How Do I Live as a Christian in 2021?

 HOW DO I LIVE AS A CHRISTIAN IN 2021?

An audio recording of what follows can be listened to here: https://anchor.fm/the-tulip-driven-life/episodes/How-Do-I-Live-As-a-Christian-in-2021-e16me61

Many Christians simply do not know how to live as faithful Christians on a day-to-day basis. This may be you, and you may even wonder what it even means to live day-by-day as a Christian. You may wonder if what you are doing with the bulk of your life, time, and energy, is really pleasing to God. Churches have taught many to ride from one high to the next, sustaining them on nothing but "mountain-top" spiritual experiences.

This is discouraging, for living as a Christian isn't about one ecstatic moment after another. As young Christians get older, they realize that life is a lot less about "holy moments" and more about living faithfully to the Lord in the little things. Being "on fire" for Jesus doesn't usually land you a job, a spouse, a house, strong friendships, a genuine sense of community and belonging, or sustain you against your sinful and selfish desires.

In short, that flame of fire is quickly quenched by the realities of life.

Does this describe you? Have you begun to realize that for all the time you've been a Christian, the next "exciting" event your church or some Christian group has planned has not equipped you to live faithfully as a Christian day by day? Have you found Sunday morning church services to be largely empty of substance, that the Bible seems not to be important to the pastors, but is just something that is referenced while never really taught, proclaimed, or understood, even by those pastors? Do you sense that a lot of church today is about optics and show, singing and shouting to the point of sweating, but short on substance and true nourishment for the soul?

Or worse, has what your pastor said about God's Word simply been incorrect, not true to your lived experience? Has the encouragement to "love like Jesus" failed to actually show you how to deal with a friend who says they are gay, parents who are divorcing and wanting you to pick sides, a spouse who is sleeping with your friend, a co-worker who is contemplating suicide and wants to know why a good God would allow so much evil and pain to come into his or her life?

In short, does it seem like your church and its members NOT know how to deal with these very real and far too common issues in life? Does it fail to teach and preach God's Word so we can live as Christians faithfully in these nitty gritty details, to not only survive but even thrive through the difficult times that make up, well, most of our time? Have churches, Christian schools, counseling sessions, and campus ministries largely failed you, even if you don't wish to admit it or think about it? How many youth camps and "revival" sermons have you experienced, and yet many who joined the church in those "fire and mountaintop" times have inevitably flamed out, left the church, and denied the faith? How burnt out are you from it all?

If this has been your experience, then you may really be wondering, even if you don't think about it in these terms, "How exactly do I live as a Christian at this point, in the year 2021, in this crazy and scary time in our nation and the world, when the Church is collapsing, going woke, offering no real answers from God's Word that adequately address and enable me to overcome the trials of modern life?"

Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that such issues have always been in the Church, and faithful ministers and members have been able to work through them by knowing, loving, and obeying God's Word, even in the face of real evil and insanity. The bad news is that this takes hard work, diligent study, fervent prayer, and sacrificial service to God and others -- including our spouse and children if we have them, our parents, our co-workers, and other church members that we simply do not get along with.

It requires not living "above day-to-day life" and pretending all that exists or matters is mountaintop mysteries, but realizing that God empowers us through His Word to live faithfully, and fulfillingly, as Christians in the valley of the shadow of death, when a loved one dies, when you don't get the job you wanted, when you have health issues, when others are not loving you and are using you, when your family is in shambles, or you are in shambles because you don't know how to start a family, find a good paying job, or keep the family that you have damaged due to your sin, sin which you can't seem to turn away from.

These concerns are why I was compelled to plant a church in Sanford, NC. That desire began over twelve years ago and was confirmed just months ago when I was ordained to the gospel ministry by the laying on of hands (Acts 6:5-6; 2 Tim. 1:6) by other pastors/elders who examined me and prepared me for the work of ministry. God opened the door when a group of some friends, family, as well as new faces called me to plant Heritage Reformed Presbyterian Church and become their pastor, ministering the Gospel to them under One True Shepherd, Jesus Christ. But no pastor dares to shepherd alone, as God has ordered a plurality of Elders in each church. My father labors alongside me as a ruling elder, giving his wisdom and sound teaching to the whole church body as well. We hope soon to have another elder and deacon ordained for service.

