GraceWay Baptist Church Serving Kiowa-Serving Christ

Do we get what we deserve or do we deserve what we get?

Unfortunately, some Christians have a sense of entitlement because they are Christian. Some Christians feel that their relationship with Jesus entitles them to be happy, that that their relationship with Jesus entitles them to be successful and that that their relationship with Jesus entitles them to be free of worldly desires. Unfortunately we are sinners and we are not entitled to anything. A relationship with Jesus should engender a sense of humility not a sense of entitlement.

Roman 6:23 (NIV) clearly lays it on the line: “for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

For many Christians there is a gap between what they know and how they act. As a sinner, I know that I deserve nothing less then death and that I should be humble and grateful for the life I have, but unfortunately, I don’t always act like it. I don’t always model gratitude and humility. My pride gets in the way and my expectations soar and soon I am complaining about what “should be” instead of being grateful for what is. A worldly view will always engender a sense entitlement while a Christian view should engender a sense of humility.

One of the biggest problems for the Christian today is that they are better at modeling impatience and dissatisfaction then humility and gratitude. The strongest witness to a watching world is who we are in Christ. Unfortunately the world too often sees more sinner than saint, the world too often sees more hard heartedness than humility and more rancor than righteousness.

Many Christians are often more inclined to criticize and judge then to love and forgive. Many Christians are more inclined to insulate themselves from the world then to serve those who are of the world.

The secular world likes the idea that many Christians are no different then they are because if there is no difference, then why give up sin? If there is no difference then why follow Christ? If there is no difference why change at all? As Christian we are called to live lives focused on the Cross of Christ, instead of lives focused on the activities of those who are not Christians. We are called to live humble lives of repentant servitude not lives of righteous judgment.

The expectation that is the hardest to live up to is the expectation that we are as sinless or righteous as we think we are or desire to be. Again, the focus must not be on us but upon the Cross of Christ.

We must understand that our Christian walk can no more be guided by how others see us then by how we see ourselves. We must understand that we can no longer be guided by our desires and aspirations but guided by the Cross of Christ. We must live lives reflected in Christ not lives mirrored by the world.