Welcome back to our winter conversation called ‘Real Faith Disrupts.’ We are walking you through 12 essential questions about our faith. These are 12 questions we should all be asking. So far, we have talked about The Bible, God’s Grace, and Worship, focusing on what these things mean to you and how these things are affecting your life. Why is that important? Well, it’s because real faith leads to life change; it disrupts what was so that we can experience what could be, which is what I like to refer to as our best lives possible, which is life in Christ as God designed it to be lived. The scripture we keep turning to is from Jesus’ brother James.
James 1:17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless… 19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? NLT
James isn’t messing around here, is he? He says that real faith is bigger than just believing in God; even demons believe in God; real faith leads to new life, no new life, no real faith. When we accept Jesus into our lives and accept Him as both Savior and Lord of our lives, we will live differently. But you know, as much as we Christians talk about how different we live because Jesus is now in our lives and celebrate this new life we have in Christ, but it’s rare to see this “new life” in people today. I’ve always been fascinated with this concept of life change that Christians point to, talk about, celebrate, sing worship songs about, and share with the world while never truly allowing that to take place in their own lives. This is what James was pressing in on. Real Faith disrupts…it changes everything. I have been thinking a lot lately about James’ words here, and a word kept hitting my heart and mind. Repentance. When we truly repent, it means that we have a complete change of heart and mind; we turn away from sin and turn to God. Listen to these words from Charles Spurgeon; they not only paint a clear picture of repentance but, in many ways, mirror what James is saying to us.
“Beware of presuming you are saved. If your heart is renewed, if you hate the things you once loved and love the things you once hated, if you have really repented, if there is a thorough change of mind within you, then you have reason to rejoice. But if there is no vital change, no inward godliness, no love to God, no prayer, no work of the Holy Spirit, then the statement, “I am saved” is only your own assertion, and it may delude you, but it will not deliver you.” Charles Spurgeon
That is intense, but this is too important to ignore. If we love you, we have to talk about it. Real faith disrupts what was so we can experience what can be. It allows us to walk into our best lives possible. That means we are not living the same life after we met Jesus that we were living before we asked Him into our lives. Now, it doesn’t mean we do it all perfectly or that we won’t mess up, but it does mean that we hate the things we once loved and love the things we once hated. That is called repentance, and it is a massive part of our faith. When we repent, we turn away from all we have done and choose to live in the opposite direction. Our life change allows us to live and love differently than we did before we knew Jesus, and our new life of living and loving is the proof we need to know and show that God is in us. So many people worry about their salvation at different stages of their life. Have you ever wondered if you truly are saved? Well, the proof you need is found in how you live your life. It’s in the life change you are experiencing…or not. Christianity is active and life-changing. There is no such thing as non-practicing Christianity; I think that will only get clearer as we talk today as we dive into a conversation on our choices. Here’s our question.
Has your faith disrupted your choices?
The concept of our choices can lead us to so many places and into some really important discussions on all aspects of our lives. This is an area I am passionate about for people, and it’s such a broad topic that it could be an entire series, but we will do our best to stay focused today because the topic is so relevant and important to our lives. We make a lot of choices in a day. Some are extremely impactful, changing the trajectory of our lives, and some are little things we choose to do in our daily lives. This could be a challenging conversation because many people are all in on discussing the circumstances they find themselves in but are unwilling or open to discussing the choices that led them there. When it comes to our lives, we humans aren’t looking for change and can be unwilling to make new choices, even if we know they could lead to a better life experience. So, this can be a big day; we are talking about the thing that can move our lives in that new direction we spoke of earlier. So, this can be an inspiring topic that leads to new life; for others, this can be an uncomfortable day because it leads us to an area that we often struggle to focus on or take responsibility for in our lives. We make a lot of choices, and we often overlook our choices. We don’t like the idea that we may play a role in the places we find ourselves in life, but this can be a day that leads to that life change, that disruption we all want in our lives. This is a big day!
Has your faith disrupted your choices?
