Why Doesn't Everyone Want to be a Christian?

INTRO.

Back to School Bash 2024, how we doing?! My name is [Student Name Slate Slide] and I’m the Student Pastor around here. I’m so happy to be kicking off the school year together with you!

And just so you know, especially if you’re new around here, we do this every single Wednesday all school year long. We’re so happy you’re here today, but you’re very much invited to be here each week as we learn what it means to follow Jesus together.

In fact, if you’re new, I think today is a perfect day for you to jump in because right now, and for the next 3 weeks after, we are learning the answer to this big question: what does it mean to be a Christian? And the reason that we’re asking that question is because of something that Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23 ,

Matthew 7:21–23 NIV

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

The truth is, not everyone who says that they’re a Christian is one. And so our goal in this series is to help make it really clear what we mean when we say “Christian,” because everyone seems to have their own definition and it seems to have lost some of its meaning. And so tonight, we’re going to continue to try and answer the big question - what does it mean to be a Christian – but that’s a big, loaded question.

And so I’m going to try to answer that big, loaded question by answering a smaller question: why doesn’t everyone want to be a Christian?

SCRIPTURE.

Turn in your Bible to Matthew 16:21-25 .

Matthew 16:21–25 NIV

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.

TENSION.

[SP Note: Tell a story of a place you wanted to go to, but that you didn’t like the process of traveling to. Could be a vacation, could be a job you landed, etc. This doesn’t have to be about geographical travel, it’s about the WAY being difficult]

Can I make a confession? I HATE traveling. And I know it’s super trendy to be the kind of person who likes to travel and go see all these cool places, but I just am not that person. I hate traveling, but I DO love arriving!

Over the summer I was planning spend a week at my in-laws’ house in Ohio. It’s beautiful there, and it’s one of my favorite places on earth. It’s so peaceful. There are literally horses grazing along their fence. They hand pick fruit from their garden and eat it for lunch. It’s what I imagine the garden of Eden must’ve been like.

But before I arrived, I had to make the 11-hour drive. By myself. An 11-hour drive that included a particular intersection at 85 and 285 beautifully nicknamed “Spaghetti Junction” because it is ALWAYS backed up with traffic.

I wanted to arrive at mom and dad’s house and see Shelb so badly, but I almost didn’t go because of how much I hated the way I had to take to get there.

Even if you don’t have your license yet, I think all of us have had moments where we liked where we were headed, we just didn’t like the way we had to take to get there.

Maybe this past summer you were headed to getting a 6-pack until you realized that 6-packs are way more about food than exercise. 6-packs are nice, but cookies are nicer.

Maybe last year you were headed to get all A’s and make honor roll…until you realized that you were going to have to study a bit more and game a bit less.

Sometimes we like where we’re going, but we don’t like the way there.

TRUTH.

I think that in Matthew 16, Peter is having that moment like I had at Spaghetti junction – he’s realizing that the way to where he thinks he’s going is not what he thought.

Peter grew up in Israel as part of the Jewish people. And his whole life there were 2 things that were a constant for him:

The place he lived was full of Romans who ruled over his people and made their lives difficult.

The tradition he grew up in was full of prophecies of a coming “Messiah” or “Christ” who would free the Israelites from their captivity.

The reason that Peter had left his job as a fisherman 3 years earlier and became one of the disciples of Jesus was because he believed that Jesus was THAT Messiah. He believed that the prophecies were about Jesus and the time had come for the Messiah to deliver His people.

Rome was about to be overthrown as Jesus started a revolution that would change everything…and he was right. In fact, the passage of Scripture directly before the one that we read in Matthew 16:21 captures the moment where Peter confesses that and Jesus confirms it. Look at Matthew 16:13-17,

Matthew 16:13–17 NIV

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.

This meant that Peter was right about where all of this was heading. Jesus was the Messiah and He was going to deliver His people!

That’s why what Jesus said in verse 21 was so odd to Peter. Because just after he confirmed that He was the Christ, the Messiah that was to come, He starts talking about how He’s going to Jerusalem where He will suffer many things and be killed.

Peter’s like, “no wait, that’s how this works! None of the “Messiah” stuff happens without the Messiah. I will not let that happen to You, because You’re too important to the movement.”

Isn’t it interesting that Peter was on board with everything Jesus said…until He talked about suffering and death? Leave your job and follow Me? No problem. Become a new man with a new name? Sure! But suffer and die? Ok, hold on. That’s where I draw the line.

The text says that Peter pulls Jesus aside and rebukes Him. He’s correcting Jesus. Peter’s like, “Jesus, I don’t know if You know how this Messiah thing works, but we don’t suffer and die, they do! We get to establish a new kingdom and rule in it!”

