I shifted my huge bag from one shoulder to the other, and shoved my cold hand down into my pocket. It was quite cold outside. The skyscrapers caused the wind to whip around the buildings with intensity not felt outside of the city. I knew I was going to be late for my train if I didn’t move quicker. I passed a man who had a loudspeaker telling people they were going to hell. Without pause, I kept walking; he was always on the same street. Many city blocks later, two men were trying to hand me a tract asking me if I had Jesus. They weren’t always there. I figured I had probably already missed my train, so I stopped to talk to them. I found out they were from Milwaukee and were down here in Chicago trying do some “outreach.” I expressed to them that I graduated from Moody and shared their faith in Jesus and we made some small talk, shook hands and parted ways.

Later, I wondered how effective their “ministry” was that day. I wonder how many people in this day and age will really read those gospel tracts. Typical gospel tracts try to break down the gospel into simple step-by-step instructions giving the basic facts and basic truths. Man is sinful. He can do nothing about his condition. God cannot live with sin. Because of man’s sinfulness, he is condemned to hell forever. However, God sent His Son Jesus Christ into the world to live a perfect life, to die for all of mankind’s sin. Jesus didn’t remain dead, He rose from the grave on the third day showing that He was indeed the Messiah, the son of God. If you believe these things, and put your trust in Jesus, your sins will be forgiven and you will spend eternity with God. These things are true. But do they really give someone an accurate understanding of the gospel?

Please hear me out, I’ve grown up in the church my whole life. I’ve read numerous tracts that lay out these simple truths. I’ve studied theology in college and have read dozens of books on faith, Christian theology and practical-Christian living. I’ve read the Bible through a number of times. However, I realized something was wrong when I had a hard time staying awake in my “systematic theology” class. How come I found the simple truths of the Gospel boring? Was I missing something?

“Maybe the gospel of Jesus, in other words, is all about our relationship with Jesus rather than about ideas. And perhaps our lists and formulas and bullet points are nice in the sense that they help us memorize different truths, but harmful in the sense that they blind us to the necessary relationship that must begin between ourselves and God for us to become His followers. And worse, perhaps our formulas and bullet points and steps steal the sincerity with which we might engage God.” -Donald Miller, Searching for God Knows What

I think that we’ve misrepresented the gospel, we’ve attempted to reduce the Christian faith to traditions, clichés, rules, do’s and don’ts, or reduced the gospel to a list of steps to get to heaven. We’ve tried to reduce the beauty of the gospel in the context of Scripture to bullet points in tracts that use cheesy superheroes or basketball analogies to try to sell the gospel to non-believers. We keep marketing Jesus and the church without helping people understand who Jesus really is and what the whole point was in Jesus coming to die for people’s sins. I find that no one wants to spend eternity in hell and will happily say a prayer to keep themselves “safe” but many people want nothing to do with the God of the Universe, let alone have a relationship with Him — on God’s terms.

“I recently heard a man, while explaining how a person could convert to Christianity, say the experience was not unlike deciding to sit in a chair. He said that while a person can have faith that a chair will hold him, it is not until he sits in the chair that he has acted on his faith. I wondered as I heard this if the chair was a kind of symbol for Jesus, and how irritated Jesus might be if a lot of people kept trying to sit on Him. And then I wondered at how Jesus could say He was a Shepherd and we were sheep, and that the Father in heaven was our Father and we were His children, and that He Himself was a Bridegroom and we were His bride, and that He was a King and we were His subjects, and yet we somehow missed His meaning and thought becoming a Christian was like sitting in a chair.” -Donald Miller, Searching for God Knows What

I remember watching the Passion of the Christ and realizing how much I had totally missed when I had read the Gospels. Tears filled my eyes as I tasted afresh the sweetness of the story of what Jesus had done for me. I wondered how something I knew so well could be presented in such a way as to make me realize I had missed the whole point of it. I don’t think the whole point of all that coming to earth, living, talking in parables, healing people, feeding thousands of people and visiting people’s houses can be reduced to a little booklet trying to inform people how to avoid burning in hell forever. The whole point was to make it possible for us to have a relationship with the God of the Universe.

If you thought being a Christian is merely insurance to keep you out of hell, think again. If you thought that being a Christian would mean that God would bless you with possessions and an easy-going life, think again. If you thought that going to a church would mean that your life had all the meaning and fulfillment that you would need, you’re missing the point of church. If you thought that the Bible holds the answers like some kind of magical formula, you’ll miss the message. If you thought praying was like a magical utterance, then think again, you’ve missed the point of prayer entirely.

