No, this is not a post about whether or not you have truly believed in Jesus for eternal life, or how to tell if you have truly trusted Jesus or not.
I want to encourage you to ask yourself whether or not you truly trust Jesus for other people.
That is, do you believe Jesus is able to lead other people into the kind of life He wants for them?
Do you Trust Jesus to Lead Other People?
Do you trust Jesus enough with your friends, your neighbors, and your family members to know that He will correct them when needed, teach them what they need to know, and lead them to where He wants, when He wants?
There are, of course, place for rules and guidelines, especially for parents raising children and other similar situations, but when it comes to trusting Jesus to guide and lead others in the journey He has for them, it is difficult to trust Jesus.
It is Difficult to Trust Jesus for Other People
Instead, what usually happens is this:
We are following Jesus as best as we know how, and one day, we come across a truth, or read an idea in a book, or discover something amazing about Scripture, or learn a key to defeating a certain sin in our life, or uncover a way to become more joyful, or find some tips for having a better marriage and family life, or whatever.
We are so excited about this (and rightly so), we want everyone else to know about it to. We create a program, a system, a set of rules, a practical guideline for others to follow, so that they can learn the same things we learned, and get to do the same things we do. This too, is fine. There is no problem with teaching others what we have learned also.
But then the problems start. Some people may try to follow our steps and fail. Or they read what we have written and they disagree. Or maybe they show absolutely no interest in anything we have to say.
In these cases, we see the “problems” in their life that would get fixed if they just learned and followed the same things we did.
When this happens, we get upset at the other people who “failed.” We want them to experience what we experienced, and get frustrated when we pour our hearts out to help people, and they reject it.
It is at this point that have stopped trusting Jesus to lead other people, just as He has led us. We have tried to substitute ourselves for Jesus, or our ideas for what others need next in their life for Jesus’ ideas.
We need to learn to trust Jesus to lead the lives of others in His own way and in His own time. He knows what each person needs and when they need it.
He knows better than we do where each person is in their life with Him. Maybe He knew that we were ready for a certain truth after we had been a Christians for two months, but another person is not ready for that same truth until they have been a Christian for two decades.
This, by the way, doesn’t mean we are “further along” the path of discipleship than they are, for it is quite likely that there are things which Jesus has taught that other person which we have not yet learned and will not learn for another three decades! We need to trust God to lead people in His own way and His own time.
IOW, are you a “co-dependent”?
Sharing with others those things that have helped us seems natural, and ineffective though it may be, may nevertheless be a good motive for wanting to share. We must keep in mind, however, that what helped us may not help others.
Most of us have seen those who feel “called” to share. They believe this is one of the ways Jesus will help others. Maybe Jesus will. Maybe he won’t. Sometimes this is difficult to determine. Many pastors in their private moments can attest to wondering if they are helping lead others in the ways Jesus would have them go.
Then there are those who need to lead, to be in charge, to control others. Unfortunately, the religious context often provides a wealth of people for those who have their own agendas for the lives of others. Those agendas almost always have little to do with the potential benefits for the “others”, but rather with what the “provider” of proposed benefits will receive.
Right. It is helpful to share our experience with others, but it might not be helpful for them at the time we share it. But maybe it will down the road, or maybe Jesus will lead them in a completely different direction. Either way, we can make ourselves available to help others while at the same time, trusting Jesus for their future.
Nearly all of the systems and methods used to improve our lives are based on Godly principles. Sadly, many people do not recognize this truth.
Yes, these godly principles are helpful to recognize and share with others.
It’s fascinating that this truth also applies to church programs. Someone reads about a program that was developed by this church and their membership exploded. So everyone agrees to sign up to try and it’s a huge failure. Everyone asks why. The answer is the same as in your post, God speaks directly to the need, which is not a program from another church.
Now to the point of sharing what Jesus has done for you. It’s not for them to do as you did in answer to Jesus’s in your life but more as an encouragement for them to keep trusting in Jesus.
Right! I always love it when some church grows from 300 to 3000 and the pastor gets a book deal, and later, his church grows from 3000 to 300. It turns out that the 2700 people who showed up just church hop around every 5-10 years. (I don’t love this… it just kind of sad).
I’ve been thinking and talking about this very thing for some time now. I suspect that it’s a lack of this sort of trust that causes many of the problems in the church. It shows itself in the attitude which says, “If you don’t believe what I believe or think like I think, there is something wrong with you.” There’s no grace to allow a brother or sister to travel their own journey with Christ.
Great points. We need the grace to allow other people to walk their journey just as we have walked ours (and are walking).
Nice Blog Post! Keep up the Great Work