Title Or Treasure?

In an amazing act of God, people who turn to Christ realize the objective lordship of Jesus and become a new creation, having a new heart, spirit, and desires (Ezekiel 36:26ff, 2 Corinthians 5:17). This new creation is not the end goal of a relationship with Christ; followers of Jesus are now ambassadors of Christ, spreading the good news of reconciliation to God through Jesus.

But is this "ministry of reconciliation" a reality in your life? Or does your Christianity end with yourself?

This identity of an ambassador of Christ seems foreign for many Americans who consider themselves Christians. The alarming reason for this issue is that many Americans have taken the treasure of Christianity and made it merely a title for themselves that has no effect in their lives. Earlier this year, Pastor David Platt wrote Follow Me to address this issue in the American church. He states,

Somewhere along the way, amid varying cultural tides and popular church trends, it seems that we have minimized Jesus' summons to total abandonment. Churches are filled with supposed Christians who seem content to have casual association with Christ while giving nominal adherence to Christianity. Scores of men, women, and children have been told that becoming a follower of Jesus simply involves acknowledging certain facts or saying certain words. But that is not true.

 If one is not biblically and personally following Jesus, the call to make disciples as Christ's ambassadors will appear burdensome. This is because the person is still holding on to lesser treasure. Conversion requires a person to abandon all earthly and unfulfilling treasure in order to fully embrace the Treasure of the person of Jesus. Disciple-making then becomes a source of joy. Platt writes, "There is an indescribable joy to be found, deep satisfaction to be felt, and an eternal purpose to be fulfilled in dying to ourselves and living for him."

A miracle (described in the first paragraph) must first occur for Jesus to be your treasure. Otherwise, Christianity is merely a title.

(Buy Platt's book Follow Me here; short video about the book here)

Ambassadors

In my last post, I concluded by saying that life is good because my life is wrapped up in my identity in Christ, a reality which perfectly introduces this post. I hope here to expound on the reality of a believer's identity as an ambassador of Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:14-21 provides an excellent description of this identity. Take some time to read the passage:

"14For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 16From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

Paul Tripp, author of Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands, says that "the job of an ambassador is to represent someone or something. Everything he does and says must intentionally represent a leader who is not physically present" (104). Christians are ambassadors, or representatives, of Christ. We have died to ourselves to live for Him who died for us (2 Cor. 5:14-15). This identity touches every aspect of a Christian's life; believers cannot choose to stop representing Christ. Even Jesus affirmed this reality in Matthew 5:14, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden." Tripp describes this reality as a lifestyle, not a part-time calling: "When an ambassador assumes his responsibilities, his life ceases to be his own. Everything he says and does has import because of the king he represents" (104).

Last year when I was finishing my term as volunteer staff at HDC, I began praying for a summer job. One night while praying, I suddenly became excited at the thought of being a missionary to my local McDonald's as a summer job. I can only explain that experience as a God-given desire to be an ambassador to a place in need of a representative of Christ. I continue to work for a McDonald's, and I still consider my workplace as my mission field. As Christians, our workplaces are not exempt from our identity as an ambassador.

Have you ever considered yourself an ambassador of Christ towards a fellow Christian? Tripp describes Christians as "people in need of change helping people in need of change." The Church is to build up and encourage fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. I need fellow believers to be ambassadors of Christ to me, and I need to be one to them as well. Not even our relationships with fellow believers are exempt from our identity as an ambassador. This identity is intended to be pervasive in a Christian's life.

Does this identity as an ambassador of Christ seem like a burden? Is this lifestyle not a reality in your life? People may struggle with this "ministry of reconciliation" due to another reality, which will be discussed in the next post.

Good Life

This is the first of several blog posts I intend to write before the coming semester begins. Since I have not written a blog post for some time, I hope to fill in some details on how life has been lately here in California.

I have now finished my first year at Eternity Bible College. This past school year was challenging, but extremely helpful. I gained a greater understanding of the redemptive story in the Bible, and I now have a greater appreciation of the Old Testament, which before seemed strange and irrelevant at points. I'm grateful for learning about Church history and different religions and worldviews. I'm also glad that my college does not function inside a Christian bubble, separated from the rest of the world. However, I acknowledge that more knowledge does not mean more wisdom, and that I cannot presume to be a know-it-all, because I am certainly not one after just one year at college.

To summarize how my life has been, I would have to say that life is good. When I tell people how I've been doing the past few months, I take a step back and see that life is good and that God has been working in me and through me. However, this summary does not mean that every day is easy and happy. The past few months seem like a roller coaster.

At times I am filled with an inexpressible joy from the knowledge of what God has done in me and that he is choosing to use me to spread the gospel message of his coming kingdom, which brings people out of darkness into light and heals brokenness.

At times I am crushed with the reality of brokenness in the world and deception of sin. I have been brought to tears praying for those in my life who don't have the love, joy, and peace from knowing God, and are in "the snare of the devil...being captured by him to do his will" (2 Tim. 2:26).

At times I am struck with the radical grace of God. Nothing I have ever done in my life has earned me this relationship with God. My relationship with God has always been unilateral, which amazes and humbles me. I follow a God of amazing grace and unfailing love.

At times I forget the simple truth that God is my treasure, and I go to other things (like news, technology, clothes, looks) to find satisfaction.

At times I am amazed at the beauty of the Church. When believers function as a body, Church is encouraging, life-giving, and awesome.

So my life has ups and downs. But by taking a bird's eye view of life, I can clearly see that God is in control, that he is growing me closer to himself, and that he is actively using me as an ambassador of Christ. My life is wrapped up in my identity in Christ, and because of that, life is good.

The Closed New Testament Canon

Greetings, readers! This is a research paper that I had to write for my one class at Eternity Bible College. In the paper, I discuss how the New Testament was formed and why no more Scripture can be added. Here are some of my thoughts having finished the paper:

Firstly, seeing the formation of the New Testament in the context of redemptive history was huge for me. God was clearly building up to the Messiah, Jesus. Revealing more Scripture after the apostolic writings would undermine the centrality of Christ in redemptive history.

Secondly, the truth that the Word became flesh struck me afresh (John 1:14). God has always desired to be in relationship with people. He entered into a covenant relationship with his chosen people in the Old Testament; and when they broke that covenant, he sends his Son. He sends his Word made flesh. The ultimate way that God communicated to mankind was to send his Word in human form, who then gave the apostles the authority to teach and write about Christ.

So with that said, here is the paper. I'm sure that it is not the best paper you'll ever read, but I hope it helps show the early church history of the formation of the New Testament and show why no more Scripture can be given.

The Closed New Testament Canon

My Jesus Story - A Video

One of my first posts was a telling of my Jesus story. The crazy thing about these stories is that they never get old; Revelation 12:11 shows that the accuser Satan will be silenced by the blood of Christ's sacrifice and the testimony of His followers. Stories have power and can change lives, and God has, through history, used the testimonies of Christians to draw others into a relationship with Christ.

With this in mind, I humbly present my Jesus story. Every Jesus story is a miracle which can only be explained by God's work in the lives of His followers. My hope is that this encourages and strengthens other brothers and sisters in Christ, and that God uses it to be a witness to those who don't know Christ.

This video is in a contest, which has been a great vehicle to spread this Jesus story. If you are encouraged by this video, click the "like" button on its YouTube site (you'll have to click the YouTube icon to view it on YouTube) and share it with your friends. Through this, others may be encouraged, and you could help me win a year's tuition at Eternity Bible College. The contest ends at the end of February, so use the pressure of the contest to further spread the story!