One Percent Of All Christians
2 Timothy 3:16
There are two things that put us in the category of One Percent of All Christians.
#1) Learning to actually use the Bible to get our answers and guide our life
#2) Learning to regularly connect with Jesus in a personal and relational way
These two things put us in the one percent of all Christians, and I want to be in the one percent of all Christians, and I want to help us as a church be in the one percent of all Christians.
We just got back from Israel on Thursday. Here is the group we went with this time. This is my seventh trip leading groups to Israel, and I’ve learned a lot in those seven trips.
I’ve learned a ton about the Bible, and I’ve learned a lot about Christianity in the world as I watch countless church groups coming and going, and more importantly, as I interact with the guides.
In the past, I worked really hard to find a true Jewish/Christian guide. Her name is Kira, and she taught me a lot about one percent of the Christians that come to Israel. But this trip she was unavailable, and so I tried hard to find another guide like her. But instead, this year, we ended up with a guide who was actually part of the 99 percent of all Christians, and it really helped me see the difference.
Please understand, I’m not being a Pharisee. I’m not judging the 99 percent – I’m really not. I’m trying to use hyperbole to make a life-changing point. Hyperbole is “an exaggerated statement not meant to be taken literally” but meant to make a strong point. The phrase "One Percent of All Christians" is hyperbole.
It was given to us by our Messianic Jewish guide (Kira) who said repeatedly to me that we were like one percent (or less) of all the Christians who come to Israel, and here’s why she said it.
#1) Because we actually wanted to use only the Bible to make the sites in Israel come alive to us.
We wanted no church tradition, no church history, and no denominational bent on anything we saw.
#2) Even more so because we actually wanted to take the time and make an effort to genuinely meet Jesus in his land.
Right in the middle of the hustle and bustle and picture taking and site seeing and tourism, we fought to stop and truly connect with Jesus in a personal and relational way. And those two things put us (according to our guide Kira) in the one percent of all Christians category.
Does that surprise you? That is a commitment to using only the Bible and a commitment to genuinely meeting Jesus would put us in the one percent of all Christians coming to Israel?
Again, I don’t want to convey that I think we are “all right,” and everyone else is “all wrong.” Instead, I believe this as a strong challenge to all those who call themselves Christians.
So, let’s look at this “way of life” that puts us in the one percent of all Christians.
#1) Learning to actually use the Bible to get our answers and direct our life.
Psalm 119:105 (NLT)
105 Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path
So, how does this work out in Israel and here at home (using God’s Word as our ultimate guide)? Well, in Israel, very few of the Christians who have paid lots of money to go there even carry a Bible or even seem to have a Bible app on their phone.
In the Land of the Bible where the Bible is coming alive at place after place, very few “Christian” groups even have their Bibles with them, because very few “Christian” tours ever have their people look at their Bibles, even though they’re standing at these incredible, supernatural, Biblical sites. Instead, they just have someone “tell them” about what happened there, and then they take a few pictures, check off that box and jump back on the bus.
This is a huge deal because (to me) it is a very similar of how most churches (and Christians) work here. We hear someone talk about the Bible. We remember some general information from the Bible. But we seldom actually take out our own Bible and apply it in a personal way to whatever direction or guidance we need.
I’m not saying we don’t need teachers to draw out the accurate meaning of the Bible – we do. What I’m saying is, we need to make sure that the Bible is the ultimate guide for our lives.
2 Timothy 3:16–17 (NLT)
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.
17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
Unfortunately, it is a very small percentage of Christians who actually use God’s Word on its own to guide and prepare their lives.
What we see so much in Israel is what we see so much in churches here. All these different Christian groups, all following their own church traditions and their own church traditions, and very few of them using only the Bible to guide them through the Land of the Bible. This is very similar to how most Christians guide their life here.
And it’s partly because we have not learned how to use the Bible to get our answers and to guide our life. We call that learning process Discipleship. And I pray that you would commit today to begin learning how to actually use the Bible to get your answers and to guide your life. And then, commit to continue learning until it’s happened.
So, let me give you one short cut to get you started on using the Bible only to get your answers and guide your life. It’s the Got Questions phone app – gotquestions.org
Please start learning how to do this and don’t stop.
So, that is the first thing that puts us in the one percent of all Christians.
The second thing is this.
#2) Learning to regularly connect with Jesus in a personal and relational way
In Israel, we always have to fight through many distractions and hurdles to “Get to Jesus.” We have to press in and push through in order to get past the superficial and get to the transformational.
There are logistic struggles and crowd struggles. There are battling Church denominations and the influence of the world. And to top it all off, there’s the fatigue of our bodies from traveling and walking and eating too much. And we have to press through it all to get to a place where we can truly meet Jesus. And how many of you know that is no different than what it takes to truly meet Jesus here today?
