Acts 16:25-34 "Can I Be a Christian Even Though I’m Not a (Fill in the Blank)?"

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We asked last week, how do I follow a Jesus whose followers do so much evil?

And we saw that the Bible's not surprised by the sin of God's people when we don't live like Jesus.

Nor does it leave our evil unaddressed. It's not a small thing.

But Jesus provides a unique hope for all who are guilty of evil.

In fact, He has promised to right all of the wrongs that we perpetrate.

Today, we're going to look at another question that many ask.

It's, can I be a Christian even though I'm not a fill-in-the-blank?

There may be lots of different ways that you might fill in that blank.

But the idea this morning is to see what's actually at the heart of Christianity.

The identity of a Christian.

It may surprise you a little bit.

We're going to look at this through a story in Acts chapter 16.

Acts 16 · chapter mention

You may want to go ahead and turn there as I'm going to read it for us in a couple of minutes.

But first, I want us to pray and ask for God's help as we look at His Word.

Father, would You work this morning by Your Spirit?

Would You give us ears to hear even the struggles in our own hearts?

Ears to hear our neighbors who are asking and wondering about You.

Most importantly, Father, give us ears to hear right now Your voice.

In Your Word, by Your Spirit, might we hear You and be different forever because of it.

We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen.

Kids, can I have your attention for a second?

I want to play a little game as we're getting started this morning.

It may not be as exciting as some games that you play, but it's a game, okay?

I mean, come on.

Here's how it works.

I'm going to tell you a word, and then you tell me what that word has to have in order to be that thing.

Okay?

It's a little bit confusing.

But when I say the word library, what does a library have to have to be a library?

Books!

Y'all are so good at this game.

That is awesome.

A library has to have books.

Here's a fancy word.

The sine qua non.

You got that?

It's very, no, it's not important that you remember that.

The sine qua non of a library is books.

The sine qua non means the thing without which the thing is not what it is.

What's right at the essence, at the heart of what something has to have.

So that's the game we're going to play.

Let's practice some more.

Salad has to have lettuce.

Yeah, there's a lot of other things.

Bread has to have...

Butter was a great answer.

I'm changing my answer, which was flour.

Butter is better.

Okay.

Good.

Let's get back on track.

A rainbow has to have...

Colors.

Yeah.

To have a rainbow.

We're going to give your parents a challenge.

Democracy.

What's the sine qua non of democracy?

Taxes.

I knew we shouldn't have played a game.

You might say elections or freedom or something like that.

How about pizza?

Cheese.

Yes.

I feel like there should also be tomato sauce, but some people make pizza without it.

But cheese.

Yes.

A fish.

You got to have water and gills to breathe.

Very good.

A teacher.

What does a teacher have to have?

A student.

A class in order to be a teacher.

Y'all are figuring this out.

I want to give you one more in honor of VBS.

Rain forest.

Rain.

Very good answer.

And forest.

Yes.

You need water and trees.

We've got plenty of both.

So you remember that this week.

It'll make you think of the sine qua non, I'm sure.

See, there may be a lot of other things that are often true of a salad or a library or a

rainforest.

But what is absolutely essential?

What does it have to have?

Okay, that's what we want to know this morning.

What is the sine qua non of a Christian?

See, getting confused here can be really misleading.

In the past few years in our country, as things have gotten more and more polarized, I think

many Christians have gotten confused themselves.

A few years ago, one pastor who most of you would recognize and respect said any real Christian

would vote for Trump.

At the same time, another beloved pastor in our tribe said,

if anyone voted for Trump, I question the sincerity of his Christianity.

Wow.

Is being a Republican or a Democrat or voting for a particular candidate essential to being

a Christian?

Another example, many people think that being a good person is the sine qua non of being a

Christian.

And that includes people on two different sides of this.

There are some who have ruled themselves out of being a Christian because they're not moral

enough.

How can I be a Christian when I've done the things that I've done?

I can't be a Christian, some would say.

And then on the other hand, you have some who, we talked about people like this last week

who are saying, actually, Christians aren't actually good people.

They're just judgmental enough to think that they are.

And so, how can I be a Christian if I'm not judgmental?

Ooh, I hope you can.

But specifically, in a recent Barna survey, respondents got to choose from a list of descriptors

that they thought fit Christianity.

And among young non-Christians, there was one box checked more than any other on the

list.

By 91% of those people looking at the list, they said what described Christians was anti-homosexual,

more than any other descriptor that they could see.

So, you even run into people who say, I can't be a Christian because I don't hate LGBTQ plus

people.

