Day Seven : Facebook, Romans, Saved vs Open

If Jesus had facebook I'd be on his friend list, and he'd be on mine. He'd have thought to request me first, I'd accept and I'd have the first chance to write about our friend details. I'd say we met when I was a boy in the hallway at the front door of my house. I'd say he followed me places, and I followed him places. I'd say we lived together, worked together and traveled together. I'd say I'm in his family, I'd say "he's my Lord". If Jesus had facebook...

Walking back from my reading park these were my thoughts. They didn't end here though, I began to think about the people on my facebook list that aren't exactly my friends. I mean they're my friends but I don't exactly interact with them like true friends would either that or I haven't interacted with them as a true friend in a long time, or maybe they're just an acquaintance and in the friend detail blurb it says "you know blank through blank". Then I transferred all this back to "what if Jesus had facebook" how many people would have rejected his friendship request, how many people would have him on their freinds list as an acquaintance "you know Jesus through your mom, that christian guy/gal, that song "Jesus take the wheel", how many people would have him as a friend but never write on his wall, how often would Jesus look at our pictures wishing he was invited.

Okay so I'm feeling a bit chessy, a bit hard core youth pastor guy who speaks during the breaks at concerts... But to be honest this all stemmed from my time in the park. See last night Julie asked me about how my preparation for my "Accrediation Interview" was going. The answer was well okay I guess, I had been putting the preparation off because I don't like doing things because I'm forced. I kept convincing myself that all my time in God's word lately would ensure I was prepared for any tirade of questions come Friday. However I knew my recent study of Leviticus would help, I also knew I should focus on specifics like answering the questioon "How does someone become a Christian?", pretty basic for a seminary grad right? Well yes and no. You see I could tell you, but I couldn't exactly give you all the specific verses from memory. So today I focused on answering this simple question, as I finished and headed home the whole concept of facebook arose from my thoughts on this matter. Let me explain.

I'm not a big fan of the 4 Spiritual Laws. They seem too linear for me and almost spell-like. As if reading them and looking at the visuals of the booklet magically makes you a Christian. But I cherish the verses, I love some of those classics and to be honest my answer to the question "How does someone become a Christian?" cannot and does not look much different then the 4 spiritual laws, the thing is I've personalized the concept so I'd feel comfortable teaching it to others. When it comes to "becoming a Christian" Romans is the classic book, however after reading Leviticus I can't see one could truly understand what being a Christian is until they've read it.

How to become a Christian...

1. First it's important to define the word Christian. To me a Christian is "someone who is being made holy, who will be holy, and who is experiencing a relationship with the Trinity, with God"
2. With this idea of Christian at hand one would have to come to a simple understanding of the status of their relationship with God, and their current holiness levels. Here's where the verses kick in. Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned any fallen short of the glory of God" & Romans 3:10 "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away...
3. One would have to come to an understanding that sin inhibits them from being made holy, which inhibits them from experiencing a relationship with God. Here's where Leviticus would really enhance ones understanding as God attempts to implement his system to deal with sin, to make the Israelites holy, so that he could interact with them and they wouldn't be burned up. Sin has consequence, in Leviticus it meant death and suffering. Again the classic Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death"
4. Then one would have to realize they couldn't fix the sin problem. Not by being a good person, not by following other gods or prophets, not by ascribing to another system. John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. & Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Ephesians 2:8-10 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
5. Accept and Believe - here's the faith part. One would have to accept the humilating death of Jesus for oneself. Romans 3:22 "The righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe" & Romans 3:24 "all are... justified freely by his grace thorug the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God present him as a sacrfice of atonement, through faith in his blood" (these words "atonement, sacrifice, blood" sound familar, it's neat that God used the same system just tweaked to make us holy)
6. Live in the Spirit. A Christian is one who is to live according to the Spirit Romans 8:5. Once one is no longer a slave to sin, one becomes free to live accorinding to the Spirit, thus one is free to be transformed, to be made holy and to live in a relationship with God. 2 Corinthians 3:18 "And we... are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit".
7. Imitate Jesus. You can't be a "Christian" (one who is being made holy, and in a realationship with God) without looking more and more like Jesus. You have to change, daily.. Just like Jesus did practically everything backwards to this "worlds" mindset, so should a "Christian" start to look crazy. I Corinthians 1:18 "For the message of teh cross is follishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of God". Romans 12:1 "offer your bodies as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God". What would Jesus do? Pretty much the opposite of what a sane human being would do. He would wash the toilets of his employee's, he would hug the homeless, he wouldn't tell you how many people came to his church, he wouldn't even count...

The more I think about this stuff I more I realize the word "save" should be taken out of our vocabulary when it comes to people becoming Christians. It should be replaced with "relational" or "foolish". Sure people are "saved" in many respects, but I think it's more the opposite (like on a computer when you either save a document or open it to be worked on. Becoming a Christian is like being opened to give away all that you've ever known. Jesus gave everything away. His respect, his power, his throne, his time, his life, his lifestyle. So the next time someone becomes a Christian I might say "how exciting that person just got "opened".