Christian Living, God, Life, Ministry

Influence (July 2016 Newsletter)

This past week, I have woken to the news that two very honorable and beloved people have passed away.  My guess, however, is that for most of you that are reading this, only one of these deaths has crossed your newsfeed or information pipeline.  Honestly, if it was not for my connection to Cincinnati Christian University, I probably would have only heard of one of them as well.  Pat Summitt, former head basketball coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols passed during the night between Monday and Tuesday, due to complications from her battle with Alzheimers.  Then, this morning (Wednesday as I write this article) I woke to the news that Wayne B. Smith of Lexington, KY had passed away.

Summitt is a TN and basketball legend, winning 1,098 games in her career as the head basketball coach of the Lady Vols.  It’s the most wins in NCAA basketball history.  She also lead the Lady Vols to eight National Championships over the years.  She retired from coaching in 2012, after being diagnosed with Alzheimers in 2011.  Summitt was known for her work ethic, and instilling that work ethic in her players as well.  I think the most impressive thing about Summitt’s career is the fact that every single player that played their full four years of eligibility under Summitt actually completed their degree.  Every Single One.  That is unheard of in the realm of collegiate athletics.  The sports world, and just about everyone in Tennessee is mourning her death, myself included.

But then I come to the fact that Wayne B. Smith has died.  I never met the man, but I know plenty of people that have.  In fact, I had a class or two during my time at Cincinnati Christian University in a classroom that was named in his honor.  The preaching classroom, where I delivered my first sermon ever, is named after Mr. Smith.  One of my professors during my time at CCU recently told me a short little quip about Smith.  Jon Weatherly told me that Smith used to say, “If you want to put up a plaque to honor me for my preaching, hang it over the copier.”  When I saw the news this morning, the name sounded familiar, and I clicked on the first article I came across describing his death.  What I learned reading that article brought me almost to tears, because I know the reward that he is receiving right now.  Wayne took Southland Christian Church in Lexington, KY from 152 attendees at its first service in 1956, to averaging more than 3,700 by the time he retired in 1995.  Today, Southland is the largest church in Lexington, averaging more than 12,000 on a weekend between their three campuses. 

It is not just how many attend Southland, though.  It is about the influence that Smith had on this world.  The ministers that he influenced that are now on the front lines of ministry today.  Or those that were influenced by those that were influenced by him.  I am in that category.  I never met the man, but many of the mentors and professors that I have studied under in the past were influenced greatly by Smith.  While again, I have never met him, I join in those mourning his loss, but also celebrate because we know the reward that was awaiting him.  Those close to him say that he often said he wanted to die in the pulpit, a sentiment that I have expressed as well.  And he came really close to doing that.  He spoke briefly Tuesday evening to a group of ministers, went home, and passed away peacefully in his sleep. 

There is a comparison to be made here between Summitt and Smith.  The news of Summitt’s passing shut down the sports world.  It even brought a statement from the POTUS about her influence.  And she had great influence.  When it comes down to it, however, Smith probably had a more far reaching and more eternally consequential influence, yet, you will not hear about his passing, or his life on national news.  In some ways that is a sad thing, but then again, if Smith is the kind of person that everyone makes him out to be, then I think it is fitting as well.  He would not want the attention.  I am not saying it is wrong to honor and mourn Pat Summitt; I just wanted to take a moment of your time and honor a man that has had a great deal of “Kingdom” influence.  May you rest in peace, Wayne B. Smith.  And I wish I could have been there to hear you receive those words we all long for at the end; “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

For more info on the life of Wayne B. Smith, please visit http://www.kentucky.com/news/local/counties/fayette-county/article86596192.html

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All In-Devotion to Jesus (Newspaper 4-16-16)

A couple of weeks ago, a group of us went to El Paso to see a Christian concert featuring TobyMac.  It was a great show, and I think all of us had a great time.  I’ve found myself listening to Toby’s new album almost constantly since the concert.  There isn’t a bad song on it, but the more I listen to it, the more one song really resonates with me more than any other.  The song is titled “Til The Day I Die” from the album This is Not a Test, and it really spells out what it should be like to live as a Christian.  I wish I could quote all the lyrics, however, here is what I really want you to know.  He sings, “Til the day I die, It’s Your name I’ll glorify. It’s runnin’ deeper than the ocean, this ain’t religion, it’s devotion.  365, every minute, everyday, so in the middle of the madness they can stretch me out like canvas, but I ain’t ever gonna fit in their frame.  I can’t stop, I can’t quit.  It’s in my heart, it’s on my lips.  I can’t stop, no, I can’t quit.  It’s in my heart, yeah, I’m all in.”

