On May 6th, 1910 Hailey’s comet passed by the Earth. Never getting any closer than 13.9 million miles, it posed no real threat and yet many people were convinced the comet was responsible for the death of the king of England. One man, Camille Flammarion, caused mass hysteria around the world by convincing anyone that would listen that the comet’s tail was full of a gas that was going to “snuff out all life on planet Earth” as it passed by. (Spoiler alert: You and I are living proof that he was wrong.)

Despite the absurdity of Flammarion’s claims, many were convinced. A shepherd in Washington State was reported to have gone insane with worry about the comet. Churches found themselves packed with people preparing for the end. People were frantically packing all the nooks, crannies, and even keyholes in their homes in an attempt to keep the toxic gas out. Gas mask sales soared and a new market of “anti-comet pills” sprung up. One brand even promised “an elixir for escaping the wrath of the heavens”

Evidence of Belief

For good or bad our lives are shaped by what we believe. Your life will prove what you believe. These foolish individuals believed toxic fumes were headed their way. The only reasonable thing to do when convinced of that truth is to take whatever means necessary to be prepared for the impending doom. These people believed a lie and their life was evidence of it.

There can be no claim of belief if life remains unchanged by the truth claimed to be believed. Real belief necessitates real action. As the illustration goes, don’t claim to believe that I can walk a wheelbarrow on a tight rope if your unwilling to be sitting in the wheelbarrow. Over and over God says to believe in Him, trust him, and place our faith in Him. If a silly belief in a lie about a comet leads to such widespread observations, how much more so a belief in the truth and reality of God? Belief in such a weighty truth cannot help but be verified by the changes, and actions it causes.  

Look to the Examples

In Genesis 6:13 God told Noah of His plans to wipe out mankind and in verse 14 tells him to build a boat to escape the coming judgment. If Noah had claimed belief, but that belief had never led him to act he would have drowned like the rest of mankind, but he didn’t. God told Him the truth of what was to come, and Noah believed. He obeyed despite looking like an utter fool to the entire surrounding world for decades. He believed despite the decades of seemingly unrepaid hard work that lay ahead of him.   

Moses “believed God” so much so that he gave up his life of comfort and ease in Pharaoh’s house. His belief in God made him chose to have troubles along with God’s people rather than “enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.” His belief in God took him on a journey of difficulty and despair that he undoubtedly never would have undertaken if he wasn’t convinced. Moses believed God and his life proved it. (Hebrews 11:23-28)

Christian history is full of examples of people who believed God enough to risk their reputations, comfort, welfare, and even lives. At first glance, it might seem crazy that these people would endure all of what they have, but in reality, if they really believe what they say they believe, it would be crazy not to. This world is broken, and mankind is desperately lost in their sin. There is no hope apart from the truth of Christ. Our lives shouldn’t just exhibit this reality in little discreet ways. They should shout it in a way that is unmistakable and impossible to miss.

Not all Examples are Good

Some claim this belief, but their lives prove that to be untrue. Remember the nation of Israel after the exodus from Egypt came to a turning point. It was time to cross over into the land that God has promised them. They claimed to know God and believe in Him. They also “knew” the truth that God had promised this land to them. But the time had come where their life could verify said faith. Instead, they believed a lie and their wasted life spent wandering in the wilderness showed it. (Numbers 13-14)

What about You?

What does your life show that you have faith in. Is your life evidence of deep conviction and faith in the truth of scripture, the reality of sin, and power of Christ? Or instead is your life evidence that sin is no big deal, church is moderately important and the mission of Jesus deserves halfhearted devotion? What lies are you believing? If you find your life is failing to measure up to what you claim to believe You can choose now to instead trust the truth, and live in light of that reality.

For a recent church promotion, we needed to come up with a tagline for our church. Being that this would be used in advertising it needed to be a simple phrase that not only accurately presented who we are as a church so that visitors are given a correct representation, but also clearly depicts the vision and mission of who we as a church strive to be. There are all kinds of common catchy slogans out there. Church websites are full of terminology designed to be engaging, encouraging, and inspiring. What could be said in a short memorable phrase to highlight what it is that marks Believers’ Church – Duluth as different from the many other churches out there? We chose “Real Life Christianity that Matters”.

Real Life

We can live out our Christianity in a way that looks great to all of those around us. To do so we just need to make sure we can convincingly play pretend for the duration it takes to fulfill our religious obligations. Just be sure to put on the right Christian veneer, say the correct Christian phrases, and do something that will positively attract the attention of those around you. The problem is to live as Christ has directed requires the power that is available only through Him. It cannot be faked forever. Knowing this we can be tempted to relegate contact with the Christian community to just a few short hours and surface-level interactions. Never long enough for the real us to be seen and always in carefully controlled spiritual settings so the real us never comes out.

