The life of a Christian is full of Do’s & Don’ts?

 

It is a common misconception that when we become a believer/follower of Jesus we have to give up everything.  Throughout my Christian life in various Church denominations and Ministries, there have been various things I have been told I shouldn’t do. These have included don’t drink, smoke, go the cinema, have pierced ears, no tattoos, no pop music, and so it goes on.  There have been restrictions on boy/girl relationships and the type of clothes on should wear.  It is no surprise that people have the impression that “Church” is only for square, wet, and misfits, generally people who don’t seem to fit with the rest society.  The Church its self is often viewed as an outdated institution that has little or no relevance to the world we live in today. In response to these misconceptions and out of a desire to fulfill God’s commission to preach the gospel the Church has tried many different ways to draw people in.  And whilst we have to say some of these have been successful we also have to say that many reap little reward. Unfortunately, in some cases, we have tried to make the truth of God’s word more palatable to the world and lost the raw truth it contains.  Of course, the consequence of this is that we find people cant stick it out, falling away bringing further discredit to the Church leaving people seeing us well-meaning but ineffectual.  One of the key things that we fail to tell people is the awesome adventure and life that being a believer is.  It isn’t a life full of don’ts but of do’s an adventure to discover our full potential living in the knowledge of God’s unconditional love for us.  

 

If we go right back to the beginning of mankind we read in Genesis 1 that God created us in His own image (v26-27). Mankind was at that time completely free having dominion over all that earth, walking with God and was a true image of his Creator.  But then in Genesis 3:6 we read of a change that took place the moment Eve took the fruit of the tree, the one tree that God had said not to eat from.  At that moment the course of mankind changed and there was a distance between God and man all because we wanted to be equal to God.  Now the garden had boundaries and man tried to cover himself up, to make himself acceptable.  And so began the great adventure of us all to find freedom and true identity. We can see through history that people have pushed the boundaries of what is socially acceptable in a search for identity and acceptability. It only takes a trip to a town, railway station or any public place to see the distortion of humankind and huge lengths people will go to in order to be individual.  When Eve took that fruit she was listening to the distorted lies of the ruler of this world the enemy. And the world is still listening today. The biggest lie is that people believe that they are free and able to do and be whatever they like.  Yet we live in a very unhappy and disordered world, a word that has little peace and seems unable to determine right from wrong.  People out of their disorder are conforming to what the ruler of this world has for them, this is a place of confinement and ultimately death. Not just physical death but the death of identity and potential. Lives are being led disconnected from God the creator as well as increasingly from each other. 

 

The bible is far from outdated as it is full of stories about people who struggled on their journey to know God and those who decided to live life without Him.  God’s love and plan of man's redemption come out on every page. We see God’s love so clearly with birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  You see Jesus lived and breathed in the world just like we do and yet He did not conform to the ways of the world. He lived His life in total obedience to the Father (God).  Much of what Jesus said and did cut across the culture of His day and challenged the lifestyles of all people.  We only have to read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John to see what Jesus was like and the things He did.  It is through Jesus that we know the Father and we see what the Father is like.  

 

You see God says not to be conformed to the world but to be transformed (Romans 12: 2). These are powerful words that hold the keys to real liberty for us. God is talking about our minds, our thinking, our attitudes. This includes everything of who we are, how we behave and how we express ourselves and outworks in every area of our lives. It is when we stop conforming to the world that we burst out of the box of popular opinion and in the open space of transformation. Jesus is the way to the Father and says that He is the way the truth and the life (John 14:6).  Jesus is the way back to the Father and to our true identity. We have to strip away all of the lies that we have believed about ourselves and repent or turn away from all the ways we have tried to be someone we are not. God created us in His image, our true identity can only be found when we seek to be that image. 

 

“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” John 8:31-32 

 

“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh (world) but according to the Spirit”. Romans 8:1

 

God does not condemn us but through knowing Jesus He gently shows the things that are not right in our lives and helps us change. It is a bit by bit step by step transformation of who we are to reflect more clearly the image of God. I love the story of the Woman caught in adultery found in John 8:1-12 have a read of it and notice who the brought condemnation upon this women and who brought conviction into her heart telling her to sin no more. If we wanted to restore an old table or maybe a painting the first thing we would do is gently and carefully strip away all the dirty and old polish to reveal it’s original and true beauty. God does the same with us.