I want you to see some things about our choices as we start today. First, we make a lot of choices every day. Second, our choices greatly impact our life experiences and the direction our lives go. Third, we need to own our choices and make them intentionally and wisely. It’s funny, but in this series, we are talking about giving ownership of our lives to Jesus. That is a must, and we will see that again today, but this is one area of our lives we need to take responsibility for and invite God into…when we are responsible and take ownership of our choices, things can change in our lives! If we are always blaming and don’t see any role we have to play in our choices and life direction, things will not change in our lives. Ok, so I need to make one more point with you regarding our choices as we get started here today: most of the time, we know what the wise or right choice is. Now, we don’t like to say this out loud, but most of the choices we need to make to live our best and healthiest lives aren’t all that complicated. If I asked you what to do to be healthy physically, there isn’t a person here who wouldn’t know that we should eat right, exercise, and rest. We know that. It’s not complicated or hidden from us…but I wonder how many of us walk through life each day wishing we were healthy and bummed that we aren’t. We know what choice should be made. So, it’s not the choice itself that is complicated; it is making the choice that seems to be. Mashawn and I struggled with our finances when we were first married. We knew how to spend money and struggled with debt. We went to Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace Course, which was so helpful for us, but what is interesting is that man has made a career out of explaining to us that if we don’t have the money to do things or buy something, we should not do the things or buy the thing. Nothing he said is complicated, quite frankly; as he spoke, I sat there thinking, this is common sense…I knew the answers to all my questions, but at the same time, I wasn’t living that way! It’s a challenge, and so many of us struggle financially. We know what choice we should make: save, prioritize, budget, and give…it’s not complicated; it’s making the choice that seems to be the thing. I just read a Surgeon General article that fascinated me. Did you know that loneliness is now an epidemic in America? Loneliness is destroying so many lives today. Studies show that over 60% of adults, and those numbers skyrocket with teenagers, are experiencing loneliness at a dangerous level. I’m stuck on this: It is happening in a time of life when we are the most connected to people we could ever be. We can push a button and talk to people, but we struggle to find meaningful connections more than ever…while deeper issues are at play here, I keep thinking about our choices. Do you know what the study shows is the first step out of this unhealthy level of loneliness? I will put it on the screen so you can see it. The first way to combat loneliness from the CDC is to keep in regular contact with others. Reach out to different friends and family regularly. It’s not a complicated choice, is it? It’s another choice we know we should make, yet over 65% of our population is not making it and are suffering through loneliness. We have our reasons for isolating, but ultimately, the choice isn’t complex. Suppose I asked you what choice I need to make to feel connected to God and live a life of love. We know the answer; we dive into Scripture, pray, inviting God into our daily lives. But I wonder how many of us walk through life wishing we felt closer to God each day. We know we should read our Bibles, but do you know what a recent study showed about Christians and Scripture? For the last two years, Bible engagement has hovered between 39 percent and 38 percent, according to The American Bible Society. We know we should do it. A few weeks ago, we discussed how much Scripture can help us. It’s not the choice that is complicated; it’s making the choice that is the issue. I could do this all day, showing you choices we struggle with in life that we know the answer to financially, emotionally, relationally, spiritually, and physically. It’s not really all that hard, but as quickly as you can tell me, the right choice that should be made…is as quickly as we go into life and make the opposite one. What is up with that? This makes me think of something God spoke through Moses before Moses passed on and the Children of Israel entered The Promised Land. Check this out…
Deuteronomy 30:11 “This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you to understand, and it is not beyond your reach…14 No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it. NLT
God speaking through Moses here says that His commands are not hard to understand; they are simple so we can grasp and obey. It’s so true. I mean, we have read the commandments, right? They aren’t rocket science. Now listen to how urgent this is. It’s a matter of life and death! Let’s keep going here…
19 “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! 20 You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life.” NLT
Life and death, black and white, you can choose to have life, be blessed, and be healthy…or not. God isn’t unclear, and He lays it all out for us; it comes down to our choice. The key to your life is choosing to live for God or not. What is wild to me is how quickly our brains tell us that we would never choose death and would obviously choose life, while the lives we are living tell a different story; time and time again, we choose death, not life. We see it with the children of Israel here; God gives them a clear and simple choice and pleads with them to choose life…I’m sure they wanted life, but it didn’t take long before they chose the opposite. We know the right choice; it isn’t complicated or hard to know what we should do, but it seems very hard to make the choice and experience new life. So let me ask you our question of the day again, and then I want to show you something.
