I was only fourteen when the fascination started. He was
the all-powerful King and I was the awkward youth. He could
heal the sick, raise the dead, and shut the mouths of the
trickiest lawyers. I was an unathletic teenager, not particularly
popular or clever, and couldn’t do much of anything
special. No matter what they did to Him, He always won.
In fact, when they killed Him, He even rose from the dead.
As for me, I always lost the argument, or the fight, and
felt stupid for letting myself get drawn into the conflict.
If someone had asked me the question, “Do you know
Jesus?” — and lots of people did — I would have
said yes. I had heard about Him ever since I was a little
child praying, “God-is-great-God-is-good-let-us-thank-Him-for-our-food-in-Jesus’-name-amen.”
After all, what more could there be to knowing Him besides
hearing all the Bible stories and believing that He died
for our sins?
When I was asked who my heroes were, I put Jesus at the
top of the list. I was certainly not ashamed of Him and
often made decisions by asking myself, “What would
Jesus do?” many years before it became a popular catchphrase.
I was as good a Christian as most people I knew, and a better
one than some. I sincerely wanted to be like Jesus. Yet,
according to the Bible, I was a liar.
Of course, I didn’t know I was a liar. I didn’t
even know what the Bible said about it. I had other things
to think about, like where I was going to go to college,
and what kind of career I was going to pursue. But whatever
I wound up doing, I had no doubt that I would do it as a
Christian. My youthful fascination with the Lord would never
leave me.
And it never did. It got submerged under a lot of other
concerns, though, and it was years before it resurfaced.
But then, due to some circumstances in my life, I started
reading the Word like I never had before, deeply desiring
to know what God wanted me to do with my life. It happened
to be the gospel of Luke that I was reading, and what I
saw there shocked me. I guess I had read right over a lot
of the things Jesus said, without really thinking about
them before.
“Woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your
comfort in full. Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you
shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall
mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you,
for in the same way their fathers used to treat the false
prophets.”
That was what He said in Luke 6:24-26,
and it seemed as if He were talking about my Christian experience.
Financial success had always been exalted, and popularity,
because as a rich or famous person I could “be used
by the Lord.” But never had I been called on to do
anything or say anything that would result in the sacrifice
of my creature comforts or risk the disapproval of men.
And never had I been warned that the comfort I had in my
affluent life was all the comfort I would get for all eternity.
As I read on, I saw other disturbing words, like, “Why
do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do
what I say?” That
was
Luke
6:46,
and
it
was
followed
by
the
parable
of
the
man
who
built
his
house
on
the
ground
without
a
foundation.
That
parable
predicted
ruin
for
me
if
I
did
not
do
what
Jesus
said.
So
where
did
I
stand?
Was
I
doing
what
He
said?
I
suspected
that
I
was
lacking
in
that
department,
especially
when
I
got
to
Luke
12:33:
“Sell
your
possessions
and
give
to
charity,
make
yourselves
purses
that
do
not
wear
out,
an
unfailing
treasure
in
heaven,
where
no
thief
comes
near
nor
moth
destroys.
For
where
your
treasure
is,
there
will
your
heart
be
also.”
Before
that
moment,
I
had
never
realized
how
radical
the
demands
were
that
Jesus
made
on
His
followers.
Of
course,
I
had
heard
since
I
was
a
child
that
the
apostles
left
their
nets
behind
to
follow
Him,
but
the
storyteller
always
made
it
seem
like
the
kind
of
thing
only
apostles
were
supposed
to
do.
In
Luke
12,
though,
Jesus
seemed
to
be
talking
to
everyone,
including
me.
So
when
I
reached
chapter
14,
the
effect
was
stunning:
“If
anyone
comes
to
Me,”
Jesus
was
saying, “and
does
not
hate
his
own
father
and
mother
and
wife
and
children
and
brothers
and
sisters,
yes,
and
even
his
own
life,
he
cannot
be
My
disciple.
Whoever
does
not
carry
his
own
cross
and
come
after
Me
cannot
be
My
disciple?
So
therefore,
no
one
of
you
can
be
My
disciple
who
does
not
give
up
all
his
own
possessions.” (Luke
14:26,27,33)
It was pretty clear. I hadn’t become His disciple.
I wasn’t obeying His commands. I didn’t even
know what He meant by some of the things He said, but I
knew that what He was talking about and what I was doing
were two different things. What’s more, nobody I knew
was doing the things He was talking about, either.
I was fascinated by Him, though, and I longed to know what
He wanted of me. I was ready to do it, if I only knew how.