I hope we don't hate any people.

But is that the sine qua non of being a Christian?

Many apparently think so.

There's one more really significant way I've heard people fill in that blank.

I'm sure you've said others or you've heard others.

But can I be a Christian even though I'm not a person without doubts or questions?

See, their impression is that churches don't welcome doubts or questions.

Those are outside the Christian box.

In here, we just all know what we know and believe what we believe and we keep it in line.

And that is also one of the reasons that we are welcoming these hard questions this summer.

We don't want for that to be excluded.

So, we're going to come back to some of these issues briefly throughout the sermon.

But what is the sine qua non?

What is a Christian?

People answer that question a lot of different ways.

But I think the word gives it away and somebody over here already got the answer.

I heard it earlier.

It's Christ, right?

Without Jesus, you don't have Christianity or Christians.

Let's see what the Bible says about this.

Acts 16, it's telling the story of Paul and Silas.

The apostle Paul and his co-worker Silas who are traveling to share the good news of Jesus

and they've gone to the city of Philippi.

They have since been arrested, beaten, thrown in prison, put in really painful, uncomfortable stocks.

They're locked up in prison.

And yet, listen to how they respond to suffering.

Acts 16 at verse 25.

About midnight, Paul and Silas were, what do you think they were doing in prison?

Praying and singing hymns to God.

And the prisoners were listening to them.

And suddenly, there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken

and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's bonds were unfastened.

When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about

to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.

But Paul cried with a loud voice, do not harm yourself for we are all here.

And the jailer called for lights and he rushed in and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas.

And then he brought them out and said,

Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

Now just stop there for a minute.

Paul has this jailer right where he wants him, right?

This is one of those foxhole moments where your life is on the line.

He's going to make a bargain with God, right?

I'll do anything to be saved.

Rescue me.

What do you want me to do?

I mean, imagine you're Paul, right?

This is his big chance.

You know, what do you want me to do?

How about 20% of your next paycheck?

How about promise to do anything I want you to do?

Get me a private jet.

No.

Paul's going to say something else entirely.

Verse 31.

In response to his question, what must I do to be saved?

They said, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.

You and your household.

And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.

And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds.

And he was baptized at once.

He and all of his family.

Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them.

And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

Believed in God when he believed in the Lord Jesus.

That was it.

The sine qua non of a Christian is Jesus.

Paul keeps it pretty simple, doesn't he?

He says, you're saved by works.

Just not your own works.

You trust what Jesus has done.

After the simple, clear statement, it says,

Paul spoke the word of the Lord to the jailer and his household.

What do you think Paul said?

We don't know the exact words, but we do know some things about it.

We know that it couldn't have taken more than a couple of hours

because the earthquake happened around midnight.

They were baptized sometime that night.

There must have been so much theology that they still didn't know about

or certainly understand.

What else about the word of the Lord that Paul spoke to them?

The word of the Lord.

He's just identified the Lord as Jesus.

So we know Paul's talking to them about Jesus.

If you flip over to 1 Corinthians,

Paul tells you where he starts when he talks about Jesus.

What's most important?

Paul says,

I delivered to you as of first importance

what I also received.

That Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures.

That he was buried.

That he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

And that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

Then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time,

most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

Anything in there?

Those things of first importance that are commands

of things for us to do to get in?

Nope.

It's all about what Jesus has done, isn't it?

His death, his burial, his resurrection, his appearances.

So we trust him.

That's what Paul's saying.

This is what Jesus has done so that you can trust him.

See, a Christian is someone whose identity comes

not from what he has done for God,

but for what God has done for him.

Hallelujah.

We are who you say we are, God.

We are someone who's forgiven of all failings.

Even the very worst ones because of Jesus' sacrifice.

We're someone adopted into God's family as a son or a daughter,

as an heir of heaven.

We're someone indwelt by God's Spirit,

regardless of what we've done or will do.

So the jailer considered his life over, didn't he?

He was done.

He was at the very bottom,

as low as he'd ever been personally or professionally,

but he was not too far gone for God to save, was he?

Listen, I really don't want you to miss this.

If you're someone who came this morning

asking that question somewhere in your heart,

can I be a Christian even though I'm not a good person?

If you're feeling some version of that,

the answer is absolutely.

Absolutely.

Jesus is the good person.

Paul didn't ask the jailer here

how many times he'd been to church recently.

He didn't ask him how he behaved while in college.

He didn't ask him if he was a perfect parent.

No, he asked him to be willing to trust Jesus

as the good person for him.

You can do that today.