What has changed in your life because Jesus is now in it? Has your faith disrupted your choices?
When I think of choices and making good ones, I immediately think of what Solomon told us about them, often pointing to how important they are, and we would all agree with what Solomon says about wise choices.
Proverbs 2:11 Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe. NLT
The challenge isn’t in understanding that wise choices protect us from harm. We would all agree with that, so we don’t find any tension in that statement. It’s true, make good choices, and they will watch over you, but I do see two tension points. First, we should make wise or different choices from the ones we were making, but that means changing things, and we aren’t always into change! Second, we must take ownership of our choices. So often, we aren’t making wise choices, and when we stop and think about it, we typically know we are making decisions that aren’t helping us. We can make a choice that deep down we know is harming us, and then we are bummed when it harms us and often wonder how we end up in difficult and painful spots we find ourselves in, in life. Then, we look for someone to blame for why we are in the spot we find ourselves. Solomon addressed that, too…
Proverbs 19:3 People ruin their lives by their own stupidity, so why does God always get blamed? MSG
We aren’t always interested in taking responsibility for our choices; frankly, it can be unnerving to think we may play a role in some of the messy things that happen to us, and in some ways, if I have no role in it, well, I can’t change it, and deep down, we may not want to. You know, I meet with people who share problems, addictions, and challenges in their lives with me. They want to talk to me about why those issues are in their lives. They can point to spiritual issues, maybe talk of generational curses or spiritual warfare, which are very real things. They blame their parents, their spouses, or the people who hurt them, which all did take place. They point to their painful pasts and how hard they were, which is all true and did happen to them, but they explain why they find themselves in their painful spot, often doing things they don’t want to do. Those are important moments, and I’m glad to listen, but I also know that it’s leading to a really important yet often very disappointing moment in our time together. As they share, I know there is a point where the conversation needs to shift. At some point, to live differently and find the healing we say we want, we have to leave the blame game and talk through our choices. It leads to a way out of the painful spot and into the new life we say we want! Typically, they already know the choices that should be made that could pull them away from the pain or area of struggle in their lives. But that becomes an important moment that goes one of two ways. They either make new choices that can help them practically or not. Now we have ‘heart things’ to work through, and we dive into the why behind their inability to make a new choice, but so often, when we leave the blame behind, and we get into their choices, it disappoints, and it is the last time we meet. We don’t always want to look at our choices or role in the spots we find ourselves. This has always been challenging and something I see and think of often. With just a few different choices, we can get out of the stuff we say we don’t want to be in, and it can lead to all we say we want in life! You would think that would be inspiring and exciting for people, but it’s often disappointing, even offensive, and typically the last time we meet. It could be so simple, but it isn’t…is it? So why the struggle? Why is it so disappointing when you would think it would be exciting to see how close they are to new life? A choice, that small recalibration, can lead to everything they say they want. Well, this used to confuse me. I didn’t get the disappointment or how unnerving it seemed to be…but now I understand how important that moment is for their growth and health. It still hurts me when people walk away disappointed rather than turning toward a new life. We may not like it, but we must own our choices and invite God into them. Unfortunately for Ken and I, this scene plays out over and over again with people: we want what Christianity advertises, but we struggle with life change. We are often disappointed that things in our everyday lives must change. This concept and reaction reminds me of Jesus’s interaction with The Rich Young Ruler.
