False Christians by Summer Chapin Dear Summer and Melody, I’d like to tell you about a girl who is changing my life and how I need help and encouragement from anyone willing to give it. I’ll start at the beginning before I accidentally confuse both you and me. The girl’s name is Amanda Garber. She started writing to me in January 1996. I found her name and address in a magazine. (If a person sounds like me -back then and now, I’ll write to them.) Amanda sounded like me, so I decided I might as well write to her. Truthfully, I almost didn’t, but at the last minute I decided to. I hurriedly wrote and mailed the letter before I had time to change my mind. That was a wonderful decision. I’m sure God put it in my mind to write to her! In the first letter I got from her, I was immediately attracted to her friendliness, high spirits, and open ways. Also, in her first letter she asked me about my church, since I had told her (as I tell all my pen friends) that I was Christian. I don’t go to church. None of my family does. We haven’t since... I don’t remember ever going to church, but we have pictures of me at age 4 or 5 going, so I know that I did go... back then. I told Amanda we didn’t go to church, but I lied and told her we read the Bible a lot. (We never read the Bible, but I’m starting to now -more on that further in this letter.) Amanda’s 8th or 9th letter to me was all about her church. At first I thought it was extremely boring. I remember thinking, “Who cares about church? Who cares about your cousin Melinda’s baptism? -Or what it was like?!” I wrote back the whole time thinking, “That has got to be the most boring person in the world who writes letters full of church, and God, and baptizing, and how God has affected her lately, etc., etc., etc...” Eventually, after several more letters full of the above things, I began to wonder what it would be like to talk to God and feel good about it. -I slowly began to realize I needed help badly. I was a half-Christian, I realized; I am realizing... I wrote to Amanda, telling her my horrible secret: I say I’m Christian. Until I started writing to her I even believed I was Christian and heaven-bound. Yes, Charity Chapin said it very well: “Before I was a Christian, I didn’t really think about God. To me He just seemed like someone who lived in the clouds.” He is becoming more to me daily. Amanda (God bless her!!!) is actually the reason I even get “YWSH” at all! I told her my secret in September last year, asking her not to tell other people. In her letter after that, she told me about how to become a Christian! -read the Bible, pray, etc., etc.. She also told me that I need Christian encouragement. I asked her how, seeing as my father was Catholic, and my mother, one of my sisters, and my two brothers all are “Christians” like me. My other sister isn’t sure if she wants to be Christian at all! In November, Amanda told me about a magazine full of Christian encouragement... (“YWSH”) She asked if she could send me a sample. I told her I’d ask my mother. I didn’t tell my mother for awhile...and awhile longer...and awhile longer. To tell the truth, I was procrastinating about it! One day after my mother got the mail (as usual), I came running from my room to see if I had any mail. I did. (A few letters and “YWSH”.) I thought, “Wait a minute? How in the world did they get my address?! I stared at it for a minute -then flipped it over to where my address was written in red ink: “This is a sample issue requested by Amanda Garber”! I sent a letter (when my turn to write came) to Amanda, thanking her, because after reading “YWSH”, I actually liked it and DID ask my mother for it. She said that, yes, I could subscribe. Amanda said, “The Lord was working in my mind when I sent you ‘YWSH’. It was before I sent the letter” (asking me to get “YWSH”) “so I’m glad you got my letter first!” Amanda is a wonderful person, she really is. Since then she has been sending me wonderfully long letters full of helpful Bible verses, beautiful prayers, etc., etc., etc.! She’s wonderful. “I love you, Amanda.” If anyone would like to write to me, I’d like that very much! I’d like to get encouragement from more than one person, if at all possible. Anyone who wants to write would be very much appreciated. Is there anyone besides Amanda willing to help, as I struggle to become a Christian? Please write to me. In Jesus’ love, Amanda Mack 3355 Indian Meadow Dr. Blacksburg, VA 24060 Dearest Amanda, Your letter was touching to me, and I feel that I should respond... I am very glad that Amanda Garber is helping you to understand that merely belonging to a church or believing in the Christian religion will not save you. Matthew 7:22-23 says: “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” There are many who profess Christianity with their lips, but Jesus is not in their hearts! Of course I don’t know exactly what Amanda Garber has already shared with you, but I am praying that you will come to surrender to Him soon, if you haven’t already! I would like to share this parable with you (that I wrote), so that you can perhaps better understand what salvation is like. (In the parable, picture the little girl as yourself, the king as God, and the Prince as Jesus): Once there was a little orphan girl who served her poverty-stricken mistress in a filthy, mud hut. Most of the time the little girl tried not to reflect much upon her pitiable condition, as it pained her to do so, and she went