No matter how you've thought of yourself previously

or how you worried about yourself coming in,

there's Jesus for you.

And that simple clarity is vitally important

because in a day where we like to argue

and we have a tendency to divide

over every little disagreement,

we seem to have lost the art

of what I'll call theological triage.

Did you know, friends,

that the identity of the Savior

whose blood rescued us

and is pictured in the sacrament of baptism

is more important

than the amount of water used during the baptism?

It is.

I'm not saying it doesn't matter.

Both are valid discussions

and great conversations to have,

but some things are primary

while others are secondary.

That Jesus rose from the dead,

that he's coming again,

primary.

The exact timing of his return

and the scope of redemptive history

and all the things that are going to happen around it,

secondary.

See, historically,

following Paul's biblical example

of the things that are of first importance,

most heresies,

things that would take you outside

of Christianity,

are wrong beliefs

about the person

or work of Jesus.

That's at the heart of it.

When we fail

to triage those issues

and imply that all Christians

do the same things,

vote the same ways,

sing the same songs,

that makes you a Christian.

See, we understandably confuse

the simple and clear gospel message

and people get the wrong idea entirely.

John Calvin warns against this

when he writes about this passage in Acts.

He talks about us wandering from Christ,

this simplicity in regard to salvation,

to being a Christian.

He says when that happens,

things get complicated quickly

in any number of ways.

It leads to confusion, doesn't it?

Because I start to think

that every detail of God's word

is equally important

so you always worry

whether there's another theological nuance

you need to nail down

and you miss Jesus.

Southwood,

let's never allow an emphasis

on secondary issues

to cause our neighbors

to miss the primary person

at the heart of Christianity.

Okay?

Let's not do that.

It can lead to confusion in that way.

It can also lead to arrogance.

Right?

How would it lead to arrogance?

Well, when I start adding things

to the essence of Christianity

and I start to give myself credit

for being a Christian

because I've done some of these things,

no way!

May I never boast

except in Jesus and His cross.

It may not lead to arrogance.

It may start to lead you to doubt

concerning your own salvation.

Because see, if we're honest,

once I'm involved

in needing to do anything,

how can I ever be sure

I've done enough,

well enough,

to be saved?

And we miss Jesus

and His promises

to hold us

and keep us

and bring us home.

It's the very joy

and hope of the gospel.

We start to lose it.

So Christians

are those identified with Jesus.

They have a relationship with Him.

Paul says,

that relationship means

they believe in Him.

Jesus was clear

on this way

that the relationship

with Him works, right?

Faith in His works.

God so loved the world

that He gave His only Son

that whoever believes in Him

will not perish

but have eternal life,

John 3.

Jesus gets asked

in John 6,

what do we do

to do the works of God?

And what does He say?

Believe in the one

He has sent.

He does the works.

Remember?

Doubting Thomas

touches the resurrected Jesus

and believes

and we learn

that these things

were written

that we may believe

that Jesus is the Christ,

the Son of God

and that by believing

we may have life

in His name.

That's the secret.

Life,

full life,

abundant life,

even everlasting life

is not something

we achieve

but something

we receive.

Faith, y'all,

is not performing

feats of strength

but trusting

the strong one.

your faith right now

as you sit there

is in the pew

to hold you,

right?

It's not in your ability

to sit well.

here Paul says

believing in Jesus,

trusting what we don't see.

It's this believing in

or the preposition here

is actually upon Jesus

and I think that's a really

helpful image

because it pictures

that resting,

that being held up

by Jesus

as we're trusting upon Him.

Elsewhere,

the Bible uses

a different preposition

believing in

or into

Jesus.

In other words,

as we trust Him

there's a union,

there's a relationship,

a connection

with Him

by faith

that the Bible says

is all we need.

Once we're connected

to Him

that's what we need.

It's at the very heart

of Christianity.

We believe

not in belief.

It's not faith in faith

or faith in whatever.

Just faith.

We believe in Jesus.

Now some people

who understand that

sometimes wonder,

can I be a Christian

with all my doubts?

A Christian is a person

of faith

who believes,

but some days

a passage

in the Bible

confuses me.

Some days

being made fun of

by my friends

makes me question

what I believe.

Some days

I think I believe

but I'm really not sure.

I'm actually confused.

Friends,

listen,

I want you to know this.

Christians wrestle

with doubts.

Pastors wrestle

with doubts.

Disciples of Jesus

wrestled with doubts.

And if you think

that disqualifies you

from being a Christian,

let me say to you

with all the sympathy

in the world,

it does not.

It does not

disqualify you.

In fact,

I would urge you

don't put yourself

back at the center

again.