There is so much in that song, but what I really take from it is the commitment to be all in for God.  Being a Christian doesn’t mean just making a decision to accept Jesus one day and then going back to living like you were before you met Him.  It’s a commitment to be all in, til the day you die.  That’s what the song is getting at.  Look at this line again.  “This ain’t religion, it’s devotion.  365, every minute, everyday.”  Devotion, 365, every minute, everyday.  The definition of devotion is “love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person, activity, or a cause.”  Being a Christian calls for devotion, all day everyday.  We all mess up with this, but that’s when we just get up, dust ourselves off, and try again. 

We all need to be more devoted to Christ.  In fact, He warns us what will happen if we aren’t all in.  Revelation 3:15, 16 reads, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”  In other words, if we are just going through the motions, without any real devotion or commitment to Christ, then we are lukewarm, and He’s not ok with us being lukewarm.  I don’t know about you, but I want to be all in til the day I die.  Think about it this way.  We need to follow Paul’s example with what he wrote in Romans 1:16, 17.  He writes, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’”  I’m not ashamed of my devotion to Jesus, are you?

Thoughts from a Crosseyed Jesus Freak

Christian Living, God, Life, Ministry

TobyMac and Discipleship Followup

I wrote recently about the way that TobyMac has discipled other music artists, bringing them along in the ways of the Christian Music scene, as well as helping stay true to their roots of being Christians first, and musicians second.  This past Sunday evening, there were 16 of us that came together to see TobyMac and the Hits Deep Tour in El Paso, TX.  It was a great concert, one of the best (that’s saying a lot) shows I’ve seen Toby do, but more than that, you could feel the worship attitude in almost all the acts on the tour as well.  You could really tell that they were there to worship God first, and put on a great show second. 

There was a very telling moment, during one of the set changes, where I found out even more the discipleship atmosphere that Toby and his band, Diverse City, carry with them.  It’s not just other artists trying to make a career as a solo artist or group that Toby and the band have taken under their wing.  It’s not just fellow Christians that they show the love of Christ to.  During one of the changeovers, Diverse City’s drummer Brian Haley came out to talk about a Bible study/movement that he is a part of.  He was really passionate about it, because it was something that he has experienced in his own life.  The “We are One” movement is what he was talking about, but I don’t have a lot of information on what it is.

What struck me the most was that he was talking about discipleship and loving someone to the cross, instead of judging them away from the love of Jesus.  I related really well to that, but then he just kept talking.  He said that when he joined TobyMac and the Diverse City band, he got to see first hand what this looks like.  He told a story of seeing Toby and the band find someone that had been hurt time and again by the church.  Someone that really didn’t know who God was.  Someone that was addicted to drugs and alcohol.  Someone that had no relationship with Jesus.  And instead of turning away from him, they embraced him.  They brought this lost man into their group, and loved him to the cross.  They introduced him to God and a true relationship with Jesus.  Then he dropped the big bombshell.  He said, “and that man was…Me”.  He had firsthand knowledge of what true discipleship can do.  He lived it on the side of someone that was loved and discipled in such a way that he left a life of hopelessness and is now a child of God.  He’s been with the band for 15 years, and his life is totally different than what it used to be.

That’s what discipleship is all about, and that’s why we all need to find someone to disciple.

Christian Living, God, Life, Ministry, Newspaper

‘Jesus Wept’ Moments Help in a Broken World (Newspaper 4-2-16)

Coming off of a great weekend celebrating the resurrection of Jesus through Easter, I was quickly reminded that we live in a broken world.  Really, it’s easy to see that when we look around.  There is pain, anger, despair, and a longing for something better that most of us see on a regular basis.  We see news reports of attacks in this country and around the world, but sometimes it doesn’t sink in that this truly is a broken world. 

My reminder came with a phone call that most people in ministry dread.  A young mom had just lost her baby in the womb.  I won’t go into detail about the situation, but it quickly reminded me that I long for something better.  No one should have to deal with an innocent death like this.

