Has following Jesus become unnecessarily convoluted by modern Christian jargon and heavy systematic theology? Are new believers in Christ paralyzed by being overwhelmed trying to master complicated doctrines, frustrated by a large list of rules for policing their lives, and bewildered by a new (and strange) vocabulary?
Bible Gateway interviewed Craig Springer (@CraigMSpringer), author of How to Follow Jesus: A Practical Guide to Growing Your Faith (Zondervan, 2020).
Why did you write How to Follow Jesus?
Craig Springer: When I first became a Christian, I struggled. I came from a “Christian-y” sort of background but honestly, I had no foundation, no knowledge, no real experience to lean on. I struggled with all sorts of messed-up-living in those early years, but I was hungry for Jesus and I wanted to grow; I just didn’t know how.
I’d go into the Christian bookstore (they actually existed back then) and sift through the mountain of new beliefs and strange Christian vocabulary or heavy systematic theology and church history. Then I’d go to church and have a hard time understanding all that I should or shouldn’t be doing. I couldn’t find the primer I needed to grow which communicated in a way that wouldn’t push me away: “Will someone just tangibly and practically lay it all out for me! I just want to know and follow Jesus for the rest of my life. I want to make sure this isn’t just a hypocritical, half-hearted attempt to start something new and fail like so many other one-hit-wonder attempts at change from my past.”
Later, when I became a pastor, I always struggled to find that similar easy-to-give, simple-to-follow, compelling-to-read resource for people who were brand new to faith. Of course, I’d provide the Bible, but people also need a tour guide in those early days, especially, to help point things out, pull out principles and make those principles practical and personal to daily living. Once, we baptized 600 people in a single year at my church, and it was my job to oversee that process and their development. I celebrated the joy of those moments, but had a pit in my gut: Will they be back in a week; will their lives be transformed in a year? What can I do to ensure the seeds land on good soil? That’s when I knew I felt called to shape a book for people whose faith may be fragile to help their roots grow deeper.
Now, I lead the Alpha ministry in the US, and we see over 400,000 people every year going through the Alpha course in this country where they learn to develop a relationship with Jesus. I have a passion and conviction to ensure their growth sticks and lasts for the long haul. Hopefully, How to Follow Jesus can help with that.
What is the greatest skill when it comes to following Jesus?
Craig Springer: Jesus was once cornered by the religious elite; they wanted to pin him down as a potential heretic and make it look like he couldn’t measure up to all the extra rules. “What’s the most important commandment?,” they asked. His answer cut through the mud of religiosity.
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:37–38).
According to Jesus, this is the primary point of faith: learning how to love God. And 1 John 4:19 illuminates this process: “We love because he first loved us.”
So, what’s our faith all about? Love and know you are loved. That’s it; that’s what you need to know to follow Jesus effectively; except that remains confusing at the same time.
Love clarifies faith. Love even defines the purpose of our faith. Love, however, doesn’t necessarily simplify faith. Wait, what? Are you throwing shade at love, Craig? It’s all about love, yes, but trying to define love and all the how-tos of love is like trying to describe the cosmos; where do you even begin? There are hidden elements of love, felt experiences, inner thoughts, and outward expressions.
Having been married to Sarah for 20 years, I may not be able to wholly define every aspect of love, but I can tell you with confidence there is one skill above every other that causes love to grow. Communication. If I don’t grow in communication with Sarah, our relationship of love doesn’t work, period.
The same is true of our relationship with God. If love is the whole point, then communication is the hidden key. We cannot have or grow in love without some form of communication. The Bible has a word for communication with God: prayer. So here’s the greatest skill on my how-to-be-successful-at-faith list for you and me: if we grow in prayer, we’ll grow in love. As we grow in love we’ll grow in faith and live out God’s intention for our lives, to be wholly connected to him. Everything else you and I need along the way will flow out of communication with our good Father in heaven who loves us. We just need to keep the lines of communication open and active.
Why do you consider sin and temptation as not the greatest threat to a flourishing faith in Jesus?
Craig Springer: N. T. Wright makes a bold claim that all “sin is the outflowing of idolatry.” As you keep walking down the path of faith, you’ll find this to be true. Idolatry is when we turn to something created to get what only the Creator can give. It’s when we want significance or a sense of long-term security or success or you name it; then we begin to take matters into our own hands. We fashion an idol with the tools of our own ingenuity and effort out of an unintentional fear that God won’t provide or won’t be there for us. We feel we might be on our own like the ancient Hebrews wandering in the desert who fashioned a golden calf idol with their own tools; afraid that God wouldn’t provide for their needs and their hoped for Promised Land.
When we craft an idol like this, we choose to put something or someone else on God’s throne in our life because we’re turning to that something or someone to give us what only God can give.
