When your faith rests solely on Christ, you will make him known to others. You will not see this as a once in a while event but as the delight of your daily life.
A lot of tallies, polls, and percentages of “Christians” in the world today are skewed, and oxymoronic, due to the complete disconnect from God’s Word in the lives of those under review. They have likely never read the Scriptures, and are far less likely to stake their life and worldview on it.
It’s easy to fill out a questionnaire, answer some survey questions, and think a certain way about yourself, but what does your life prove? Much the same with church attendance, family heritage, baptism, giving, good deeds, a specific prayer “once upon a time,” and the likes. These things are not inherently meaningless, but they sure can be empty. Alternatively, they can be the most significant matters in all of life.
When someone truly trusts Christ, they want others to know the gospel as they have come to know it. It is because they have been brought to their knees by grace, not because they cracked any code in their own wisdom or strength. God in his kindness has showed them the futility of their ways, has brought healing in their distress, forgiveness of sin, comfort and rest and purpose the world could not offer.
The redeemed have come to know the love of God! They will be like the woman at the well who becomes an evangelist, or the demonized man who spreads the news of what the Lord has done for him, like a wildfire in a drought. His folks will undeniable hear about and see the evidence of the mercy of Christ. What has taken place is of a magnitude that the person cannot keep it to themselves.
The old life is gone and the new life has truly come; sanctification is the process where the young believer continues to grow and mature in holiness according to how God already sees them. Jesus prays to the Father, “sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” The Bible becomes more than a book-too-big, or a verse-a-day pill, or simply a morality-manual; it becomes your guide to glad-hearted, Christ-exalting life. Your eyes are opened to see that God has truly provided all that you need.
This is the reality of genuine, forgiven, sinners made saints. When someone who recognizes that justice means wrath, Hell, and death, then comes to hear of the goodness of God in the gospelāthat they are declared righteous all because of Jesusāyou cannot keep that person quiet. Every aspect of life will be altered and shaped by this truth of the cross, this regeneration which has taken place. The rescued will be renewed in mind by the Word and the direction change in their living is the proof. Christ makes clear that the fruit of the tree doesn’t lie about where it came from; so it is with a man’s heart and his ways.
Those who have received forgiveness of sin, true cleansing, and life eternal by no merit of their own, want to see that grace extend to friends and family, even strangers and enemies. This message must reach their neighbors and nation, and to all the nations on the earth, not just their tribe or party.
This is simply Christianity. This is not some extreme form of serious faith, this is simple faith, a faith lived. This is how the gospel message has spread from the time of Christ and his disciples, down through the generations, across continents and language groups, through every type of persecution, suffering, and trial.
The rescued sinner should immediately become a teller-to-others, knowing and growing in the content of the gospel and the reality of their own testimony. A true testimony to the work of the Holy Spirit will hold fast over time. If it washes away in a couple months or years, or becomes for you “old news,” what you had was an emotional or religious experience which lacked the soul-cleansing, life-changing new birth you need most. You are still dead.
Many who profess faith in Christ have nothing to show its validity by their living. That is not lackluster Christianity, it is a false profession; self-deception leads to the same destination as open rebellion. It’s possible to know a bit about Jesus and the Bible and not know Him as Savior and Lord.
You can be a lifelong church member still on the path to Hell. On judgement day there will be no confusion between the wheat and the tares. While sinners may stand in the congregation of the righteous here on earth, it will not be so in Heaven.
If Jesus be your Savior, the Spirit dwells in you, and you will serve the Lord. If your life is lived according to your own whims, patterns, and designs, this is a wakeup call that you are yet in need of Christ.
Jesus is the eternal Son, the dead-then-risen greatest sacrifice, the substitute, the atonement, the Savior and King you desperately need. Look to Christ today and confess your sins, repent of them and turn to the one true God. In his grace, he will take you as you are, where you are, and make you what he has called you to beāall for his glory and your good.