Jesus understands our pain, however, because he lived in this world as well.  A fellow minister gave me a great example of this when offering support this week.  He called it a “Jesus wept” moment.  The shortest but one of the most meaningful verses in the Bible is John 11:35, which simply states, “Jesus wept”.  This was because one of his friends had just died, but he also knew he was about to raise Lazarus from the dead.  Jesus weeping was more because of the pain that the other people involved were feeling, and he took the time to weep with them.

While this is a broken world, with all that pain and suffering that we see, as Christians we have the hope of a better world.  That’s what this past weekend of Easter was all about.  It was celebrating Jesus conquering death and the grave.  Jesus going to the cross to pay the price for our sins, and then raising back to life gives us the hope that death is not final.  Take heart, because our savior has conquered death.  I Corinthians 15:55-57 puts it this way; “‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’ 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Thoughts from a Crosseyed Jesus Freak

Christian Living, God, Ministry

Tobymac and Discipling (Newsletter April ’16)

Music has always been a big part of my life, but it wasn’t until recently that I’ve realized just how big of a role different Christian bands have played in my walk with Christ over the years.  I listen to Christian rock and worship music while I work out, while I read, and even while I write.  In fact, my Pandora radio mix is playing through my headphones while I write this article.  Christian music is one of the best ways that I connect with God, and am able to refocus my life when I seem to have lost my focus.  So, you could say that music is a huge part of my life. 

We can learn a lot from different Christian musicians as well.  The one that really sticks out in my mind first and foremost is dc Talk.  They changed the way Christian music was looked at, and they paved the way for some of the most influential artists to this date.  But there were others as well.  Rich Mullins really challenged the perception of what Christian music was.  Audio Adrenaline was right there with dc Talk as they paved the way.  Skillet and Thousand Foot Krutch have continued to push the envelope and have created a sound that is allowing them to be able to play to secular crowds, getting the message of Christ out to those that otherwise may never hear it. 

When dc Talk broke up, I was really disappointed, and in fact I still hold out hope that one of these days they will at least put a reunion tour together.  The three members of dc Talk have all gone one to be successful outside of the group.  Kevin Max is now the lead singer of Audio Adrenaline, Michael Tait is with the Newsboys, and Toby Mac has a solo career with his band called Diverse City.  16 of us will be in El Paso this Sunday evening to see Toby, and I can’t wait!  But as I was thinking about this concert this week, I realized something.  As much as music has influenced my life over the years, there are ways that these musicians teach us about Christianity even outside of the music they perform.

Toby Mac is the perfect example.  Let me explain.  This concert that we are going to this weekend, including Toby, has seven bands.  At least two of the bands that will be performing are where they are today directly because of Toby Mac coming along side them, mentoring them, and helping them get opportunities to grow in their music.  Capital Kings and Hollyn, in other words, have been discipled by Toby Mac.  And these aren’t the only musicians that he’s helped along the way.  Jamie Grace may be the most well known artist that was discipled by Toby during her early years.  My first experience with Jamie was at a show where Toby was headlining, and she was on the ticket because of him.

What am I getting at?  We can learn a huge lesson from Toby Mac, dc Talk, and all these other musicians.  When they see someone that is wanting to walk the life they are already walking, they aren’t afraid to help them out.  They aren’t afraid to come along side of them, give them advice, teach them, disciple them, and show them what it really means to be a Christian musician.  But at the same time, I think they make it very clear that the first step is being a Christian.  They know how to disciple and to teach others to walk for Christ.  To follow Christ.  And we need to be doing the same thing.  Those of us that have been following Christ for a while, not that we have it all figured out, need to be willing to come along side others that haven’t had as much experience following Christ, and help them figure it out.  My guess is that someone in your life at some point has discipled you, and you wouldn’t be who you are today if it wasn’t for that person.  Become that person to someone else, and give them the help they need to follow Christ better. God Bless!

Christian Living, Newspaper

Getting Into Shape (Newspaper 3-12-16)

My wife and I recently joined one of the gyms here in town because we decided we needed to start taking our physical fitness a little more seriously.  We’ve been going anywhere from three to five times a week over the last four weeks, and we are both already seeing the benefits of working out on a regular basis.  I’ve noticed something interesting on our trips to the gym, and that’s that when we go about the same time everyday, we see almost the same people every time that we go.  It makes sense when I think about it, because as human nature, we all tend to do better when we do things in patterns.  In other words, it’s becoming habit for us to work out, and it’s habit for those that we see there on a regular basis as well.

