Last week we began our new series called People of Truth. The goal of this series is to remind us to consider our thinking, our actions, and our emotions in our everyday lives and whether they are aligned with Jesus. Does it really matter if we mentally agree with the Nicene Creed that we recite every month if it doesn’t actually affect how we think, act, and feel? As Christ-followers we are pursuing a righteousness that is higher than that of the scribes and Pharisees.
Now, here is the problem. For too long, many of us have believed that Christian faith is saying a prayer and turning up for church on Sundays. Maybe we serve in Children’s Ministry and throw some money in the offering, but the bulk of our Christianity is merely believing certain things about Jesus. We see something different in the New Testament.
For example, look at the call of Matthew the tax collector: “As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. 'Follow me,' he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.” Jesus didn’t ask Matthew to believe some facts and say a prayer, he invited Matthew to follow him. Was this the day that Matthew was “saved”? Or was it the next day? Or a month later? I don’t know. But, what is important is that we see the example of Matthew and ensure that we are actually following Jesus. We follow Jesus by learning the beautiful way of Jesus and coming into alignment with how He thinks, how He acts, and how He feels.