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Who Are You to Tell Me How to Live?
Who Are You to Tell Me How to Live?
Someone recently asked me, "If it is considered wrong to tell people how to live their lives, then would it also be wrong for Christians to tell people that they are sinning and need to turn away from it? Because, in a sense, I see that as telling a person how to live their life. Do Christians even have a right to do this if it is frowned upon?"
It's sometimes the case when Christians share the good news of Jesus Christ that people assume you're telling them how to live their lives. And that is, in a sense, true. Whenever we share the hope of the gospel, we’re presuming to tell someone how to live their life. But is it wrong to tell people how to live their lives? Not always.
Addiction recovery programs tell people how to live. Financial advisors do the same. Mothers and fathers guide and socialize children by telling them how to live healthy, safe, and happy lives. Teachers tell students to do their homework, and grandparents tell grandchildren how to catch fish. The list could go on, but you get the point. From a practical point of view, people are helpful when they offer suggestions to others on how to live their lives. Perhaps the key is to do so with gentleness and respect.
What about Christians who presume to tell others that something they do is sin. Is that wrong? A few years ago, Penn Jillette, the famous member of the Magician Duo Pen and Teller, told the story of an encounter with a Christian after one of his shows.
Jillette said the man, about his age, had been one of the audience participants in the previous night’s show. He came backstage to meet Jillette, thanked him, and said, “I brought you this.” It was a copy of the small Gideon Bible that the Gideons hand out at schools and other places.
Jillette says he was moved by the man’s gesture, saying, “He was kind, and nice, and sane, and looked me in the eyes, and talked to me, and then gave me this Bible.” Jillette continued.
“I’ve always said, I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe there is a heaven and hell, and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward. How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate someone to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?”
Jillette then gave this example. “If I believed, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that a truck was coming at you, and you didn’t believe it, that that truck was bearing down on you, there’s a certain point that I tackle you, and this (believing that Jesus is the way to life) is more important than that.”
Penn Jillette remains an unbeliever, but he thought this story of someone telling him, in essence, how to live his life by giving him a Bible was important enough to make a video about the incident. It’s pretty easy to find on the internet and it's quite inspiring to watch.
Regarding whether Christians have the right to tell people about sin, repentance, and salvation, two things can be said. First, Jesus gave his followers clear instructions about this issue when he said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18–20, ESV).
Making disciples and teaching them all Jesus has commanded his followers is telling people how to live in ways that honor God. Whether they listen or not, whether they take offense or not, is up to them. But for Christ's followers, our Lord has commanded us to warn people about the danger of sin and tell them where salvation can be found.
Second, the Apostle Peter tells us how we are to do this. (B)ut in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect… (1 Peter 3:15). Paul agrees, writing to the church in Colossae, Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Colossians 4:6).
Penn Jillette makes a point in the video to emphasize that the man who gave him the Bible was respectful, gentle, and engaging. His deep concern to tell Jillette about Christ came from the man’s sure conviction that God’s Word is true and from his love for another human being.
If we love people and have a heart for the lost, as Jesus did, then it’s necessary to honestly tell people not only how to avoid the wrath of God but also how to find peace with God. Although some may frown upon our efforts, it’s important to make sure they aren’t frowning because we’re rude or ill-mannered. Instead, like the man who made such an impression of Penn Jillette, we present the gospel with love and care, knowing that the results are in God’s hands.
Where Do I Get My Miracle?
Miracles are found throughout the Bible, which is why rational, evidential thinking people view the Bible with suspicion. After all, science has explained miracles away, or so the thinking goes. Yet, a growing number of people claim that enough faith can bring healing, prosperity, and various other sorts of things that appear to be miracles. The “name it and claim it” crowd say every Christian should be able to do these things if they have enough faith. Being sick, being poor, driving an old broken down car, these are evidence that people don’t have “enough faith.” Skeptics are told, “God is the same yesterday, today, and forever,” so the miracles described in the Bible must be possible today. But is this true? Can we expect miracles from faith, or has God and the work of His Spirit changed?
The answer is yes and no. Yes, the Spirit is at work today as He has always been, and, no, the miracles of healing, raising from the dead, and abundant provision are not occurring regularly. But that doesn’t mean God is no longer at work in his creation. The Triune God was present at the creation (Genesis 1:2), and He continues to sustain the creation in the same way today. God’s blessing of common grace to cause the rain and sunshine to fall on both the righteous and the wicked has not changed. The Spirit continues to perform the miracle of bringing the dead hearts of sinners alive to God countless times every day. (John 3:5-6; Romans 8:11; Titus 3:5).
These may not be flashy miracles, but the Spirit continues His work in each believer by redeeming them to give the desire to be obedient, called sanctifying, and to trust in God’s promises, called perseverance, and these miracles have not stopped. So, why don’t we see the kind of miracles we see the Apostles do in the New Testament today? A careful study of miracles during the first-century church provides the answer.
As Jesus was about to ascend into heaven, He promised His disciples that the Spirit would come upon them so that they would be his witnesses in ever-increasing geographical circles (Acts 1:8). Through the Spirit, the early believers could speak in foreign languages they had not previously known (Acts 1:4-11). The Apostles were able to heal the lame (3:6), heal all kinds of sickness and diseases, and many other miraculous signs (5:12-16), but in each case, the purpose of these miracles was to proclaim and teach that Jesus is the Christ (5:42).
The early church grew quickly because those miracles were God’s means to “jump-start” the church. And the church grew remarkably, even in the face of persecution by the civil and religious authorities. But when John, the last Apostle, died, the physical miracles subsided. However, what did continue is the work of the Spirit to continue saving, sanctifying, and preserving believers. These are miracles unseen, yet miracles nonetheless.
The physical miracles ceased because physical miracles can’t convince people to believe in God. Jesus made this clear in His parable of the rich man and Lazarus found in Luke 16:19-31. In that parable, the rich man, who was in torment, asked father Abraham to go to the land of the living and warn his brothers about the agony that awaits those who will not repent. Jesus ends the story by saying, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’” (Luke 16:31, ESV).
And we know this is true. After the resurrection, while many people put their faith in Jesus, many more did not, even though Jesus was raised from the dead and seen alive by hundreds of people. The tomb was empty, there were no mistakes, and the early Christians believed with conviction that Jesus was the Messiah, just as he claimed. (1 Corinthians 15:6). The point that Jesus makes in the parable and that history confirms is that it’s not seeing a miracle that enables people to believe. It is only through the work of God the Spirit that enables them to do so (John 3:5-8; Romans 8:2, 14, 1 Corinthians 2:12; Ephesians 2:8-9).
The work of the Spirit to bring the dead to life, to give sight to the spiritually blind, and enable the sick and lame to walk in righteousness happen countless times each day. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever and his plan of redemption and restoration for his creation continues unabated as it has from before time began. That is truly miraculous, and the miracle of faith leading to eternal life can be yours today.
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