HOME / PROCLAMATION! MAGAZINE / 2011 / JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER / THE LIFE AFTER WITH CHRIS LEE

July August September 2011
VOLUME 12, ISSUE 3

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D E P A R T M E N T S

The life AFTER with Chris Lee

 

No turning back

Chris Lee

 

I wormed my way into the cylindrical concrete culvert under the driveway to our grade school. Jon was close on my heels, eager to share our favorite hiding spot while playing "Sheep In My Pen" at recess. Something was different this time. The concrete seemed to grab at my shoulders, slowing my forward progress until it seemed I could go no further. With Jon wedged tightly behind me, I couldn't go back, and I seemingly couldn't go forward either. I could see the sunlight at the end of the culvert opening ahead of me, but I couldn't reach it. I had changed. I had grown, and now I was stuck. The panic began to set it.

If you're reading Proclamation! you've almost certainly experienced this feeling. Once you've had a glimpse at the Jesus revealed in Scripture and have begun to grasp why He's really Good News, you just can't un-see it. The appeal of Adventism begins to crumble next to the appeal of the biblical gospel. So you come to a place where you know you will never be the same, but you can't imagine how you could ever extricate yourself from the web of Adventism. It feels hopeless, frustrating, and scary.

I've seen it with family, friends, and myself. I knew there was something wrong with what I'd been taught, quietly ignored much of it in my private life, allowed my kids liberty I didn't have, and admitted there were many things I didn't believe anymore. But social pressures, family pressures, and a life of fear-based conditioning kept me from taking the next step towards a more healthy and biblical spiritual life. I was fearful of family, friends, and of God because of the old "tapes" that seemed to constantly play in my head. I think there was more than just fear at work, though. Let's face it; there's a cost when you decide to follow Jesus whole-heartedly. You have to be ready to leave behind pride, status, identity, that which is comfortable, and the approval of others.

The combination of fear and the dawning awareness of what it means to take up the cross and follow Jesus can be paralyzing, but feeling trapped is an indicator that you may be involved in a cultic belief system. Any group that divides itself from the Body of Christ by teaching that it, or adherence to it's peculiar belief system, constitutes the remnant people of God is exercising a manipulative form of control. The Body is not defined by an organization, and "The Church" is not a denomination. Biblically, the church is every born again believer. We are bound together by the Spirit in us, have unity in the essentials of the faith, and liberty in the non-essentials. If you've been taught something else, it's a strong sign that you are living in an unhealthy environment, and it's time to move forward, however uncomfortable and scary that might seem.

There is no going back, only stagnation or forward progress. Moving forward requires an eternal perspective. To paraphrase Paul, "Whatever things were dear to us as Adventists, we've counted as loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Jesus. It all seems like trash in comparison to gaining Him." We can live for today, or we can step out in faith and experience the fullness of Jesus with whom we'll spend eternity. Start living the life after—now!

Back in that culvert, I said a short prayer in my panic, and my breathing began to slow. I was still fearful as I began to wriggle forward through the constricted culvert, but I finally emerged from the far end into the afternoon sunshine. I expanded my chest to its fullest as I gulped in the air. I was free. The game had lost it's significance in comparison to being free, alive, and in the light. †

 

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Chris Lee lives in Lincoln, Nebraska with his wife, Carmen, and daughters, Ashlyn and Alyssa. They attend the Lincoln Berean Church. Chris is a self-described "theology junkie" whose mission is to proclaim the unfathomable grace of Christ in a clear, understandable, and Biblical way. He leads a Life Group Bible study for former Adventists at Lincoln Berean. You may contact Chris by email at ambulater@gmail.com.