For as long as I can remember the cry of the modern evangelical Christian church has been, "It's not a religion, its a relationship." That is to say being a Christian is more about having a personal relationship with God than it is about being a part of a religious system. And while I confess that I myself have held to this belief before, I have to say now and largely without a doubt, that as well intentioned as it might be, it is still ultimately and fundamentally wrong. That's because the idea itself is an oversimplification of the very truth it professes to defend.
The reality the Bible conveys to us cannot finally be restrained by such overtly simplistic human categories because it's ultimately rooted in something much higher than we are. And as such it cannot be confined by the religion/relationship distinction paradigm we have created for it. In fact we would do well to stay away from any distinction which is not already explicitly taught in the scriptures themselves when defending the validity of our faith. If we absolutely must communicate in such limited terms then we should do so with great care. For the bible communicates to us something far more transcendent than anything we could ever come up with: a very distinct specific and necessary redemptive reality.
Or to be more specific it presents to us the unified witness of a particular reality that is currently being cultivated in actual space time history in the life of every believer who puts their faith in the historical Jesus Christ and the finished work He alone has accomplished on their behalf for them. Such a work is neither purely subjective nor simply objective in the final analysis. It is not an abstract philosophical principle. And it is not an existential personal revelation. It is not even another generic religious observation. So it should not be treated as such. It is in the most realistic sense imaginable the actual restoration of the cosmos through the finished work of Jesus Christ.
So when we say that we are Christians we are not simply saying that we now have a general relationship with "the Man Upstairs or that you should have one yourself (this is too abstract). We are not saying that we have found a truth or even "the one true truth" (because that too is also abstract). We are not even saying that we have found our true purpose in this life. So we can help you find yours (this again is only abstract). And we most certainly are not saying that we have found the ultimate temporal fulfillment on this earth (because you guessed it; that too is abstract). Though each and every one of these (with certain exceptions) are valid in their own right they do not fully and finally encapsulate what it really means to be a Christian in this world because they are all only abstract, human in their origin.
In contrast to this the truth that God conveys to us in His word, which we affirm as Christians, is not simply or finally abstract in the end because it is not human in its origin. It is rooted in something much higher than we are. It is rooted in a reality, a systematic comprehensive and personal reality. Or to be more specific (as Edmond Clowney would say), it is rooted in a person, the person of the Trinity. So when we say that we are Christians what we are really saying is that we identify with the person and work of Jesus Christ as He has been revealed to us by the Father through the Holy Spirit in the physical world historically.
We are testifying to the reality that the God of the Bible is not only real himself but also the cornerstone of every other universal reality. We are testifying to the fact that He alone has made us, created us in His own image and delivered us in spite of ourselves from the judgment we justly deserve from Him by sending His own Son. We are acknowledging that He alone has restored us to the rightful place of original fellowship with Himself in the work of Jesus Christ. And we know this because He has literally sealed us with His very own Spirit as a down payment on this reality. The result of which is a newly restored perception of reality in general.
And this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the foundational cornerstone upon which the entire visible Christian church is originally built. But I rarely if ever hear it proclaimed as such today (as it really is conveyed in the scriptures). Instead more often than not it is presented to us as a sort of conventional superior spiritual option designed to better improve our temporal station in this world. Or it is treated as a somewhat dated but ultimately useless abstract philosophical ideal designed to enhance our understanding of the universe in general but can do nothing for the condition of our soul. It is rarely if ever treated as a universal reality. And when it is, it is not treated as a very transcendent or applicable one.
In fact sadly many today who even profess to proclaim the gospel from a strictly orthodox biblical understanding do not always communicate it in the terms the bible relates it to us. Instead they present it as a sort of superior mandatory moral choice that you or I would be foolish to reject. Or they present it as a literal form of future fire insurance. One might even go so far as to say that the prevailing belief of the modern day conservative evangelical church is to treat the gospel as a strictly moral imperative, an exhortation designed to facilitate and promote practical public service and worship. And while there is some truth in that sentiment I would argue that this alone (while helpful to some) may actually cultivate in us a sort of forced but faulty loyalty that is more indicative of a distant stoic or unemotional God than the one presented to us in the Bible.
The gospel is more than just a call to active service, more than some temporal earthly comfort, more than a mandatory moral correction or even some temporal external form of repentance. And it is much more than just fire insurance. Being a Christian means more than just having a purpose, more than just knowing or "living it out". It is more than just being "missions" minded or even being "others" minded for that matter. It is more than just loving someone and it is more than just speaking the truth in love. It is not simply a right way to live. It is a restoration of our whole being that transfers into the way we think and speak and live. It is being conformed to the way we were created to live from the very beginning. And in a very real sense it is a supernatural event.
It is the product of a Spirit directed new creation. The result of which is having a newly created natural ongoing preoccupation with Jesus Christ that is centered on Christ, rooted in Christ for the express purpose of being conformed to the image of Christ so we can truly know Christ, exude Christ and preach Christ to every unconverted unregenerate person outside of Christ to the praise and glory of you guessed it...Jesus Christ! The apostle Paul clearly understood this. That is why he wrote "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain"(Phil. 1:21). That is why the theme of it categorizes nearly every single one of his letters. He understood all too well what it really means to be a Christian. He understood that in spite of all the "superior" knowledge he had obtained as a zealous Pharisee he was still missing the one crucial thing that really mattered, the cornerstone reality upon which all other reality is hinged: Jesus Christ. And as a result he readily affirmed the stone he had previously and ignorantly rejected had become for him the chief cornerstone of his very existence (Ps. 118:22).
It is because of sin and death that we exist outside of the one who made us choosing instead to reject him and flee into the darkness. Because He is holy and because we enter this world naturally unholy broken and defiled from birth we cannot come to Him on our own apart from his intervention. That is why God has chosen in Christ to restore the breech that originally kept us from him. That finished work has now provided for us a way whereby we may enter into his permanent eternal gracious fellowship without defiling His own holy nature in the process. And this is the testament of every believer who puts their trust in Him: that God in Christ has restored to Himself they who formerly rejected Him by taking their place and fulfilling their debt so He could ultimately grant them the privilege of ruling by His side forever in paradise.
We identify with Christ as Christians and affirm with the saints of old that we are redeemed and sealed for the day of final permanent redemption to the reality God alone has affected by His Spirit in the work He accomplished in His Son on our behalf. That is what it really means to be a Christian. It means to live in and participate with the one true everlasting and final reality. It means to be a part of and proclaim the supernatural intervention and triumph of God over the cosmos.
And more than any other time in human history I believe it is important for us as believers in Christ living in an increasingly corrupt and relativistic society to get that, believe it and proclaim it in the world around us. We need to recognize and affirm the true reality the Gospel declares, with not only our lips but also our lives, in public and in private, whether we are prepared or not. Because the last thing this society needs is another wishy-washy consumer driven message about our all important temporal personal fulfillment and happiness.
Let's walk by faith in Christ as the redeemed people we claim to be, looking to the One who made us and ultimately reconciled us to himself, to sustain us and empower us for this great work. Let's be the church we were created to be, a reflection of the true and living Christ who gave his own life for us on our behalf so we can live with Him as coheirs of the promise we now have in Him. Let's willing submit at any cost to the leading of the Holy Spirit as He directs us and conforms us to the image of the One who Redeemed us as His covenant kingdom children.
For we were ultimately created for this purpose alone: to submit to enjoy and bear witness to the transcendent reality and victory He purchased for us in Christ as His blood washed Spirit filled Patient Pilgrim saints.
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