about life without a thought or a care in the world, living as she had since the time of her birth. However, there was a king that ruled over the land who was kind and of great mercy and justice. Many feared and respected him because of his magnificent power and great wealth. The little girl couldn’t help but feel the same way about this king, as did her own mistress. The king often toured through the land to instruct the people to do good and to love one another. (In this sense, he was a most extraordinary king.) However, it often saddened him as his words of instruction usually went unheeded by most. The little girl herself often heard the king’s teachings as he stood in the city’s square, and, although she respected him for his power, strength, and wealth, she could not understand how anyone could actually live as the king suggested. Many times she would turn her ear away from what he was saying, to admire his well-attired army and strong horses. “What a magnificent army! How wonderful the king must be to keep in his possession all of this!” she would say. However, the little girl rarely cared to meditate upon the king’s special message; nor did she speak of it to others. In fact, most of the time during the day she never even thought about the king at all. As I said before, the little girl rarely cared to reflect upon her pitiable condition, and to meditate upon the king’s love, mercy, and goodness, only caused her to see what a miserable creature she really was! Thus it was that she willingly blocked such thoughts from her mind as much as possible in order to keep her pride intact. One day the little girl gathered with her friends to play in the street. They romped and played happily for a time, but ‘ere long, a squabble was started between the little girl and one of her best friends over whose turn it was next to throw a ball. The little girl insisted passionately that it was indeed her turn and willfully proceeded to take it. However, her friend jumped in the way to prevent her. The little girl then became angry and began to pinch and slap violently at her friend. Before long, both of them were rolling in the filthy street and they looked quite frightful in their muddy appearances. For a moment during the fight, the little girl thought of the king’s words, instructing her to love, but she hastily thrust the thought into the back of her mind, whispering, “The king doesn’t know what he’s talking about!” Suddenly, in the midst of the fight, she felt a strong hand grasp her shoulder. Angered suddenly by this intrusion, she began screaming and fighting only the more violently, this time including not only her friend in the assault, but the adult intruder as well! As her eyes were blinded by anger and hate, she did not understand who the intruder was until she heard a familiar, gently spoken voice whisper in her ear, “Why do you fight against me, child? Look at me. Do you not know who I am?” The little girl stopped suddenly and bowed to the ground in shame as her eye finally caught sight of the golden edged robe of the mighty, loving king of the land! So horrified was she that the king himself had caught her in such an act and in such a pitiable looking condition, that she dared not lift her face from the ground for fear of his inevitable wrath. Never before in her life had the little girl felt more wicked and dirty than she now did in this good, royal king’s presence! Not only that, but then did she realize that she had actually struck him and also dirtied his robe! How terrible! How shameful! Surely the king would not fail to punish her for such wicked, terrible acts. In fact, she deserved nothing less than execution by his own powerful hand! The little girl shuddered and trembled, and her face became pale as death at the thought. But what was this? The king began speaking gently, “Come with me in my golden chariot, little daughter.” Little daughter? The girl jerked her muddy, tear-streaked face up only to see the king’s forgiving smile. “Me? You can’t mean me!” The little girl shrunk back in tearful embarrassment as the blood suddenly rushed to fill her pale cheeks. “Yes, you.” The king smiled, reached down, took the girl’s muddy hand, and drew her to his chariot. “Oh mighty king! I’ve been so wicked -so hateful -so unloving, and I’m so filthy... Y-You don’t want me to ride with you, surely?” Repentant tears streamed down the little girl’s cheeks as the king lifted her himself and placed her in his chariot. Looking lovingly into the girl’s brimming eyes, he spoke slowly, “Not only have I chosen you to ride in my chariot, but my son, the great prince, has already bought you out of slavery with a great price so that you might come and be educated in the royal courts as a royal princess and then marry him when you grow to maturity. I have just now come to seek you out, and how glad I am to finally have found you for him!” A look of wonder and amazement crossed the little girl’s face as she heard the king’s words. She? The wife of the prince? In shock, she gazed down at her muddy clothes and cried humbly, “As you wish, dear king, but I am not worthy to be even a mere servant in your palace.” Nevertheless, you shall be my daughter if you will.” The king spoke firmly as he bent down and kissed her tenderly on the cheek, which was now stained with tears, not of anger, but of true, heartfelt sorrow and repentance. This saying of the king’s immediately induced a fresh onslaught of tears from the