A self-examination

1 John 2:1-2

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. ² He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

John is writing with great aspirations. He writes a message to his readers with the hopes that they, in reading his message, will not sin.  Anyone who puts his ideas and thoughts in writing could similarly aspire the same thing,  What a powerful message that would be. 

But even John, in writing under the inspiration of God knew his readers would sin. John knew that because he himself was also a sinner. You are a sinner, I am a sinner, and aren't we glad John kept on writing  and says, "But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father--Jesus Christ the Righteous One."

So here we are, reading the words of one who wants us to never sin again, knowing that we probably will, and happy that we have Jesus as our advocate because He and only He is the Righteous One. We have great aspirations of being exactly what God wants us to be, but then we slip and find our lives the source of disappointment and hurt and negligence and any number of things which God calls sin. 

Allow me to examine this from another angle, this time in the form of asking ourselves, "What does it really mean to me to be a Christian?" That question was asked by conference speaker several years ago, and the answer of the majority was quite interesting. A large number of those responding to the question found some way to give an answer which included the name of the denomination of their home church.  That's like answering, "For me to be a Christian, it means I belong to the Lutheran Church."  Or another might answer, "The Baptists preach and practice the Bible so that's where I hang my hat."  One answer from the conference was even more revealing, " I am fourth generation in the same Methodist church and therein lies my spiritual security."  My purpose is not to take pot shots at any particular church, but to show you there is a tendency for us to place so much confidence in a church name, we become more attached to that name than the name of Jesus! No church is going to be your advocate before the Father when you commit sin. Remember what John says. Jesus is our advocate. He alone is the one that pleads our case before the Father. 

This weekend, today being Friday, then Saturday, and then Sunday, I want to challenge you to ask yourself again, "What does it mean to me to be a Christian?"  Be truthful with yourself and with God in your answers. Regardless of where you are or what you are doing, examine your thoughts, you actions, your words on each day of the weekend, and actually question yourself to see if you are involved in things which would identify you as a Christian.

You might also wish to read a little further in 1 John 2, because there are some powerful words in verse 6 which will help you when you question yourself. "Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did."  That, my friends, is the only answer we will need as we spend the weekend in self-examination. 

<ronbwriting@yahoo.com>