It's Not That Easy

Last week I wrote an entry titled, "It's Not as Simple as ABC." I had intended for that to be the last word on the subject, but this morning I was directed to a missionary's web site on which there was a page entitled, "Becoming a Christian is as Easy as ABC." A search on Yahoo revealed many more similar pages. This error is worse than the first. Celebration Church in Blountville, Tennessee has a typical presentation. The heading says, "Becoming a Christian is as Easy as ABC," followed by the same ABC enumeration mentioned in my previous article.

I believe this presentation is not only unscriptural but sends the wrong message. After all, easy come — easy go. What is easy is, in most cases, of little value. Our churches are filled with so-called believers who do not value the salvation they claim to possess.

I know that no two salvation experiences are alike. I cannot judge the manner by which you became a Christian with the way I was introduced to Christ. Some, like Zacchaeus and Saul of Tarsus, appear to have been saved with little preparation or mourning for sin. Martin Luther, on the other hand, agonized for years until he finally found peace in and with Christ.

The plumb bob of Scripture does not warrant our saying that becoming a Christian is easy. Let's examine the Scriptures to see if this is so.

"Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many," Jesus said, "will seek to enter in, and shall not be able," (Luke 13:24). Does this sound easy to you? Strive is also translated in other versions as "try hard," "make every effort," "exert yourselves." The Greek word from which it is translated is the same word that we get agonize from. It seems to me that Jesus is saying that getting in at the strait gate isn't easy at all. For one thing, the gate is strait (not straight). The American Heritage Dictionary says of the word in its noun form that it is, " A position of difficulty, perplexity, distress, or need." The context of the quotation bears that out for "many will seek to enter in and shall not be able."

In another place Jesus lays down one of the requirements to be his disciple:

"If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever does not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first, and count the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, 'This man began to build, and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first, and consult whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends ambassadors, and desires conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that does not forsake all that he has, he cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26-33)

Does that sound easy to you? No, it isn't. Why don't we hear that from our pulpits? Because it doesn't preach. It doesn't build big churches. It isn't seeker-sensitive. It might chase off those we would like to reach.

To tell people that it is easy to become a Christian is first a lie. All lies have their origin with Satan (John 8:44). To tell people it is easy to become a Christian is to care more about the size of your church or the notches on your evangelistic rifle than to care about truth, Jesus Christ, or the souls of those that are misled by your attempts at getting them saved.

To tell people that it is easy to become a Christian is to set them up for a fall. It is easy to say A, B, C. It is much harder to become a Christian. It is easy to repeat a mantra; it is much more difficult to be a disciple of Christ. It is easy to join the Army: it is much harder to be a soldier.

Too often, we parrot that which we have been told without thinking much about it. Our desires and our motives are pure, but the message is faulty. We need to think biblically and we need to think critically. When we know the truth, we should tell the truth and let the consequences rest with God.