
We have to consider how do Christians behave when others aren’t treating us in a very Christian manner. Its very difficult to care about people who don’t seem to care about us, who don’t seem to have the same value system we have, particularly when it comes to the value we place upon the life of another - physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
6. That brings us to the point in our journey with Paul this evening.
Let me tell you what’s going on in Rome. We in our world today have a hard enough time coming together across ethnic and social boundries. In the days of Paul, it was all but impossible. But to believe in the Christian faith is to believe that absolutely everyone is equal in the eyes of God.
It was just hard for Christians to believe that about other, different Christians.
It wasn’t so hard for those on the outskirts of society, for the throw aways of society (throw aways: those whose lives matter so little you can just throw them away).
But when you were rich, it was hard to accept poor people as your equals. When you were a man, it was hard to accept women as your equals. When you were free, it was hard to accept slaves as your equals. When you were a Jewish Christian, it was hard to accept a gentile Christian as your equal.
I know you won’t believe it, but what the church in Rome had - as apparently Paul had heard rumored - were small cliques of Jesus’ followers who gathered together for worship and fellowship, and wondered about the salvation and true worship of other Christians who were different from them.
Let me tell you about one of the ways it manifested itself.
Jews, faithful Jews, had laws about every aspect of life. That included certain foods they could and couldn’t eat as well as ways in which food had to be prepared in order to eat it.
One of the biggies, was the eating of meat that had been sacrificed to pagan gods. Jewish people weren’t the only people who offered animal sacrifices in those days. The gentile pagan worshippers burned meat on the altars of their gods too.
But when one of the gentile pagans became a Christian, they had the inclination to reason and philosphy outside of Jewish ritualization and worship.
It said to some Christians that eating meat sacrificed to pagan gods didn’t mean anything because eating the meat didn’t affect the Christian heart.
But some Christians were quite concerned about this attitude. It led to a lot of judgemental behavior on the part of groups of Christians towards other groups of Christians.
Paul’s main focus and concern was not merely the discontent and arguing taking place, but what sort of stumbling block was this placing in front of new believers.
Supposing a gentile who worships pagan gods hears the gospel from a gentile Christian. Suppose he begins to believe in what he hears about Jesus. Then he sees the same individual participate in pagan ceremonies and eat the sacrificial meat, all the while proclaiming it doesn’t really mean anything.
What’s our new believer suppose to think about the Christian faith?
It comes with real low expectations, doesn’t it? Because obviously you don’t have to really do anything differently than you did before. You don’t have to change anything about you.
Its kind of like being a Christian today, and spending almost every Saturday night at the bar with our buddies. We might claim that it doesn’t mean anything - after all, we’re not drinking, much any way.
What kind of example are we setting?
What kind of Christian witness to our faith are we giving?
Isn’t it interesting that we began this journey with Paul discrediting any of our actions - our actions don’t matter because they can’t save us (Remember: there is nothing you can do to earn God’s grace.).
But we’ve seem to come 360 degrees, saying that if we are truly going to take this seriously, then what we do does matter, because it is an outward reflection of what we believe within,
and a message to other would-be-Christians.
Its kind of like a computer screen saver I’ve seen. There’s a box that expands outward, changing shape until it becomes a ball. But then the ball collapses back into the box, and continues collapsing inward at the corners to form this spikey ball. And this it begans to expand outward again, repeating this cycle of expansion and collapsing.
That’s what our Christian faith is like - this constant cycle between our behaviors and our attitudes.
So those Christians who would eat the meat sacrificed to pagan idols certainly were what they eat. Their behavior said something about their attitude to being a Christian.
Paul wondered, I think, if their actions weren’t a reflection of a laxidasical attitude towards being a Christian. What was their true priority? Were they interested in moving closer to the cross, of being more Christ-like, or were they trying to see how far the boundaries could be pushed and still call themselves Christians? Paul would argue, I believe that a true Christian has no other option than to try to move closer to the cross in the spirit of Christ,
and would also wonder what message new believers and would-be-believers might be receiving.
Let me give you a couple of examples closer to home. Mike had surgery on his shoulder this past Friday. There were a few people at different times that were responsible for his care I wasn’t particularly happy with.
If I lost my cool, started yelling and cussing at them, what kind of Christian example am I setting for them? I don’t know if they were all Christians who worked on him, or not. But in any case, what I would I be telling them about Christians if I behaved that way?
Many of us have the license plate covers for our cars that tell the person behind us we go to church at Grace Church. If I rudely cut the person off behind me, what kind of message am I sending about the people who go to Grace Church?
If I were to ask the person who does my taxes to do something a might underhanded and they know where I go to church, what am I saying about being a Christian?