little girl, and she exclaimed passionately, throwing herself upon him, “I will serve you forever, and the prince, your beloved son who bought me!” She continued to weep in the king’s loving embrace until they reached the palace, where the king then gave her a beautiful, clean gown to wear. The king’s son took the girl’s muddy change of clothes and burned them in a trash heap. After that, the king became like the girl’s loving father. They were very close, and she told him of all her troubles, and he, in turn, instructed her in love and obedience to him. This time, however, the girl actually listened to his words and strove to obey him, for he was now her very best friend! Whenever she managed to occasionally dirty her new garments, she then cried sorrowfully for forgiveness, which he willingly gave her. However, he did not fail to chastise her also, for it was for her own good that she be punished so that she might grow to be more fit for the good prince on his royal wedding day. She usually accepted these chastisements with a tearful joy, and her heart would swell with thankfulness as she then watched the prince himself get down on his knees and scrub the stains from her garment with his own two hands. Never did the girl forget the king’s mercy toward her; neither did she forget the prince’s sacrifice on her behalf, but rather did she constantly live in the realization of the fact that it was because of no good that the king saw in her, that she had been chosen for such an honour. It was only because of his great mercy and goodness. It was thus with great humility that she served faithfully in the palace until the day of her marriage to the mighty prince... Perhaps this may sound somewhat like a fanciful tale spun to tickle the ears, but no, indeed I think it is actually an allegory -a picture of our relationship with God - before, when, and after we are saved. Now, I know that not all who are saved have such dramatic instant experiences as did this little girl. However, someone who is truly saved now, should certainly be able to look back on his life and see that there was a time when he was without God’s power in his life, and that now there is a time when he does have God’s power in his life. These two times are as different from one another as darkness is from light! You see, before we (like the little girl) are saved by the king (God), we do not care very much about the things of God. Perhaps, if we are born into Christian families, and naturally grow up going to church and hearing about the things of God -His goodness and mercy, etc., and we learn to pray to Him, we will be deceived into thinking that we actually know God when, in reality, we don’t! We might think that because we realize He is the one true God who died for the sins of the world, we are saved... But, that is not the case, as I tried to show in the parable. It’s not until God, in His Holy Spirit, reaches down and reveals His holy character to our hearts that we can be saved. When we see how holy He is, only then can we properly understand just how dirty and sinful we are. Don’t fall into deception here, though. -Many people will admit with their minds and even with their tongues that they are sinners in need of a Savior, but very few realize deep down in their hearts just what awful persons they really are! The only way we can get to this point, is if God, in His Spirit, chooses to reveal His holiness to us. When we then see His holiness for what it is, and compare it with ourselves, we then begin to see how dirty, filthy, vile and wretched we are. This fact that has been revealed to us by God, then brings forth genuine agony, sorrow, and repentance on our part. If it does not, then it is because we have still failed to see ourselves for what we really are in the light of who God is. We must then seek earnestly and pray for God to show us who we really are and to convict us, for with no conviction of sin, there is no repentance, and with no repentance of sin, there is no salvation. God sent His Son (the prince) to die to save those who are poor and needy in spirit. Not those who are self-sufficient in their own works of false righteousness. Jesus himself said in Mark 2:17 “They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Also read Luke 18:11-14 about the Pharisee and the publican.) Picture yourself for a moment as a poor, miserable beggar dressed in rags, walking into a magnificent golden palace that is decked in silk drapes and the floor made of many precious, colorful, sparkling stones. This is how we must see even our righteous acts in comparison to God’s righteousness. Isaiah 64:6 says, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our rightousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” Sin is very serious. Even the tiniest wrong thought is enough to send a person to hell ... But our righteousness?! How can our righteousness be as filthy rags? Well, if God is not in our hearts, then any good works we do will certainly be done for the wrong reasons. -If we do not obey Him because we love Him more than anything else on earth, then our works of righteousness are really works of pride or selfishness. (What’s in the heart is what really counts!) When we see our sinfulness for what it is, and then (like the little girl) throw ourselves upon His mercy, realizing deep down in our hearts that we really deserve nothing less than death, He then gladly embraces us with the embrace of forgiveness and takes