Don’t Settle for a Sideline Faith – Get in the Game!
1 John 1:1-9
It is possible to attend church your entire life and still spend eternity in hell.
That’s a shocking statement! I suspect some might disagree with it at first, but it is the truth. It is possible to attend church your entire life and still spend eternity in hell. That’s because there’s a big difference between observation and participation.
Allowing observation to replace participation in the Christian life is a very dangerous thing. As a matter of fact, one of the great concerns I have is for kids growing up in the church, or even adults who have been around the church for a long time, becoming complacent in their walk with Christ because they have gotten used to standing or sitting on the sidelines when it comes to their spiritual life.
I believe satan can cause people to get so comfortable with the surroundings, the terminology and their experiences around the church that they never really make it personal. It is as if they begin to assume that they are a Christian by osmosis.
It can happen when people start going through the motions spiritually speaking. It can happen in the routine of coming to church or Sunday School week after week. You anticipate every detail of the service, because you have learned the ropes. You don’t really get anything out of worship, because it has become a meaningless ritual. It is all about going through the motions and getting your religious checkmark. (Be on guard!)
My concern is that someone could walk in and out of the church with a false assurance or a false confidence that you are made right with Christ because of a religious routine.
Now don’t get me wrong. Church attendance is an important factor in the life of a committed Christian. It is a healthy, biblical habit that is important to all of us.
Hebrews 10:25 NIV
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Lack of involvement in church can become a habit. And we all have a tendency to rationalize and justify our bad habits, don’t we?
I always hate to hear that a new Christian just got a job that will require them to work on Sunday. Too often that can be the beginning of the end for them. I have seen it happen far too many times. It isn’t long before they get out of the habit of being with God’s people. We have many who are affiliated with the church today who fit that kind of profile.
Absence from corporate worship is a dangerous thing. I actually did a study on it. Did you know that you can’t miss your tenth Sunday until you miss your first Sunday…and your second…and your third…etc.
A Christian without consistent involvement in a local church is a disobedient Christian at best. I run onto people all of the time who try to convince me that they are a believer, but they don’t have any active involvement in a local church. Their favorite saying is, “you don’t have to go to church to go to heaven.”
While I agree with the premise, “church attendance is not what gets you to heaven,” I have to tell you that biblically they are in the dark.
We need to understand that the Body of Christ, the church, is God’s idea and it is a good one. And I can’t help but wonder why a committed Christian would not want to be connected to the body of Christ.
A member of a certain church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the pastor decided to visit him. It was a chilly evening. The pastor found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire.
Guessing the reason for his pastor’s visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited. The pastor made himself at home but said nothing.
In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the pastor took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone. Then he sat back in his chair, still silent.
The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember’s flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more.
Soon it was cold and "dead as a doornail." Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The Pastor glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave, he slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.
As the pastor reached the door to leave, his host said with a tear running down his cheek, "Thank you so much for your visit and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday."
I know there are extreme circumstances where someone cannot be involved in a local church because of health limitations, and I know some professions such as nursing and law enforcement require Sunday commitments, but even then, there needs to be a commitment to weekly worship and a connection with a body of believers.
We all need people who can minister to us in our time of need, people who can hold us accountable, a place where we can serve and be served.
Don’t excuse yourself from being where you need to be on Sunday morning. As Christians, we need this time for a number of reasons, not the least of which is more than 40 commandments in the New Testament that you cannot fulfill apart from involvement with other Christians.
But even as important as church attendance is, that’s not what gets you to heaven.
The only way you go to heaven is through a right relationship with Jesus Christ.
John 14:6 NLT
Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
There’s only one way to heaven. And that Way is Jesus Christ. What have you done about Jesus? Do you know Him on a personal level? Have you invited Him to be the Lord of your life? I’m going to give you that opportunity this morning.
You see, Christianity is something that must be understood primarily by experience.
Christianity is more than a statement of faith. It is more than church attendance or church membership. It is not merely a philosophical position. It is a faith experience. You can’t buy Christianity, and you don’t inherit it from your parents. It’s personal.
When it comes to the NFL, you’re not on the team just because you stand on the sidelines or sit in the bleachers or watch it on television. In the same way, sitting in church, singing a few songs, taking a few notes, even being moved emotionally does not make you Christian.
