Time to Live Differently (Jan. 2006)

“Jesus is calling people to live differently.” - Phillips
This statement needs to be shouted from the rooftops in Southern Illinois. I recently encouraged a group of students at our church to right this down and keep it somewhere they would be able to see it everyday. Why? Because Jesus is calling people, even them, to live differently. Even more so, Jesus demands that people live differently. See, we have this screwed up mindset that our lives are all about us: what I want, what I need, what I deserve. This may be true for society as a whole, but should never be for the Christian. Our constitution lines out a lot of these things for us. The sad part is, Christians are worshiping the constitution as their last line of instruction for living, quoting right and privilege, instead of the Word of God.

Jesus said in Luke 9:23-24, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it,but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” Christ demands that if we are going to follow him, we have to deny ourselves and take up our cross. There are two things at work here. The first is self-denial. When we come to Christ we have to deny ourselves. What’s involved in self-denial? You lose your rights, you lose your desires, and you lose your life. Paul says in Galatians, “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Self-denial means that you willingly give up what “rightfully” belongs to you because you owe your life to Christ and gladly give it up to Him.

The second thing at work here is taking up a cross. Thec ross of today has become nothing more than a trinket of fashion that anybody and everybody wears to accessorize or add “bling” to their wardrobe. But as A.W. Tozer put it, the cross “is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human being. The cross made no compromise, modified nothing, spared nothing; it slew all of the man,completely and for good.” Paul says again in Galatians, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I that live.” Coming to Christ is a death of the old self and a new life with Christ in control.

So why do we have so many Christians walking around in the same sort of life that is described in the Bible as lost? The answer is clear and simple. These people are not Christians. They are not born again, repented, dead to sin, living in righteousness, obedient, saved people. These people have never tasted the wrath of the cross. Our popular salvation messages of the day often neglect death, declaring“pray this prayer” or “accepting” Jesus as the only necessary function for Christendom. They never tell these ignorant souls that without being born again, they will never see the kingdom of Heaven. (John 3:3, the words of Christ himself)

And what will being born again cause? It will cause a person to live a new life. A new life means living differently. Jesus not only demands it, he actually gives us the ability to do it. So, are you living differently? Or are you just another “Myspacer” with your site full of trash, cussing, sexual references and things that linger of lost life? Are you living differently or are you just another average teenager or young adult walking through life chasing your own desires? After reading this you have no excuse.