When we first started talking about joining the gym, I told my wife that I was willing to take on the extra expense, as long as we regularly go.  So far, we have been doing that.  You may be wondering why I’m writing about the gym in a faith column.  Well it’s really simple when you get down to it.  Paul writes to Timothy in I Timothy 4:7-10, “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 9 This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. 10 That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.”

It says, train yourself to be godly.  There is nothing wrong with physical training, in fact, it says that it is of some value, however, our spiritual training is even more important.  The same principle applies to our spiritual training as our physical training.  We need to make our spiritual training a habit.  In other words, we need to be in the Word of God on a regular basis, we need to attend a gathering of other Christians on a regular basis.  We need to be focusing on our relationship with God on a regular basis. 

I’ve had a realization on the few days that we’ve missed going to the gym over the last month; I’ve missed it.  How many of us really miss it when something comes up and keeps us from studying God’s word or when we miss gathering with fellow Christians?  I know in my own life I haven’t been as committed to consciously working on my relationship with God as I have been committed to working out physically over the last month.  Let’s all start taking both physical and spiritual training seriously, and if we’re going to slip on one, let it be the physical.  “…train yourself to be godly. 8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

Thoughts from a Crosseyed Jesus Freak,

Kraig Birchfield

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Let Me Introduce Myself (Newspaper)

I’ve recently been given the opportunity to contribute articles on a weekly basis to our local paper, the Carlsbad Current-Argus.  It’s a faith/religion column that is run on Saturdays.  After the article runs in the paper each week, I plan on posting it here as well.  Here is the first…

Let Me Introduce Myself

My name is Kraig Birchfield, and I’m the minister at Central Christian Church located at 305 N. Oak St.   Since this is my first article that I’m submitting to the newspaper, I wanted to take some time to briefly introduce myself.  I’m 32-years old, and originally from East Tennessee.  My wife, Kelley, and I moved here about a year and a half ago to start our ministry at Central CC.  We absolutely love the community of Carlsbad, and look forward to being here for years to come. 

I’m excited about getting to contribute to the faith section in the paper, and would love to meet as many of you as I can.  We have a newsletter that we print monthly at the church, and I write on my personal blog as well.  In the blog and the newsletter articles, I refer to myself as a “Crosseyed Jesus Freak”.  That may be confusing at first look, so I thought I would take a moment here to explain where that name comes from.  Let’s look at “Crosseyed” first.  Simply put, this comes from my life verse of Hebrews 12:1-3.  I won’t quote it all for the sake of space, but it goes on to say in verse 2 to, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus”.  That phrase is where “Crosseyed” comes from.  That’s how I try to live my life, with my eyes fixed on Jesus, and what He did for me, and for us all, when He went to the cross for our sins.  In other words, I try to live my life, “Crosseyed”, constantly reminding myself who Jesus is and what He has done for me.

The “Jesus Freak” part really speaks to my age.  I was born in the early 1980’s, so I was a teen during the prime of one of the greatest pioneer Christian music groups of all time…dc Talk.  I was fortunate enough to see them as my first ever concert, and the tour that they were on at the time was called the Jesus Freak Tour.  “Jesus Freak” is one of the most popular Christian Rock songs of all time, and it’s where I draw the inspiration to call myself a “Jesus Freak”.  In the song, dc Talk sings, “What will people think when they hear that I’m a Jesus Freak, what will people do when they find that it’s true.  I don’t really care if they label me a Jesus Freak.  There ain’t no disguising the truth.”

Jesus is the best thing that has ever happened in my life, and I’m proud to call myself a “Crosseyed Jesus Freak”.  Like the song says, ‘there ain’t no disguising the truth”.  Jesus is my life, and He is why I love being in full-time ministry.  I can’t imagine doing anything else.  If you don’t know Jesus yet, I would love to talk with you sometime.  Ultimately, I want to see as many people become truly “Crosseyed Jesus Freaks” and living as true Christ followers as I can.  That’s my passion, and I look forward to sharing with you weekly about different aspects of my passion. 

