How to Become a Christian

Strange things happen when you mix Google with mindless internet browsing. Out of mere curiosity, I began typing phrases into the search bar to see what popular searches would appear in the drop down box below. 

For example...

In contrast...

But then I typed "how does one..." into the box. The top search was, "how does one become a believer in Jesus Christ," right before "how does one tree hill end" and "how does one get shingles." Now, if more people are asking about Jesus than One Tree Hill... doesn't that deserve an answer?

I clicked on the first link. To my amused disappointment, I was taken to an "about.com" page with an explanation of the gospel and six easy steps to becoming a Christian. To be fair, the woman who wrote the article used ample Biblical support and stated her doctrine clearly. But I hate it when people emphasize that becoming a Christian is easy. The last step cited on the webpage is "Tell someone about your decision," followed by Romans 10:9... "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

Now, in chapel this morning, the speaker spent several minutes on this verse. He stated (and I agree) that the emphasis here is not on "confessing with your mouth," but rather on "Jesus is LORD." Confessing Jesus as Lord means that you vow to give your entire life - mind, soul, and body, to Jesus Christ. You vow that everything you do will be for Him alone. Everything. That's hard, not easy. Living the Christian life is hard.

So, if being a Christian is hard, why become one in the first place? The answer is twofold. The first reason? God created and loves human beings, and sent his Son Jesus die a horrible death in order to take the punishment we deserve. When we accept Christ, we are able to talk to the all-powerful, loving, merciful God who rules the universe. Our lives gain new meaning, and we have the opportunity to carry out His will on earth and spend eternity with Him in heaven (I talk about this reason more in my previous post, "The Story of Love... and the Throne.") 

The second reason to become a Christian is simply this: The Bible is true. According to the Biblical gospel, human beings are wretched, sinful creatures in desperate need of a rescuer to save us from the wrath of a perfect God. Jesus Christ is that rescuer, and there is no other way to life except through Him. Period. The Bible unarguably insists Jesus is the only way to reach God, and no other religion accepts Jesus as Lord. Culture today says that all religions are equal. "You can have your religion, and I will have mine," they say. "There probably is no God or afterlife, but if there is, any belief system will do the trick." Hear me when I say that this is absolutely untrue. Invalid. Incorrect. Wrong. A piece of crap. A total lie. Not all religions lead to God. You can call me intolerant, but the reason I make this claim is because I will not stand idly by and watch kind, loving human beings unknowingly walk down the path to hell. I stand by truth.

True. Have we lost the meaning of truth? I pray not. Because the truth is that living the Christian life isn't easy. The Christian life is not summed up in a thirty second prayer. Yes, a person can become a Christian with a sincere declaration that Jesus is LORD. But true belief underlies action, and therefore without action, our faith is not sincere. God requires more than thirty seconds of our time; He requires our entire existence to be dedicated to Him. So why choose Christ? Because He loves us, and He is the only chance we have to make it.