Are You Ready?

This past Sunday we introduced a new series called “Not A Fan.” The concept is that Christians are not to just admire or enthusiastically admire Jesus (which is what a fan does), but to follow Him. To be willing to lay down their lives, to leave, to cleave, to surrender and sacrifice for the cause of Jesus.

In that introductory message we presented you three questions that you must address if you are truly going to claim to follow Jesus Christ. The first question was “Why are you here?” In other words why do you carry the name of Jesus, call yourself a Christian, go to church, serve and give your time and money? What is the reason?

The second question built on the first and asked “Are you all in?” So many of us do come to Christ for the right reasons but selectively commit certain portions or our lives to Him, this is never acceptable for Jesus, He wants all of us, a total commitment.

Then finally, “Have you made it your own?” You could have the right reasons, totally commitment yourself to something that is someone else’s idea. We often ride the faith/relationship of our leaders, pastors, parents, relatives or friends instead of carving our own relationship with Jesus one on one with Him.

So where do you fall? Honestly, don’t just gloss over this, but take some time to think and reflect on them. Look at your lifestyle, the things you say about yourself, about others. Look at what you do, where you entertain. Look at how and why and even how often you give with no expectation of anything in return, not even a tax deduction!

(2 Corinthians 13:5) “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?

I know, some of you reading this are in one of two categories, but I am going to force you to D.T.R. with Jesus (Define The Relationship). So one person might be in the category of NOT READY, the other might BE READY.

1.) So if, you ARE NOT READY or you feel it’s too soon to have the DTR talk with Jesus – You are just getting to know Him. You need to make the time to watch the messages, come to the Wednesday night study at 7pm and let this series help you get there. Trust me, if you continue down this road of Non-DTR you will be miserable with your relationship with Christ and might end up with shallow religion and walls built up over time.

2.) Others of you ARE READY but have “Ran Away” for months, even years and you need this series to kick you into gear and have that DTR talk with Jesus. You have to define the relationship with Jesus and find out where you stand.

For those that are READY, I think you welcome this DTR talk. Your ready to move and want a different level of commitment, your not comfortable with the casual or the convenient. You want something more devoted, something more committed.

For those that are NOT READY, let me help you understand why. Usually it’s because you like the set-up you have with Jesus. He is a nice guy & you like church—it gives you something to do, sip some lattes, make some friends, admire the building, etc… You kind of like what you have going, got Jesus where you want Him. This idea of moving to another level gets you anxious, nervous, it can often trigger the “Fight or flight” response in us.

Let me calm your nerves, all I want to do is Define it today, “Where do you stand with Jesus Christ?” It’s really up to you after this talk. If you run away or run to Jesus. The choice is yours.