Everyone
has an opinion on how Christians ought to behave. Despite what you hear on the
street, read on Facebook, or are taught in Sunday school, Christianity is more
than a set of beliefs and a list of teachings to follow. Divine favor, eternal
life and entrance to heaven are not earned by performing certain rituals,
dressing a particular way, or attending a specific church. Such things are not
unimportant and behavior plays a role in Christianity, but it is a relatively
minor one. It is minor because it is not the measure that God uses. God looks
into the soul and judges by what He sees within.
One day God sent
Samuel, the prophet, to anoint a new king of Israel. God told Samuel which city
to go to and whose house to visit to find this king. God knew the man by name,
but He withheld the name to teach the prophet something every important. Samuel
appeared, as directed, at the house of Jesse in Bethlehem with anointing oil in
hand. Jesse understood what was going on and set his first born son, XXX,
before Samuel. Samuel was impressed. XXX was tall, muscular and handsome;
everything a king should be.
“Surely
this is the Lord’s anointed,” Samuel thought.
He was wrong. Samuel
wasn’t seeing what God saw because he wasn’t looking where God looked. The Lord
explained Samuel’s mistake.
<1 samuel verse
here>
David was a man after
God’s heart. This means more than that God liked David. David possessed a willingness
to set aside everything to find the heart of God. He hoped to be guided by
God’s desires rather than natural inclinations. Simply stated, David wanted to
be like God. This is ironic because wanting to be like God was what led to
Lucifer’s and later Adam’s downfall. But God was not playing favorites or being
unfair. Very few things are evil in and of themselves. Wanting to be like God
is not evil; attempting to supplant God is another story. Good goals are
pursued in the wrong way is the surest path to evil. David wanted to emulate
God’s loving heart; to be like God. Lucifer and Adam wanted His throne; they
wished to be God.
Every son of Adam, acting
from their nature, does according to the deeds of Adam. Rebellion and self-rule
is in our blood. That some men are less rebellious than others is of no
consequence. As far as we know Adam sinned just once. By our own admission,
we’ve all matched his total. But if sin is in our nature, a part of our DNA,
how can we do differently? Teaching and doctrine are no help because we know to
do well—we just don’t do it. The answer is to be reborn; to acquire a new,
better nature. You may be naturally grumpy, opinionated, and sarcastic, but
that does not necessarily make you a LaFountain. In order to be a LaFountain,
you must be born one.
Christianity is all
about the spiritual rebirth of man. Without this rebirth all attempts to
conform to Christ’s teachings and church doctrines are vanity. Saintly behavior
may make you a good person. It does not make you a Christian. Being a Christian
makes you a saint; it does not instantly produce saintly behavior. To be a
Christian, you must be born one. That is, you must be born again into the
family of God. This is what Jesus was telling Nicodemus.
Once reborn,
Christians begin to develop the familial traits of loving God above all else
and our neighbors as ourselves. These traits don’t spring full bloom at the
moment of birth. Many a fall occurs while learning to walk. Given time and
training the new Christian nature emerges, but birth comes first. God first
said, “Let there be light.” Then,
there was light. It is the same with the Christian. Christians are declared
righteous by God at birth. The Spirit of God in the Christian then begins to
make it so; behaviors, thoughts, and desires change. None of this happens
unless there is a rebirth. Until he is born again, a man cannot see the kingdom
of God or begin to live there.
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