A dear friend of mine from Texas was known to grumble “Christianity Ain’t a Spectator Sport.” While these words are not found in Scripture, they echo the heart of The Word. So many of us in the church today who identify ourselves with Christ spend more time viewing Christ as a someone we admire, more than someone we follow.
We are called over and over to a radical departure from the norm of this life. We are called to make daily choices,
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)
Narrow gate – Wide gate
Narrow road- Wide road
17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Matthew 7:17-19 (NIV)
Good fruit – Bad Fruit
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV)
Build on the Rock – Build on the Sand
As I work on my sermon for Sunday as we close the Sermon on the Mount Series, I am convinced that this sermon struck those who heard it as amazing a different – because it was a call to action. A call not to Admire Jesus, but to Follow Him, becoming more fully devoted to that call on our lives each and every day.
So let’s get out of the stands and into the game!
<>< Craig