Does Jesus Make a Difference?

What difference does Jesus make? Does he change lives? Is God even real? If He is, why should I follow Him? If you or someone you know has ever had a question like this, then let me tell you about my life…

There was once a young man who grew up hard. He was rebellious from a young age, but things only got worse when he was orphaned at a young age. He joined the Navy to learn some discipline and make something of himself, but couldn’t cut it. He abandoned his post and eventually found his way into the employment of a slave trader in West Africa, where he made a living buying, selling, and transporting human cargo.

One night during a great storm at sea, he cried out to God to save him. To his great relief, he survived. This experience set him on a path to giving his life to the Lord, leaving the slave industry, becoming an ordained priest in the Anglican church, writing what would become the most famous Christian song in the world, and becoming an outspoken advocate of the abolition of slavery in England. Slavery did end in England under the leadership of a man he mentored, William Wilberforce.

As you may have guessed by now, this is not my life story but rather the life story of 18th-century churchman John Newton. The song he penned was Amazing Grace! God took his sin-filled, selfish, wasteful, evil life and transformed it into something beautiful for His glory.

Fireworks or Faithfulness?

This is not my story, but sometimes I wish it were…or something like it. There’s something powerful about a personal testimony of great transformation where God takes a “wretch” and creates a son of the Most High. I love to hear stories of the epic conversions of great men and women of God, but in the back of my mind, I can’t help but feel a tinge of doubt and guilt that my story isn’t like that at all.

My story is vanilla. I was born into a Christian family. We went to church every week. I learned all the Bible stories in children’s church, asked Jesus into my heart at a tender age, attended youth group regularly, and was baptized somewhere around my junior year of high school.

What’s glorious about that? Where’s the amazing transformation? Where’s the fireworks? I don’t have a night and day difference to look at from before and after I became a follower of Jesus, and that makes me uncomfortable…maybe even a little ashamed.

Here’s the funny thing, though…I have four children, ages 8 down to a newborn. I love them with all my heart and desperately want them to love and follow Jesus and to give their lives to Him. We read the Bible together, we pray before bed and at meals, we discuss important issues with a Biblical lens, and we talk about God.

As much as I secretly wish I had a dramatic conversion story, I’m doing everything in my power to prevent my kids from having such a story. I would do anything to keep them on the straight and narrow. I want them to follow Christ from a young age and increase in righteousness until they are glorified with Him in heaven.

Proverbs 22:6 says: 

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Isn’t that what we all want for our kids? To have a “normal” Christian experience? To not have anything too bad happen to them? Why, then, do I feel ashamed of my boring testimony? I think it comes down to evidence. I’m not a perfect Christian by any means, but I imagine it would be so satisfying and comforting to see the stark difference between a former life apart from Christ and the new life in Christ.

I imagine this is a source of reassurance that God really is at work in your life, that he’s really there, that he really cares for you, that you’re really his child. I don’t have that dramatic comparison, and maybe some of you can relate. I don’t have that stark evidence from my experience to rely on.

Fable or Fact?

As I reflect on this insecurity, it strikes me that no one is saved by a juicy story. We are saved by the work of Christ on the cross, his resurrection, and faith in the grace of God to cover our sin. And although I don’t have a dramatic personal transformation story, that doesn’t mean I don’t have evidence for what I believe.

• I know that the creation of the natural world (which science and philosophy confirm) requires a powerful, supernatural, personal mind like God.
• I know that things like morality, beauty, consciousness, and logic can only be grounded in a perfect being like God.
• I know that the Bible is a library of documents that have been shown to be extremely historically reliable, and therefore trustworthy in what it says.
• I know that Jesus’s life and death are among the best-attested events in history.
• I know that the theory that Jesus actually rose from the dead is the only theory that explains all the available historical evidence.
• I know that the Word of God explains the human condition perfectly, as well as our longing for a better world.
• I know that Jesus is Lord through the personal witness of the Holy Spirit.

The Christian story is unique among world religions in that it makes testable claims about the real world that we live in. The Christian story takes place on Earth, in history, with real historical figures, with claims about the actual world we live in. It’s not simply a moral code or book of spiritual practices. God gave us a testable faith, and it passes the tests with flying colors.

Why am I a Christian? Because it’s true with a capital “T” and not just true for me. Knowledge can be an excellent bulwark against doubt, even for boring regular Christians like me!

To Whom Shall We Go?

There’s one more point I want to make. A story like John Newton’s gives us an example of an evil life becoming obedient to righteousness. It’s bold. It’s clear. It’s obvious. John Newton was a sinner who became a saint.

It’s easy to admire this kind of story from afar, but miss the real point of it. The point we focus on is the slaver-to-abolitionist theme. What we often miss is that Newton was a sinner who was saved by grace. Do we think we’re that different?

Is my salvation less significant because I never sold human cargo? Do I need salvation any less than he did? It’s easy to think so when we forget about our own sinfulness, but the Bible can set us straight:

• Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” 
• Romans 6:23 says, “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 
• John 3:18 says, “Whoever believes in him (Jesus) is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 

ALL have sinned. ALL fall short. ALL are in need of salvation. That includes me! It’s not just the really bad people who are condemned. Everyone is condemned already unless we believe in the name of Jesus. Do I think my good works will get me to heaven? Do I think I don’t need to be rescued because I’m not as bad as the guy down the street with the drinking problem and criminal record? No!

As I’ve tried to follow Jesus since I was a child, I’ve become increasingly aware of my own sin; my own inability to measure up to the standard I know I should. My increasing awareness of sin has made me all the more aware of my need for a savior. I am full of sin. Without Jesus, I have no hope at all!

The Christian walk is hard. It requires everything. I have often struggled with my own doubts, sins, and apathy, but to whom else can I turn but Jesus? I am often reminded of the story in John 6 where Jesus gives a hard lesson to the crowd about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, referring to his atoning death and a new covenant he was ushering in.

Many in the crowd could not accept the teaching and walked away. Jesus turns to his disciples and asks, "You do not want to leave, too, do you?”  I deeply relate to Peter’s response in John 6:68-69:

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” 

To whom shall I go? As Acts 4:12 says: “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” My only hope is Jesus. With this ringing in my ears, I will seek to put my faith in Christ alone and limp beside Him into eternal life.