Your life was never meant to be your own. As you come to see the goodness and faithfulness of God, you will understand that you were made by him and for him. He alone saves and satisfies. You bear his image and you are called to live worthy of the gospel.
Let me know if you want to discuss! The Christian life is not a lonesome journey, though it often brings a lot of change at the onset as ties are broken with the world.
Part of Paul’s Great Commissioning is given here from Acts 26: “But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from your people and from the Gentilesāto whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”
Paul was a unique instrument in the hands of the Almighty, yet we are also saved to witness and to serve, and see people brought into the fold and growing among the sanctified, as God works through his church.
If these feel like fighting words to you in any way, go read the Word and see if they hold water. See how your affections have been leading, what your works reveal, where your hope truly rests. If not on Christ alone, day in and day out, turn today. I want you to know living-faith experientially, as you stand in the grace of God, because there’s nothing better.
#letmeintroduceyou
#JESUSisLORD
#LETMEINTRODUCEYOU 
Thank you so much Greg. This relates completely, with what we have read,
talked and learned in my short bible school.
So true what you say. Lets pray for a wake up in the body of Christ, in
our lives, and for the ones who never made a decision to follow Christ.
Stay blessed
Bettina
Hey Greg,
I feel personally attacked, which means this is probably exactly what I needed to hear haha. I had a few thoughts, and you said you were down to discuss, so I thought Iād get your opinionā¦
As you said, Jesus is very adamant about āleave everything and follow meā throughout the Gospels. But I feel like this command doesnāt seem quite as imperative throughout the rest of the Bible. 1st Thessalonians 4:11-12, 1 Timothy 2, Proverbs 31, 1 Peter 3 are a few of the verses that give a vibe of ālive a normal, selfless life and other people will see your example and be directed to God.ā
This is kind of the path that Iāve chosenāI married a Christian, we pray and teach our kids about God, we help those in need, etc. Weāve agreed that if we both feel a sudden and undeniable call to ministry, we will follow it, but only if itās incredibly obvious to both of us. I view my lifeās purpose to be raising my children in the Faith, and serving the people I love. But I donāt have an incredible transformative testimony (I was raised Christian), and I canāt remember the last time I shared my faith with anyone, because my life is kind of boring and I donāt even have any non-Christian friends.
Iāve heard it explained that the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12) implies that some people are called to ministry and evangelism, while some people are called to quiet faithfulness. Iāve also thought from the framework of the parable of the talentsāthe simple and easy path (to raise a family in Godās word) is kind of like investing your talents in the bank where it will accrue interestānot as good as the guys who doubled their money, but still āacceptableā in Godās eyes and better than burying what God gave you. But at the same time, I donāt want to be ālukewarmā or be the seed that has no root.
So I guess Iād be curious about your thoughts. Is it just that I donāt fully understand the Gospel, or else Iād be shouting it from the rooftops? I know weāre promised āa hundred times as muchā if we leave houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or spouse or children or fields for His sake, but I donāt think God actually wants me to divorce my husband and leave my kids to go be a missionary. Iāll admit it sometimes feels hard to keep my faith from dying, especially when times are good and I feel I donāt āneedā God daily like when Iām struggling. But I donāt really know what to do other than read the Bible more often and try to remember to pray without ceasing.
Anyways, sorry for the long email, and if you made it this far, let me know your thoughts. Iād also be curious for Kilbyās takeāI think itās a weird dynamic as a woman, because weāre supposed to submit to our husbands and let them lead, but not all men are really eager to take up the mantle of Christian leadership or make drastic life changes.
Hope you guys are doing well! Iām continuing to pray for you guys regularly, especially with the new baby on the way!
Hey Greg,
I feel personally attacked, which means this is probably exactly what I needed to hear haha. I had a few thoughts, and you said you were down to discuss, so I thought Iād get your opinionā¦
Sarah! Hope you and family are well. I have only good and glad memories from our time in training and work in that season, and gratitude for your support of me, my family, and ministry labors. It genuinely means the world that you would take the minutes to read and the effort to thoughtfully engage. It truly brings me joy. I never want it to be that I’m one who is always aggressive with my writing or thinking, but also never want to timidly avoid hard topics.Ā Also, Kilby told me to apologize for how much I wrote instead of being better at getting to the point, but I wanted to be as thorough as I could.
