A Challenge to the Challenged
By George “Chip” Hammond
Recently a challenge has made its way around Facebook. It states:
I am announcing my faith publicly. Jesus said, “Everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.” Matthew 10:33
This is the best challenge I’ve ever seen on Facebook. So if you love Him and you’re not ashamed, please join me in this challenge of faith! AMEN.
I very much appreciate that someone, and then a number of someones, wanted to publicly express their association with Jesus. Matthew 10:32 is just as important as verse 33: “All who acknowledge me before people I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven.” I wonder, though, if a Facebook challenge is the best way to do this, or whether it is what Jesus had in mind.
Of course, it can take courage to type “amen,” or make a social media post like this, particularly if someone is a new Christian from a circle of atheists who don’t yet know. But I wonder if most people on Facebook who are not followers of Jesus will just see this as a political statement.
Is there a better way that we can acknowledge Jesus before people? I suggest there is, and although I provide a list below because we do them individually, this is really all part of the same package.
Join a church
Profess your faith publicly by joining a church, and if you have not been baptized before this is the time, get baptized. Christianity is not a solo endeavor. Joining a church and being baptized publicly identifies you as a Christ-follower in the company of other Christ- followers. Unlike the Facebook challenge, which will disappear from people’s feeds, your association with the church and thus with Christ will be perpetual. Simply attending church is something that even non-Christ-followers may do for various reasons. To actually join the church, you must be judged by other Christ-followers as a true Christ-follower, and thus you publicly confess Christ.
Attend church
There was a time when this did not need to be specified, but it does today. If belonging to a church ever became a crime (as it is in some countries), would there be enough evidence to convict you? I know some privately professed Christians. Few people know they profess to be Christ-followers because they’re not in church on Sunday. As our culture secularizes, being in church every Sunday will make your association with Jesus visible.
Give to your church
In the Old Testament the people of Israel were taught to tithe, that is, to give 10percent of their earnings to God. Are we required to tithe today? As Randy Alcorn has pointed out, tithing is the “training wheels of giving” to teach the people of God how to significantly give. Those who have come to the fulness of what God has for us in Christ certainly should not give less, and those who are serious about their faith may find themselves giving substantially more as God increases their resources. I know of a family that came to Christ and began giving in excess of 10 percent of their income to God. This caught the attention of the IRS and landed them in an audit. The audit revealed that everything was on the up and up, but the auditor was amazed. “You must really love Jesus to be giving that much” she said. Substantially giving left a lasting impact of commitment to Christ more than typing “Amen” at the end of a Facebook post ever could.
Serve
Serve in and through your church. God used the first church my wife and I joined as a married couple to mature and deepen my faith. At that church I taught Sunday School, participated in the evangelism program, served on the Missions Committee, assisted in VBS, and eventually became an elder and helped to lead worship. A coworker once asked me, “How much do you do at your church?” I had never really thought about it, but when I recounted all these things, he said, “Wow. How much time do you spend in that?” I said, “You know, I never really thought about it before. I’m not sure.” He said, “You must love that work. What about the work do you love?” I also had never really thought about that, and I said to him, “You know, I’m not really sure I love the work. I don’t hate it, certainly, but I don’t know if I’d chose to do it merely as a hobby. I do it to serve Jesus, and I love serving him.” I didn’t mean for that to sound pious, pithy, or profound, but it seemed to have an impact on him. This leads me to my last point.
Tell people about Jesus
Look for opportunities to tell people about Jesus. You can’t force these opportunities, but you may be able to create them through loving your neighbors as Jesus told us to in a way that sets his followers apart. You can do it by inviting people to church, or to special events at church. The closer you get to people, the more they know you care about them and that they can trust you; the more you exhibit grace rather than condemnation at their faults and even their sins, the more opportunity you will naturally have to tell people about Jesus.
A better way
I hope you will not feel condemned by what I’ve written if you are among the many people who have taken up this Facebook challenge. I know many people have done it associate themselves with Jesus. But posting something on the internet (while it may technically last forever) will soon fade from people’s screens and memories.
A much better way to acknowledge Christ before people is to publicly make your association with Him through baptism and church membership, make church attendance a regular priority, give substantially to your church, serve in and through your church, and look for opportunities to tell people about Jesus. If you do all these things and adorn them with a life of repentance that acknowledges your own faults, a life that is turning from sin and striving to be more and more conformed to the image of Christ, there will be no doubts in the minds of those you meet that you confess Jesus
Social media image by Nordwood Themes