us to His “palace”, where we will then abide in close contact with Him. What I mean by that is, that after we are forgiven (and thus saved) we then actually become “children of God”, and we will, as a result, naturally live in close communion with Him. Who ever heard of a godly father accept his wayward, yet repentant child, but then not spend time with him afterward? -Or who ever heard of a truly repentant child, forgiven by his father, not want to receive love and instruction from his father? If you love someone, will you not act like it? This is what often bothers me, Amanda. -When I see so many people around me supposedly accepting Christ as their Lord and Savior, and yet not acting like it... If, after your “salvation experience,” you find that He is not the one and only true Lord of your life, then how can you expect to enter heaven? After all, the best thing about heaven is GOD HIMSELF! Most people want to go to heaven to see the “pearly gates” and to walk in shimmering robes of white and wear crowns of gold and be free from sickness, pain, and sorrow, but that’s not the best thing about heaven. The best thing is God himself, and if we do not love, enjoy, and greatly desire His presence here on earth, how can we expect to enjoy it someday in heaven? The truth that most people don’t stop to think about, is that they can’t enjoy His presence there! In fact, it would be torture to them to sit in His presence for an hour, listening to His words of wisdom, just as it is for them here on earth to read the Bible, pray, or listen to a sermon. Oh yes, I know that many will say that God is the Lord of their lives, but is He really? Are they so much in love with Him that they are willing to “take up the cross” and follow wherever He might lead? Do they really desire to do God’s will and actually try to discover what that will might be, no matter what? -even if it means they may suffer persecution? (The Christian walk isn’t easy. At times it can be extremely difficult.) -Or are they “fair-weather Christians” who go to church and read the Bible while the “sun shines”, and then when the rain comes, they hide their Bibles in the cedar chest. Do they base their convictions merely on what’s popular and “seemingly moral” by the world’s standards? All I’m saying, is not that going to church, reading our Bibles, and praying is what saves us, but rather, if we are saved, it will be like we are in love with the Lord Jesus Christ, and that, so much so, that over time we will learn to desire to do only what He would have us to do, and we will learn to hate the things that He hates with an utmost hatred. That’s what having Jesus as our Lord is all about! One more thing I would like to write, is this: If we are truly saved, we will grow in our relationship with God. This is a really good thing by which to test our salvation experience in the future. First of all, who ever heard of a loving, godly couple not getting to know each other over the years? It would seem almost ridiculous to even suggest such a thing...and yet, that is exactly how it is for many people in regard to their relationships with Christ! They “accept” Christ as “Lord and Savior”, claim they now love Him, and yet, ten years later, if you ask them how they’ve grown in Christ, they really can’t honestly say that they know Him any better, or love Him any more than they did when they first “accepted” Him. You ask them what the Lord has shown them from His Word, how the Lord has convicted them and actually changed their life to make it different than the way it was before, and they can’t tell you. The fact of the matter is that the Lord never spoke to their hearts in such a way that would cause them to repent in the first place. He never revealed His awesome holiness to their hearts. He never pressed their own great sinfulness deep down upon their hearts, so they never truly repented and accepted Jesus as true Lord and Savior of their lives. They just made a pretense of it, although they sincerely thought they were doing the true thing. Maybe after their “experience”, they did reform, go to church, and even develop an interest in the things of God! -The only problem was that it was more of a “curiosity” interest than an interest in the things of God merely because they belong to the Person whom they love. There is definitely a difference between these two types of interests!!! Here’s a quick example: Let’s say that there is this young lady who visits a beautiful garden. She’s never had much of an interest in flowers before, but the beauty of these somehow manage to catch her eye -at least, for the time being. She occasionally bends to sniff, or examine an especially beautiful one. However, after she leaves the garden and walks home, she gets lost in her thoughts and forgets to tell about the beautiful garden to her family. But one day, the young lady’s father meets the young man who tends the garden. (The young man is the one who planted it, and he knows all the intricate details of each and every flower.) Before long, the father has arranged a Betrothal between the young lady and the gardener. Well, as would be expected, it doesn’t take long for the young lady and the gardener to fall in love, and he often encourages her to walk with him in his garden. However, now that the young lady is in love with the gardener, she sees the beautiful garden in a new light. Now when she sees the garden she thinks only of the man she loves. The beauty of the