Complete Christianity
by
Tim Leahy
It appears that Christianity has a problem (broad, I know). There seems to be a disconnect between what the Word of God says and what many professing Christians do, from reading and obeying to understanding the times and knowing what to do (1 Chronicles 12:32).
Simplistically, if we don’t read the Word of God, we won’t know what it says, and we won’t do what it says. As has been said, “You do what you believe.”[1] More than that, we won’t do what we don’t understand.
For many professing followers of Jesus, we fail to connect the dots between what God’s Word says and what’s happening in the Church and in the culture.
If we are going to be all that God created us to be, we must strive to become complete Christians. I hear the backlash already. Regardless of the responses, the reality is that an incomplete anything does not function or flourish as intended.
The reality is that God created us to be great because God is great. He did not create us to be mediocre. To be great, we must desire greatness and do what it takes to achieve it (discipline and drive). I call this the 3 D’s of Success (Desire, Discipline, and Drive).
To be great, we need to know what greatness looks like so we can work toward it. Here’s how I define greatness:
- Love for God and people (Matthew 22:36-39)
- Making disciples (Matthew 29:18-20)
From these two pillars of Christianity, the rest of the house is built. Defining what love for God and love for people is constitutes the major portion of the house, as making disciples is part of love for God and love for people.
Before we unpack the first pillar, let’s address the second pillar, making disciples. One of the major reasons for the chaos in the culture is the failure of Christians to make disciples. As mentioned in other resources, only 2-5 percent of professing followers of Jesus do the first part of making disciples, which is sharing the Gospel as a normal part of their lives.
The consequences of this colossal failure have created chaos in the culture. The chaos is nothing new; it’s been going on since the fall of man. However, that doesn’t make it okay. Historic disobedience does not justify current disobedience.
We are not responsible for past failures, but we are responsible for current disobedience. To be great, we need to repent of our current failures and do what it takes to succeed and flourish. To do this, we need to examine how we are failing and then take the necessary steps to succeed.
As God’s ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20a), we are the solution to the chaos. We have the answers (1 Peter 3:15). It’s up to us to know them. God has placed us in this time and space (Acts 17:26) to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-15), dispelling darkness and preserving God’s holy standards in the culture (2 Cor.10:5). This, of course, takes work; it requires desire, discipline, and drive.
Being a complete Christian is a lifestyle. It’s a lifelong commitment to Jesus and His ways.
Loving God
Jesus said, “If you love me, you will do what I command” (John 14:15). Therefore, love begins with obedience. As mentioned earlier, we must know what Jesus commanded so we can do all that He commanded. First, we need to connect the dots by recognizing that Jesus is God (Hebrews 1:3a) and that His commands are not limited to what’s recorded in the Gospels and written in red. As all Scripture is ‘given by God…’ (2 Timothy 3:16), it is the commands of Jesus and they are ‘useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness’.
Before I unpack what loving God is, let me give a sketch of what it looks like:
It’s a person who desires to spend time in God’s Word daily, wants to hear from God, and expects God to transform their mind so they can do the will of God (Romans 12:2). It is a person who takes what God’s Word says and puts it into practice daily (James 1:22).
They do what it takes to understand the times they live in (1 Chronicles 12:32), avoid being taken captive by hollow and deceptive philosophies (Colossians 2:8), and do what it takes to “demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5-6) to bring about the will of God in their lives and in the community they live in (Matthew 6:9-10).
They are students of God’s Word and God’s world, and they merge the two to bring God’s world into alignment with God’s Word. To do this, we must live out complete Christianity.
Living out complete Christianity and being great for God is not for the faint of heart. It requires us to reject passivity, take responsibility, lead courageously, and invest eternally.
Right about now, you are probably asking, ‘Where do I begin? This all seems so overwhelming.’ Great question!
As mentioned earlier, it starts with desire. If you don’t have the desire to be great for God, ask Him for it (John 14:13-14).[2] My guess is that you do want to be great for God. From here, you need to pray and ask God what your next step is. My guess is that it involves being in God’s Word. This is a daily lifelong commitment. This is where discipline and drive come in. Start in John’s Gospel. As you do this, ask yourself, what do I see in God’s Word that I could implement in my life today?
Prayer is another important part of knowing and doing God’s will. Pray that God would speak to your heart and reveal what He wants you to do. This is the relationship you were created for. This is how God uses His Word to transform our lives. His small, still voice will always align with His Word. If the voice you’re hearing does not align with God’s Word, it’s not God’s voice you’re hearing.
A quick word about hearing God’s voice. First, it is not an audible voice. It’s the thoughts that flow through your mind that you don’t normally hear that line up with God’s Word. It’s followed up by the thought and feeling that you should obey. By the way, the definition of love for God is obedience (John 14:15).
Developing this type of relationship with God takes time and experience, and develops naturally as you spend time in His Word.
In addition to spending time in God’s Word daily, it’s important to be aware of what’s going on around you. Start with your circle of influence. Who or what needs attention? Address it. Again, start with prayer, asking God to lead and guide you, and do whatever He prompts you to do.
Beyond your circle of influence, think through what is going on that needs prayer, such as current events in the culture. Pray and ask God what you can do about it. It may simply be prayer; it may be that you need to do some research so you can better understand what’s going on. It may be taking action, like volunteering your time to help with the problem. It may be financially contributing to support the solutions to the problem. Whatever the Lord lays on your heart and mind, follow through on it.
Let me share some examples from my own life that may help illustrate this. While reading God’s Word, I saw that it tells us to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). So I began to think through this by asking questions like, what does it mean to make disciples? How do you make disciples? As I researched this, it became clear that making disciples involves telling people about Jesus and what He did to save us.
This began a lifelong journey to learn God’s Word so I could share what God did. As I learned, I shared what I learned with people in my circle of influence. This is how it began and how it continues to play out (see Reach Evangelistic Association and LMIQ.org for the by-product of this process).
Another example is the events of 2020 that followed the George Floyd riots, including calls to “defund the police” and other illogical policies that stemmed from this tragic event. So I asked myself, “What’s going on?” As I prayed and thought through these things, it became clear that I needed to dig deeper into what was going on. I needed to research and learn what lay behind the illogical events, procedures, and policies sweeping our country following the George Floyd incident.
This began the research journey that continues 6 years later, and it’s why I’m writing this article and many other resources to educate and encourage other followers of Jesus to be great for God. News flash, I have not reached this goal, but as the Apostle Paul said, “I press on, I strain toward what’s ahead… (Philippians 3:12-14).
These examples from my own life may seem extreme and overwhelming, but the point is, whatever God lays on your heart, do it, and work with all your heart, soul, and strength, because following Jesus is an all-consuming, all-in commitment. It is what this life is actually all about. This is what is meant by “Invest eternally”.
Investing eternally means living according to God’s purpose and plan, not ours or the world’s. It means doing whatever it takes to expand God’s Kingdom on earth. Whatever your next step is in doing this (being great for God), take it and enjoy the journey.
There is more to being a complete Christian, and I will address that in future articles, but for now, I believe I’ve provided enough to get you started on the road to greatness.
Here are some additional resources to help you on your journey to becoming great for God in the area of being a disciple-maker:
Additional resources for learning how to have and navigate Gospel/God conversations:
If you have questions about this article or resources, you can contact me at reach.lmiq@gmail.com.
[1] George Barna, “Raising Spiritual Champions…” p. 34, 43, 77, 92, 112.
[2] See John 14:6-14 for context.