While I don’t think that the weight of this post would land on someone like you (that’s between you and the Lord and I could not know, ultimately) I do trust that the Lord can use an article like this once in a while to show us blind spots or areas that we need to press into. He has done that for me, especially through the writings of Francis and Edith Schaeffer. You may also enjoy them! Their testimony is incredible. They have both pierced and comforted me, and become lifelong friends though I never met them, through their lives and writings. The biggest thing FS called out in my life was the separation of what he calls “upper story” and “lower story” and how I kept my faith in its own category and space and did not see all of life as it is, through the lens of truth. I was living a compartmentalized life, but we are called to faithful obedience in every aspect of our living.
As you said, Jesus is very adamant about āleave everything and follow meā throughout the Gospels. But I feel like this command doesnāt seem quite as imperative throughout the rest of the Bible. 1st Thessalonians 4:11-12, 1 Timothy 2, Proverbs 31, 1 Peter 3 are a few of the verses that give a vibe of ālive a normal, selfless life and other people will see your example and be directed to God.ā
Jesus calls us to follow him, indeed. We have been reading the Jesus Storybook Bible with Alma and this weekend we read āLetās Goā as Jesus called the disciples to follow him. And yet, you and I are not in the physical presence of Christ, following him around Galilee. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, for all who believe. We are yet in the world, but not to be āof it.ā Materialism and humanism and worldly concepts of wisdom and the selfish-flesh are not our masters any longer. We know the ongoing battle Paul describes in Romans, that the Spirit and the flesh do not stop warring in this fallen world. We are travelers in this world, here to live a life worthy of the gospel, until we go home to be with our God and King. This should be evidenced by our living and something we are unafraid to speak about, because we have not been given a spirit of timidity and we are not ashamed of the gospel of our salvation (2 Timothy 1:12-14, 2 Timothy 1:7, Romans 1:16, 1 Peter 3:15-17, Philippians 1:19-22&27-30, Galatians 5:16-26, James 4:17).Ā
We have to think about doing the greatest or truest good to the glory of God.
There is nothing greater that we can do than to seek the salvation of the lost because the Bible teaches sin and Satan and hell and death are reality, and for those who do not turn to Christ, their suffering will be immense and ongoing. We do not want people to reject redemption, but even more, we want them to hear the offer of God’s gospel. I love the Scriptures you shared. We have just been walking through Thessalonians and I want that sort of humility and peace in the verses you mentioned. They are in the context of how we ought to live with other believers, the brothers, that we would maintain our witness before outsiders. Yet Paul is writing these verses, those to Timothy also, emphasizes that the church must maintain the communal witnessāFrancis Schaeffer talked about this sort of discussion saying the watching world should see among the true church, not something perfected here and now, but displaying real, visible, substantial healing in the midst of all the brokenness. But each of us, and the church as a whole, have a responsibility to declare the gospel. When we live as a witness it can draw attention, but we must not leave it to the onlooker to assume or discern from a standpoint of their own worldly ideas, or to think of us as a decent human, but that they would know Christ as the reason why we are the way we are. We want to show them the way to Jesus, that Jesus is the cause of us being different, and give a strong and sound and compassionate call that they look to him for he alone is able to save.
