Confession vs. Conduct

Within the America culture, it has become more and more commonplace for one's religious identity to have very little to do with their lifestyle. There are many people who like the idea of Jesus, and so they give verbal assent to Him as the Son of God. They think (though they probably would not say it this way) that He is a nice guy or a “cool dude” and want to be on His team. But, within a postmodern culture, there is a pervasive mindset that questioning authority and tradition is not only the norm, but a necessity. Within this way of thinking, it is assumed that, given enough thought and analysis, one can come up with a better (more progressive) way of doing things than that which has already been established as the norm by the existing "authority". So, people "become" Christians, but already have the mindset that they can find the answers to their questions on their own. It is expected of them (by culture) to establish their own truth and chart their own course.

This is where the principles of James 1:14 come into play. James says that "each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed." If I'm wired to question authority, then whatever "truth" I find will likely conform to my desires. In other words, the life force of "relative truth" is the whim/desire of man. Further, if I think this "Christian thing" is something I've got to figure out on my own, rather than something I've got to submit to, then my idea of "Christianity" is really appealing to my desire for self-glorification; if I can figure it out on my own, then what glory does God get, or even deserve?

At this point, Christianity has become humanism, which is essentially the idea that people can save themselves. So, the way we keep Jesus in the mix of our thinking is to say that we can become like Him if we study more about sociology, psychology, human behavior, etc. We begin to equate secular pursuits of human transformation with the way that God transforms people through Christ. This "Christianity" becomes disconnected from the authority of Christ (Matt. 28:18; 2 Cor. 10:5) and the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:18-31). It is now a "Christianity" that runs on the fuel of man's authority and man's wisdom.

After Jesus declared His authority, He commanded, "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you" (Matt. 28:20). Paul echoes this sentiment when speaks of "bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5). A verbal confession of the Lordship of Christ means nothing without a mental assent to His authority that is manifested in submissive obedience. Every action cannot be brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, if every thought has NOT already been brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. There's no repentance, if I continue to do things my way, on my own terms. It may be "in the name of Jesus," but it may still be MY way.

-Cary Gillis D.Min.

August 21, 2022