The Overcoming Christian: Conclusion

As we reach the end of the year, it is a good time to look back on the past year and look forward to the year to come. In our culture, people are much more likely to look forward than to look back. But there is a place for both. Today I want to spend a little time doing both.

This message completes our series entitled The Overcoming Christian. Here is a brief summary of the messages of this series. As I go through this summary, if particular topics prick your heart, if it seems as if you are weak in this particular area or topic, write it down.

The Overcoming Christian. Our main passage was portions of the first three chapters of Revelations, as well as Romans 8:37. We summarized the messages to the seven churches of Revelation as the following: 1. Do not forsake your first love. 2. Remain faithful in suffering. 3. Turn from all idols. 4. Turn from immorality. 5. Embrace the gospel. 6. Hold on. 7. Enter into relationship with Jesus. I mentioned the Nike symbol and said we are to be hupernikeo, more than overcomers, more than conquerors. Has your relationship with Christ grown superficial or weak?

The Expectant Christian

It is always interesting to listen to what foreigners think about Americans. One observation I have heard several times is that we are shallow. By this they mean that we are so rich and content in our “stuff” that we care little about things that really matter to the rest of the world – things involving relationships. I think there is some truth to this. In most of the rest of the world, when you become friends with someone, you become friends for life. This is true whether you remain living in the same area or not.

My grandmother, who lived her first 37 years in Germany, wrote letters to about a dozen people until her health began to fail in her late 80s. And letter writing for her doesn’t even begin to compare to what we call letter writing. For many Americans, letter writing means you send a Christmas card or perhaps a photocopied letter once a year. If it is personalized at all, the personalization consists of signing your name. We are guilty of this, ourselves. We have some “professional” contacts we send letters to every year, and we have some former friends that we only hear from once a year with the letter. But my grandmother wrote out full letters to each of her friends, and they wrote back. She sent at least one to each person every month, often twice a month. And these were long letters, giving details of what was going on in their lives.

The Fortunate Christian

My message today is entitled “The Fortunate Christian.” Do you feel fortunate? Do you feel fortunate when you get a flat tire and have to pull over to the side of the road? Do you feel fortunate when your roof starts to leak? Do you feel fortunate when you can tell you are coming down with a cold? Do you feel fortunate when you almost pass your class, but not quite? I can assure you that some of my students at Clemson right now do not feel fortunate.

We are so far talking about little inconveniences. What about the really big things? Do you feel fortunate when you lose your job? Do you feel fortunate when your spouse leaves you? Do you feel fortunate when you are told you have cancer? There are very few of us that would feel fortunate at moments like that.

The Boasting Christian

This week I started with a clip from the children’s video Frog and Toad. I played a portion of a story entitled “The Dream.” Here is a transcript:

Toad was asleep, and he was having a dream. He was on a stage, and he was wearing a costume. Toad looked out into the dark. Frog was sitting in the theater. A strange voice from far away said, “PRESENTING THE GREATEST TOAD IN ALL THE WORLD!” Toad took a deep bow. Frog looked smaller as he shouted, “Hooray for Toad!”

“TOAD WILL NOW PLAY THE PIANO VERY WELL,” said the strange voice. Toad played the piano, and he did not miss a note. “Frog,” cried Toad, “can you play the piano like this?” “No,” said Frog. It seemed to Toad that Frog looked even smaller.

“TOAD WILL NOW WALK ON A HIGH WIRE, AND HE WILL NOT FALL DOWN,” said the voice. Toad walked on the high wire. “Frog,” cried Toad, “can you do tricks like this?” “No,” peeped Frog, who looked very, very small.

The Humbled Christian

I began by showing a video clip from the Christian movie Flywheel. The scene features a used-car salesman who used to enjoy ripping people off while selling them used cars, but who has recently rededicated his life to Christ. Feeling conviction over his former ways, he decides to go give refunds to those he had ripped off. Initially, the people he meets are very appreciative, even overjoyed, and are so happy to see the money they don’t really care about the fact that he had ripped them off in the past. He talks to his wife about how easy this is, and says that he was worried about eating crow, but instead is eating cake. His wife warns him about being prideful, and he denies it. The next lady he visits, however, really takes him to task. Here is their conversation:

“You what? You cheated me?!”

“Well, I mean I just wasn’t very honest about it…”