You're not

the hero.

You don't have

to be

the strong one.

The key to faith

is not the strength

of the believer

but the strength

of its object.

That pew

you're sitting in

will hold you up

even if you're

not always

certain

that it will.

And likewise,

Jesus

will save you.

You can be

even more certain.

Even if you're

not always

feeling certain.

that he will.

But you believe

upon him.

British preacher

Charles Spurgeon

knew doubts

well.

And here was

his hope.

I love this picture.

It's a simple one.

He says,

often doubts

will prevail.

What a mercy

it is

that it is

not your

hold of Christ

that saves you

but his

hold of you.

What a sweet

fact

that it is

not how you

grasp his

hand

but his

grasp of

yours

that saves

you.

So what do

you do with

your doubts?

Will you take

them to Jesus

because he can

handle them?

You might ask

a parent

or a pastor

or a friend

your questions

about Jesus.

You might go

together to the

words of Jesus

to see what

he would say

but whatever

you feel

don't think

that it makes

you not

a Christian.

Jesus

makes you

a Christian.

You can trust

him.

Well there's

one last thing

here that Paul

includes at the

heart of

Christianity.

Believe in

the Lord

Jesus.

The Lord

means the

ruler.

the one

in charge.

The one

on the

throne.

The Jesus

we believe

in is not

one among

many.

He's not a

prophet of our

own imagination

that we get to

make up any

way we want

him to be.

He's the

Lord.

So if that's

the case

who gets

knocked off

the throne?

Well the

most obvious

answer here

for the

Philippian

jailer

was probably

Caesar.

He's likely

a former

Roman soldier

who would

have been

taught

Caesar

is

Lord.

The one

to whom

he swore

his

allegiance.

So part

of what Paul

is saying

to him

is that

no human

leader,

no ruler,

no political

figure

deserves the

kind of

allegiance

that you

now give

to Jesus.

That's some

theological

triage in

two little

words.

The Lord.

He is

the Lord.

Jesus is.

Jesus, by the

way, in case

you're confused,

never voted

Republican or

Democrat.

Did you know

that?

Never even

voted in an

election in the

United States

of America.

Shocking.

That is news

that you came

to receive

this morning.

Just

clarifying,

Jesus

is

Lord,

not a

position that's

up for

election.

Be careful

of making

any other

person or

group a

measuring stick

or a litmus

test of true

spirituality.

But I think

for many of

us,

believing in

the Lord

Jesus is

challenging

because it

takes me

off the

throne as

much as it

does Caesar

or Trump

or anyone

else.

Jesus

himself says,

if anyone

would come

after me,

let him

deny himself

and take up

his cross

daily and

follow me.

For whoever

would save

his life

will lose

it, but

whoever loses

his life for

my sake,

will save

it.

Now, this

is not a

gotcha.

This is not

the catch

where you

realize, oh,

it actually

is about

whether I

do enough

good things

and be

good enough.

No, being a

Christian is

all about

Jesus and

trusting him.

What Jesus

is saying

here is that

once we

do,

following

Jesus,

finding our

identity in

relationship with

him means

now we

start to

think about

how this

changes

everything.

He's

Lord, not

just over

one little

place, but

over

everything.

Let me

let some

of you

breathe.

Following

Jesus should

impact how

you vote.

it should.

As you

prayerfully

consider how

best to

honor Jesus

as Lord

right in the

time and

place where

he has placed

you, and as

you humbly

respect others

who reach

different conclusions

about how to

do that.

See, this is

actually really

hard, but if

I'm not on

the throne

anymore, I

submit to

Jesus in

everything.

Even my

passionate political

convictions.

Even the

things I'm sure

I've got right.

Even the

things that just

seem to make

sense to me.

I say, Jesus,

you're the

Lord.

What do you

want?

You show me

Jesus.

So yes,

this is the

life of

discipleship,

of walking

with Jesus.

It does

mean that

Jesus directs

everything,

including our

sexuality.

He directs it

all according

to his design.

And that

means that

he calls us

to repentance

over our

selfish

heterosexual

lusts,

over our

selfish

quick divorce

mentality,

selfish,

homosexual

behavior.

All of

them.

It also

means that

I seek to

treat people

in process

in any of

these struggles

and many

other struggles

the way the

Lord Jesus

would.

I'm supposed

to be treating

you the way

he would.

He shows us

and tells us

how we treat

people who are

wrestling and

struggling,

who are still

works in

process.

Jesus was

known as

the friend

of sinners,

wasn't he?

