Thursday, July 12, 2007
CHURCHIANITY -- NOT!
It always amazes me when I encounter churchgoing people who find their identity in a denomination or a church or a program. These things have their place, of course, but the center of the Christian faith is not a program, building, or denomination. None of these things died for our sins. But Jesus did! A Christian’s identity should, therefore, be in Christ; everything else in which we find our identity should be secondary. That is what the apostle Paul teaches in Scripture. He was a Hebrew of Hebrews, an exceedingly religious man. But he considered all of His religious credentials as nothing “compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things” (Phil. 3:8). Paul’s identity was not in his religion but in Jesus Christ.
I tell people that I am a Christian first … and somewhere after that I am a Presbyterian in the Reformed tradition. My identity is wrapped up in the Person who came into this world for me, and who died on a cross and rose from the grave for me. He is the One I get thrilled and even passionate about. Denominations will come and go. Programs and fads will come and go. But Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is at the very center of God’s self-revelation and redemptive work; He died for sinners. So let us find our identity in Him!
I tell people that I am a Christian first … and somewhere after that I am a Presbyterian in the Reformed tradition. My identity is wrapped up in the Person who came into this world for me, and who died on a cross and rose from the grave for me. He is the One I get thrilled and even passionate about. Denominations will come and go. Programs and fads will come and go. But Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is at the very center of God’s self-revelation and redemptive work; He died for sinners. So let us find our identity in Him!
