Christianity does not have 613 laws, as in the Jewish tradition. It does not have five pillars, as in Islam. Nor does it have an eightfold path, as in Buddhism. This does not mean that Christianity does not have commandments or a path to follow. Christianity has one path, and that one path is Christ and his commandments (John 14:6). This might seem too vague to apply to everyday life or to the day to day affairs and business of the Church. Its meaning might seem symbolic rather than literal. This is not the case. As Jesus told his disciples on the night before he was crucified: "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him" (John 14:21); "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching" (John 14:23-24); "If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love" (John 15:10). Clearly, in his final instructions, obedience to His words was paramount.
If Christians cannot follow or obey Christ, they cannot do anything: "If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). When Christ prayed for his disciples, or followers, he referred to them as those who had obeyed the message: "I have revealed you to those whom you have me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word" (John 17:6). Obedience comes first--if we are not willing to obey, we have no faith, and cannot perform any of the tasks that Christ would entrust to us. But how does this apply to us in everyday life?
1) Scripture: It is important to read scripture. We read it for pleasure, we read it for advice, we read it for spiritual knowledge. We should not forget that we read it for instruction. These are God's words, not our own, not ours to argue about. There are two things that are imperative when reading Scripture: First, we must be sure to not interpret them according to our personal desires or agendas (2 Peter 1:20-21). Second, we must be doers of the Word, not hearers only (James 1:22-26).
2) Believing: This might seem odd to mention. A Christian should already be a believer. However, it is quite common in today's society for Christians to stray and to cease believing in certain basic tenets of the Christian faith. The easiest method is for Christians to cherry-pick what they are comfortable believing and what they are uncomforable believing. When in history has the word obey had anything to do with an idea of comfort? It is important for us to remain true to the beliefs that God asks us to believe: the creation, the universal flood during the time of Noah, the virgin birth of Christ, the miracles of the prophets and of Jesus, the death and resurrection and ascension of Christ, the sacred nature and authority of the Scriptures, the Trinity, the strict moral teachings of the Bible, the Biblical definitions of what it means to be a human, a man, or woman, the Biblical teachings on baptism, church doctrine, management and government, and the work and indwelling of the Holy Spirit--to name some. When you start compromising with worldly opinions on the Bible, you have crossed the line, leaving the Christian camp for the darkness of the world. If you want to stay in the Kingdom, you must not be led away by strange and diverse teachings (Hebrews 13:9).
3) Fellowship: Being with other Christians and worshipping God is essential for the Christian life. As the good book says, iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17). If you do not feel that you have time to schedule God into your life, then you are not ready to obey Jesus Christ. Too often, Sunday services are treated as non-essential activities that are occasionally encouraging, but play a minimal role in our walk of faith or salvation. Nothing should come before Sunday worship--not work, not recreation, not family occasions. We have become far too lax in our treatment of Sunday meetings, when this should be the high point of the week, when we gather around Christ to remember his death and resurrection through the Lord's Supper. Moreover, fellowship with other believers is a defining characteristic of the Christian. When the beloved doctor Luke reported on the lifestyle of the 1st Century Christians, he wrote: "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved" (Acts 2:42-47).
4) Prayer: James says that we should not plan anything as if we were working independently of God (James 4:13-17). We are not the true managers of the church; we are labourers. The Holy Spirit is the guide, the One who directs us (Acts 8:29-40, Acts 11:12, Acts 13:2-3), and we are led by the Spirit when we pray and seek God's counsel (Acts 1:14, Acts 6:4, Acts 14:23, Romans 12:12, 2 Corinthians 1:11, Ephesians 6:18, James 5:13-20, Philippians 1:9, Colossians 4:2, 1 Peter 3:12, Revelation 1:10).5) Love: Love is naturally the most important aspect of the Christian walk, because God is love (1 John 4:8). How do we show love? We are obligated to love God and to love our fellow man, especially those in the Kingdom. We show this love by being kind to sinners, while refusing to tolerate their sin. We show this by doing this accoring to the Bible, and not according to man-made rules or traditions or marketing trends. We cannot love our fellow man if we are thinking of him as a statistic, a client, or an entity in a contract. We cannot love God and man without returning to the very basic meaning of love: to love means to value, to spend time with, to be involved with, to care for, to be at peace with, to serve--all of the things Jesus mentions in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5, 6, 7).
6) Faith: Let's stop worrying! God called Abram out of his own city of Ur, and sent him on a long journey--all to accomplish things that would take years with very little tangible encouragement along the way. And Abraham did it and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Some researchers believe the church is on its last gasp--other researches are alarmed that it is growing too rapidly and will soon swallow up the secular world. Who knows? What is important for us is to believe in God and in what he has entrusted to us. As Jesus said: "Do not fear; only believe" (Mark 5:36). Some Christians fear for their jobs, their families, their dreams. If we are in Christ, then fear is banished, and we rejoice (Philippians 4:4), because we have overcome and are overcoming every day in our Lord. There will be tragedies, sorrows, and problems--but nothing that we cannot handle when the Lord Almighty is by our side leading us with His Holy Spirit.
These are six basic things that you can do to stay true to the one path that is following Christ. When we start putting these six things ahead of ourselves, we will see our churches grow. Before you do anything this week, ask yourself: Would Jesus do it this way? Have I asked that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven? What would Jesus do? It might sound cliche--but it's Christ's command.
Christ is our way, truth and life. In obeying him, we find the right way to go about our daily work and our church work. In obeying him, we find the truth about what is right and what is wrong, what is joyful and hopeful and what is not spiritual or sound. And in following him, we sustain our lives and spread life. If we are not spreading life, we are spreading death like a cancer through everyone we meet. We ought to love Christ enough to submit to his will, to his teaching, and to the freedom he so graciously gives us by his sacrifice on the Cross.
