What Most Christians Miss
I once got a very angry email written by a confused sister in the faith who was convinced that I had lost my orthodoxy.
“I couldn’t believe what I was hearing,” she wrote the day after one of my presentations. “You told us that it’s not all about the cross of Jesus. I never thought I would hear a pastor say that.”
In her defense, I did say that. Hoping to get everyone’s attention, I provocatively and intentionally said that I don’t believe the Bible is primarily about the cross of Jesus. I don’t think the final goal or end game of the Scriptures is for people to believe Jesus lived, died, and rose for them. I do believe those things are MASSIVELY[1] important, but I don’t believe that’s the true beauty of Christianity.
But, before you find the matches for a digital book burning, I should explain what I mean. Better yet, I should point to what Jesus himself said.
DON’T MISS THE DESTINATION
On the night before Jesus gave his life on the cross, he gathered his closest friends and told them, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” (John 14:6). Beautiful, isn’t it? Many Christians adore this verse, because it is a vivid reminder that Jesus is supremely important for our faith. He is the only way, the source of absolute truth, and the key to eternal life.
But an equal number of Christians miss the greater point of that passage, namely, that Jesus is the way “to the Father.” The entire reason he came to earth, lived, died, and rose was to get sinners back to the Father, into God’s presence. Jesus’ work on that holy weekend was not the end, but rather the means to a better end—God!
I left the caps lock on in order to remind your heart that the GOD Jesus gave us is not a mediocre, been-there-worshiped-that kind of being. He is supremely better than the best that life has to offer, better than falling in love, getting promoted, or holding your first grandchild in your arms. That glorious GOD is the true aim and goal of the sacrificial work of Christ.
Imagine if I found a homeless family on a February night in Chicago and gifted them the key to a spacious, cozy, fireplace-roaring, turkey-on-the-table home. Would I just want them to walk the streets and hold the key saying, “What a generous man Mike is!”? No, I’d want them to use the key to spend time inside the house!
God wants the same thing for you. Through the blood of Jesus, you have full access to the place that warms and fills your heart, the place where God is serving the spiritual food to satisfy your deepest longings for value and worth and acceptance. Jesus doesn’t want you shivering and starving on the streets of this uncertain world when the key to a better life is in your pocket.
Jesus wants more for you. He wants you to come to the Father, not just on the day of your death, but on every day of your life.
THAT WE MAY BELIEVE
In the church I grew up in, we used to sing a short song about Jesus after every sermon. The lyrics were a paraphrase of a famous verse from John’s Gospel, a summary of what all twenty-one chapters of that book were about. The song went like this, “Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! These words are written that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!”
Solid, right?
But that’s not all that John said.
“Jesus doesn’t want you shivering and starving on the streets of this uncertain world when the key to a better life is in your pocket.”
Here’s the entire verse, “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name,” (John 20:31).
Believing in Jesus is massively important to John, but it’s not the end of his story. He wants you to be with God right now through the glorious name of Jesus. John wants you to enjoy the fact that God is here.
The author to the Hebrews echoes this, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings,” (Hebrews 10:19–22).
The author of Hebrews is all about the body and blood of Jesus, but he wants so much more for his friends—to draw near to God. We have confidence to do it! We have a way to get through the curtain into the most wonderful place of all! So, let’s do it now!
Through Jesus, the door is unlocked and wide open. Don’t spend another day in a place of loneliness, rejection, shame, boredom, guilt, and hopelessness. Instead, draw near to God. Walk into the presence of the One who wants to be with you, already accepts you, is not ashamed of you, can excite you, has forgiven you, and has thrilling plans for you.
You already believe in Jesus, so now believe Jesus—Go to the Father through faith in his Son. The door is open. The table is set. God is here!
PICTURING GOD
Sometimes in my occupation I get critical emails. I have a hunch that you do too, no matter what you do. Some of them are well deserved, rightful critiques of something I foolishly did or inadvertently said. Others are unfairly scathing and hard to forget. As much as I try to remember that everything is temporary, even people’s approval, words can still hurt. It is too easy for me to put those emails in the crock pot of my heart and let them simmer on low all day.
Ever been there? A classmate criticizes the way you look or laugh. A coach snaps and your weaknesses echo off the walls of the gym. A significant other texts a list of your wrongs to prove why they are right. It’s hard to go more than a few days without hearing the words that hurt more than sticks or stones. But before we give up our joy and peace, let’s not forget the words Jesus died to make true—God is here.
Here’s how I do it—I close my email and look at the couch in my office, trying to envision God. Not a dopey God or an unapproachable God, but God in all his caps lock glory. There sits God the Father and he’s smiling at me, without an ounce of disapproval or disgust in his expression. After all, I am absolutely forgiven and, by the blood of Jesus, as pleasing to God as his perfect Son.
Next to him is Jesus, God the Son, equally happy with me because of the scars in his hands and feet. And then there’s the God the Spirit, grinning and nodding towards the other two, reminding me how wonderful God is and how near I am to him because of what Jesus did.
After I look away from my laptop, I “look” at God. I talk with God and listen to him as I remember all that his Word says about me. I preach at my own heart, reminding it how glorious God is and how much God is for me. Since God is all-knowing, he is more than aware of my sin, yet he has chosen to send those sins away and treat me as I don’t deserve.
That little habit works. Not every time, but much of the time, it works. Emotionally, his presence changes me. Seeking and seeing him in his compassionate glory gets to my heart in all the right ways. That is the power of those three words—God is here.
I do the same thing when I’m in a confusing funk. Some days, I discover a moody man behind the wheel of my minivan. No, the Town and Country was not carjacked by a depressed carjacker. That moody man is me. Sometimes I can’t even explain why I’m not happy.
So, I run back to my favorite sentence. I glance over at the empty passenger seat and try to remember that God is here. I always picture him the same way—big smile, raised eyebrows, and that look that snaps me out of my moodiness.
In full disclosure, this habit isn’t a magic bullet. Some days the joy doesn’t come quickly. Or at all. Other days the fears and worries flood back into my mind as soon as I get back to my email or get my eyes back on the road. But even still, there is power in visualizing those three words.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
Would you be willing to give it a try? When your failures to be perfect, or their failures to be perfect towards you, bruise your heart’s happiness, stop, breathe, and see the God who is with you. They’re sitting shotgun. They’re smiling in the rearview mirror. They’re in the meeting room or on the factory floor or in the desk next to yours.
God is here. God delights in you.
And that fact can delight you.
[1] I left the caps lock on that one, so you’d know how much I love the saving work of Jesus.
Mike Novotny is a co-pastor at The CORE, a downtown church in Appleton, WI, with a passion to prioritize people who are far from God. As lead speaker for Time of Grace, a media ministry that connected with people more than 54 million times over various platforms in 2019, Mike teaches people to seek God first, see God in all his glory, and be satisfied with God, even if God is all they have. He loves dating his wife and two daughters, continuing his streak of 35 years of playing organized soccer, running long distances (even when not being chased), and reading anything he can get his hands on.