I know there are few who would argue this point, but my concern is that subtly, some have drifted to a level of complacency in their relationship with Christ and soon, they have allowed themselves to accept less than His best when it comes to living the life He has called us to live. I want you to see Two Important Facts:
- Christianity is not a sideline experience.
- Genuine faith in Jesus requires personal involvement.
So let’s examine the true nature of Christianity. What does authentic Christian living really look like? What does it involve? John tells us that authentic Christian living involves at least three things:
1. A Personal Touch
1 John 1:1 NIV
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
When it comes to Jesus Christ, a second hand experience won’t do. Authentic Christian living requires a personal encounter with Christ.
You’ve probably heard it said that God has no grandchildren, and that is an absolutely true statement. We cannot count on our heritage, church affiliation, nationality, or even our own good works to replace a personal experience with Christ.
On more than one occasion the apostle Paul wrote about His own impeccable heritage, but he said that he considered it rubbish compared to his personal faith experience with Jesus. The righteousness that God requires of us we cannot gain on our own or from our affiliations. We must individually place our trust in what Jesus has done for us. We must meet Him personally.
God came to earth in human flesh. They called His Name Jesus. He was nailed to a cross to pay the price for each of our sins and He rose again to prove His victory over death, hell and the grave. On the cross, Jesus paid the death price. He paid the blood price. The bottom line is that He paid a debt that He didn’t owe and because of that fact, you can get to heaven on His ticket when you accept what Christ has done for you.
John 3:16 NIV
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
That’s a fact! Jesus came to bring life, eternal life, to all who place their trust in Him.
1 John 1:9 NLT
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.
What a great verse! It’s a fact! We can be cleansed and forgiven. But sometimes people will say, “I don’t feel forgiven.”
Let me tell you something about feelings. Feelings come and go. They are fickle. They cannot be depended upon. But the truths of God’s Word are solid. They are consistent. I’m talking to you this morning about the facts.
When I read 1 John 1:9 and I do my part, I can count on God to do His part. That’s a fact! According to 1 John 1:9:
My Part – Confess my sins.
God’s Part – Forgive and Cleanse.
You do your part, you can count on God to do His. And in those moments when you don’t feel forgiven, don’t sweat it! Sometimes I don’t feel like a dad. But that doesn’t change the fact that I are one! My name is on three birth certificates. I have three kids with my blood flowing through their veins. Feelings come and feeling go, but the facts never change.
When it comes to your relationship with Christ, you do your part and you can have confidence that God will do His. You confess your sins to Him and exercise your faith to believe that He will do what He has promised, and one day the feelings will come.
Far too often we allow our lives to be governed by our feelings. I am telling you it is time to base your life on the truths of God’s Word. Choose to accept what He says (the facts) and believe them by faith. The feelings will come. But the feelings are not what is important. Even if the feelings never come, the facts in God’s Word remain.
Campus Crusade for Christ has a great illustration to help you see how this works (Faith-Fact-Feeling Train)
Here in our text, John is writing to testify to the facts. Our salvation is based upon the facts that we accept by faith. Our salvation is never based on our feelings.
Feelings should never be at the front of the train. And as good as faith is, faith cannot be in the front of the train. We must begin with the facts. That’s why we need to be in the Word of God so that we know what the facts are because we don’t want to get our facts from the evening news, or from the popular culture or from any source other than the Word of God. The Word of God is a rock that you can build your life upon. It is timeless and eternal. It will be there when emotions run out.
Whenever you encounter a heartfelt experience in your salvation, be thankful, but don’t be confused into thinking that your feeling is essential to salvation, because they’re not. Feelings are good, we like them, but they are not necessary.
Some people get confused in this same area regarding worship. You worship by choice, on purpose. Just because you get a tingle up and down your spine is no sign you have worshipped. I am not saying that you won’t sense God’s presence like that, but many equate emotionalism with a spiritual encounter. Sometimes when I encounter God, I may get a tingle, sometimes I may get under conviction, and sometimes I will be challenged in my mind as I think about what God is saying to me.
Perhaps there are some here today who are struggling through a dry place in your spiritual life. If that’s the case, then it is quite likely that you are not experiencing a lot of feeling right now. That’s why it is comforting to know that our salvation is not based on how we are feeling at the time.
Otherwise, on the dark days, during the dry spells, we would be tempted to throw in the towel and quit.
Authentic Christian living involves a Personal Touch from Jesus.
And a touch from Jesus leads to a...
2. A Personal Transformation
1 John 1:6 NLT
So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness. We are not living in the truth.
