If You're A Christian And You Know It...

"If You're A Christian And You Know It..."
Philippians 2:1-4

(Note to readers:  I didn't have time to give this message this past Sunday--September 28--so I'm posting it anyway for those who would like to read it.)


One of the issues that Paul faced with the church in Philippi was that enthusiasm for Christ had waned.  When a number of the people had first become Christians, they were excited about the faith.  They were energized by their relationship with Christ.  Being a member of the emerging church was fun and fulfilling.  They felt like they were going some where, and giving their lives to something significant.

But then, time or circumstance, dulled the edge of joy.  "Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God."  (Leon Bloy)  But the believers didn't hold on to that sign.  Others weren't seeing the presence of God through the joy of the believers.

The Risen Christ said the same thing to the church of Ephesus in the book of Revelation:  "  But you walked away from your first love--why?...Turn back!  Recover your dear early love.  No time to waste..." (Revelation 2:4-5).  It happens in all our relationships over time.  Things become passé.  Joy and enthusiasm slowly morph into taking things for granted.

Napoleon once said, "Men of imagination rule the world."  But the same thing could be said of people with enthusiasm.  Without enthusiasm no relationship is sustained, no ministry is built, no trips to Belize are made, no empires founded, no faith shared.  The people of victory are those who keep the fires burning on the altar of enthusiasm when other flames have sunk into cold, gray ashes of despair or indifference.

Anyone know what the word enthusiasm really means?  It comes from a combination of three Greek words.  The first is en, which means in.  The second is theos, which means God.  And the third is ousia, which means you.  En Theos Ousia.  Enthusiasm.  Enthusiasm literally means, "God in you."  If you are enthusiastic, you have God in you.  Enthusiasm isn't something you create within yourself.  It isn't something you do by getting a bunch of cheerleaders together to try and build your enthusiasm.  If enthusiasm were up to you, it would rise and fall like a tide.  But enthusiasm has to do with God in you, and how much you allow God in your life.

Some years ago an American ocean liner was wrecked off the shores of the Scilly Islands, at the southwestern tip of Great Britain.  The sea was calm.  The weather clear.  But the ship was caught in an unseen but powerful current that slowly pushed it off course.

The same thing happens if we're trying to create enthusiasm ourselves.  We are at the mercy of different powerful currents like indifference, boredom, fear, faithlessness, lack of moral and spiritual resistance.  Without God-in-you, those currents will push you way off course, and true enthusiasm will escape you.

Gandhi once said, "There is more to life than increasing its speed.  Without the right sense of direction, how quickly we arrive does not matter."  Our enthusiasm, the fact of God-in-you is that which provides the right direction and the right speed with which to get there.

That's what Paul is trying to get across in this letter to the Philippians.  They have forgotten what they have gained from Christ and their life in Christ: that sure and certain enthusiasm that can direct and redirect your life.

I think that's what true evangelism is.  It is taking the responsibility as Christians for each other to remind each other of what Christ means to us.  The great Presbyterian preacher, Clarence Macartney told of a trip he took to Russia in 1912.  While he was there, visiting many households, he saw that in each place he went there was in the corner of every room, on the wall facing east, there hung an icon (a little painting or mosaic) of Christ.  Everywhere Macartney went, to visit the Russian people in their homes, or in places of business, they were reminded of Christ.

That's evangelism, not just toward unbelievers, but also believers who need the importance of keeping Christ and the Christian life clearly and always before our eyes.  That we need to remain, always, enthusiastic.  That we are connected to that which is much deeper than ourselves.

Chuck Swindoll, in his book, Strong Family, tells the story about a man who was looking at a large estate one day with a friend.  "Oh, if I was able to have this estate, I would be really happy."
"And then?" asked the friend.
"Well, then I'd knock down the old house and build a mansion, have lots of friends around me, get married, have several fine cars, and stable some of the finest horses."
"And then?" the friend asked again.
"Then I would hunt and travel and keep house and enjoy life gloriously."
"And then?" came the question again.
"Why, then, I suppose like other people, I would grow old and enjoy other matters in my old age."
"And then?"
"And then I'd probably die."
"And then?"
"Why do you keep asking me that incessant, 'And then'?  I'm sick of it and have no time for any more of it."
Years later the friend heard from the man who was once looking at the estate.  "God bless you.  I owe my happiness to you," the man said.
"How?" asked the friend.
"By two words asked at the right time:  "And then?"

Enthusiasm that is attempted to be self created doesn't end up being enthusiasm, because it isn't motivated by our deep connection with God.  The work of the evangelist is to ask the "And then?" questions that help us remember our God connectedness.

Mother Teresa wrote, in her book, No Greater Love,
What we need is to love without growing tired.  How does a lamp burn?  Through the continuous input of small drops of oil.  What are these drops of oil in our lamps?  They are the small things of daily life: faithfulness, small words of kindness, a thought for others, our way of being silent, of looking, of speaking, and of acting.  Do not look for Jesus away from yourselves.  He is not out there; He is in you.  Keep your lamp burning, and you will recognize Him.  (page 22)

Then, as St. Bernard of Clairvaux said, "What we love we shall grow to resemble."  To be enthusiastic is to connect with God who is in you.  But to not only connect; also to love, to love God who is in you, to not let that love fade, so that we then become more and more to resemble God in us.  To be, in a word, enthusiastic.