Returning to the Fundamentals of the Faith
As an NFL football fan, I see it all the time. The best teams—the ones who make it the furthest into the playoffs and perhaps even win a Super Bowl—are the ones who play the best fundamental football towards the end of the season.
Sure, you have the occasional flashy play that ends up all over the Internet and goes down in history, but 95% of that team’s success comes down to how well they execute the fundamentals. Hold on to the ball. Tackle well. Communicate clearly. Maximize each athletes’ strengths. Nothing fancy. Just the basics. There is no need for any one player to take on more than his abilities. There is no need to totally reinvent the game.
Focus on the fundamentals—the things that have always been the keys to football success. If you do this well, your team is going to succeed.
What Is Our Dilemma?
Perhaps now more than ever, we as Christians need to focus on the fundamentals of the faith.
Our national witness has been decimated—this due in large part to Christians focusing on things outside the fundamentals of following Christ. The events surrounding the invasion of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 have made this shockingly clear. People across the world saw on nearly every news outlet “Jesus Saves” posters next to MAGA hats and gallows. The crowd carrying these items then violently forced themselves past the police, broke down doors, and robbed our duly elected representatives. That scene is now the predominant view that millions of people around the world have of Christ-followers.
How can we possibly bounce back from something like that?
We must return to the fundamentals of following Christ and sharing the gospel.
What Is Our Goal?
Why should we share the gospel at all? Why shouldn’t we spend our time and energy trying to will our political agendas into fruition?
Because ultimately our goal should not be to convince peoples’ political view to align with ours or to see their behavior modified in a way that lines up with Judeo-Christian morality. Sure, it would be fantastic for this violent behavior to change, but if, and only if, it comes out of a transformed heart. Changed morality without gospel acceptance and Holy Spirit transformation is just moralism.
“Changed morality without gospel acceptance and Holy Spirit transformation is just moralism.”
The Apostle Paul makes this clear in 1 Corinthians 5:9–13 when he writes to inform the church in Corinth regarding who to confront over sin. Paul tells them to continue to associate with those outside the church, regardless of their sin.
Being surrounded by a culture obsessed with sin, it is helpful to remember that God wants us to love unbelievers the way they are. We don’t need to condone the sin, but we should not partake in “evangelism” that judges unbelievers. As Christians, we should show a growing purity and separation as we engage the world, but we should not expect this same behavior from those outside the Church. How on earth could we expect an unregenerate person to act like a regenerate one? We can’t and we shouldn’t.
In light of this, our goal is to share the gospel so that unbelievers might be transformed. We don’t want non-believers to imitate our morality and think they are good people. We want them to receive the righteousness of Christ! Painting red the exterior of a rotten apple is of no value. The apple needs to be made new from the inside-out, and only the gospel can do that for fallen humanity.
Where Is Our Power?
We might live in a culture that mistrusts those who profess Christ, but even still, we have a call to share a hope that can meet their most desperate need.
The task ahead looks profoundly difficult. How can we possibly accomplish anything of significance in this impossible cultural climate? Do we trust in our own ability and strength? Do we trust in our own competence and strength or do we take a different posture?
The Apostle Paul, this time in 2 Corinthians 5, makes it clear that we are not to trust in our own abilities or strength. He doesn’t call us to be “CEOs for Jesus” who are extra confident in our ability to fulfill the ministry of reconciliation. Rather, Paul calls us to be ambassadors for Christ.
As ambassadors, just like in the world of politics, we have no real power intrinsically within ourselves. Ambassadors only have authority when authorized by the sending power of the sovereign ruler. Jesus is the only true Sovereign, and with his authority he has sent us to go and make disciples of all nations. God is making his appeal to non-believers through us. How incredible is that?
We don’t trust in our own strength, cleverness, or competency. We trust in the Sovereign King who has empowered us with his Holy Spirit to lift high the name of Christ to our neighbors, co-workers, family, and friends. It is a privilege that he chooses to use people as weak as us to reconcile a broken world to himself. So we go humbly, carrying his message as we plant seeds, water the crop, and trust God for the growth of fruit.
How Do We Move Forward?
I truly believe that we can only move forward with the mission of God by focusing less on national stages and more on local gospel ministry. The fundamentals in football are not primarily taught by the head coach, but by the lower-level position coaches who aren’t as well-known. It is the same for Christians as we reorient back to the basics of following Christ and sharing him with the world around us. Don’t look primarily to the influencers or the politicians or the news media personalities for your way forward.
Look to those around you. Look to your pastor and mentors for guidance. Look to your friends for encouragement. Look to your neighbors and co-workers for your mission field.
“But what if, in this next season for you and your church, the Lord is calling you to simple, humble faithfulness in the small things?”
A tendency for us in our social media-saturated world is to believe the lie that we all can have a huge following and a huge impact on current events. But what if, in this next season for you and your church, the Lord is calling you to simple, humble faithfulness in the small things?
What if as a faithful Christ-follower you simply seek to worship God with a devotion that surprises nonbelievers, love your spouse in a way that portrays the gospel to a world that craves unity, disciple your family in a way that exemplifies sacrifice, love your neighbors in a way that shows true compassion that seems superhuman these days?
You probably won’t be nationally known or make an impact that will make it into the history books. But focus on the fundamentals. Love God. Love your neighbor. Seek to show them the love of Christ.
May the Kingdom of God be made more evident to those around us through these simple, fundamental practices. May the Holy Spirit give us the strength to do so for the renown of Jesus.
Mike Rettler is a husband and expectant father. He serves as the Associate Pastor at the Plymouth, MI campus of Woodside Bible Church.