Congruent means
agreement, as when two (or more) of anything are exactly matched. The seats in our auditorium are congruent in
that sense; they are all the same. When
the psychologist speaks of congruence as it relates to people, he is pointing
to the inner person and the outer person matching-up. The opposite would be the one we call a
"phony", or one who puts on an act.
I heard about the mascot of an Army company. He was just a common little
"mongrel", and the enlisted men cared for him, and he followed at
their tired feet on long hikes, KP, and all.
One day two officers spotted the dog running playfully along. As soon as the dog spotted the officers it
began to limp and hobble along on three legs.
When the dog was well past the officers he began to walk and run just as
before. The explanation is that the dog
had learned from the enlisted men that the best way to keep off heavy, nasty
work details was to fake sore feet!
Congruence in
the believer's life has to do with matching up the reality of Christ in
us...with what we do! When there really
isn’t a match, it’s not exactly “phony” but it is what I call "miserable Christianity". This happens when a person accepts Christ as savior
because he's been told there is joy, truth and life in Jesus. He experiences the wonder of forgiveness, and
being part of the family of God. And all
this leads him to join in with a church.
Now he wants all
these wonderful Christians (who seem to have it together) to think well of
him. So he develops a "churchy personality"
to take the place of the "real him" while he's in the church
house. The different personality says
things like, "Amen", and "righteousness", and
"sanctification", words he'd never say down at the job. And he talks about joy and peace, answered
prayers...all that stuff! But all the
while he somehow feels like he's living on the fringe....not quite a part of
the whole thing. He talks about joy, but
he feels frustration...He honors truth in his heart, but constantly falls into
this "churchy personality" to hide who he really is! He talks about NEW LIFE in Christ, but
somehow it is more an EXISTENCE than abundant living. He knows it’s a lie, but he’s stuck, feels no
joy, and its eating him up inside. He’s
got a full-blown case of Miserable Christianity!
If you have
ever felt that way, or known someone who feels like that, please note that
there is a reason for this. The root
cause of miserable Christianity is found in the misunderstanding of what makes
for a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ.
We can understand this by examining three perspectives about our calling
as Christians:
PERSPECTIVE #1 - WE
ARE:
Called to a life of joy!
I have said these things to you so that my
joy may be in you,
and you’re your
joy may be complete. John 15:11
Jesus was a
joyful, happy person; he was “alive with living”. I can say this with assurance, because I read
in the gospel accounts how children came to Him. Children don't hang around drab and sour
people. Two teenagers were standing in
the Sunday school building. As they
talked, a grumbly old sourpuss walked past. One of the teens said to the other,
if
that's what 30 years of Christianity will do for you, then I want out now!
Dr. Tommy
Starkes was my professor of missions in seminary. He used to tell us that he enjoyed his Christianity. It wasn't always so. When he was growing up the folks in his
church seemed to think that "...becoming a Christian was writing down 10
things you wouldn't do anymore, and being miserable for Jesus the rest of your
life."
Dr. Starkes
could laugh at himself too. Once on a
mission trip to South America he preached to a large Spanish-speaking crowd
through an interpreter. Dr. Starkes
spoke the language, but not very well.
He wanted to “break the ice” so he told a cute little story through the
interpreter. But what the interpreter
said to the crowd was: The
white man has told a joke. I don’t
understand it, and I don’t think you will, but let’s be nice to him. When I count to three, everybody laugh…uno,
dos, tres…[1]
Christians are
called to a life of joy. The word (joy)
itself literally means "delight".
The same word is used in Luke (2:10) to announce the birth of Jesus. In our text (John 15:11) Jesus declared it
was this delight that was to be in us.
He used a noun. It isn't
something we DO. It is a reality within
that we ARE! But it leads to the outward
signs of rejoicing (Phil 4:4). In other
words, the joy Jesus places IN us
does something TO us.
A young man got
saved on the first night of a five-day revival meeting. The second night the fella came back, and all
through the service he would shout "Amen", "Hallelujah". He was happy!
The pastor went to him and warned him to be a little quieter, but to no
avail. The third and fourth nights were
the same, shouting "Amen, Hallelujah" all through the meeting. So the pastor got the Lay Leader, and they
talked to this joy-filled new believer.
"Son," said the parson, "this'cheres the last night of
our meetin’; won't you find a way to settle down? With all your 'Amen-in', somebody's gonna
mistake us for a Pentecostal church.
Tell you
what....if you calm down for tonight we will buy you a brand new pair of
boots." Well the boy agreed. But about half way through the sermon the joy
was bubbling up so that he thought he was going to bust wide-open. He squirmed and tried his best to contain
himself. Then the choir sang a wonderful
praise song and the boy couldn't stand it a moment longer. He stood right up in the middle of the
service and shouted, "Amen, amen.
Boots or no boots, Hallelujah, praise the Lord."
Someone has
said that "...happiness is excitement that has found a settling-down
place, but there is always a little corner that keeps flapping around." Joy does indeed fill the believer, and causes
the believer to be happy. We've got
something wonderful that causes us to be filled with joy. We are sinners who have been rescued,
redeemed from the penalty of our own sinfulness.
PERSPECTIVE #2 – We
are:
Called to a life of discipleship
Then Jesus told his disciples,“If any want to
become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and
follow me." Matthew 16:24
The unmistakable
meaning of this verse is that the disciple of Christ must serve in the same way
the Master served. The reality of
salvation is that we may not only come to Jesus so He can FORGIVE our sins; we
come with the understanding that WE will FORSAKE those sins, placing our lives
in His hand. We become like a tool,
ready to be used in His service. Look at
the larger picture, drawn for us by the words Jesus uses...
·
He says "deny self"...that
means we fully renounce the ownership of our own life and destiny, making God
the captain, the commander of all we do.
·
He says "take up our
cross"...that is the burden of sacrifice; we are ready to place God's
kingdom ahead of personal pursuits.
·
And He says "follow me"...which
means perfect obedience.
I must admit to
you that I am not comfortable with all the demands the New Testament makes on
my life. But following Jesus means
serving, and a servant does what his Master desires. We must be faithful servants; understanding
or not, we do our part. God is the
Master architect, and He knows how our part will fit together in His
plans. We do the job we're fitted
for.
So…two
perspectives;
·
We are called to Joy...
·
We are called to Serve...and…
PERSPECTIVE #3:
Joy and Serving are
inseparable
But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and
all these things will be given to you as well.
Matthew 6:33 (NRSV)
Throughout the
Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5-7) Jesus shares the keys to the abundant life of
joy. Many times the Lord says,
"Blessed are..." which easily translates "O how happy, how joyful". And what is connected with that happiness is
the life of serving.
Jesus teaches
that material things are not the purpose for which we are given life. But material necessities will be given us because
God provides for those who seek His kingdom as first priority.
To the BOTTOM LINE:
What is it you
are looking for? Is it a life of
joy? Do you want to live with the deep
down feeling of peace and contentment?
Do you desire congruence...to feel the joy within, and to live a life
that matches up with that joy?
If you have
given your sins to Jesus to be forgiven, you will experience the joy of being
saved. But there is deeper joy
available. The answer is to be found in
commitment to the Lord, serving Him. It
is when you give your service to Him that you are taking up your cross and
following Him.
God has given
instructions for the joy-filled, abundant life.
The instructions are found in the Bible.
In capsule form we could sum up the whole this way: Love Christ - Live for Christ - Serve
Christ. That’s what leads to real joy;
joyfully-fruitful!
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