You can be a good person without Jesus!

Two young men were talking about a mutual professor they had in college.  One young man stated that the professor was on of his favorite professors while he was in college.  Later on the other young man saw that particular professor and it sparked the conversation about the other young man.  "...he said that you were his favorite professor."  The Professor looked at the young man and said "He certainly came to class and listened to my lectures, but he was not a student of mine."

Yesterday I preached a sermon called "What difference does it make to follow Jesus?" I know that we live in a world that is not black and white, and people do believe that they do not need God to be a good person. I started my sermon prep with asking that same question to the people who follow me on Facebook.  I have friends on there from a variety of life experiences, life styles, cultures, and beliefs. I felt it was an appropriate place to ask the question and get honest answers to why people do or don't follow Jesus.   I wasn't wrong and my friends from all over shared why they do or don't follow Jesus very openly and honestly.  Now I wanted both sides to go deeper than, "I don't believe in God because the church is full of hypocrites" or "I follow God because he makes me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside." I believe it is important to go deeper than those 2 thoughts. I know people are turned off to God because of bad experiences with Pastors, with churches, and with Christians, and I know that God makes people feel good but there is much more to both sides.  That's what I wanted to dig into.

As I listen to those who told me why the don't see a need to follow Jesus, a common point came across.  They know they can be good moral people without God. Frankly they are NOT wrong, you can absolutely be a good moral person without God.  Knowing that many of the people I was in conversation with and have had conversations with over the years, don't believe in God period, I ask "If you don't believe in God, what do you believe in?" In various ways they all told me the same thing, "I believe in treating people the way I want to be treated."  To me that sounds like a great way to live no matter what you believe in.  See, the thing is, with or without God we believe that loving and taking care of people is one of the most important things we can do. As a matter of fact many people I have talked to have expressed a sentiment that they agree with what Jesus taught regarding the way to treat and care for people. If Christians would live by those teachings they might be open to a conversation about God.  I think we have a lot to learn from people who don't believe in God, yet they approach life living by the "Golden Rule'. They have the ability to see people for who they are and where they are, not who society says they are or even who other people have said they are.    That is exactly how Jesus approached people, for who they were, not who others said they were.  Unfortunately too often Christian's look at people for who we think they should be.   Christians tend to look at those who don't believe exactly the way they do, with or without God, as people who are lost, wrong, or "bad" people.  THAT IS NOT OK.  Again I will say, we as Christians can learn from those who are not Christian about how to love people.

Now as I began to go through the stories about why people follow Jesus, I had many thoughts. The major thought I had stemmed from many conversations I have had over many years with people. Remembering conversations I have had with people in coffee shops, churches, airports, cars, Facebook, bars, and so on. When people find out that I am a Pastor, I get one of 2 responses "Really?" or "Oh, I am a Christian but..." The "I am a Christian but..." statement is usually followed with a very direct and blunt statement or one that comes out in stories about their actions. "I am a Christian but I still like to party and get drunk on the weekends. I still sleep around and don't see a problem in it. I still watch pornography. I still treat my employees like they are second class people.  I don't give back to my church financially because I don't like the Pastor. I don't give to my church in service because I don't have time for that.  I treat my spouse like their purpose is to serve me and me only.  My kids are to be seen and not heard. I am a Christian but I hate the gays.  I hate this person because they don't believe exactly the same way that I do.

See in Luke 14 Jesus tells us to count the cost of being his Disciple, with a very blunt and hard statement.

Luke 14:25-28A

25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus. Turning to them, he said,26 “Whoever comes to me and doesn’t hate father and mother, spouse and children, and brothers and sisters—yes, even one’s own life—cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever doesn’t carry their own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

This is a very hard statement that we take too literally. I know I did the first few times I read it, I closed my Bible and walked away angry and confused. But I came back to it, because I wanted to know what Jesus meant there. To understand that we have to understand where Jesus was going when he said this. Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem with a crowd of people following him. Jesus knows he is literally on the road to his death, and he turns to these people following him and tells them to count the costs of being his Disciple. He is not telling them they have to hate all that is near and dear to them but to understand what following him means. It means that you will lose your life as you know it. He wants them to understand there is no greater love than what he will bear on the cross and are they willing to do the same. He then tells them to pick up their cross and follow him, meaning we die to our former life, we die to vices that separate us from God. We leave behind the parties, the sleeping around, the porn, the dehumanizing of other people, our selfish desires and we put loving people first. See the thing is Jesus is calling us to be Disciples not Christians. There is a difference, you can be a Christian and say "I am a Christian but..", but you can not say "I am a Disciple of Jesus but..." because being a Disciple means we leave all the buts behind and see people for who they are, not what we think they are. We treat people like we want to be treated. We Love God and we Love Others regardless of anything else. Being a Disciple means we don't just hear teachings of Jesus but we actually live them out. Jesus can be our favorite professor, like in the story I started with, but if we just attend the lectures and don't become his student (Disciple) what are we really doing?

Understanding the difference between being a Christian and a Disciple is what I saw in those shared their stories with me. Those who follow Jesus in this way shared stories that because they starting being a Disciple of Jesus they found "Change", "Hope" and "Purpose" for their lives. They found God calling them away from the things that pulled them away from God AND People. They found themselves moving away from selfish actions and reactions. The people around them recognized this change in them and began to ask questions, giving them an opportunity to share why they have changed. Being a Disciple of Jesus has brought them hope, hope in a world that seems hopeless at times. They have been able to look past the world and see where God is working in them and in the world to bring hope to the people around them. Finally and maybe the most consistent thing people told me was, Following Jesus has given me a purpose. Many shared with me a feelings of uselessness, loneliness, and suicide. Many shared with me that before they came to follow Jesus they felt worthless and didn't see a reason to be live anymore. But as they grew to know Jesus and follow him, they found purpose in their lives. They discovered how God is using them and where there purpose is in life.

When Jesus tells us to count the cost of following him he means it. He knows what it will cost us and we have to be sure we are willing to give it up. It will not be easy. Our old lives will try to creep back in. That is part of following Jesus. The thing we have to do as Disciples is know the world around us. Know that there are people out there that do not believe in God, and ARE great people doing good and helping those around them more than some people who call themselves Christians. Learn from these good people. As the church it is time to pick up our crosses, and go out into the world. Not to judge the world but to love the world. Know who you are, if you are reading this and you don't believe in God but you are living by the "Golden Rule" keep up the good work! If you are a "Christian but..." I would ask you again, "Why do you follow Jesus". If you are a Disciple of Jesus Christ pick up your cross and keep loving God and loving others.

 Matthew 16:24-26

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?[l] Is anything worth more than your soul?