By Tyler McKenzie

Why do you believe in Jesus? What’s your motive? Do you believe in order to have a more comfortable life? Bad plan. Faithfulness is rarely comfortable. Do you believe because Heaven sounds better than Hell? Agreed, but God wants to be loved, not used for Heaven’s sake. Maybe you “believe to receive”? Say enough prayers, rub your cross, go to church, and buy my book for $9.99, then believe and receive? That’s completely unbiblical. 

Why Will Determine How Far

So why do you believe? Getting honest here is important because here’s what I’ve observed: the reasons why you believe in Jesus will determine how far you follow Jesus. Think about it. If Heaven is your reason, you’ll believe just enough to get in. If luck or comfort is why, you’ll believe as long as life is lucky or comfortable. 

Scripture suggests Jesus is worth your belief because he is the Son of God, God’s ultimate self-revelation. What if you believed because of that?

If we’re honest, most of us just aren’t that deep. Too often I’m not. We don’t believe for Christ’s sake; we believe for our sake. We first go to Jesus because we hear he can meet our needs, and from there forward that’s exactly how we exploit him. Most of us follow less out of reverence for Jesus and more out of reverence for ourselves. 

The Crucified Son of God

And to think, he’s not just God’s Son, which would be enough; he’s the crucified Son! He used his divine nature and human life for me. Jesus, God’s equal, didn’t think of equality with God as something to cling to, but humbled himself and came to my rescue. Yet I, on the other hand, far from God’s equal, often think of equality with God as something to cling for. So I elevate myself and frantically grasp at any power I can, believing that if I can acquire enough this side of Heaven, perhaps I can make myself a god this side of Heaven.

It’s time to stop worshipping myself and instead worship the Son. In a right relationship with the Son of God, I don’t wear the pants, control the agenda, or make the rules. I’m not the center of attention. Thy will, not my will, be done.

Tyler McKenzie is the Teaching minister at Northeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, and blogger at CrossShapedStuff.com. He lives in Louisville with his wife, Lindsay.