Worst Christian I Know?

What qualifies you as the worst Christian someone knows? Ask Mike Garza and you are treated to a creative communion talk that grabs your funny bone so it can sneak up on you with a Nathan the prophet sucker punch that leaves you reeling with the reality that “you are the man!” Like the apostle Paul we are left with the resolve, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners –of which I am the worst (1 Timothy 1:15).” Fortunately, Paul also concludes, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ...there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 7:24-8:2).” Such freedom however, cannot be taken for granted or cheapened by disregard for the costly price that had to be paid in our behalf. Our place in Christ spans from the lofty assurance that we are seated with him in the heavenly realms to the sacrificial call to be crucified with Him. Being conformed to the image of Christ is a daunting challenge that requires more surrendering than it does rendering. That is, the sinner redeemed never forgets the sins that kept him from his God. Like Isaiah we cry out, “Woe to me… I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips (Isaiah 6:5).” And so we live our lives in grateful stride hoping that our meager offerings of obedience and love will be acceptable to our God not because of who we are but who we have become in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I’ve spent a lot of time recently with three brand new grandkids holding, rocking and drinking up the beautiful innocence of a newborn. How can these precious little ones ever be viewed as part of sinful mankind? It is their innocence that highlights the woeful reality of our lot of being the worst Christians we know! They remind us that not only do we need the cleansing blood of our Savior but we must be reborn… we must discover the birth that is from above that strips us of our arrogance and releases us from a selfishness that is self-destructive. We must rest in God’s hands and trust in His Spirit’s lead.

Now, the rub here is that all I have said is a spiritual truth that you know, believe and trust in. How is it that even though we have crucified the old man and put on the new man, we continue to struggle with sin? The good fight of faith is as much internal as it is external and only when we accept that we are the worst will we embrace the one who is the best! So let us gather around His table again and again to be reminded of where we were, who we have become and where we are going as we proclaim His death until He comes again! -DAN