"As long as he's been a Christian, he shouldn't still be such a sinner!"

Paul wrote to the church in Philippi saying, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (That’s Philippians 1:6.)

Great verse, right?  Dad isn’t giving up on me, no matter what.  I love that!

But there’s a double message:

Writing to “all” the believers in the Philippian church (1:1), Paul basically says with this verse, “You ain’t perfect yet.”  That’s a slap, in a way.  

(The word "will" is in the future tense, in the English as well as in the original Greek.)

"I’ll claim you,” God is saying, “but I won’t say you’re finished, by any means.”  He's talking to the “overseers and deacons,” too.  Wow!

Have you ever met a mean or self-absorbed “Christian” and doubted they were really saved?

Before you judge, remember what God is saying to you in this verse:  “I’ve started working on you, but I’m obviously not done.” 

That's got to make us humble.

If you're looking for a friendly, family church in Raleigh where phony perfection is not encouraged, come see us. 

What to Do When YOU Turn Out to Be the Embarrassing Member of the Family

I had a friend recently move to Charleston.  Her first week in South Carolina, she visited a church which very generously gave her a t-shirt as a gift.  She still wears it, though she ended up joining a church with some deeper messages. 

She suggested to her new pastor that he consider giving away t-shirts, too.  He joked that he didn’t want some guy robbing a bank sporting their logo on his shirt.  

Good point.  Fortunately, Jesus lets us all “wear his logo,” even though the very best of us can only sully his image. 

In Luke 19, Jesus walked into Jericho looking to save the most disreputable character in the city.  Zacchaeus’ conversion raised such a stink that Jesus had to step in to defend him.  Having Zacchaeus as a friend made people love Jesus less.  Zacchaeus was that unpopular.

Well, that’s all of us.  Nobody is so good that Jesus says, “I’m glad we’ve got that guy in church now.  He’s bringing up the averages.”  We’re all an embarrassment to Jesus.  He's perfect and we're not.

But look what Zacchaeus did:  When he realized that he had become a serious liability to Jesus, he immediately offered restitution.  “Half my wealth I give to the poor.”  He did his best to make things right.  

(People are going to hate you anyway, since you’re a Christian. Don’t sweat that. Satan will bring people out of the woodwork to dislike you. You should wear that a little bit proudly – read John 15:20.  I’m sure there were plenty of folks in the crowd that were never satisfied with what Zacchaeus did to make things right.)

Application:  When you lose your cool at that restaurant with the terrible service – and you shouldn’t lose your cool – go back in and apologize.  I've had to eat more than my share of crow over the years.  When someone at work corrects you for something, be gracious.  Be the first to make up when you have a disagreement with your friends.  And yes, don’t rob a bank with a cross on your t-shirt.  

You’ll never be perfect, but you can at least make a valiant Zacchaeus effort.

"Inviting people to church is not evangelism." Or so I've been taught.

A seminary professor used to tell me, “Inviting people to church is not evangelism.”  I disagree.

In seminary, we were trained to walk people through the “Roman Road.”  Using passages from Romans like 3:23 and 6:23 (along with other passages like John 14:6), we were taught to show people they were sinners destined for hell, but that the blood of Jesus could wash away their sin, securing them a spot in heaven.  

The Romans Road is doctrinally correct.  I agree that it’s important that we understand how to make the case that Jesus is the only antidote for our sinfulness and our only ticket to salvation.  I just don’t think talking about their sin is our best first tool for reaching lost people.

I know that a lot of good Christians disagree.

I had a call the other day from a man inquiring about our church.  He wanted to know if we were doing evangelism.  “Yes,” I said.  “Every day.”  He wanted to know if I confronted people about their sin as a means to evangelize them.  “Nope.”  That wasn’t the answer he was looking for.

When Jesus walked into Jericho in Luke 19, He ran into a sinful, arrogant tax collector named Zacchaeus.  Jesus didn’t ask him if he’d ever lied, stolen or looked lustfully at a woman.  The answers to those questions were self-evident.  Instead, Jesus simply said, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately.  I must stay at your house today” (19:5).  

"Have you ever killed anyone?  Ah!  You need Jesus, then."

Those 11 words (in the Greek) changed Zacchaeus’ life forever.  He was saved immediately and powerfully.  It doesn’t seem like these few words should have been enough to crack such a tough nut.

Instead of focusing on people's sin, perhaps we could teach Christians the Luke 19:5 method of evangelism:  “Dude, come down out of that tree!  I’m staying with you today.”  Maybe we could say it in Aramaic.  Would people get saved?  Probably that wouldn't work, either.

But I don’t think Jesus’ words to Zacchaeus that day were all that it took to save him.  Let me explain:

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12).  But He also said, “You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14).  Which is it?  Well, it’s both.  Jesus works through people.  He is the light, which, reflected off his people, gives light to the world.  The world is attracted to Jesus’ light as it is reflected off us.

What does this mean, in practical terms?  The day Jesus came to Jericho was not Zacchaeus’ first encounter with the Light.  He had met believers who had given testimony about Jesus.  He had seen some reflected light.  How do I know?  Zacchaeus climbed up a tree to see Jesus, didn’t he?  A dignified rich man would not have climbed a tree to see someone he wasn’t already excited about.  When Jesus stopped at that tree and called Zacchaeus by name, He was harvesting seeds planted by Christians Zacchaeus had encountered already.

Brier Creek Fellowship

Application:  Be a light.  Love everybody you meet.  Make real friendships with as many people as you can.  Don’t be self-involved, but pour yourself into the lives of others.  And simply let them know you’re a Christian.  Make sure to warmly invite people to attend your church, but make sure they don’t feel pressured.  Then let the Holy Spirit do his work.

And leave the preaching to your preacher.



Come check us out at www.BrierCreekFellowship.com.