This is kind of the path that Iāve chosenāI married a Christian, we pray and teach our kids about God, we help those in need, etc. Weāve agreed that if weĀ bothĀ feel a sudden and undeniable call to ministry, we will follow it, but only if itās incredibly obvious to both of us. I view my lifeās purpose to be raising my children in the Faith, and serving the people I love. But I donāt have an incredible transformative testimony (I was raised Christian)ā¦
As Christians, in the world but not of it, we do not need to try to be weird (though naturally by the worldās standards, we will be). Living an ordinary life of faithfulness is the most beautiful thing in the world, and no small thing. Chesterton is quoted as saying: āThe most extraordinary thing in the world is an ordinary man and an ordinary woman and their ordinary children,ā and he is speaking of the Christian family. One of our primary prayers as a family is that in East Africa (and when we are stateside, or wherever we go) we would be a living, cheerful, visible witness to those around us, of Christ and his gospel. Praise be to God for the life the Lord has given you. Totally with you on the undeniable, unified calling (though for some couples it comes to one person and the other warms to it later, if that is the direction the Lord ever leads) regarding a ministry vocation or a change of professionāand that is not what I was trying to imply is necessary for all Christians, itās not.Ā
At the same time, I would say that all those saved, all those who have trusted on Christ for forgiveness of sin and now walk in his righteousness by his Spirit for his glory, have a calling in this life. In fact, all of life is your ministry and purpose, to the glory of God. From the smallest acts of eating and drinking, to washing dishes and clothing, comforting and disciplining and teaching the children, learning a trade or skill and earning an income, interacting with neighbors, praying for strangers or coworkers, is all for Godās glory. Our thought-life and time-use to the glory of God. I am so thankful to hear that you guys pray and teach your children of the Lord and help others! I think you have said well that life purpose as raising children in the faith and caring for them with the love of Christ is huge. Serving the people you love is so significant, of utmost importance.Ā
What I would seek to add here, is not in any way to detract from what you have shared and are doing (the same with the original post). We pray for Alma to have a āboringā testimony. That in our seeking to bring her up in the Lord, with a Biblical worldview no matter the worldās opposition, we would see her put her hope and trust in Christ alone, her faith based in the understanding that Christianity is reality, is truth, as the Holy Spirit works in her heart and opens her blind spiritual eyes before she goes wayward in intentional rebellion. We are raising a born-sinner and directing her to the cross every day, while showing her the love, compassion, and discipline of our Savior, because we want her greatest good. I was raised in a traditional, conservative, church-attending familyā¦but not a Christ-exalting, Biblically-guided, gospel-driven family. I want the latter for my family. I pray Alma will be raised to understand sin, and salvation by the grace of God. I know we will do all in our ability to show her the reality of Christ and the reasonability and wisdom there is in living for his glory and not ourselves.
āā¦and I canāt remember the last time I shared my faith with anyone, because my life is kind of boring and I donāt even have any non-Christian friends.ā
This was the primary point you shared I would want to spur you on in. Make it your aim to share with someone this week or month, in some capacity. Pray for unbelievers around you, but also look at how the conversations you have at the grocery store or gas station or workplace, or while walking in the neighborhood could point to Christ. Spurgeon was said to make a beeline to the cross in all his sermons. I am not perfect at itā¦honestly I am not even good at it, but I am trying to grow. If I am talking with a backpacker, I am looking at how I can share a story that gets to testimony or gospel. Same with the plumber or the taxi driver or the attendant or teller and so on. Even the officer writing me a ticket, the Jehovah Witness coming to our door, the family members I deeply struggle with, the old friend living in darkness of loving sin.Ā
I would say I think your life is incredibly meaningful and it sounds like you are deeply intentional on the home-front which is to be the priority. There is a book titled The Household and the War for the Cosmos I still want to read as the title alone has impacted me greatly. I am so thankful reading all you wrote; it sounds like you are living as a family committed to Christ. I would say, that just as the local church should be attentive inward and outward, in discipleship among believers and intentional outreach among the lost, so also this should be the case for our families and for us as individuals. So, maybe the Lord could use this post and what I have responded with here to spur you on to pray for unbelieving friends to come into your life, or for God to bring you into the lives of unbelievers. That God would give you boldness and courage and wisdom to share your faith in words, along with the way you are living, because people already know that Sarah is different and kind and good, but they need to hear the content of the gospel as the driving motive. They need to be directed to Christ as the source of your life and being and purpose, and ultimately their own.Ā
This is not inherently confrontational in presentation, but in our world which is averse to talking about things or with people where we do not agree right from the outset, it requires some creativity. The gospel does confront our sin. We will find ways to point to the greatest shaping influence in our lives; it will be unavoidable. Like when someone has taken an amazing photo they want to share or a great joke they cannot keep to themselves. Like a person committed to workout routines or community that becomes a part of their identity. When Christ is our identity, we will seek those ways to reach out to those who do not know them; not that praying for them is not already a good thing, but itās not the only thing, and it is not and/or. Kilby mentioned, when someone becomes a mother, that will be unavoidably made known. And it is a part of their identity in everything moving forward. So also in Christ.
