Playing "Christian"

A game that kids like to play is “House.” This is the game where young children pretend that they are grownups, set up a pretend household and assume the roles of the father, mother, the children, uncles and aunts, etc. Sometimes the kids like to pretend they are the family dog or cat.

Allow me to take a rabbit trail here and relate a story my daughter, Heather told me about my grandson, Logan who is six years old… As she drove him to school Friday morning, Logan said, “Mom I have a lot of friends that are girls.” Heather then said, “Yup. That's okay; just remember to treat them like ladies.” He replied, “Right. I should treat them like they are my wife.” When Heather asked him how he would do that, he said, “Treat them kindly and make sure they have enough food to eat.” That’s my boy!

Today, I will admit to you all that, for most of my life, much like children playing “house,” I have played “Christian.” I have not done my best all the time to follow the teachings of God’s Word, the Bible. Primarily this is because of my penchant for chasing my own desires, self-indulgence and distraction by so many other things of the world. An example of this is the many hours I spend watching TV, playing video games, surfing the internet or reading fictional novels. Now, there really is nothing inherently wrong about these pastimes; however, I have allowed these things to take the place of doing more important tasks such as serving others, sharing the Gospel with those I come into contact with and, most importantly, not reading God’s Word. The Bible is how we get to know God. It’s how He speaks to us.

I think that most of my friends and family who are followers of Christ would say, “Stan, you are doing a good job of following God. You are kind, you care about people and help them when you can.” But I want more. I want to know God better. I want Him to be proud of me like a father wants to be proud of his son or daughter. I want to help more people come to Jesus so that they can spread the Gospel and ultimately go to heaven after our life on this planet is done. The Bible likens heaven to a wedding feast, which of course is a party. I sometimes say that I want to bring as people as I can to that party.

Unfortunately, I get sidetracked by the reasons listed above. Even in my younger days, I knew I was putting off the most important tasks, but I just waved it away thinking I have so much more time ahead me and I’ll do it later. Well, it is “later” right now, this minute, this week this month. To define the tasks I speak of I have to share with you what the Bible calls “The Great Commission,” which Jesus Christ gave to his disciples.

After Jesus Christ's death on the cross, he was buried and resurrected on the third day. Before he ascended into heaven, he appeared to his disciples in Galilee and gave them these instructions found in Matthew 28:18-20:

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (NIV)

As the last recorded personal directive of the Savior to his disciples, it holds great significance to all followers of Christ. It is the foundation for evangelism and cross-cultural missions work in Christian theology. Because the Lord's instructions were to go to all nations and that he would be with us until the very end of the age, Christians of all generations have embraced this command. As many have said, it's not "The Great Suggestion." No, the Lord has commanded us to put our faith in action.

I think you’d agree with me that this is a pretty important directive and I’ve been ignoring it most of my life. Not completely, but mostly. And it is no longer acceptable. Although I might think of myself as a “mature” Christian, I have so much further to go. I have had numerous talks with my father-in-law, Reed Shackelford, who at age 85 still wrestles with “not doing enough.” So, obviously, this is not just a young person’s struggle. I recently told some Christian brothers in our men’s Bible study that I am almost 56 years old and I regret not “doing more” all these years. I do not want to make it to age 85 and still be saying this. It’s not right, it’s not fair to God in light of what He has done for me and by continuing to allow self-indulgence to prevent me from following the Great Commission, I am missing out on so much! I want to again be excited about my faith. I desire to hunger for God. I want to crave reading my Bible, to share my faith with others and then work to make disciples.

Recently, I downloaded a book by Francis Chan to my Kindle. It is titled, “Multiply.” It’s a guide on how to make disciples and how to be a better one, too. I recommend to anyone who is serious about following the Great Commission. It is my intention to put the teachings of this book to work with some of my friends at church. Hopefully, these men will, in turn, put what we will learn together to work in the lives of others who also hunger to serve God more fully.

I am hoping that someone who reads this will be inspired to take this step with me. I need to be held accountable and encouraged to keep going. Even if you don’t choose to make disciples yourself, please email me on occasion to check on my progress and tell me how you are doing in your walk with God. I can be reached at stanfaddis@gmail.com. Let’s all stop playing “Christian.” Thanks for your help.