There’s an idolatry of our heart behind each individual sin. Our sins are just the symptom; it’s the idolatry that distorts and sin results. For example, out of fear that we won’t have what we need, we begin to idolize success and accumulation. The sin of greed begins to visibly take shape, but the idol underneath is the cause of greed. Or we idolize companionship, desperately needing from some other person the deepest intimacy only God can give. Over time this can lead to many sins, even pornography, as a distorted attempt to get from some idol the deepest love and connection only God can give.
If you want to battle your visible sins, don’t go at them only headfirst trying to change the behaviors. That’s like plucking dandelion heads out of your yard. Instead, attack the root system by fighting the idolatry beneath the sin and you’ll see lasting change.
Explain your thought that forgiveness means going through, rather than around, our feelings?
Craig Springer: Going around feelings means they’re still there, just buried like a splinter causing infection beneath our skin. When someone hurts us and we approach forgiveness out of sheer willpower, we may flippantly say the words, “I forgive you” with clenched teeth and fists and bitterness seething. It’s like forcing my kids to forgive one another. It’s actually a cover up for the whole process. We’re commanded to forgive and must get there. But God designed forgiveness as much of a healing process as a stronghold breaking process. Working through the pain as part of the process is the only way up and out. We don’t have to do this hard work alone; in fact, we can’t. “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).
Going through means we walk with Christ through the anger or sadness or betrayal in order to receive his restoration. We might often think, “Lord, I want to get rid of all the negativity I feel inside, so I can finally experience you.” We think it’s the pain or emotion inside of us that keeps us from the Lord. But the opposite is true. According to Psalm 34, it’s in the middle of hurt where we find the Lord and his power to help us.
If we attempt to avoid the hurt, we inadvertently miss the presence of God who’s waiting in the midst of the mess. I don’t share these truths lightly. Wounds that need forgiving come in all shapes and sizes. Yours might be considerable, resulting from terrible abuses; or they may be more ordinary, resulting from everyday life frustrations. I’m not minimizing your reality, rather I’m inviting you to walk toward what seems like the darkness because that’s where you’ll discover the light of Christ.
This will take time and will require help. For all of us, it’s the Holy Spirit who can directly provide this help. Through prayer, journaling, and reflection, you can pour out your hurt directly to God, with his presence right there with you. I picture a sponge full of soaked-up pain and hurt. In order to move on with forgiveness, the sponge needs to be wrung out until every last drop of the hurt has been expressed into the ocean of God’s love.
The Spirit’s power is thorough and always ready to meet us in the mess. However, God also provides friends, loved ones, and professional counselors to walk this path, as needed. Don’t hesitate to lean into any of these resources. I did, and I still do.
Just remember, forgiveness isn’t flippant. We must do the behind-the-scenes work forgiveness requires. We have to acknowledge and walk through the depth of the hurt to experience the depth of forgiveness. True forgiveness doesn’t pretend; it faces and feels the pain of the past in the presence of God in order to release the debt that’s been done to us into the hands of God, so it’s no longer ours to carry.
What is a favorite Bible passage of yours and why?
Craig Springer: Philippians 3:8-9a—“What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him…”
I love this because it always draws me back to the truth: what else do we have but Christ? I remember about six months after trusting in Jesus, the light bulb finally went on for me; “Oh! Following Jesus isn’t just about adding a bit of Jesus to my life…it’s everything! All I am, all I have, all I desire, all that guides me must be Jesus, Jesus, Jesus going forward.”
What are your thoughts about Bible Gateway and the Bible Gateway App and Bible Audio App?
Craig Springer: I absolutely love Bible Gateway and have been using it for as long as I can remember. I subscribe to the Bible research function and often look up the background to biblical texts on Bible Gateway as I go through them…and I do love the Bible on audio for those days when I’m in constant transit.
How to Follow Jesus is published by HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc., the parent company of Bible Gateway.
Bio: Craig Springer is the Executive Director of Alpha USA, a program that runs in over 6,500 churches across every major denomination and 500 prisons throughout the country. Alpha mobilizes over 50,000 volunteers and 360,000 participants annually in the US and over 1.3 million globally. Alpha is a simple idea of a great meal, a short talk and a meaningful discussion about life and faith over ten weeks. It is for people with questions, frustrations and serious doubts about spirituality, the church, the direction of their lives or anything in-between. The key to Alpha is listening – it’s a judgement-free space where any point of view is respected, no one gets corrected and people can explore their thoughts together.
Craig has been a leader and pastor in influential churches in Chicago and Denver, one of which was named Outreach Magazine’s 2014 Fastest Growing Church in America. Craig and his wife, Sarah, also spent a number of years church planting in Prague, Czech Republic. Craig lives in the Denver area and is a passionate hack at every mountain sport you can name. He and Sarah have been married for 19 years, have two, full-hearted children and one very spoiled beagle.
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The post How to Follow Jesus: An Interview with Craig Springer appeared first on Bible Gateway Blog.