So how do you live as a Christian in 2021? Well, the first step is to recognize that if you are a Christian, you have been baptized by the Spirit into Christ's body, and you are just one member of Christ's body that cannot live apart from His local body, the church. If you have not joined Christ's church body already, or if you have gotten burnt by sinful leadership and left the local church, You must become a member of a FAITHFUL local church, a congregation, an assembly of Christ's body, and worship and serve the Lord faithfully among that body, being nourished and fed by other members of that body (see I Corinthians 12).

But perhaps you've been a long-standing member in your local church, and that's just the problem, as we said above. There's no substance, no life, no help from it outside of a few feel good moments and pep rallies. Once you come down from those highs, there's too many lows, too much dead space. How do you fill this void? Here's how: You find a church that is prioritizing day-to-day, faithful living, by faithful preaching of God's Word, bringing out its details book-by-book, verse by verse, and applying those deep and rich truths to your life and modern problems in the 21st century, in this year of our Lord and Savior, 2021.

You have fellowship with the saints, other members of your local church, who aren't looking for momentary, sugar rush highs that quickly evaporate and leave you on long spiritual crashes/lows, but rather, you are looking for a church that will give you the daily bread, Jesus Christ for all of life, so that you don't feel like Israel wandering in the wilderness searching for mirages, but instead are plowing ahead into the promised land flowing with milk and honey, driving out the Canaanites, the world, the sinful flesh, and the devil, in the ordinary trials of life.

This is what Heritage Reformed Presbyterian Church is for. To fight the good fight of faith by doing the dishes, changing the tire, comforting a friend who is grieving a loss, forgiving a transgression even though it is painful, seeking forgiveness and repenting when we've wronged another, correcting a wayward soul when they are practicing wickedness, bearing responsibility rather than passing the buck, being hospitable to one another in our homes, with our time, and in prayer, and above all, worshiping the Triune God who is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all righteousness (I John 1:9).

We see spiritual highs in mundane holy living, in resisting sins and rejoicing when our friends have success. We see God's hand in the good and the bad, in the highs and the lows, and we know that the Lord rejoices when we serve Him by serving our family, friends, neighbors, communities, and country, even when no one else sees what we are doing. We know that salvation and growth as a Christian comes not by the will or power of man, but by the power of God, the Holy Spirit working by and with the Word of God in our hearts, helping us to know His Word as we study His Word, and then live in light of His Word in every nook and cranny of our lives.

If you have such a Church, a body of Christ that faithfully ministers to you in its pastoring and preaching and among its members, then reach out to them if you do not know how to live faithfully as a Christian. If they are a faithful and true Church, they will be able to help you and lead you into all righteousness, and praise God for such faithful churches that produce faithful Christians.

But if you have found that your church neglects its members by prioritizing saving souls to the exclusion of nourishing your saved soul, of offering spiritual highs that never really show you the glory and goodness of God in the face of Jesus Christ as taught in His holy Word, then come join us at Heritage Reformed. By God's grace, you will know how to live as a Christian in all of life, because you will be taught the riches of God's Holy Word. You will be equipped by God's Word to face the storms of life, and by God's mercy, you will go from a confused Christian not certain how to live in this world, to a contributing member of Christ's body, advancing His kingdom by helping others serve and live for the Great King of the kingdom Jesus Christ.

If you are interested in learning more about our church, Heritage Reformed, contact me at 772-663-8844, or email me at tfb@reformation.edu

You can also find our worship services online, and more information about Heritage Reformed on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Heritage-Reformed-Presbyterian-Church-111147897736274

May the Lord bless you and keep you, may the Lord cause His face to shine upon You, and be gracious to you, and may the Lord look upon you, to give you peace (Num. 6:24-26),

Pastor Thomas F. Booher