Mark 10:17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good — except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'” 20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” 21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. NIV
I love this story. What do we see? This is a good young man who is doing so many things right. But he is very aware that something is still missing, and to his credit, he wants to experience his best life and eternal life, too. Jesus is there listening and loves him enough to point to the one choice the young man could make that would completely free him up to all he says he wants. He is on the doorstep to all he wants! It is the one thing that could free him up to experience all he was searching for, but it is the one thing he wasn’t willing to do. It was one thing to follow the rules and be a good person. He was fine with that, but don’t touch my wealth. Do you see it? Jesus loves him enough to lead him to a choice he needs to make in his life to experience everything he came to Jesus looking for, but it was a choice he wasn’t willing to make, and he walks away disappointed. The rich young man was a good person but wasn’t willing to give full ownership of his life to God. So, as we look at how our faith impacts our choices, let’s personalize this question. Are there some areas of your life you are very open to living for Christ in and some areas of life you keep and don’t want God to touch or disrupt? Listen to Paul here…
Ephesians 4:22-24 Everything – and I do mean everything – connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life – a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you. MSG
This scripture from Paul is so important. When we accept Jesus into our lives, we get rid of EVERYTHING connected to that old way of living. We experience a new life, a life renewed from the inside out. This was something we just saw the Rich Young Ruler struggle to do. Paul isn’t saying that we should love God, clean up some behaviors, and leave the door open to some of the old stuff we enjoyed most in our lives, and he wasn’t saying to give God most of your life except for the areas that matter most to you; no, he says we rid ourselves of all the old ways and step into the new. But we have to ask a question here. Why is it so difficult to do what Paul asks there? Why is pulling out of specific things in our lives so challenging? Why can we want to experience new life and health but struggle to get to that better or healthier life? Why is it so hard to make new choices, even ones we know would help us? Have you ever wondered why it is so difficult to pull out of specific things in your life or hit personal or spiritual goals? Why is it so unsettling to make changes that we know could help us and make us healthier in every way? Shouldn’t that excite us? Why is it so much easier to point out why we CAN’T do certain things rather than why we CAN? And while we are talking today, why is it that the unhealthy, old way of living seems so much more appealing to us than this abundant life in Christ that we say we want? We must give God full ownership of our lives, which isn’t always easy, especially in the areas that matter most to us. It’s tough, but giving ownership of all our lives is a big deal; let’s get more advice from Solomon on this…
Proverbs 3:5 Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. 6 Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. 7 Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil! 8 Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life! 9 Honor God with everything you own. MSG
Did you see that as we trust God with every area of our lives, He leads us to where we need to go, even when we aren’t sure what is happening around us? What do we see happen when we trust God with all our lives? We are at our best, our healthiest, filled with life. Isn’t that what we keep saying we want and often wonder why we aren’t experiencing?
So, let’s ask a few questions as we close. Let’s start with ownership. Does God have full ownership of your life, or are there still some areas in which you struggle to trust Him? Now, let’s move to our choices, and we need to get honest here. I want you to make a list today of the choices you make in your life that are helping you. Then I want you to make a list of your choices that, if you truly slowed down and discussed it, you can continue to make those choices, but they aren’t helping you. Think that all through. Now, let’s go for it. What are some areas of your life that you aren’t happy with? Ask yourself this question. Do you have to stay there? Are you stuck, or are there some choices you could make to move in a new direction? Unhappy with your physical health? Your relationships? Your finances? Your relationship with God? You can pray about it, be frustrated by it, or want something new to happen, but we love you enough to tell you that nothing changes until you make a move or a new choice.
Listen, we love you and want you to experience all this new life in Christ advertises. We want you to find health and experience the best life possible, and we know you want that, too. But there aren’t many people willing to make choices and live differently. If you want to experience your best life, you have choices to make to get there, but deep down, we know that, and typically, we know the choices we should be making. So, my advice for you today is this: make those lists and think through your life. If you want to see positive changes in your life and experience your best life possible, it’s time to move past knowing what you should do and make new choices, the choices God and everyone in your spiritual family are cheering you on to make in your life!
Deuteronomy 30:19 “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! 20 You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life.” NLT
You know, to live your best life, there are choices we need to make, but if we are honest, we know that. Maybe it’s time to slow down, think through what your choices are telling you about your life, and then choose to love God first, obey Him, and commit yourself firmly to him…as God’s Word says, this is the key to your life! So let me ask you again:
Has your faith disrupted your choices?