The Life of Fran

I move in circles and amongst people and friends who want to change the world. They want to make the world a better place. They want to make a mark and let love flow over into every crack and corner of the world. These people love God, and they Love Jesus. The sacrifices these friends make are extremely admirable, and it is something that I dount whether I would be able to do myself.

They question I keep coming back to, is why is it so hard? Why do we all struggle to get people to live more like Jesus? To get more involved, to be less selfish and more humble. The list goes on, but it boils down to the people who have tasted the blessings and unconditional love from God trying to get this message across to the rest of the world, so that they too can life a life that will change the world for the better. Why is is so darn hard?

I have a possible answer to this, and it is an answer I keep coming back to time and time again. I am convinced that there is only one message that can generate such a big shift in a persons life that he has no choice but to change his life. A message that leads people to intense desire to live a life of passion and hunger for serving, changing and shaping the future.

I have sit through too many such attempted messages of very skilled and talented preachers trying to motivate people to become such passionate Jesus followers. These attempts normally work… for a while. No matter how skilled the motivator is, the person that needs to change often changes .. for a while. He gets involved, makes a life change but soon after falls back to the same lifestyle and routine. I would like to call these temporary effective messages painkillers. We are fed painkillers wherever we go that modifies out behaviour. It does a very good job of getting us to the point where we become involved, serve and change. But.. these painkillers never last. Soon after we find ourselves searching for the latest and greatest teaching mythology, the latest and greatest teacher. We jump around, addicted to these painkillers. To these failed attempts of making us live a life more like Jesus.

So, what is the right message? What will work? It is a message that most people yawn towards, and think “not again”. Yet is a message that is the only true message that will not change behaviour, but transform. It is a message that has an everlasting effect on every person because it tackles the root, and not the symptom. This message is simple, it is:

Christ crucified.

Yup. That is it. “Back to basics” you say? The basic concept of Jesus crucified is the single most important event ever to be talked about in the life of every believer. I dare say that 90% of believers out there does not have a full understanding of what Christ Crucified really means. If they did, the painkiller-theologies and messages would never me necessary.

- We would never have to tell the believer to be more serving, because he already IS.
- We would never have to tell a believer to be more humble, because he already IS.
- We would never have to tell a believer to be more like Jesus, because he already IS.

You see, the Christ crucified message is a message that tells you who you are, not who you need to be. It is a message that tells you that you are literally a new person. It is a message  that tells us that Jesus did way more than just die for our sins, and enable us to go to heaven. It is a message that tells us are righteous, holy, forgiven and loved.

It is the only message.