flowers speak of the tender care and the wonderful character of the gardener, whom she now loves. The fragrance of the flowers only make her think of his sweetness to her. In fact, everything in the garden she now desires merely because it belongs to him, whom she now loves with all her heart. Before she fell in love with the gardener, she admired the flowers briefly for what they were, but now that she is in love with the one who helped them come into being, everything is different, and the flowers take on a new meaning! I guess that’s sort of how it becomes when we are saved. Before we are saved, we may have an interest in the things of God for what they seem to be on the outside, but when we truly accept God as Lord and Savior, our eyes are opened, and we see the “garden” (the Word of God) for what it really is -that being, a marvelous book revealing the wonderfully perfect character of our Lover. That’s how it was for the little girl in regards to the king in the first parable. After he “rescued” and forgave her, she began to love him so much that she then cherished the king’s words of wisdom and instruction. She suddenly saw his words in a completely different light, and she was finally able to believe and understand them! As we grow in Christ, He will most definitely be showing us more things through His Word. We will become more sensitive to His commands. We’ll get to know Him even better, and He will reveal even more of His holiness to us than He did when we were first saved. Thus, as we grow in our Christian walk, we will naturally see ourselves as being even more sinful than we did when we were saved. This is what being a Christian is all about -walking with the Lord, getting to know Him better, and thereby, getting to know our own sinful selves better. As we grow in such knowledge of our Lord and our sinful selves, it will change the way we live our lives. This is the way it is for all true Christians. -Not just the way it is for some Christians, and not others! “Ye shall know them by their fruits.” -Matt 7:16 “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” -John 5:3-4 “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.” -John 15:16 “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” -John 15:14 You see, if we truly love Him, we will learn to desire to obey Him. The two naturally go together. We are not saved by doing good works (“For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”-Eph.2:8-9), but if we are saved, - if we are born of God, the good works will naturally follow because God will have changed our nature and will have given us a new heart to follow and obey Him. If the good works do not follow, then we have great reason to question our salvation experience. Salvation isn’t merely a “mind choice” on a person’s part to follow God. Rather, it is a repenting and a surrendering of man’s will to God’s will, in the power of the Spirit. John 1:13-15 says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Salvation is a literal, supernatural miracle that God works in the heart of a man. God changes the heart around. He actually reveals Himself to the heart, the eyes are opened, and the scriptures take on a new meaning. After you are saved, you should be able to look back and see that your life has been completely changed around. As I said, it should seem as different as the light is from the darkness. Your outlook on life should be changed; your reason for living and doing things should be changed; your innermost desires should be changed. Why? Because there is now a holy Person living inside of you! If things are not different; if the life is not changed, then perhaps it is because there is no power of God’s Spirit behind the decision. There are many false decisions made to follow Christ these days. At one time, I heard a Christian radio program where this man was leading one young person after another to make their “decision” to follow Christ. I listened with this sickening feeling in my stomach as I heard so many teenagers flippantly give their lives to God. As soon as they did so, the man would let them go after telling them that they were now saved and on their way to Heaven! I think there is so much damage done by things like that, because so many people actually walk away thinking that now, because they have accepted Christ with their minds and tongues, they are “safe”. Truly accepting Christ is not necessarily easy. To have Christ break your will -to bring your body under submission to Him - to let Him have His way in your life....oh, it’s not usually a pleasant experience... To say that you are actually willing to die for Him, if that’s what it comes to.... It’s not usually easy to submit to such things! It takes the power of God himself to change a sinner’s heart -to break his strong will And without that power, the sinner’s heart can’t be changed. It is this power to surrender to God that we must pray for, if we wish to be saved. “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” -I Corinthians 1:18 This letter is getting rather long, Amanda, so I guess I should close now. Let me write this one last verse... It is quite awesome to reflect upon, and even my heart, at times, trembles to read and meditate upon it: “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” -Matt. 7:13-14 I am praying fervently that you and others may enter into that strait gate, Amanda. Press on until you find Him! God bless you, Amanda! Love, Summer Joy YWSH Main Page