The touch of Jesus will lead to a personal transformation in your life. If you say you’ve been touched by Jesus but there’s no transformation, there’s no change, then John says there’s a problem with that.
The Scripture says if any one is in Christ they are a new creation. The Apostle Paul wrote about this transformation to the Church at Corinth.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 The Message
Don’t you realize that this is not the way to live? Unjust people who don’t care about God will not be joining in his kingdom. Those who use and abuse each other, use and abuse sex, [10] use and abuse the earth and everything in it, don’t qualify as citizens in God’s kingdom. [11] A number of you know from experience what I’m talking about, for not so long ago you were on that list. Since then, you’ve been cleaned up and given a fresh start by Jesus, our Master, our Messiah, and by our God present in us, the Spirit.
Notice he doesn’t say that’s what they ARE but what they WERE. There’s a big difference. There has been a transformation in the lives of the Corinthian Christians!
How many of you could stand this morning and testify to the fact that Jesus Christ has brought a transformation in your life? You have been given a fresh start, whether it was forty years ago or just last week. Would you be willing to give the Lord a standing testimony as an expression of gratitude for all that He has done in your life?
All over the sanctuary, I want you to just stand up if Christ has transformed your life!
Paul talks to us about what this transformed life looks like in Galatians 5.
Galatians 5:16-25 NLT
So I advise you to live according to your new life in the Holy Spirit. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. [17] The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict. [18] But when you are directed by the Holy Spirit, you are no longer subject to the law.
That’s because you have been transformed!
[19] When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, your lives will produce these evil results: sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, [20] idolatry, participation in demonic activities, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group, [21] envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
Now look at the contrast…
[22] But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law.
[24] Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. [25] If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
Is there a difference in your life since you came to Christ? Has there been a transformation that is evident for all to see?
This is a wake up call! Don’t fool around in the land of half hearted commitment and don’t think for a moment that your presence here today or week after week is sufficient to enter the kingdom of God.
Christ has called us to a life of moral integrity, honesty, sexual purity, kindness, faithfulness and generosity. This is not about a Sunday only experience.
If our lives don’t exemplify the Spirit of Christ, if we don’t possess the fruit of the Spirit, if our experience doesn’t match our profession, then we need to do some serious soul searching this morning. Are you truly in Christ or have you settled for a sideline experience instead of a real, personal relationship with Him? You can know…
Matthew 7:20 NLT
The way to identify a tree or a person is by the kind of fruit that is produced.
Let me ask you a tough question. What does the fruit of your life reveal about your relationship with Jesus Christ? Is it all that is once was? Is it all that it should be?
This morning I am inviting you to be open to God’s Holy Spirit as He speaks to you.
Finally our experience with Jesus should involve a...
3. A Personal Testimony
1 John 1:2-4 NLT
This one who is life from God was shown to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and announce to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was shown to us. [3] We are telling you about what we ourselves have actually seen and heard, so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
[4] We are writing these things so that our joy will be complete.
John was so excited about his personal experience with Jesus, that he wanted to share it with others so they could be touched by Jesus too.
Shouldn’t John’s experience be the typical experience of every believer? The touch of Jesus leads to a transformation which results in a desire to share your personal testimony.
When we get a good deal at the store, we want to tell our friends about it.
When a restaurant opens and the food is especially good, we tell others.
Why is it that we can come to church week after week, and know the truths of the gospel, and yet never inconvenience ourselves to tell one other needy soul?
If we can tell others about the good deal, or the good food, how much more we should be telling them of our experience with Jesus Christ. This has eternal implications!
I can’t tell you how many times I have stood by the casket watching broken hearted family members weeping at the departure of an unsaved loved one or friend. It doesn’t have to be that way. While there is still time, you can tell them. You can testify.
Sometimes people are afraid to share because they feel like they won’t be able to answer every question. That’s OK! Nobody is asking you to have all the answers. As John says, this is about sharing what you have seen and what you have heard. That is the responsibility of a witness. Telling what you have seen and heard. Simple!
If you really understand the eternal implications of what it means to be lost, you can’t afford to be sitting on the side lines. I want to challenge you to get in the game.
Three Closing Questions:
Do you have a current, authentic, genuine personal relationship with Jesus Christ?
Has there been a transformation in your life or have you settled for less than God’s best? Have you been willing to testify to the change Christ has made in you?
Eternity is at stake! It is time to be real.