That may sound extreme, but that is the inauthentic and fake Christianity that our world often offers. We have always endeavored to be a church that is unsatisfied with that kind of Christianity. We do not want to be a church that offers some sort of staged, canned, version of Christianity, but instead real people in real life. Real Christianity must be all-encompassing. It doesn’t simply engage on the step through the church doors only to be disengaged on the step out.

Simply put, if our Christianity does not impact all areas of our life it is not real Christianity.  

Being real necessitates an uncomfortable level of authenticity with one another. I am to know your weakness you are to know mine. We are to be involved in one another’s lives to such a degree that we know the good, the bad, and the ugly. It won’t always look perfect, but would you rather possess fake perfection or authentic relationships? We will see each other succeed and we will see each other fail. It is in the church where it is safe to be real with each other and allow our imperfections and sin to be seen because it is in the church that we know the solution for those failures.

Being authentic should never excuse our own sin, laziness, or half-hearted efforts. God desires to take the “real” us and turn us into something unrecognizable. Let Him do that work in you. It is when we take it unto ourselves pretending that God has already done that work that we can present a plastic version of ourselves. Instead, let’s let our Christianity be in “real life.”

Christianity that Matters

I recently heard a pastor speaking about how in a way, the great epics and fantasies of our modern culture put our Christianity to shame. In these fictional stories, there are great quests with huge implications. They either slay the giant or they are killed. The heroes either endure necessary agony to the end or all of the land will suffer. They are on a mission and the completion of that mission is “do or die”. What they are doing matters to them, to their kingdom and the world. Those are the stories that we entertain ourselves with. Then we come to the church, the place where the mission of God is to be clearly displayed and we are disappointed.

We have a King who has commissioned us. We have a King who gives us a purpose. No mission (real or fictional) is more dire than the mission of Christ. I think many people look at the modern-day church and see it as a joke, and many times rightfully so. Our world is familiar with a kind of Christianity with no passion, no urgency, no zeal. They are familiar with apathetic Christians who go to church, but their faith doesn’t matter to them. It doesn’t compel them. Real faith matters. It should persuade us. Christ and his purpose matter most. If that is not the Christ you know and if that is not the mission you have been given, it is not real Christianity.  

Real Life Christianity that Matters

That is the version of Christianity that we offer as a church because it is the type of Christianity we see Jesus offer in scripture. It won’t always be pretty, but it will be real. Its scope will go beyond that of Sunday morning service, and involve itself in all of our life. It’s that kind of Christianity that matters. It’s that kind of Christianity that gives us something to live for. A passion worth dying for. I hope it describes who we are as a church but the fact is we have room to grow. Let’s be a church that strives to be real together, to allow Christ access to all of our lives, and then to live as though this is what matters most because that is the reality.

A placebo is anything that seems to be a real medical treatment but isn’t. It could be a pill, a shot, or any other type of fake treatment. What all placebos have in common is that they do not contain an active substance meant to affect health. They have no therapeutic effect but are sometimes used as a control in testing new drugs or are designed merely to calm and appease someone’s desire for treatment. 

Although there is no chemical reason for placebo treatment to be effective there is seemingly irrefutable evidence that these counterfeits do produce some positive results. The cause of this improvement cannot be placed on the substance itself, but on the human body’s incredible ability to heal itself. A disease that the human body is incapable of improving will never be affected by a placebo. 

The Real Disease

Sin is a disease that has spread throughout the world and through the ages. It’s a disease that if left untreated leads only to pain, hopelessness, and eventual death. The body has no ability to cure this disease on its own. There have been many attempts, but none successful. That means that no placebo will do the trick. It is a problem that requires the real thing. Real faith in the real Jesus saves, nothing else does. The problem is that people have settled for a false treatment of their own creation. They pacify their desperate need for a savior with a counterfeit solution. Many in our culture accept a placebo version of Christianity that has no real power and provides no real answers.

Acts 16:30-31 “What must I do to be saved?” So they said,

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved”

Placebos seem innocent enough. A sugar pill causes no real harm, but a counterfeit treatment will do more harm than good if it pacifies the patient with a false solution rather than leave them searching for the true cure. This is doubly true in the spiritual realm. Placebo Christianity can only placate, it can never cure. 

