Being Christian in a Secular World

“Being a Christian is hard!”

Yes, it can be. It seems like everything Jesus taught us is a constant battle against what our culture and human nature screams at us. During a Bible study a few months ago, we were discussing our faith when a sister said to our group “I was a casual Christian in my younger days – boy, it was much easier back then!”

What did she really mean?

Sometimes it’s difficult living the daily life of a Christian. Throughout scripture, Jesus reminds his disciples that God is active every day, just as they should be. For each of us, Jesus is saying we must be active and visible in our faith every day, and not just on Sundays. That type of commitment takes a lot more discipline, obedience, and love.
Living as a Christian in the 21st Century is challenging. You have to want it more than the easier path of following what the world tells us. 

Christ instructs us to love others, including our enemies, even when they don’t love us.

Christ tells us to put others first, even when society tells us it’s all about our dreams, our influence, and our spotlight.

Christ expects us to serve others, even though we may not have the freedom to serve, or we just don’t want to. Servanthood is not very popular in our culture today, yet Jesus tells us “Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant.”

Scripture teaches us to give, expecting nothing in return. Some of us are better at this than others, but how often does our giving come with the expectation there’s something in it for us?

Obviously there can be a toll, or sometimes even a price, to following Jesus. So why would anyone want to do it? The Bible makes a clear case that we will be rewarded both in this life and the next for doing the things Jesus asks of us. Perhaps the fact that they are so hard has something to do with why God rewards us for doing them!

We “lay up treasure in heaven” by making right decisions now, by living in such a way that we help “His kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

May God continuously lead your path.