What If All I Want Is To Be A Good Christian?

At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did. But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. - Acts 9:36-37 

When was the last time you heard a message about Tabitha, aka Dorcas? I'll wait. I'm going to venture that most of us have read right over her. Her story is in the same chapter as Paul's conversion and subsequent escape from the Jewish mob that sought to kill him. That's way more exciting than Dorcas. I suppose the only time we truly hear about her is in conjunction with Peter raising her from the dead, and healing people, but even then the focus is on Peter. Part of me thinks that Dorcas is okay with that. 

There's a contentment in the life of Dorcas that I think we're missing in our age of chasing greatness. Today, churches are full of sermons on starting a business or allowing God to help us fulfill our lifelong dreams. Dorcas' life, what little we know of it, has none of these pretenses. She was a woman, "filled with good works and charitable deeds." She was a woman who made tunics and garments (Acts 9:39). Is this pursuit of greatness required if all someone wants to do is be a good Christian? What's a good Christian? Maybe a better way of asking the question is What if the only desire is to be a truly disciplined follower of The Lord Jesus Christ? That's what a disciple is, a disciplined follower. A Christian disciple is one who adheres to the teachings or Christ and lives as directed by Christ. 

Ecclesiastes 9:10 exhorts us to do whatever our hands find with all of our might because there is no work or wisdom in the grave where we are going. We're all going to leave something behind, whether good or evil but do we all have to be great? Is there shame in simply loving The Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength? Do our acts of kindness need to be broadcast? Must our prayer life be on display for all to see? Jesus warns about this in Matthew 6 when He teaches on giving, prayer and fasting. It's all to be done in secret and our Father who sees in secret rewards us. Our pursuit of being great can come at a great cost, because we may begin to value the opinions and favor of men over the smile and approval of God.

A wise man once told me that living for God isn't hard. It's only hard when we apply man's rules to it. Micah 6:8 immediately comes to mind when I think of his quote and his life. 

He has shown you, O man, what is good; 

and what does the Lord require of you, 

but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

Is there anything more that is required of us than this? Doing justice and loving mercy flow from our walking humbly with our God. What about disciple making? What about making His Name known among the nations? What about leaving a godly seed in the earth?  What about making our life count for eternity? All of that flows from walking humbly with our God. It flows from being content in the grace that He has given. We keep wanting success in The Kingdom to look like success in the world and IT DOESN'T.

In The Kingdom, winning looks a lot like losing. We are constantly warned against, self-righteousness, gold and the praises of men. All of these lead to death. Works for the flesh, no matter how religious they look on the outside, will never guarantee entrance into The Kingdom. The blood of bulls and goats wasn't enough, and neither are the works of our hands. Hebrews 13:10-16 gives us a great exhortation to follow Christ outside the gates and bear reproach offering continual praise and doing good and sharing with others, with these sacrifices God is well pleased. We must learn to embrace the normalcy of being outsiders.

We lose sight of this grace when we compare ourselves and pursue a greatness that God has not designed for us. Dorcas made clothes and the only thing we truly have that remains of her life is that Peter raised her from the dead and as significant as that is, you know what? Dorcas died again. Was her life a waste? Did her life not count for eternity? Clearly the answer to these questions is no. Not because she is mentioned in Scripture but rather because of what Scripture tells us about her, which is very little, but we can see that her little acts of kindness touched the people with whom she came into contact with and that she was a believer. She was a follower of Christ and we shall meet her in glory. 

For the Christian all of life is sacred. There is no compartmentalizing in the life of the disciple. Paul puts it this way 

Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God - 

1st Corinthians 10:31

 

May we learn first to pursue God and allow everything else to flow from there. For the one who is the least will be the greatest (Luke 9:48).

In Christ, 

Storm Knight

photos courtesy of Bess Hamiti and Johnathan B respectively www.pexels.com