Building Blocks of the Christian Life (Part 1)

Succeeding in spiritual life is a desire of many believers, but unfortunately, it’s also a reality that seems quite farfetched to many. There are four crucial blocks every believer whose Christian journey will be successful must have and experience. If any of these blocks are missing, the structure of a believer’s Christian life will be weak. If the order of these blocks is violated, it will also lead to cracks in the structure of a believer’s life.

We will look at the first 2 building blocks today:

Confrontation

The dictionary defines confrontation as a hostile or argumentative situation or meeting between opposing parties.

The word ‘confrontation’ is a strong word. It describes an opposing party’s rude challenge of an idea or lifestyle. Confrontation doesn’t happen gently or courteously. When a person decides to confront another, it means he has decided not to pay attention to the other person’s feelings. To confront is to categorically oppose.

When a confrontation is done with an ulterior or selfish motive, the confronter intends to destroy; but when it is done with a godly motive, the intention is to correct and re-align. The natural man does not naturally fall in line with the will of God.

The Bible says, “We all like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every man to his way…” – Isaiah 53:6

Please take note of the word “we all”. That speaks of every man in his natural state.

Every child is born with the nature of a rebel. No child naturally chooses the ways of God. And if it were possible to simply teach or mentor a natural man to desire and accept spiritual things, there would have been no need for a confrontation. But the Bible says the heart (of a natural man) is deceitful above all things and beyond cure (Jeremiah 17:9). There is nothing that can cure the sinful heart of a natural man to make it righteous.

The Bible also says they that are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:8). Take note of the word “cannot”. This means no matter how much they desire to do so, pray to do so, decide to do so, or cry about doing so, they cannot do so. Every human being is born with a nature that is ultimately opposed to God and will never naturally choose the way of God. If you see any man who is currently walking with God and in alignment with Him, it is because he was confronted.

Every genuine Christian walk must begin with a confrontation. Every natural man must come to the point of being starkly aware of the futility of his human nature. He must see himself as utterly helpless and hopeless.

Whereas the Word of God should not come to condemn anyone, I dare say that if the preacher of the Word is too polite to confront men with the truth, their conversion experience will be weak, and it will make their entire Christian journey also to be weak. When Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, the Bible says those who heard him were “pricked” in their hearts. They were stung. The force of Peter’s message smote their spirits and broke down their defences. It made them see a need for salvation and also ready to receive it.

Saul of Tarsus was a man who was confronted by God (Acts 9). Nicodemus was also a man who was confronted by Jesus Christ (John 3). When Jesus told him of the mystery of Salvation, something seemed to happen to Nicodemus, and he never was the same. He, afterwards, seemed to have lost confidence/interest in the Pharisaic routine and was constantly on the side of Jesus (John 7:50-51) and in expectation of redemption.

For you to have a successful walk with God, you need more than a soft invitation into the kingdom of God. You need a forceful confrontation that will expose the futility of your sinful life and bring you to a desperate realisation of your utter helplessness until the Lord has mercy on you.

Men like Charles Finney and Jonathan Edwards (the preacher of the sermon titled “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, which became a catalyst for the First Great Awakening) were known to carry an anointing by which they could confront men with the truth and bring them to points of deep conviction and violent conversions.

Such converts found it difficult to go back to sin because of the strength of the message they heard and responded to. Without wanting to sound sarcastic, most preachers of today have become too “nice”, “polite”, “sensitive”, or “politically correct” to preach such sermons. I pray for God to restore such power to His Church in this end time.

Conviction

The essence of confrontation is not to condemn but rather to bring conviction. The conviction here means a firmly held belief or opinion. When a person is convicted of something, it means that person has come to hold that thing to be true firmly. A conviction is something that is rooted deeply in a person’s soul. Making someone convinced to let go of that belief will require more than a casual discussion. A conviction sits deep within a person’s soul structure, upon which many or most of his other ideas, beliefs, and idiosyncrasies are built.

When a man is convicted of something, he sees everything else through the lens of that thing. A conviction forms the basis of several actions. The Bible says the Holy Spirit is come to “convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement” (John 16:8). Until a man is convicted of sin, he sees no reason for salvation. This is the second step along the path of spiritual progress. Every confrontation of the word of God is supposed to birth conviction in the heart of the hearer.

Confrontation is not for condemnation but for conviction. Unfortunately, many people responded to altar calls and “accepted Jesus” into their hearts without being convicted. They simply had a mental agreement with what the preacher said. Even for some who were convicted, the conviction was not deep enough. They seemed to experience a gentle tap rather than a smiting.

Many believers today cannot stand to defend their faith in the presence of people with contrary beliefs or people of a different religion. Many believers cannot stand by the word of God and insist that Jesus Christ is the only way to God (John 14:6). Many believers are shockingly sympathetic enough to downplay the word of God and not insist on the truth of Scripture either because of a lack of boldness or because they are not convicted of it.

Many believers think the Bible is not as serious as it sounds. They seem to use their common sense to explain things away. They make statements like, “God cannot send everyone who does not believe in Jesus to hell. Some do not believe in Jesus because they were not born into Christian families.” The Biblical position of a truly convicted believer should be one of deep compassion and great urgency that will drive him or her into prayer and witnessing to make sure everyone hears the gospel of Jesus Christ rather than a rationalizing of spiritual things.

Dear reader, please think back to the day you welcomed Jesus into your life. Were you convicted? Even if you were, how deep was that conviction? What do you truly believe? Can you stand by what you believe even in the face of persecution? Are you convicted enough to lay down your life for what you believe?

Please bow down your head now and pray for God to deepen your conviction. Tell God that you don’t want to be a “vegetable” Christian that storms and challenges can easily uproot. Pray for God to make you a perennial Christian who will be so deeply rooted as to be able to survive contrary winds and even drought while remaining fresh and providing fruits for as long as you live.

We will deal with the two other building blocks next week. Please do not miss our next post.