Jesus And X

As college gets further and further in the review mirror, I look back and think about what I regret the most. I find that I don’t regret any of the challenges and the stuff that made me unhappy or stressed. I don’t even particularly regret stupid choices, like running through snow in my bare feet. What I regret is the sinful choices and focusing on problems rather than focusing on Christ. I regret knowingly doing the wrong thing, and I regret letting a variety of things be bigger than Jesus.

I am presently reading a book called Has American Christianity Failed by Bryan Wolfmueller. It is an interesting book, as it dives into the four main errors permeating a lot of churches in America today (they are revivalism, pietism, mysticism and enthusiasm, if you are interested). The book also goes to show you how the differences between denominations do matter. Upon a cursory glance, the differences seem small, but as one looks deeper, the gap widens. It is like two rockets being shot to the moon. They are right next to each other on the ground, but one’s trajectory is an inch off from the other one. By the time they get into space, they can be miles apart. That doesn’t mean folks on both rockets aren’t Christians or aren’t saved. It simply means that studying doctrine is important to stay on track.

Another thing the book said that made me think was when one creates a sentence like “Jesus and X” when it comes to salvation. Wolfmueller used that phrase to illustrate how Jesus and something like good works don’t mix when talking about our salvation. The reason is when you combine Jesus and X, the X starts to become the important thing in the equation.

But it got me thinking because the X can also be problems, jobs, money, relationships, college, false doctrine, hobbies, really anything. When one starts thinking in terms of Jesus and X, the X often ends up becoming the important thing. If I think, all I need is Jesus and chocolate, I will probably find myself working to secure my chocolate reserves more so than focusing on Christ.

It is probably better to think that what a person needs is Christ.

Everything else is blessings He bestows.