Even to the

consternation of

the religious

folks, he

ate and

drank with

those people

that they

avoided, not

because he

compromised the

truth, but

because he was

full of grace

and truth.

So one

example of

that, since

I mentioned

it earlier,

our reputation

about this,

this is not

all that could

be said in

this area, but

a start.

We hold to

clear biblical

teaching and

historic Christian

belief on

sexuality.

One man,

one woman,

within the

covenant of

marriage.

marriage, and

we ought to

live in such

a way that

we are known

as the friend

of sinners,

of heterosexual

adulterers, as

Jesus was, and

homosexual sinners

too, like our

Lord.

If you're

wondering, is

there a place

for you with

Jesus?

We're not

proud of our

sin, that's

not it, but

we are proud of

our Savior, and

He loves

sinners.

So if you're

wondering if

there's a place

for you, if

you love

criminals, if

you love

homosexuals, if

you love

addicts, is

there a place

with Jesus for

you?

Even in this

church, you

better believe

it.

Yes, there is,

because our

identity comes

not from any of

those things that

we do, but

from what Jesus

has done, and

who we are as

a result of

believing in

Him.

We go to His

Word, and we

ask our Lord to

direct our steps

in truth, to

direct our

relationships in

grace.

Jesus, would

you make us

known for

living, for

loving, like

you?

The sine qua non.

believe in the

Lord Jesus.

Now as we

come to His

table, what

is the sine qua

non for those

who would come

partake of this

table?

It's got to be

the same, doesn't

it?

Active belief in

the Lord Jesus.

Jesus.

So let me just

think with you

before we

celebrate the

Lord's Supper,

what does that

mean is not

required for

coming and

eating here?

Well, being a

member of

Southwood, not

required.

Being a

Presbyterian who

would do things

like have your

children baptized,

not required.

Having had a

good week where

you didn't blow

it in anything

you said or

looked at or

thought about or

did.

Even being

doubt free in

your confused

mind that seems

right now more

full of questions

than answers on

some things not

required.

So what is

required?

What would it

mean to say

actively believe in

the Lord Jesus?

That means that

you are placing

all of your

hope in Him

for the failure

of this week,

for the

questions in

your mind in

the midst of

your doubts,

that you're

trusting His

life and

death and

resurrection in

your place,

that you see

here His body

and blood

given for you

to make you

His even while

you're still in

process.

You're His.

and active

belief in the

Lord Jesus,

if He's your

Lord, that

means when He

shows you an

area where you're

disobeying Him,

that means that

you're willing to

be displaced

from the throne.

It means that

you're willing,

you're actually in

the process of

repenting and

turning back to

Him.

It doesn't mean

you're perfect,

it does mean

that you're not

on the throne.

Not anymore.

It means you've

been baptized to

declare that

publicly, like the

jailer and his

family, that

there's another

Lord and it's

not me.

It means that

you're now a

part of a

community that

works together to

hold one another

to that active

belief in Jesus,

like that little

church just

starting in

Philippi whose

only hope was

in the Lord

Jesus.

Like this little

church in

Huntsville whose

only hope is

in the Lord

Jesus and so

we, like them,

for now 2,000

years, come to

do what Jesus

has told us to

do in remembrance

of Him.

Hear it as He

invites you

Himself.

Was the night

He was betrayed

that Jesus took

bread and He

broke it and He

gave it to His

disciples as I

ministering in His

name give this

bread to you.

He said,

take and eat,

this is my body

given for you.

Do this in

remembrance of me.

And then in the

same way He took

the cup and said

this cup is the

new covenant in

my blood shed for

many for the

forgiveness of sins.

Drink from it all

of you.

And Paul explains to

us, now as often as

you eat this bread

and you drink this

cup, you proclaim

the Lord's death

until He comes.

You proclaim that

He's Lord and

that you're His.

Paul goes on to

say, examine

yourselves as you

come to this table

so that you don't

come here and eat

without seeing Jesus

and so that if you

do see and do

celebrate Jesus

here, you come

humbly and you

come hopefully

alongside the

other parts of

His body who

are humble and

hopeful with you.

Let's pray and

then we'll come

together.

Jesus, we are

humble because we

know nothing we

have done can

earn us a seat at

this table and

we're quite sure

that our record

would get us

chased off if

that's what it

were based on.

But we come so

hopeful because we

have a Savior.

One who comes

for sinners is a

friend of sinners,

rescues sinners

like us so that

we become children

of God.

And so we

joyfully receive

the gift of

Your presence and

the reminder of

Your love.

We ask this in

Jesus' name.

Amen.

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