I just love it when people can put words to something I’ve been thinking or feeling and simply haven’t been able to express it.  Last week I had a good conversation with my friend Matt.  I never got to know Matt that well, but he married my wife’s roommate in college so I’ve known him for quite a while.  He and I have crossed paths a couple of times over the years, and recently I felt prompted to give him a call.  I’m glad I did.

During our conversation Matt articulated something I needed to hear.  He said in the circles we’ve been raised in, we’ve been God-dependent when it comes to salvation, but self-dependent in our sanctification.  For those of you who just freaked out with the word, “sanctification,” let me translate.  What he’s saying is that we rely way too much on self when it comes to living out our Christianity.  Sanctification is the biblical word that refers to the working out of what Christ works in us.

 

The more I think about this, I realize my friend had hit the nail on the head.  Few people I associate with would debate that we can save ourselves, but admittedly we don’t live our daily lives as if everything totally depends on Christ.  While we may say that we need Christ, our actions often times speak as though it depends on us.  At the end of the day, it’s what I do, not what Christ does through me.  

 

Since I spoke with Matt I’ve reflected on my past and I’ve realized something.  What made me a good baseball player made me a lousy Christian.  As baseball player I knew that the more worked, the better I would become.  As a Christian I can work my entire life and unless God does something, I cannot please God.  You see it’s not what I do that pleases God, but rather what Christ does through me that pleases God.