Thoughts from a Crosseyed Jesus Freak,

Kraig Birchfield

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Only God Can Judge Me

I know the areas of my life in which I fail on a regular basis.  It’s human nature to not let everyone see the “worst” of us, but the thing about it is that it is not going to stay a secret.  In fact, God already knows those areas of our life.  It’s not just failing we’re talking about here.  We’re really talking about sinning, and to call it anything else than that is trying to sugarcoat it in an effort to make it seem not so bad.  So let me rephrase my first sentence.  I know the areas of my life in which I SIN on a regular basis.

The problem I’ve been seeing recently, even from people that I know would consider themselves Christians, is an attitude of trying to justify their behavior, or possible sin, by using the statement; “Only God can judge me!”  I get it.  Who likes to be told they are doing something wrong?  Who likes having to confront some of the worst parts of themselves, especially when having to deal with that is worse because we are our own worst critics at times.  It’s just easier to justify it, or gloss over the sin in our lives so that we don’t have to deal with it.  “God is the only one that can judge me”.

Is that a true statement, or are we just fooling ourselves when we use it?  The simple answer is, there really isn’t a simple answer.  First, let me deal with something that should be basic.  Saying God is the only one that can judge me as a justification for my bad behavior should not be a comfort.  God is going to judge all of us in the end, and we are told to confess our sins, not judge them or sweep them under the rug so to speak.  I John 1:8-10 reads, “8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”

So with that out of the way, let’s dive in to the question at hand; Is God the only one that can judge us?  The good thing is that scripture does seem to speak to this, but at the same time, it doesn’t make one clear definitive answer.  Jesus talks about this idea on more than one occasion, but let’s just focus on one for this discussion.  Matthew 7:1-5 (click here) is where Jesus famously talks about not trying to get the speck out of your brother’s eye while you still have a plank in your own eye.  In other words, don’t judge someone else’s sin without being aware of your own.  Some people like to say that He is saying that it is not right to judge anyone at anytime.  In fact, that passage starts off with, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”  

It appears, when you look at everything here, however, that He is saying make sure you deal with your own sin first, before helping your brother with his.  In fact, that’s exactly what He says.  He ends with this; “first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”  Remove the speck from your brother’s eye.  We have a responsibility to help our brother, but only after making sure we have taken care of confessing and getting rid of our own sin.  And that can be an ongoing process.  That’s where I John 1 that I quoted earlier really comes into play.

Also, let’s look at some of the instructions from Paul to the church in Corinth.  I Corinthians 5:12, 13 read this way; “12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. ‘Expel the wicked person from among you.'”  This would make it appear that if the person is not a believer, then we really have no business in judging them.  That doesn’t mean that we don’t try to build a relationship with them in order to introduce them to our Savior, but it means that we don’t judge them with the same standards that we should one of our own.  That’s a topic for a whole different blog that I may try to get to later.  But Paul seems to clearly state that we, as Christian, are to hold each other accountable, and that is only done by seeing sin as sin and calling it out.  He even goes as far to say that if that person won’t deal with their sin and get rid of it, then they should be expelled.  Not a popular notion, but one that is spelled out.

So, can only God judge you?  If you’re a non-believer, then yes, but I wouldn’t want to be on that end of the judgement either.  If you are a Christian, you are responsible to God, but your fellow Christians are charged with helping to hold you accountable.  It all goes back to the idea of community.  We are supposed to be in this together, and just letting a brother or sister slide by when a sin is apparent is not a very loving way to share that community.  It’s not about judging for the sake of holding someone down.  It’s about holding each other accountable so that we can all grow closer to God together.

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Does God Care About Now Or Only Eternity?

I came across a quote a few days ago, and the more I’ve thought about it, the more it bothers me.  There is some truth to it, but then there is some things that it alludes to that I think misses the mark.  The meme that the quote is found on is included below.

Gospel only for eternal life

I agree that some churches have stopped talking about sin and eternity.  That is to their detriment.  Preachers are charged with preaching the whole word of God, so we have to preach against the bad, as well as preach the good.  I also agree that there is no promise in scripture that if you give your life to Christ, then everything in this life is going to go well for you.  That’s simply now there, however, some of these churches that have gotten away from preaching against sin seem to preach a “prosperity gospel”, meaning that if you are a Christian then you are going to prosper in this life.

What I have an issue with in this quote is that Jesus did care about the well-being of the people that He was ministering to, in their physical lives.  That doesn’t mean that that was His only focus, but most of the miracles He performed were done to help people in their lives, not necessarily only in eternity.  He healed the sick, lame, blind, mute, and even raised the dead.

