Focus

After this past year of college, I feel revitalized. My walk with Christ is stronger than it has been my entire life, and it's growing stronger every day. My spiritual reboot was successful and I became integrated into a great ministry on campus.

But I hear you saying, "Ryan, you told us all about how you re-learned everything and how excited you are in your last entry, but what was it exactly that changed in your life?"

My focus changed.

In the process of my so called "reboot", I re-learned what was important and what was merely church doctrine and speculation. What really changed in this past year was that I began to focus less and less on the little things that make church...churchy, and more on the message of Christ. Suddenly, Bible passages that had been drilled into me all my life were starting to make perfect sense. It's amazing how enthusiastic you can get about life if you know what you're living for.

Different focuses are, essentially, why there are different denominations within Christianity. Some churches focus primarily on the importance of water baptism. Others choose Acts 2, and place a tremendous emphasis on the works of the Holy Spirit. Some focus almost exclusively on the book of Revelation and the end times. All of these things are good and have a place, but the focus is off a bit.

What I found to be the most important thing the Bible teaches us - the reason the gospels were written - is the life of Christ. He set an example for us, and we are to follow that example. That's what it means when we call ourselves Christians. Jesus loved everyone he came across and was compassionate toward the week and helpless. He was in constant correspondence with God, His father. I believe we are to mimic Christ in all aspects of his life. In fact, the rest of the New testament consistently steers in this direction.

We need to take a long, hard look at ourselves as Christians. Do we see Christ in us? Do we act like Him? Do we reach out to strangers as we would our best friends? Do we have a strong father-child relationship with God?

If not, we need to ask God to help us become who he wants us to be.