A Question Worth Asking

Likely, if you are reading this, you are a good, perhaps great, Christian. But I want to ask, “Are you and I truly following Christ?”

What’s the difference?

Think about how you and I can “check off the boxes” as a good Christian. If we attend church most Sundays, tithe, teach/lead at church, and don’t cause trouble, we will likely be described as good Christians.

But perhaps following Christ means that we go far beyond these simple acts.

What does Jesus tell us, “Abide in me.” (Jn 15:4-5), “Feed my sheep.” (Jn 21:15-

17), “Take up your cross.” (Mk 8:34, 39), “Be salt and light.” (Matt 5:13-16), “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matt 4:19) and more. These are not only Sunday tasks, they are Monday-Saturday tasks, too.

I once was a competitive athlete (hard to believe, eh?), and maybe you were too. We didn’t get to compete at a high level by just working out on Sundays. By the same token, we who have the opportunity to be obedient to Christ must be “salt and light” Monday through Saturday in our workplace.

In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus tells the story of Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham. Jesus makes two key points: 1) People are eternal beings, and 2) people have only two possible eternal destinations.

We professors have been given the most incredible opportunities in the world to impact students, colleagues, and others regarding their eternal destinations. We meet with people who wouldn’t consider attending church, but they come to our offices. We can be international missionaries even without a passport because much of the world travels to our campuses to attend our classes. Our universities send us fresh batches of students each semester, and we are among the most highly educated people they have encountered.

Jesus gave us a warning in Luke 6:40, “The student is not above his professor, but everyone when fully trained will be just like her/his professor.” And Jesus gives us another warning in Luke 12:48b, “To whom much is given, much is required.”

God blessed us with the opportunity to go much further in education than most. He has gifted us with intellect and abundant opportunities to impact the next generation of the world’s influencers. He has given us personal relationships with students in our classrooms and labs. And some of our students are getting fully trained and will be just like us.

God made us each as unique beings in His image. We can be “salt and light” in different ways. But, we who call ourselves Christians all have a similar task in life—we are to be salt and light. We are the only gospel many of our students will ever see.

Let’s ask ourselves often:

• Am I truly following Christ?
• Am I being salt and light?
• Am I growing more like Him?
• Am I fishing for men?

If not, perhaps I am not truly following Christ.

These are questions worth asking.