Face Value - Where Is My Journey Going?

God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.” [I Corinthians 1.30]

Here's the deal: Jesus.

Backing up, I love the wording in I Corinthians 1.18:

The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.

I am going to jump out of denominational thinking here for a moment and look at this for face value. Paul makes it sound like the events of salvation or rejection of Christ are ongoing series of decisions... a journey, if you will! Are we there? It doesn't sound that way, but our individual active journey speaks for itself as to our destination.

Now, I am going to further alienate myself from mainstream religious thinking. Why would any person who "professes" Christ not hunger for the Gospel message? "I've read the Bible" they say, but it remains merely another book on the shelf. Or, "I just can't get into it" is another phrase so-called Christians are often heard saying. Both of these declarations indirectly (howbeit clearly) state that the Bible holds no authority or sway over the life of the one who makes them. In other words, the message of the cross (the Bible) is nothing more than foolishness to them. No one would verbally admit this, but actions speak much louder than words.

Ouch.

Basically, what I am saying here indicts me more than anyone else. I have called myself a "Christian" since I was a child. I have been actively involved in "church" for the last thirty years. I faithfully served as a worship pastor for some seven years. I gave over six years of my life in foreign missions. But the message of the Gospel has has only recently (in the last four years) become an evident passion in my life. Only in these last four years have I come to understand, and literally hunger for, the power of God in the message of Christ AND BEGUN TO SEE A CORRELATING DIFFERENCE IN THE WAY I THINK AND LIVE.

All I am saying here is that it is important for us to drop denominational or theological security blankets and look at our lives and religion for face value. If someone has to ask you if you are a Christian, then, logically speaking, you are not. We must step up to the mirror and ask ourselves this question, "Where is my "journey" going?"

Father, help us to look at our lives for face value. Let passion for Your Word - the message of the cross - be evident in all of us. Let that passion naturally reach out to those around us - so much so that Your trust in its presence in our lives would cause You to bring people in need of Christ our way.