2. I think the one which I described above can really confuse a young believer. Our chief goal is not just to “make it to heaven”, but to bring the Kingdom of God to earth! This doesn’t change the fact that we know Jesus is coming and our world is dying but to me it shifts the focus from “me” to “you” and from my salvation & faith alone to a world that needs to experience the love Christ, who can radically change their lives. I heard today someone say that Jesus was more concerned with those who were humble & those who were proud than He was those who were “good” & those who were “evil”. And I think that has got to be apart of our mindset as we walk through this life. Our role is to serve & to empty ourselves completely into the lives of those who need Jesus.

3. Selflessness. Concern. Care. Compassion. Humility. These are words that come to my mind as I think about what evangelical Christianity has become in our society today. I’m not saying that the church is bad or that we need to reform it. But I do think that these are characteristics of Jesus that we often miss. And we cannot miss them any longer. The stakes are too great. Chris, hopefully you’ll remember saying this in our workshop a few weeks ago, that the heart of Christianity says that your life is greater than mine. This must be our driving passion & attitude, the very core of who Jesus was. We don’t have to try & make Jesus look cool to the world through our programs, our events, our church buildings, our lights & smoke. We must willing to be the Jesus who was rejected, spat on, ridiculed, & died for a world He refused to be separate from because He loved them so much.

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2. I think it stunts it. If the gift of Jesus is free. If I can do nothing to earn it. I pray the prayer, get my get out of hell free card and then do nothing…except what I want…and then ask forgiveness if it was bad…while waiting for Jesus to come back so I can get to heaven already…hurry up Jesus, this world is bad.

3. The message of dying to self, following Him, fishing for men, making disciples, being a disciple, being transformed by the renewing of my mind, doing to the least of these, loving my enemies and a litany of other things. In short, the actual journey of faith – with works – letting my light shine so that others will see my good deeds and glorify the Father.