In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind.  And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it- John 1:4-5 NASB

In John chapter ten Jesus makes a truly incredible statement about Himself, salvation and how the Christian life is intended to work itself out in the lives of His followers. Jesus calls Himself the door to life and says that if anyone comes to Him that person “will have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:9-10). 

It’s an astonishing declaration.

Seriously.  There’s a reason there are so many tee-shirts, throw pillows and refrigerator magnets emblazoned with John 10:10.  However, current reality begs a critical question: if Christianity is all about an abundant life why are so many Christians so dang miserable and obviously not experiencing this “abundant life”?

 It’s because we’re doing it wrong. 

Really, we are. My goal here is not to be offensive just honest. It is true there are some Christians are doing the Christian life right but most just aren’t. This demonstrated by the fact that many Christians (by my estimation eighty percent or more) live double lives. They struggle with a big giant ugly sin or problem they don’t want anyone to know about. It might be a cruddy marriage, a drug or alcohol problem, a porn addiction or some other issue with sexual immorality. Some secretly battle debilitating spiritual doubt. These and other issues prevent believers from enjoying the benefits of the abundant life Jesus promises. 

There are all sorts of reasons Christian’s struggle. Usually, at the root of the problem there is a lack of proper discipleship training coupled with belief in one or more common spiritual lies. 

Starting with:

I can do what I want-

Christians have been taught for decades that it doesn’t really matter what we do because God is going to love us no matter what. Like most spiritual lies this one has a seed of truth at its center. God’s love is immutable (unchanging, unalterable, permanent). This means there is nothing anyone can do to make God stop loving them. Period. However, the aim of the Christian life is not to simply to be loved and adored by God (being loved by God is a byproduct of the Christian life not the goal). The aim of the Christian life is to be transformed into God’s image (Romans 8:29, Romans 12:1-2, 2nd Corinthians 3:18). Here’s the thing: ultimately, we are the sum of our choices. We become what we do (Psalm 125:4-5, Jeremiah 4:22, Jeremiah 13:23, 1st Timothy 6:17-19). If we want to live an abundant life, we need to do our best to live the life God calls us to live in Scripture (Colossians 3, Romans 12, 2nd Peter 1:3-11). Choosing to ignore scriptural teaching is direct disobedience that keeps us from becoming like Jesus. Disobedience is also the fast-track route to becoming an ineffective and profoundly miserable Christian (1st Samual 15:22, Psalm 51). 

The right thing can wait-

 Oftentimes we (me included) are fully aware there is something specific God wants us to do (forgive, pray, connect with someone, help someone). Because God almost never asks us to do anything that’s easy or convenient, we will put the thing off until “later”. Too often “later” means never. When we don’t follow through on God’s instruction, we never experience the elation of having God work through us. Experiencing God’s power working through us is the most satisfying thing in all the world. It always leads to a desire for more (Psalm 119:60). 

It’s okay to do the Christian life alone-

One of my routine spiritual practices is to say the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) every day. It reminds me who’s in charge and what life is really all about. One surprising feature of the Lord’s Prayer is that there are no singular pronouns such as “I”, “my” or “me” in it. Instead, Jesus uses the plural pronouns “us” and “our”. This is not an accident, poor translation or crummy grammar.  It’s a clue we should pick up on.  Christianity (if it’s done right) is not just a private thing we do with God, it’s a corporate thing we do with God and the “the body of Christ” in community (Romans 12:5, 2nd Corinthians 12:12-27). On a practical level this means all of us should have a church we routinely attend, at least one close friend with whom we can be honest about our sins (James 5:16) and a group of Christians we love and feel accountable to. 

I don’t have to apply all the truth I know-

You do.  At least if you want to hang on to that truth. Jesus makes it clear that wisdom and truth are “use it or lose it” propositions (Luke 18:18).  Furthermore, the more willingly we apply the truth we know the more truth we will be given. Unfortunately, many Christians (me included sometimes) believe they can hear a truth and ignore it until obedience becomes expedient. The problem is that obedience is NEVER expedient and so we will never obey if we wait until it works for us. 

And finally,

Holiness is legalism.  

It’s not.

Holiness is a powerful state of existence we get invited into by the most powerful creature in all of existence (Ephesians 1:4,1st Peter 1:15). Holiness is choosing to be like God: set apart, unique and different in the very best sense. Holiness is partnering with God to fulfill His purposes in this world. Holiness is living out what we were made for and it’s the secret to doing Christianity right.