Ryan Sim - June 25, 2015

Day 38 – Following Jesus Starts Where You Are

Where on the graph do you see yourself - on the seeker-side or on the follower side? In which direction on the graph are you going?

From Series: "Christianity 101"

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Well, I am now going to share with you a very sophisticated theological tool……It has taken biblical scholars decades to perfect this tool…So I am going to draw a straight line and show what the Christian faith is all about from OUR point of view.  So here we have the starting point (no relationship with God) – and here the end point (perfect intimacy with God).

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At one end is 0 – a life far from God, like the prodigal son went far from his father.  No one is actually a zero, everyone has an opportunity to turn around, no one is too far.

The other end is 100% – enjoying perfect intimacy with God like Jesus always enjoyed.  No one we know is really there either…not in this world anyway.

So all of us are somewhere in the middle here.

But if you were say here (~10) you would probably be wrestling with questions like – is there a God?

If you were here (~30) – If I wanted to find out what God is like where would I start ?

If you were here (~40) you could be thinking, I wonder if God is personal or just some cosmic force and where does Jesus fit into all of this…and it goes along.

But lets take for the sake of conversation mid point (50) —someone who is at here is at the point of commitment.  Of saying, okay, I don’t understand everything about the Christian faith, got lots of questions still, but what I do understand is this—God came to earth in the person of Jesus in order that my sins could be forgiven and I can now live in a relationship with God, a relationship by the way, that will last for eternity.  I don’t understand it all, but I’ve heard enough to understand who God is  and to understand better who I am and I am at a point in my life where I am prepared to be identified as a follower of Jesus.

Now anyone from on this side of the graph we would call a seeker—and that is a very good thing to be.  A seeker is a person who is still asking which direction do I want to go in life, where do I go to find the answers ?  Anybody on this side is a disciple, good bible word which means anyone who is trying to follow Jesus.  A disciple is not someone who is perfect, I am proof of that!  Rather a disciple is someone who knows what direction they are going in life and where to go for answers.   This midpoint is where someone asks for baptism, or some other way to publicly say I am trying to follow Jesus.

 

Question: Where on the graph do you see yourself – on the seeker-side or on the follower side? In which direction on the graph are you going?