Iāve heard it explained that the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12) implies that some people are called to ministry and evangelism, while some people are called to quiet faithfulness. Iāve also thought from the framework of the parable of the talentsāthe simple and easy path (to raise a family in Godās word) is kind of like investing your talents in the bank where it will accrue interestānot as good as the guys who doubled their money, but still āacceptableā in Godās eyes and better than burying what God gave you. But at the same time, I donāt want to be ālukewarmā or be the seed that has no root.Ā
Certainly there are those called to be pastors or missionaries or evangelists, but we are all to be witnesses and messengers or ambassadors, simply as disciples of Christ. 2 Peter 1 makes clear that our faith should sprout, should grow. James makes clear that our faith produces works, though Romans clarifies that faith alone saves. As far as what is acceptable to God, it is nothing of our own works ānothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling.āĀ
We were made for the glory of God, but sin cut off mankind from right relation to God. Man had no ability to claw or climb his way up to God, for we are shattered by the sin of Adam, and our own sin. Christ came incarnate as the God-man, to seek and save the lost. When we are saved, redeemed, by not hoping in ourselves or thinking we can be good enough, the grace of God changes everything. We do not try to give God a decent amount of ourselves, our finance, our thought or time, but we are compelled to magnify his glory in all of life. I think God has given us good guidance in 2 Peter 1. We see we need to confirm our calling and election, make sure we are not losing sight of the cross, and remembering that we have received the truth and we ought to live by it. We must avoid false teaching and wrong understanding of life in total.Ā
Raising a family in true faith is no simple task best I can tell. I think Satan violently pushes against families that pray together, look to the Scriptures as truth together, fellowship and serve and involve themselves with the local church together, and reach out to the lost together. Or, he seeks to distract us from our purpose and mission in life (Screwtape Letters by Lewis is so good on this).Ā Keep running well in that!
So I guess Iād be curious about your thoughts. Is it just that I donātĀ fullyĀ understand the Gospel, or else Iād be shouting it from the rooftops? I know weāre promised āa hundred times as muchā if we leave houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or spouse or children or fields for His sake, but I donāt think God actually wants me to divorce my husband and leave my kids to go be a missionary. Iāll admit it sometimes feels hard to keep my faith from dying, especially when times are good and I feel I donāt āneedā God daily like when Iām struggling. But I donāt really know what to do other than read the Bible more often and try to remember to pray without ceasing.
I would say the infinite God cannot be grasped by any of our finite minds, but he has given us all we need for life and godliness, and sanctification is the process of growing up in faith, in step with the Spirit, according to the Word. As I sit in Bible classes here in Kampala praying for my body to recover from last years challenges, and awaiting the birth of our second child, Iām amazed by all the things I am learning that I have never given thought to, gaps that are being filled. Thatās sanctification and discipleship! We read the Scriptures and seek to internalize the revealed teachings of our Lord, and live by them in every aspect of life. Thatās how God is growing us to maturity as Paul desires of the Colossians and as Christ desires of all of us. This is a lifelong journey.