If I gossip with my friend at work about a third person, making derogitory remarks, if I tell an off color joke, what kind of Christian witness do I have?
I looked for stories that would illustrate this point for us but I didn’t find any. I think its appropriate that the examples I did find addressed how to share the gospel with others by example and by explanation.
The examples I found talk about what to do rather than what not to do.
Once again, we are what we eat. Its focusing on the positives rather than the negatives. If time, attention, and thrust is towards providing a good Christian witness, then we are more likely more often to do just that.
Let me share with you a couple of examples I found by those who spend a lot of time looking for opportunities to witness to others.
Bill Hybells shares his experience with Tom, a new member to his sailboat racing crew.
READ EXCERT FROM BOOK
“Becoming a Contageous Christian”
Robert Tuttle talks about a conversation he had with a gentleman sitting next to him on an airplain.
READ EXCERT FROM BOOK
“Can We Talk?”
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These two stories are just a couple of examples of people who have actively engaged in witnessing to others.
Let me say first I believe there was probably something about these two gentleman in their general attitude and behaviors in the first place that suggested to the people they witnessed to, they were people of integrity and acceptance they could talk to.
But I also think that from their experiences are some tips for us in how to be Christian witnesses to others.
First be aware of opportunities to witness - in everything we do, everything we say, all the time. Robert Tuttle, I believe, looks for such opportunities. But his style is not everyone’s style.
In this particular case, I think Bill Hybel’s experience is closer to what we all will experience. Bill developed a personal relationship with Tom and left himself open to the opportunity to talk about spiritual matters with him. During the two years he knew Tom, Bill thought about how he came a cross to Tom and everyone else he came in contact with.
In all of his relationships, Bill’s thoughts are about how his actions and behaviors reflect on his Christian claim.
This is how Bill does this:
Be genuine and sincere. We don’t need to be “holier-than-thou”. We don’t need to feel like we have to “sell” Christianity. In other words, be yourself. When the opportunity presents itself to share a meaningful event that expresses our Christian faith, do so. Otherwise, I believe if we are genuine and sincere, others will see something we have, be curious and want to know more, and want what we have found that has transformed our life.
Third and finally, listen. Everyone wants to be heard. Everyone wants to be understood. It was a main point in Robert Tuttle’s experience with Tak. He didn’t asked to be ‘fixed’ or to be given the ‘right’ answers. Tak needed and wanted to know that someone actually cared about him as a person and his personal point of view.
Only when we truly and actively listen to the needs and concerns of others can our Christian witness be taken seriously.
We don’t have to ‘fix’ them or their problems. We don’t have to ‘convince’ them they are wrong and we are right. If we truly care about the other person and listen, God will take care of what we need to say.
One of the big things we need to do is pray. When we know someone who isn’t a Christian, pray for them. When we want to invite others to be a part of our Christian fellowship, when we want to reach out to others because we believe the Christain faith will help their life and holds answers to questions they didn’t even know they had - pray for them.
When we feel uncomfortable about talking about church and spiritual matters with them, pray for them.
Praying goes a long way in facilitating our Christian witness.
1. It focuses our efforts.
2. Its hard not to really care for the person you are praying for. It does as much for our relationship with them as it helps to lead them to God.
3. God answers prayers, particularly when it involves requests for help for others to develope relationships with God.
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We have traveled the Roman road to salvation with Paul. Summer is ending, school starts soon, the fall is just around the corner. For our purposes, our journey with Paul ends here.
Paul leaves us with these words:
In the 15th chapter, Paul writes, “My firends: I myself feel sure that you are full of goodness, that you have all knowledge, and that you are able to teach one another...In this letter I have been quite bold about certain subjects of which I have reminded you...
A couple of verses later we read:
“I will be bold and speak only about what Christ has done through me to lead the Gentiles to obey God. He has done this by means of words and deeds, by the power of miracles and wonders, and by the power of the Spirit of God. And so, in traveling all the way from Jerusalem to Illyricum, I have proclaimed fully the Good News about Christ. My ambition has always to proclaim the Good News in places where Christ has not been heard of...
Later in the 16th chapter Paul writes,
“I urge you, my friends: watch out for those who cause divisions and upset people’s faith and go against the teachings which you have received. Keep away from them! For those who do such things are not serving Christ our Lord, but their own appetites...
“Everyone has heard of your loyalty to the gospel, and for this reason I am happy about you. I want you to be wise about what is good, but innocent in what is evil...
With Paul I wish this for us all and these words as well:
“The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”
In Jesus name,
and by his power,
and for his sake,
Amen.
