It seems to me that too often we have made living as a Christian simply a matter of doing the right things: praying, reading the Bible, attending church worship services, being kind to others, doing nice things. Or we have made it a matter of thinking the right things: being conservative or moral, standing up for life, believing that the Bible is God’s Word, that Jesus is the Son of God. Or we have made it a matter of feeling the right things: we hurt when others hurt, we serve others, we are merciful. And all of those things are good. We should certainly do the right things and think the right things and feel the right things. But I think living as a Christian is more a matter of viewing all of life through the grid of the centrality of God in all things and our need for him.

Let me try to say it more clearly. Every time we experience hardship or suffering or temptation or disappointment, we have a chance to prove the great worth and value of God. Every time we have needs that go unmet, we have an opportunity to show that the gospel is enough. Every time we are treated poorly, every time we serve a friend or our spouse and that service goes unnoticed or is not returned, every time we are excluded from a group or not respected or not considered, we have an occasion to experience the goodness and glory of Jesus. You see, hardships and disappointments tell us that this world doesn’t satisfy. Suffering tells us that the life to come is better than the life we have now. The difficulties of life should cause us to experience the character of God.

This is even true for temptation. When we are tempted and when we stand against that temptation and don’t give in to it, we are banking on the belief that what Jesus provides is better than what we would get by giving in to that temptation. Jesus explained this truth in his Sermon on the Mount, using giving and praying and fasting as examples. Concerning prayer, he says that when we are tempted to pray in such a way that we are noticed, we get our reward right then and there. We get the acclaim of others. But when we resist that temptation and instead pray so that no one knows, we get our reward from God, from our heavenly Father. And what is that reward? It is the smile of God. It is the presence of God. It is the character and beauty and provision of God. It is God himself, through the person of Jesus.

We have an example of this in the life of Abraham. Genesis 22 provides the story of God telling Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, and at the end of the story God provided Abraham a ram as a substitute for Isaac. But my point is this. What if Abraham had told God, “I can’t do this. It is too hard. I waited so long for an heir, for a son. All of the promises hinge on him. Besides, he’s my son; I love him more than life itself. I won’t do this.” If Abraham had disobeyed, if he had succumbed to temptation, if he had protected himself against the pain and hardship and suffering of sacrificing his son, he would never have experienced God’s provision. God provided Abraham a ram to sacrifice instead of Isaac, but Abraham would never have known that God would take care of him had he not obeyed. In his obedience, Abraham put God to the test, and God came through with flying colors. Abraham only experienced God when he lived in such a way that he needed God.

You see, we will never know the character of God, the beauty of God, the provision of God until we do something that requires us to need the character and beauty and provision of God. When we obey God, when we serve others, when we put the needs of others before our own, when we resist temptation, we put the character and beauty and provision of God to the test. And God always comes through. So, I think living as a Christian must mean that we live in such a way that we need God. My fear, however, is that too often I live in such a way that I don’t need God, and his character and his beauty and his provision. Basically, living as a Christian must require Christ.