The Religious Placebo

The Bible has a lot to say about what real faith entails. This is because there are so many false variations out there intent on pacifying us with a false version of Christianity that has been created by our culture or our own minds, not the word of God. People feel secure because of the religious games that they play. They alleviate their guilty conscience by saying the right words. They appease the unshakeable knowledge that something is not right by trying to fulfill religious obligations. 

We know that going to church doesn’t save us. No amount of service or tithing to the church fixes anything. Nothing that we do on our own power provides any kind of salvation. But how often do you allow those things to be seen as the solution when it is only acting as a placebo in your life? But sin isn’t cured by the placebo of adherence to an empty and lifeless religion, it is only cured by Christ.

The Real Medicine 

Why is it that we are prone to turn to placebos when Christ is readily holding out the real thing? Placebos are pleasant and agreeable. They are usually low cost and painless. Medicine can be costly, hard to swallow, and accompanied by all kinds of difficult side effects. Real faith, that can cost you everything. It will undoubtedly have side effects that come along with it. There will be trials, persecution, hard work, and discipline. The fact is if there are no side effects, it’s likely you haven’t taken the real treatment. The only treatment that provides a real cure is prescribed by Gods word and it comes with guaranteed side effects such as love (John 13:35) obedience (John 14:15) good works (James 2:17)

Placebos are cheap and easy but they don’t work. The danger with placebos is that they can look like the real thing. So much so that we trick ourselves into settling for a “cure” that is no cure at all. Don’t settle for anything less than the real thing. 

When I was growing up my dad drove truck on the weekends to earn some extra money. He’d get up at three AM, get in the truck, and head to the coal dock in Superior. Once there, he’d load up the first of three loads to be brought to the Iron Range. I remember asking one Friday night if I could go with him. I had no idea what I was getting into. What boy wouldn’t want to spend a day around big trucks, seeing front end loaders, and exploring the inner working of power plants? The next morning I woke up earlier than I ever had, grabbed my lunch box, and followed my dad, him with his thermos of coffee and mine full of hot chocolate.

I’d get very little sleep. The days would be long. The seats would be uncomfortable. Believe it or not, the excitement of big trucks and heavy equipment wasn’t enough to hold my attention and desire. But the presence of my dad in the seat beside me had me going day after day. To the best of my memory, there wasn’t a trip my dad took that I didn’t go with if I could. The lack of sleep didn’t matter. The discomfort of sitting in a truck seat didn’t matter. I didn’t care that there was nothing to entertain myself with. It didn’t matter where we were going, I just wanted to be with my dad.

I loved those trips. I’m sure there were difficult days. Days when the truck wouldn’t start, days with flat tires, days where my dad or I irritated each other. But I got to spend time with my dad. I got to know him better than ever. I got to go where he was going and do what he was doing. He didn’t need my help. In fact, in some ways, I am sure his day would have been easier without me, but he let me come. My dad was going to work and I was going with him.

God invites us along

There is no doubt that God is at work in the world. We don’t always know what that work is. Nor do we have a perfect understanding of how to do the work and yet God as our perfect heavenly Father invites us along. He will open up the passenger door and ask if you are getting in. You can pass if you want. He won’t force you to spend time with Him. But if you don’t spend time with Him, you will not know Him. If you don’t go with him, you won’t do what He is doing.

There will be days where being with God is going to cost you. You’ll lose sleep. You will be uncomfortable. There will be days you don’t even know where you are going. There will be days where there seems to be no earthly reason to continue on. Is the presence of God enough to keep you going? If you know Him as the Father He truly is, His presence alone is enough. The presence and closeness of God is what we should treasure most.

The Presence of God is the Point

In Exodus 33 the Israelites are in the wilderness after God has delivered them from Egypt. They are a sinful and rebellious nation. In the previous chapter, they had created a golden calf as their preferred god to worship. Needless to say, they were not being ideal children. God tells them to go into the promised land full of great blessings, comfort, and riches. He even says that He will send His Angel before them to drive out their enemies. He guarantees the Israelite’s earthly desires. But then says that He is not going to go.

Moses replies saying, “If your presence is not going to go with us, please don’t make us go.” He knew that to enter into a land full of blessings and riches but without the presence of God is far worse than staying put in the harsh wilderness with God at their side. He knew that it is better to be anywhere with God than in paradise without Him.

Will You go With

Getting in the passenger seat with my Dad was a little intimidating. I had no idea what was in store or where we would end up. I didn’t know how long we would be gone. But I did it and never regretted it. The same is true of going to work with God. It’s more than a little intimidating, it’s terrifying. You never know where He might take you or what He might expect you to do along the way. Do you want to be with your Father? If you’ll go, you will find He will take you on the ride of your life.