Quit Trying to be a Christian

Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. (Luke 13:24 NIV)

“Being a good Christian is so hard for me. I keep messing up so I might as well quit trying.” Have you ever heard someone, maybe yourself, say those words? Maybe your Christian life has been a roller coaster ride of ups and downs, highs and lows, getting on the wagon only to fall off again. If you are unsatisfied with the results of your Christian walk up until this point, I have two words of advice for you.

“QUIT TRYING.”

Yes, you read that correctly. It’s no typo. I am encouraging you to QUIT TRYING to be a good Christian. Albert Einstein once said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results,” which means that if you are unsatisfied with your Christian walk and would like some different results you have two options: Embrace insanity or take a different approach toward Christianity.

If you choose the latter option, continue reading.

That different approach to simply trying can be found in Luke 6:40 (NIV), “A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” Simply put, if we want to be like Jesus we need to be fully trained, much like His original disciples were. They trained by spending a lot of time with Him, listening and talking to Him, and doing the same things He did.

Paul reinforces the need for training in 1 Cor 9:25, “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” Paul compared Christians to runners in a race who knew that strict training and discipline were required if they expected to compete. Here is a fictional story I like to use to illustrate this point.

John was a nice, but not particularly athletic man who decided he needed a challenge, so he announced to his wife Mary one evening that he was going to compete in a triathlon, a race involving swimming, running and bicycling. His loving wife said, “Honey, that’s terrific. I am so proud of you. I don’t mean to burst your bubble, but you eat a box of Twinkies a day, you can’t swim and by the way, have you forgotten that your foot is still in a cast from that unfortunate incident at the skating rink?” John had a choice to make. He could try to compete in the triathlon in his current condition, or he could train for the event in the coming months.

In order for John to have any hope of finishing the competition, he would need to learn new skills, train his body, bring discipline to his lifestyle, and even get some things healed. Trying to compete would not be enough; John would need to train for this event.

We Christians are in a race that will take our entire lives to reach the finish line. If it takes months to prepare for a triathlon that lasts one day, how can we expect to finish our lifelong race without training? Follow the advice in 1 Timothy 4:7 (NIV), “Train yourself to be godly” and don’t be one of those Jesus spoke of in Luke 13:24 that “will try to enter, and will not be able to.”

Todd Dawalt - Bible Teacher