We Celebrated The Resurrection. Now What?

Yesterday was Easter. Most Christians marked this day by worshiping with other Christians. We sang, shared in the Lord’s Supper, and probably heard a sermon focused on the resurrection in some way. It is a, if not the, highlight of the Christian year. But now it is over.

So, now what?

Christians in the US are struggling with the concept of discipleship. Church leaders even struggle to define disciple (I still find most churches have no agreed upon definition of what “discipleship” is). So, it should be no surprise that we now re-enter the world after our time of focus and are not always certain what we are supposed to be doing!

Our faith is challenged by finances, politics, relationships, personal health and a growing awareness that the world—by this I mean America—doesn’t like or respect us. We are frequently if not constantly challenged to either accept the world’s values while still maintaining that we are His disciples, or risk being branded as out of touch, crazy, useless, even hateful. News articles recount the many ways Christians are being challenged and reviled as though these things should surprise us and rouse us to action.

Jesus told us plainly these things would happen. It has never been easy to be truly devoted to Jesus because it has always involved speaking the truth–not my truth, or someone else’s truth as though there is a smorgasbord of truth, but the truth. And this truth is not about politics, or economics, or social justice. It is about the state of the human soul and the work of Jesus as confirmed by the Father in the resurrection we just celebrated.

The word evangelical has become clouded with meaning that is more from the world than from the Lord. But our mission still involves evangelism—telling the truth about the good news that Jesus has provided a way for us to be forgiven. This is the mission of all disciples–all Christians! Unfortunately, for someone to accept the good news requires that they acknowledge the bad news—that this world, and more to the point, we—are fallen and cursed. We are cursed. Our family members are cursed. Our friends are cursed. Our country is cursed. We have no hope without the redeeming work of Jesus.

Politics won’t save us, so why are so many working so hard for political ends? Wealth and prosperity won’t save us, so why have so many made their own prosperity the highest good? “Justice” won’t save us, because we are incapable of being just without first submitting to Him, so why are so many Christians devoted to social justice causes above the gospel? Health won’t save us, because we are all going to die if Jesus doesn’t return first, so why are we so focused on the benefits of “science”.

So are we to ignore these things? Are we to be so spiritually focused that we are of no good to the world we have been planted in? Of course not. But we need to remember that above all else is our devotion to Jesus and the gospel. We are not here for politics, or science, or justice or prosperity—we are here to serve our Lord as ambassadors to a lost world. We need His priorities to be our priorities. This means putting Him and the mission He gave us first (prior to other things in our lives). Others will continue to be focused on various issues and missions as though they are the most important thing in life. But we cannot afford to join them in these missions. Our mission is to tell the world the truth. It is fallen and needs Jesus above all else!

So, who will you tell this week? How will you tell them? How will you make sure the good news is shared as good news?

Know Jesus and Be Faithful!

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