Let me invite you into a thought experiment. What if you became a Christian? What would change? I’m talking about an actual disciple of Jesus, not a Christian in name only. What would be different if you became a Christian?[1]

  • If you became a Christian, you would automatically become a spiritual brother or sister with every other Jesus-follower in the world. You could drop by a Bible-believing church in Uruguay, Ukraine, Uganda, the United Kingdom, or any of the 50 United States, and find spiritual siblings who would receive you as a brother or sister.

  • If you became a Christian, your heart and character would start to transform. You would move away from selfishness and pride, and toward qualities that the Bible refers to as the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control.

  • If you became a Christian, your desire to sin, whether through money, sex, power, or something else would lessen as you focused on living for something and Someone more important than yourself. You would still feel tempted by sin, but your increasing desire to live life with Jesus would counteract your desire to sin.

  • If you became a Christian, you would believe that Jesus died on a cross the death you deserved because of your sins against God. You would also believe that after Jesus died, he rose from the dead just as he promised. Your acceptance that Jesus is now alive would allow you to walk through life with Jesus, rather than trying to figure it all out on your own.

  • If you became a Christian, some people you know might be happy that you became a Christian (probably other Christians for the most part), some people might be apathetic (“whatever floats your boat…”), and some people might look down on you or become outright hostile. It largely depends on your geographical, social, and family setting. In some places in the world, Jesus-followers are imprisoned and killed. But if you became a Christian, you would be willing even for that, knowing that Jesus had predicted that such would sometimes occur.

  • If you became a Christian, the Holy Spirit of God would come and live inside you. He would guide, comfort, convict you of right and wrong, and share his presence with you as you walked through life.

  • If you became a Christian, you would come to believe in true truth — that some things are actually and truly right or wrong, not in a socially-constructed way, but really and in fact, since you would also believe in the existence of a God who describes himself as holy.

  • If you became a Christian, you would view the Bible as God’s message to humanity about how to come into and live out a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. You would read the Bible to learn how God thinks, what his plans and purposes are for the world he created, and what God has called you to believe and disbelieve.

  • If you became a Christian, whenever you faced a moral dilemma, you would have access to a framework that would help guide you. That framework would come from the Bible. You wouldn’t be stuck in simply trying to figure out everything on your own.

  • If you became a Christian, you wouldn’t need to be as anxious as you currently may be. You would know about and become grounded in foundational truths that don’t arise from your own imagination. Grounding in truths outside of yourself would allow you to develop a humble confidence that most people don’t possess.

  • If you became a Christian, your perspective on your daily employment would begin to change. Rather than thinking of work as a way to pay bills, or simply as a means to take care of others, or even as a way to fulfill your own desires, you would begin to think of Jesus as the one you were primarily working for and invite him to guide and help you throughout your work week.

  • If you became a Christian, your perspective on suffering would change. You would come to understand that God never allows any trial into your life that is not for your greatest good and his highest honor. Understanding this would strengthen you amid suffering — since everyone faces suffering at some point in their lives.

  • If you became a Christian, you would learn that God created every man and woman “in his image,” and for this reason that every person is worthy of respect, kindness, and care. This truth would prompt you to interact graciously with others, even with those who reject God either by word or action.

  • If you became a Christian, you would learn how to forgive others based upon the truth that you have been forgiven through Jesus Christ.

  • If you became a Christian, you would grow in thankfulness for God’s grace, since you would become increasingly aware that the mercy you received was undeserved.

  • If you became a Christian, you would prioritize loving God and loving your neighbor above everything else.

  • If you became a Christian, you would live with hope — not weak hope (like “I hope so”), but with high expectation that the God who promised to make everything right in a future new heaven and new earth was able to carry out what he promised.

Wouldn’t it be great to become a Christian — if, of course, God exists, and Jesus died on a cross to take away the sins of those who place their trust in him? What would happen if you became a Christian, not in name only, but a wholehearted disciple of Jesus?

Notes

[1] This post, obviously, is addressed to people who are not Christians. Do you know someone who would benefit from reading this? Feel free to share it with whomever—already Christian or not—in whatever format you think best.


This post and other resources are available at Kindle Afresh: The Blog and Website of Kenneth Berding.