He also said this in Matthew 11:28-30; “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Does that mean that everything is going to be great?  Or easy?  Not at all.  But I believe that it means that if we are in Christ, when the bad things in life happen, we have His help in getting through them.  Not that He will take them away completely, but that we have the God of the universe on our side.  He will give us help and rest when we need it.  Just having a relationship with Him should make going through the hard times more bearable, but that doesn’t mean they won’t come.

I guess what I’m trying to say is this; Yes, we need to preach against sin, and we need to preach on eternity, because Jesus came to save us from our sin.  Our God, however, does care about us in the here and now.  That doesn’t mean that if we follow Him then everything is going to be easy, but it can mean that it will be easier to face the hard times in life when we have Him to lean on.

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The Vine and The Branches

This past Sunday, a person from my church came up to me about 10 minutes before I was to preach, and wanted to discuss a passage that they had been studying in their personal Bible Study because they felt that they were missing something in their lives that the passage was speaking about.  I love discussing passages with people, especially if they are trying to apply the passage to their lives, to improve their walk with Jesus.  That’s really what being a disciple is all about.  Unfortunately, Sunday mornings right before I preach is not a great time brain function wise for me.  I’ve got my sermon on the front of my mind, getting ready to preach God’s word, so I had to decline the discussion at that point, telling them that I would be glad to talk to them about it, just not right that moment.  Before we ended that conversation, however, they were able to tell me what passage they were struggling with.  The vine and the branches, and not sharing their faith with enough people, is all I got out of it, but now that I’ve had time to focus on it, I think I figured out what they were talking about.

Jesus has a teaching in John 15 (click here) talking about the vine and the branches, and that if you are not part of the vine, then you, as the branch, will be cut off.  This person that approached me seems to have such a heart for telling others about Jesus.  They always want to find ways to improve their efforts, and I applaud that.  The potential problem, however, is that they never seem to see any results, so they feel like a failure.  I’ve spent many conversations with this person, trying to encourage them in the fact that they are just to stay faithful, presenting Jesus to others.  The results or lack of results really has nothing to do with them.  But they stay down on themselves because they feel like they should be doing more.  I get that desire.  I want to see huge numbers come to Christ, because I know the freedom and the life that awaits them when they do.  But it’s not always up to us.

So, I had a little extra time this week, and I thought I would take a look at John 15, and Jesus’ teaching on the vine and the branch, to see what it says about the fear of being cut off.  There is a lot of good information in this passage, and it is of great value.  It is talking about living a life that is in Christ, which does bring to mind telling others about what you have found in Him.  But what it is getting at is that your life will change because of your relationship with Him.  People will be able to tell you are different just by your actions, in addition to what you say to them.

When I think about changing lives because of Christ, one of Paul’s more famous writings comes to mind.  In Galatians 5:13-26 (click here), Paul writes about living by the spirit.  In particular, he lists the fruits of the spirit in verses 22, 23.  What Jesus is talking about in John 15 is exhibited by the fruits of the spirit being seen in your life as described by Paul.  You are responsible for sharing the Gospel, but you are not responsible if that person doesn’t immediately accept it.  You are responsible for growing closer to Christ in your life, and help fellow disciples along the path toward a closer relationship with Jesus as well.  This doesn’t let you off the hook for never sharing your faith with someone that doesn’t know Him, but their reception to it doesn’t necessarily depend on you.

Still not sure?  Look at I Corinthians 3 (click here).  Paul is trying to teach the Corinthian church that it doesn’t matter who led each of them to Christ.  Those sharing Jesus with others are all doing what God has asked them to do, and sharing the same Gospel, so no one is better off because they accepted Jesus through one preacher or another.  But I think Paul has a lot to say to us in the matter of someone’s reception of what we share with them as well.  Think about it.  Paul says that he planted and Apollos watered, but it was God who made it grow.

In other words, all I’m trying to say is that all you can do is share your faith, and continue to grow closer to God.  If those you are trying to witness to listen to you or not, their response is really up to God.  Who knows, you may have planted a seed that will later be watered by someone else, and you may never see the result of that work, this side of heaven.  But you can see the fruits of the spirit grow in your own life.  Those fruits of the spirit grow when you remain in the vine.  Keep growing!