I can’t imagine going on for years with that longing
and not being able to fulfill it. Of course, I realize that
many people have probably experienced such frustration,
maybe even some of you who are reading this article. But
what happened to me was that I met a group of people who
were living just like the early disciples and found out
how the Master’s words could actually be obeyed.
Other articles in this paper talk more about how our Master’s
words are practically applied in the daily life of a disciple.
Please read them. But what I want to share with you was
what I learned about His commands and what they had to do
with my salvation. You may remember me saying that, according
to the Bible, I was a liar. Well, that’s what is written
in 1 John 2:4:
“He who says, ‘I know Him,’
and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth
is not in him.”
Whenever I said, “Yes, I know
Jesus,” it wasn’t true, because I didn’t
even do what He said.
I realize that it might seem to some that I’m saying
you have to earn your salvation by perfectly obeying everything
Jesus commanded, which I’m not, but let’s be
honest: 1 John 2:4 is the Word of God. It’s not going
to go away. No matter how much we rationalize, it still
says what it says. Only those who obey Him can truthfully
say they know Him. And, according to Acts 5:32, God gives
the Holy Spirit only to those who obey Him. So how could
anyone know that he had been saved — had passed out of
death and into life — if he wasn’t obeying the commands
of the Savior?
A lot of people say they know Him. I said I did. But I came
to the place where I had to face reality. I didn’t
know Him. I didn’t know that I had passed out of death
and into life. How could I? 1 John
3:14 says that “we know that we have passed out of
death into life because we love the brethren.” And
verse 16 defines love by saying, “We know love by
this, that He laid down His life for us?” So I could
only really know that I had been saved if I laid down my
life for the brethren. I had to face the fact that my life
was mostly centered around myself. I didn’t lay down
my life for anyone.
Now, we could quibble about words. I’ve talked to
people who do. They say, almost in exasperation, “Well
then, nobody who is still alive could possibly be sure of
salvation, not until they died on the cross for somebody
else, just like Jesus did.” But really, our Master’s
death on the cross was only the culmination of Him daily
laying down His life. Everything He did was for our sake.
And that’s what He calls His followers to do — live
entirely for others.
If somebody wants to argue about it, they can, but I didn’t
argue. I knew that I was lacking the definitive fruit of
a disciple. I didn’t obey, and I didn’t love
— not any more than any unsaved human being might do. I
would be kind to people from time to time, letting people
in line in front of me at the checkout if they only had
one item and I had a whole basket full, and so on. But to
live my whole life for others? How could I even do it? Become
a medical missionary for the rest of my life? Maybe. But
somehow, the original disciples found a way to love without
traveling to Africa with a suitcase full of antibiotics.
The Master commanded them to “love one another, just
as I have loved you,” in John 13:34 and 15:12. He
wouldn’t have said that if there wasn’t some
way to do it.
It may be perfectly obvious to some people that the way
it all works is to dwell together in community like the
first disciples did. That way, you can “serve Him
where He is” as He mentioned in John 12:26. Your brothers
and sisters are always around, so you can always love them.
You can always drop what you had planned and serve someone
else. You can give your time, your energy, your resources,
and so on, to benefit “the brethren.” But it
wasn’t obvious to me. All I knew was that I was completely
enthralled by the Son of God. I wanted to know Him. I wanted
to belong to Him, heart and soul. And He said I had to deny
myself. He said I had to hate anything that stood between
me and Him. He said I had to carry my cross, and I really
had no idea what that meant, but it didn’t sound like
something I would naturally like doing.
Yet, still I wanted Him. The more I knew of what He required,
the more I said in my heart, “Yes!” It seemed
like I was in love with Him, but the true test would be
whether I would actually do what He said. “If you
love Me, you will keep My commandments,” He told us
in John 14:15, and in verse 21, He said it again, “He
who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves
Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and
I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him.”
I had His commands right there in my New Testament, but
could He love me and reveal Himself to me, the way He was
speaking of there?
So what it comes right down to is this: the greatest man
who ever walked on earth, the very incarnation of the Creator,
has spoken. The Savior of mankind, who loved us without
reserve, all the way to the end, has made things very clear.
He is so magnificent that we can truly say, “To know
Him is to love Him.” But there is no true knowledge
or real love of Him that does not produce obedience to His
commands.
I guess that’s why, when I finally found a people
doing what He said, I jumped at the chance to follow Him
— not because the Bible said so, but because, to me, He
was worth it. I wish everyone had that same fascination.
Maybe if you read this and realize there is really a place
on the earth where He is being obeyed, you will be encouraged
and will abandon all for His sake. If you do, I’m
sure you will never regret it. I know I haven’t.
After all, what else could Ephesians 2:8-10 and 4:1-3
mean, other than deeds of love done in a life together?
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