Christian ABCs

Have You Forgotten Your Christian ABCs? Jack Klumpenhower 1/14/2013 Every so often, most of us have to go back to Christian kindergarten. We must relearn the elementary rules of the life of faith. We learned those basics long ago, of course—when we were young or first became believers. But over time, the fundamentals of how to live with God can fade. We start to think they might not matter. We forget our ABCs. This the start of a new year, so it’s a good time to go back to the basics. Please don’t be offended if it sounds like kindergarten. That’s the point. A is for Ask. We must spend time with God in prayer. While all aspects of prayer are a great privilege, we must ask God especially for everything we need. This is fundamental to acknowledging him as our Creator, Lord, and Father. Daily asking and receiving are what we do as his children if we expect any spiritual growth or any blessings at all. James says, “You don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it” (James 4:2, NLT). B is for Book. We must read the Bible and get to know it well. It’s how God speaks to us and imprints his life-giving Word on our hearts. Through the Bible, we catch the thrill of salvation in Jesus, and we learn how that transforms our lives. “God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work” (2 Timothy 3:17, NLT). C is for Church. We must gather as a church to worship God together and to live as loving, cooperating, and—yes—disciplined members of the body. Togetherness is messy, but it’s fitting for a body. The Bible calls the church Christ’s body, and it describes life in the body this way: “Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts” (Colossians 3:16, NLT). The public worship of God, accompanied by biblical teaching, is fundamental to his people’s identity. Now let me address two objections you might have. First, you might think these ABCs sound old-fashioned. It’s popular these days to imagine that we’ve moved beyond the need for prayer, Bible reading, and especially churchgoing. But I submit that believers have emphasized these ABCs for ages because they’re how we stay in touch with God. They’re how the Holy Spirit brings about growth in us. Prayer is “in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18, NLT). The Bible was authored “by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21, NLT). And we come together with other believers as a church because “we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13, NLT; see also Ephesians 4:3-16). So prayer, Bible reading, and churchgoing ground our faith in God. They’re how we let the Spirit speak into our lives, rather than making things up for ourselves. Second, you might think these ABCs sound like religious nagging. After all, how many of us have been hounded to say our prayers, read our Bibles, and never miss church—accompanied either by the promise that God will like us if we do or by the threat that he’ll hate us if we don’t? The result is that whatever prayer, Bible reading, and churchgoing we do only makes us feel guilty that we aren’t doing more. Yuck. This is where one more letter must enter our ABCs. J is for Jesus. You realize, don’t you, that the ABCs are like birthday presents? God has lovingly given prayer, the Bible, and the church as gifts to all who are born into new life with Jesus. What treasures these gifts are! But it’s Jesus who wins for us God’s approval, not how well we use the gifts that come with him. Do the ABCs make you feel guilty? Well, Jesus removes guilt. The fact that you’ve failed again and again to practice what you learned in kindergarten will not dampen his welcome for you. He died for your sins. He took the blame you deserve. No matter how badly you messed up yesterday, he wants you to turn to him in faith today and trust that in him you are guilt free. “Let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean” (Hebrews 10:22, NLT). That’s right. No matter what your past record is, go into the very presence of God. Pray today. Read your Bible. Go to church. Turn anew every day to your Father, living joyfully in Jesus. Jack Klumpenhower is a writer and children’s ministry worker living in Colorado.