Watch how Jesus responds in Matthew 16:23

Matthew 16:23 NIV

Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Seems a little harsh doesn’t it? 5 verses earlier He was so pleased with Peter that He gave him a new name and talked about him being a building block for the church, now he’s Satan?

Why do you think Jesus called him Satan?

The text doesn’t say clearly, so we don’t know for sure. But based on the entirety of the book of Matthew, I think one possible reason that Jesus called Peter “Satan” here is because what Peter just said to Jesus is the same thing that Satan said to Jesus when he tempted Him in the desert back in Matthew 4.

This was before Jesus had started His public ministry. He got baptized and then He spent 40 days in the wilderness praying and fasting. During the 40 days, Satan appeared to Jesus and tempted Him 3 times. Look at Matthew 4:8-9 and see if it sounds familiar.

Matthew 4:8–9 NIV

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

The temptation in the offer was for Jesus to get the right thing in the wrong way. It’s clear that Matthew is showing us that there is a connection between where you are going and the way that you take to get there! Jesus was able to overcome the temptation to end up at the right place but have taken the wrong way to get there. And because He’d been through it, He could recognize it when it happened and call it out for what it was.

And then Jesus delivers one of the most sobering statements in the Bible in Matthew 16:24-25

Matthew 16:24–25 NIV

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.

You cannot get to the LIFE of Jesus without taking the WAY of Jesus.

One of the biggest lies of the enemy is that you can get the blessing and the benefit of life with God while doing things your own way. You cannot get to the life of Jesus without taking the way of Jesus.

APPLICATION.

So why doesn’t everyone want to be a Christian? It’s certainly not because people don’t want the blessing of being a Christian. Who wouldn’t want a life described with words like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?

The reason that not everyone wants to be a Christian isn’t because they don’t like where it’s headed, it’s because they don’t like the way they have to take to get there.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was a Lutheran Pastor in Nazi Germany captured the cost of what it means to follow Jesus when he said,

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”

SALVATION RESPONSE.

There is no sugarcoating it, the way of Jesus leads straight to a cross. The reason that the cross is necessary is because all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and the wages of that sin is death.

But God loved us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to come to earth, live a life for 33 years where He did not sin, and then willing give Himself up to die on a cross as the payment for our sin.

The way of Jesus leads to the cross.

But the good news of that story, the part of the story that makes it gospel, is that Jesus didn’t stay dead. 3 days later the stone was rolled away and Jesus walked out of His grave!

Back in Matthew 4, Satan offered all the kingdoms of the world to Jesus if He would just bow down before Him. He told Him he could have the world. But Jesus didn’t just take the world, He took the keys to sin and death themselves. Which is why the last thing He said to His disciples after His resurrection was that ALL authority on heaven AND on earth had been given to Him.

The way of Jesus leads to a cross, but in the way of Jesus, death always leads to resurrection because He has conquered sin and death for all time!

And so my question is: do you want to be a Christian? And if you do, are you willing to die to yourself? To die to being your own god and calling the shots in your life and instead surrendering your life to Jesus as your Savior and as your Lord?

If that’s you, Scripture tells us that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. So I’m going to put a prayer up on the screen and all across the room, we’re going to pray this prayer out loud together.

But for some of us, when we pray this prayer, this will be your first time confessing with your mouth that Jesus is the Savior and Lord of your life and will put you on a journey, just like Peter, of not just believing in Jesus, but following Him.

So, everybody in the room, let’s pray this together,

Father, I confess that I am a sinner and I need a Savior. Thank you for loving me so much that You sent Jesus to die for me. Jesus, I believe that You are the Son of God and I believe that you died and raised from the dead to pay for my sin. I receive your gift of salvation and make You the Lord of my life from this day forward. Give me Your Holy Spirit, and teach me how to become more like You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

If you just prayed that for the first time and became a Christian today, I want you to stand up. We want to celebrate with you!

C’mon now WEDNESDAYS, what is all of heaven doing right now and would be doing even if only 1 person stood up and said yes to Jesus? Let’s celebrate! Let’s welcome our brothers and sisters to the family of God!

Listen, if you’re standing up, I want you to know that choosing to believe in Jesus is a very personal decision. But learning to follow Jesus and become more like Him is a team sport. We all need help as we do that, and so because of that, in your small group tonight, your small group leader is going to have you fill out a card with some basic info. We’re not doing anything weird with this, we just want to

Write today down so that we can remember that it happened

Encourage you and pray for you as you learn how to follow Jesus this next school year

Such a great night y’all, let’s head to groups and celebrate what God has done together.

For God is good, all the time, and all the time, God is good!