God definitely does not want you to divorce your husband or leave your kids. He has you there for them, and them there for you. God hates divorce and loves marriage, as he is the author and perfecter of our faith and the author of marriage as the greatest picture of gospel love in human relationship. At the same time, by the way your family lives distinctly for the glory of the Triune God, you show yourselves to be in the world and not of it. You are being renewed in mind and growing as witnesses (perhaps even through this back and forth convo), living for the one who is worthy and not being conformed to the patterns of this world (which is a battle).Ā
God will use you guys to disciple others, to share the gospel with unbelieving neighbors, new friends, and even strangers. God will use you guys to participate and serve in the local church. Means of grace such as prayer and Bible reading and church involvement (beyond attendance on Sunday mornings) as with a body, a family, will feed your faith. Meditating on what was needed for your salvation and fulfilled in Christ. Asking others to pray (as me and Kilby will!), and desiring to discern the Lordās will for all of life be effective.Ā
The Lord will hold you fast. The good news is that God will not let his children be lost, he will not lose hold of you. āHe will hold me fastā is a song we love by The Gettysā¦them, CityAlight, and Matt Papa are folks who encourage us deeply with their sincere and truth-saturated lyrics. āLord I Need Youā reminds us of our inability to save or sustain ourselves. He is the one who saves us and keeps us. We need our Good Shepherd every moment. Good news: he will not let go of those who are his (John 10:27-30).
As born again children of God Almighty, itās right for us to ask questions introspectively, to take evaluationā¦am I growing? How am I growing? Have I grown cold or stagnant? God, will you reveal to me blind spots in my understanding, in your kindness? What have I missed? Do I have mentors in the faith? Titus 2:3-5āGod who can I be discipling, and who can be discipling me? I am encouraging others in their faith? Am I searching out friends who donāt know Christ that I can care for and share with? How do I help my children understand the gospel with greater clarity day in and day out, as I grow in the same?
Anyways, sorry for the long email, and if you made it this far, let me know your thoughts.Ā
Definitely made it this far. Let me know any back and forth on this, ideas or questions or pushback, and the same with any future posts you may take the time to read. I hope you know we truly appreciate your correspondence.Ā Itās what we hope any writings or story telling would lead to.
Iād also be curious for Kilbyās takeāI think itās a weird dynamic as a woman, because weāre supposed to submit to our husbands and let them lead, but not all men are really eager to take up the mantle of Christian leadership or make drastic life changes.
Kilby added that while there are particular giftings, every Christian should be evangelistic in the way we live. Just as some folks are extraordinarily gifted with hospitality, yet every Christian should seek to show hospitality, especially among the household of faith and also with outsiders. In this way, there are things we are naturally gifted with individually, and we should exercise those things. We should also press into the aspects of Godās calling on all his people that come less naturally.
On leadership in the home, the best thing a faithful wife can do is to pray and gently spur on her husband, invite that spiritual guidance for the family. Praying for faithful men as friends and mentors is a strong prayer. Beeke is a writer we appreciate. I just read a tiny pamphlet called Lead Your Family he put out, and Iām currently reading The Redeemed Man, which are both resources to help Christian man follow what the Lord intends for them. Itās not new information, but it sure is a strong reminder of truth I could brush under the rug, whether intentionally, without much thought, or from laziness. I would say drastic is not what we need to be after, and I am sorry if I did not make that clear in the article initially which was to serve as a bit of a wakeup call, but that there should be distinct, ongoing growth and change which is led by the revealed Word, and touches all of life. Reformation Heritage Books has some great reading materials and thatās where I got those Beeke books from. Would be glad to send a copy.
Hope you guys are doing well! Iām continuing to pray for you guys regularly, especially with the new baby on the way!
Romans 16:25-27 I pray your family and our family would grow in faithful obedience to our God and Savior who is ever faithful. Thankyou for praying for us, and for loving Christ and your family well. He will keep leading us all.Ā Apologies if you get more than you bargained for but I wanted to lay out what I could. Also, apologies if you got less than you were looking for in terms of any clarification. Let me know, and I will do my best on any of these points or others.
In Christ,
GregĀ
That was beautifully written. Something to share.
Kim