My grandmother makes the best lasagna I have ever had.
My family has tried to replicate it. We used the same recipe and ingredients, but it was never the same. Our lasagna is still good lasagna, but it is not grandma’s.
And – hear me out – our faith can be like lasagna.
If a person grew up in the church, they had a community of faithful people. Gregory Dyson, vice president for spiritual life and intercultural leadership, and campus pastor, said people may experience the benefits of other people’s faith without being saved.
Dan Blosser, lead pastor of Upland Community Church said people often go through a transition from a corporate to an individual faith. Part of growing up is making an individual decision to follow Christ. We have to try the recipe for ourselves.
Dyson said people should ask themselves whether they are going through the motions or building a relationship with Jesus.
Students have to ask themselves what they are willing to live and die for.
“If they have never thought about the deeper questions – about what they're willing to live for and what they're willing to die for – then it is very possible to go through decades of life sort of chasing the wrong thing and being committed to the wrong thing,” Blosser said. “You have to be committed to something and you are being formed by things.”
Being in a committed relationship means committing time to the other person. In a relationship with Jesus Christ, Christians spend time in his word, talk to him and listen to him.
Dyson developed a 60 Day Bible study in 1 Corinthians for Taylor Students. He said he wanted to develop a habit in them to spend time with God regularly.
“What it is doing is creating some muscle memory too of what it feels like to just talk to God every day, to get into his word every single day, to ask questions about the text and Scripture every single day,” Dyson said. “And it's a reasonable bite. You can make it take longer, but it's not designed to be this big end-all-be-all of your life. It's just to be a piece of it.”
While regularly spending time alone with God is good, Blosser warns people against a hyper-personal and isolated faith. God did not design humans to live and worship alone. He designed us for community.
Dyson said Taylor University has an excellent Christian community, but it cannot be the only one students invest in. Serving in a church is an important aspect of the Christian faith.
“(An adult faith) is not just Bible reading and prayer,” Blosser said. “It's also the care that comes from a deep knowing and belonging to a local fellowship where you're under authority, but you're also being cared for and caring for others. Because you're no longer an observer, you're a participant.”
Blosser said people should find a ministry and invest in the communities outside of Taylor. Dyson said students will graduate someday, and they will need a Christian community to hold them accountable and bring them closer to Christ.
Making your faith your own will be challenging. You have to ask yourself what you are willing to live, die and suffer for. Jesus is ready to welcome you home with open arms. As John 3:16 reveals, he made the ultimate sacrifice out of his abundant love for us and gave his life to pay the debt for our sins.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (ESV)
My lasagna doesn’t look like my grandmother’s, and my faith may not look like yours. But we are both following our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and together, we are his Church.
