It Starts Small

The question of the ages: If the gospel is supernatural, then why doesn’t it seem to make more of a difference in the lives of so many who claim to believe it?

That is a great question! Skeptics ask it and fellow brothers and sisters ask it. I believe it is because of the gap. There is a gap that exists between what Christians claim as true about themselves and what we often see when we look in the mirror. I was once one of these people. I was among so many that felt alone and like a fraud. There was a gap between what I believed and what I saw in the mirror.

I, like many others, began to ignore the gap. How many Sunday mornings went by, spent thinking, that was a nice sermon, now back to the real world. Do you understand that thought process? Maybe you are like I was and having troubles connecting the truths of God to everyday life. If we construct a wall and divide life into “a nice sermon” and “the real world,” we keep Jesus’ authority tucked away in heaven where He can not threaten our way of doing things. When this happens, the gap is no longer a concern. It will not even occur to you that the gap should be a concern to us.

If you believe that the gospel is a free ticket to heaven when you die and grace means you do not need to strive to obey Christ while you live….the gap will not be a concern to you.

If you believe that “it is finished” means means there is nothing left for you to do…..the gap will not concern you.

If Jesus’ call to discipleship to be optional….the gap will not concern you.

Sadly, I can say all of those beliefs were once my belief. I lived with the gap for so long that it no longer became a concern to me,. It became a concern to me when I realized that what I wanted from God and what He wanted to accomplish in me was not going to be done doing the same old thing. A real change needed to happen:

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17

We fail to crucify our flesh and rise with Christ who gives us a new identity. We hang on to the old nature.

Do you struggle with the gap? Acknowledgement that it even exists is the first step in the right direction. Today pray out Galatians 2:20

²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

Decide that you have neither the strength or power to do it your way and surrender your life to God’s will and purpose. Throw that old identity in the grave and rise with Christ today.