The point of it all is to have a relationship with the Maker of the Universe, the Savior of your soul, the One whom you were made to have a relationship with, the only One who can change you, change your circumstances, who desperately loves you and wants to spend eternity with you. Do you have a relationship with Him?

Over a decade ago it was an average day at an average school. Walking down the hallway, I’m sure she had a lot on her mind. She probably was thinking about some test she had to take and wondered if the college she had applied to was going to accept her or not. Perhaps she was wondering if the boy she had her mind on liked her as well. She walked in and sat down in her class room. Then the unthinkable happened. A boy she hardly knew burst into her classroom with a gun. He presses it to her head and asks her, “Do you believe in God?” I’m sure the question rang through her ears, as all sounds and thoughts came to a screeching halt jammed up into that moment, she responded, “Yes, I believe in God.” She lost her life for those few words. But there was something that she realized. She knew that when God is on the throne she had no reason to fear the cost or consequence of trusting in Him.

A long time ago in the country of Babylon there’s this King. His name is Nebuchadnezzar. He’s kind of self absorbed and makes this rather silly decree. You see, he’s built a huge golden statue of himself. He decrees that when all sorts of music is played everyone must bow down to the statue and worship it. It’s not just the people of his country, but of all the countries that he’s conquered. People of every nation, every language, everyone is expected to bow down and worship this idol. Anyone who didn’t obey and worship the idol was to be cast into a fiery furnace. He wasn’t satisfied with political power, but he wanted rock-star popularity also.

There are three Jews however, that do not pay attention to this decree. They’re officials in the King’s province of Babylon. Their Babylonian names are, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. So some of the astrologers (probably advisors to the King) decide to tattle-tale on these three Jews. They go and report to the King that these Jews are ignoring his decree. He becomes outraged. I imagine he threw something or grabbed and yelled at some of his soldiers standing around. The text just states that he was furious with rage. Basically, he was really, really, really mad and angry.

So he summons these three Jewish men to his court. Now the Jews have been (like many countries) dragged into exile from their homeland by the Babylonians. I’m pretty sure he didn’t just send them invitations to dinner. He probably sent some soldiers to go enforce his summoning. You can bet they knew why they were being summoned. The King had made his decree known to the entire nation. These three Jews worked in the government, I’m sure they had gotten the memo. They knew what they were doing when they refused to be obedient to King Nebuchadnezzar. They knew full well what the consequences would be. But they knew God was on the throne and therefore they had reason to fear the cost or the consequences of trusting Him.

I’m guessing they already knew each other. I’m also thinking that as the soldiers took them on route to see the King that they must have looked at each other and I wonder if they talked about how they were going to handle the situation. Perhaps they had already talked about it since they knew they’d get in trouble for not being obedient to the King. It’s possible that they had no need to talk to each other since they knew who they really stood for. Yahweh, their God was the only one whom they would worship. When they get dragged before King Nebuchadnezzar he offers them a second chance. If they will worship before the idol when the music plays he’ll let them off the hook. I’m sure their hands were sweaty, and their hearts were racing, but they respond without fear to the King.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18)

So as if the King couldn’t be any more upset, he gets furious with these three Jews. He demands that the fire get heated seven times hotter than usual. He must have been outraged beyond his original anger. Here the most powerful ruler and successful politician of the known world was getting his own officials rebelling against him and apparently he has a bit of a temper regarding it. In fact, when the soldiers bind Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and drag them over to drop them into the fiery furnace, the soldiers get killed by the heat and the flames of the fire.

The three Jews are thrown into the furnace. Then, the most miraculous thing happens. They are seen walking around the furnace unharmed and with a fourth person! In fact, it causes King Nebuchadnezzar to leap to his feet in amazement. When they get out of the furnace, they’re examined and not a single hair on their heads is even singed. Their binds are burned off, but their clothes don’t even smell like smoke! The God of the universe who knows every hair on our heads made sure Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were not even harmed in the slightest. They understood that when God is on the throne, there is no need to fear the cost or consequence of trusting in Him.

Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.” (Daniel 3:28-29)

Our story ends happily enough. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego do not suffer from the fiery furnace for their disobedience to the king. In fact they get a promotion and even the King of Babylon seems to be in favor of worshiping the One true God. But not everyone’s story ends so great. Is it because we lack faith in God or do not trust in our heavenly Father? I don’t think that’s the case. After all, not every hero of faith had great victories, witnessed miraculous events or survived fatal encounters with death. Jesus said His followers would suffer. Many of His followers were tortured, killed and generally lived in extreme conditions because of their faith in Jesus.

The simple fact of the matter is that God doesn’t always pull His people out of the fire, sometimes He lets them suffer. In the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, we read about great people of faith who experienced great victories as well as those who suffered, were tortured and lived in horrible conditions because they trusted God. I wish I could explain why that is, and many people have tried to come up with reasons that make a lot of sense, and are of help to people. I don’t think there is a single easy answer to many or life’s mysteries. The thing that encourages me, is that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego state that even if God doesn’t rescue them, they will still trust Him, they will still believe and have faith in Him alone. The key that I remind myself is that God desires me to trust Him even when things do not appear like they will turn out well in the end if I do.

Another important thing to remember is that we know that God is a personal being and that He therefore does not always answer our requests as we wish. Rather than interpreting such times as meaning that God does not love me, I find it to be a good opportunity to remind myself that God sees life from a different perspective then I do. It’s also important to remember that He sees the bigger picture not only regarding my life but as well as of the whole universe also. He let Job suffer for a time where as He miraculously rescues Daniel from the lion’s mouths and miraculously spares the Apostle Paul’s life again and again.

One last thing to note is that God’s value system is often very different from yours and mine. Often when I think of what I need and want, they are things that make up a comfortable, relaxing, enjoyable life. However, God’s goal for my life is that I become more holy and more like He is. Often this “character building” process requires suffering, uncertainties, difficulties that I alone cannot handle and being stretched well beyond my comfort zone. When God does something miraculous, it’s typically to display His glory and His power, to prove that He really is the one true God. Whether or not He rescues me from the fire, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that because God is on the throne I do not have any reason to fear the cost or the consequences of trusting in Him.

When God is on the throne, do not fear the cost or consequence of trusting Him.

“We’ll hang out soon, I promise…” my friend says trying to convince me that after a long time, we will in fact catch up over coffee. Walking away, I know deep down that it’s not going to happen. He’s too busy, he has too much on his plate, our friendship isn’t important enough to him to actually make getting together important. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has friends like this, you probably do as well. I’m sure that people do not intend to be unreliable or break their promises. In fact, I’m sure I’ve made some of those kinds of reassuring promises and then failed to follow through. I’ve probably even done it numerous times to the same person.

It is so comforting to me to know that our God is not like that. When He makes a promise, He holds to it. When He says that something will happen, buckle your seat belt, because it’s happening. He is reliable. He is faithful. He is true to His word. He never breaks His promise. He is never late. He always delivers. He is on time. He is perfect and never makes a mistake.

“When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, ‘I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.’ And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf…” (Hebrews 6:13-20)

When God makes a promise, you can depend on it.

Think about that, our God who never changes, who is perfect, who never forgets, who keeps His promises, wants Abraham to know that He was going to keep His promise that He was willing to make an oath. He wanted to communicate that He was going to keep His promise. The writer of Hebrews points out just how God wanted to make this unchanging nature of His promise to be crystal clear to His people. So what sorts of promises has He made that you and I can take hold of?

God’s presence: “I will never leave you…” (Heb 13:5)
God’s protection: “I am your shield…” (Gen. 15:1)
God’s power: “I will strengthen you…” (Isa. 41:10)
God’s provision: “I will help you…” (Isa. 41:10)
God’s leading: “I will guide him…” (Isa. 57:18)
God’s rest: “Come to me all who are weary and I will give you rest…” (Matt 11:28)
God’s forgiveness: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins…” (1 Jn. 1:9)
God’s goodness: “No good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.” (Ps. 84:11)
God’s faithfulness: “The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.” (1 Thess. 5:24)
God’s wise plan: “In all things God works for the good of those who love him…” (Rom. 8:28)

This should be of great encouragement to you. Our hope in God is secure. When He says He’ll do something, He’ll do it. He cannot lie. The God of the universe has never once thought something that was proved not to be, He has never said something that was false and He has never promised to do something and not followed through. God has a consistent track record. He is faithful. This fills me with hope. When God makes a promise, I can depend on it. You can depend on it.

“Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.” (Joshua 23:14)