TESTIMONY: 3 Mindset changes from Religion to Relationship

Indonesian version: https://menuju-sukacita-kekal.blogspot.com/2020/09/kesaksian-tiga-perubahan-cara-berpikir.html?m=1

Hey! One of the biggest gifts in my life is knowing how much deeper a person could be in their relationship with God.

I personally grew up in a Christian home. Hence, religious activities such as going to church was like a must-do thing for me. I also grew up seeing my parents contributing to activities, events, or projects related to the church. Soon enough, it has become a big part of my identity. But just like any other things in life, there comes to a point or a season where you make meaning of what you do and why you do things, or else things get dry.

When I refer to religion in this post, I am talking about the practice of activities or rules that Christians do because we feel like ‘we have to’ or 'obligated to' instead of a true and genuine faith fueled by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

There is a lot of mindsets that I needed to lay aside or remove completely, below are the big ones that were such game-changers. I hope you will find this helpful in your walk with God!

#1 "The Bigger the Church the Better" Mindset

#2 “I am not that bad…” to “Actually, I am that bad…”

#3 "I'll keep this Jesus to myself..."

#1 "The Bigger the Church the Better" Mindset

The Bible teaches us that the church is bought by the precious blood of Jesus Christ (Acts 20:28) and is a place for us to encourage and uplift one another. When I say ‘bigger’ church, I refer to it physically e.g. size of the building, the number of church following. Facilities are great, I think they are important means for growing in fellowship. However, we should not overlook the very thing that Jesus intended us – his followers – to have, which are love for one another (John 12:34), singing hymns to each other (Eph. 5:19), and serving one another humbly (Gal. 5:13). 

I found that when I rely on the size of a church alone for blessings, I really am relying on men’s power rather than God’s. This is nothing more than trying to limit God and his work. I have nothing against big churches, in fact, I have fellowshipped in several churches with a huge following. Just be weary of the inclination to let these physical things falsely define the quality of your fellowship. It certainly did to me and it took a long time for me to realize it! But God in his mercy has called me to rely on the working of His Spirit and treat each other on the basis of the love that Christ has shown me. 

I stepped out from this mindset when I was fellowshipping in a small local church in the city where I study in the UK. God has worked in place and situations where I least expected. My main message is to encourage you guys to not let what is ‘seen’ tangibly and physically limit your faith in our great God and his wonderful works towards accomplishing his purposes in each of our lives.

#2 “I am not that bad…” to “Actually, I am that bad…”

Have you ever thought of being a relatively 'better' Christian than the person sitting next to you? Have you ever tried earning God's approval by doing more things than what he's already done on the cross? Or maybe have you ever fallen into sin for so many times, that you don't think God would forgive you?

You will see why these questions matter as I go through my points. A lot of the times being religious has something to with doing works to earn God's goodness. This is not much different than any other facets of our life, say; if you wanna be rich, you work harder. If you wanna get good grades, study smarter. When it comes to your eternal salvation though, the case is totally different.

      I’ve answered yes to the questions above, and if you do too, it is most likely that you are being legalistic and have a distorted view of God's love. Legalism in Christianity is when someone do works by keeping God's laws in order to secure their righteousness before God. The danger of legalism is it undoubtedly brings us down to the path of self-righteousness, which was not what Christ’s blood was shed for. The apostle Paul clearly stated in Ephesians 2 that salvation is only by grace through faith alone in Christ, and "not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast". 

      Some or many of us grew up with - 'if you obey more, pray more, go to church more, the God of Heaven will bless you more abundantly'. While this sounds promising, this statement was unhelpful for me in trying to understand the Gospel in the first place. The thing is, I don't know about you but, I failed more than I succeed when it comes to overcoming sin. I've lost count of the times feeling defeated. But the Bible tells me the good news that has blessed me with the biggest gift when I am the most undeserving.

      When I say 'I am that bad', I mean that I am helpless in handling my own sinful nature and to get myself right with God out of my own righteousness and strength. I used to haunt myself daily with questions of "Have I done enough for God today? Is he pleased with me? Has he given up on me because I've sinned the same sin again and again?" However, everything changed when I stopped focusing on myself and focused on Jesus.

      This verse should explain it:

      "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8. 

      Jesus laid aside His divine powers and willingly suffered torture and death on a cross - in our place - so that we can trust in him and him alone for our salvation.  hence when God sees us, he will not see our spots of sins but the righteousness by the blood of Christ.

      "Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened" Jesus said in Matthew 11:28. He doesn't want you to feel like a good Christian one day and be the worst Christian the next day because you forget to pray or stumble into sin. In truth, each and every one of us are sinners in God’s eyes and we all need God's mercy as much as the other. He cured me of having a legalistic heart since a year ago and I am very thankful that he did!

#3 "I'll keep this Jesus to myself..."

This third one is going to be short, but also important.

I remember walking through my university forum and seeing a chalkboard writing 'Who is Jesus?' in colorful colors on a black board. It was made by one of the Christian Unions in my campus and they seemed to try to attract the students to know God. "Why did they need to make that?" I thought to myself. "Why don't they just keep Jesus to themselves?"

Yes, I was a Christian at the time but I didn't see the point of them doing that because wouldn't they just be ignored? Are they even making a difference?

I glanced over at their booth, trying to not get caught by one of the CU members, not because I hated them, but more because I secretly uncomfortable with the fact that I am not in love with The Gospel enough to share it myself.

My journey of truly understanding the significance of Jesus’ sacrifice in the past months has brought me closer to God. Having our faith built upon the love for gospel is crucial! I am not an evangelist, nor am I in the position to force on anything, but I just some consideration: Afterall, there's a reason why it's called 'good news'. When you got accepted into your favorite university or won a lottery, wouldn't you naturally share the news to others, especially when it affects them?

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This is all for today’s post. Let me know if you resonate with me or have any disagreements about the points I made, I'm more than happy for a small faith chat!😊

God bless and I wish you a wonderful week🙏