Now, in Israel, up in the Galilee area, it’s much easier to meet Jesus in a personal and relational way. On the top of Mt. Arbel overlooking the main ministry area of Jesus, or on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus called the Disciples, or actually on the Sea of Galilee moving silently across the water and talking to Jesus.
And my question is: Do we have a Galilee type place in our life – here? A place where it’s just a bit easier for us to meet Jesus in a genuine way? And even more importantly than having that place is, do we make use of it?
Guys -we must fight off all the demands of the world, and we must create a place where we can genuinely meet Jesus on a regular basis. And then, once we get there, we have to learn how to meet Jesus there in a personal and relational way.
And sometimes we have to huddle up with other believers and genuinely seek God together like we did here in the synagogue in Capernaum – in Galilee. And the Holy Spirit fell on us powerfully right here, and the crowds were just out of this picture. And while they were taking pictures and checking the box that they had been there, we were huddled up in the corner meeting Jesus and experiencing the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
The point is, we have to make a way to meet Jesus in the easier places because there are also harder places that we must be able to meet Jesus in.
The Galilee is easier to meet Jesus, but we have to meet him in Jerusalem as well – which is a bit harder. Like here at Holy Sepulcher, this top holy site in Jerusalem, and inside of that same holy place, we have to be able to look past all the distractions. Like here, at that same holy place, these are the Orthodox Church’s location for the Cross and the Garden Tomb (Resurrection). It’s not easy, but you can see past it and meet Jesus there.
But here is the Garden Tomb where we meet Jesus, and here is where Danielle saw Jesus (in a vision) coming to worship with us here.
And you can find a place to meet Jesus in the midst of all the craziness, like we did here, praying hard at the Pools of Bethesda where Jesus healed the paralytic and a very special place for me. These sites are all inside Jerusalem, with crowds and annoyances and distractions all around. But we have to fight to get to these places and to genuinely meet Jesus there, just like we have to fight to get to these places in our own lives today.
No matter how crazy or busy or distracting our lives are here, we have to fight to make a place to regularly connect with Jesus in a personal and relational way.
What is so missed in the Holy Land and what we truly need – both in Israel and here, is a real, life-changing personal relationship with Jesus Christ and a true desire to know Jesus (personally).
And having a genuine commitment to get to that place will put you in the one percent of all Christians.
And let me give you again, my constant encouragement on how to learn to have this personal time with God. Please watch/listen/read Alone With God on both phone apps, both websites, and ROKU/Apple TV, and soon we’ll have that series in print – please get it.
The masses in Israel were happy to hear the story and check the box. Unfortunately, this is the perfect illustration of many in our churches today. Because to press in, to fully commit to developing a true, life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ is hard. It takes time, and it requires sacrifice.
But the one percent of all Christians have made a no turning back commitment to develop a true, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We’ve accepted that to truly follow Jesus is hard, and that requires dedicated time and sacrifice. And we are completely confident that it is eternally, so, so completely worth it.
The battle cry of the one-percenters is the same as Paul’s in Philippians Chapter 3.
Philippians 3:8–10 (NLT)
8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him . . .
10 I want to know Christ . . .
Wanting to know Christ at this level is what divides the majority from the one percent.
We stood on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus called his first Disciples, and we responded to the same call that he made to them.
And we stood in Caesarea Philippi, where Jesus asked Peter that famous question in Matthew 16:15 “Who do you say that I am” and after Peter answered correctly “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” just a few verses from that is Matthew 16:24-26.
Matthew 16:24–26 (NLT)
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.
25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.
26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?
The call to truly follow Jesus is a call of abandonment of self. It is a call to know Jesus, personally, and powerfully. It is a call to find your life by losing it. It is a call to gain heaven by losing the things of this world.
And what the guides see and what we see in Israel is that few Christians seem to be going there with that call in mind, which seems to be pretty much the same in the Church the world over.
But this hypothetical one percent of all Christians, they realize that in abandoning the things of this world. In order to follow Jesus, there is:
But the one percent gate is a narrow gate, and the way is not easy, but it is actually the only gate that Jesus offered.
Matthew 7:13–14 (NLT)
13 “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.
14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.
My word to you, after all I’ve learned from taking groups to the Land of the Bible, is this: be in the one percent of all Christians!!
HOW??
#1) By learning to actually use the BIBLE to get your answers and to direct your life.
#2) By learning to regularly connect with Jesus in a personal and relational way.
If you will commit to this lifestyle, you will be in the one percent of all Christians. And you will find a life that is:
Please commit to be part of the one percent.
#1) Learning to actually use the Bible to get our answers and guide our life
#2) Learning to regularly connect with Jesus in a personal and relational way
These two things put us in the one percent of all Christians, and I want to be in the one percent of all Christians, and I want to help us as a church be in the one percent of all Christians.
We just got back from Israel on Thursday. Here is the group we went with this time. This is my seventh trip leading groups to Israel, and I’ve learned a lot in those seven trips.
I’ve learned a ton about the Bible, and I’ve learned a lot about Christianity in the world as I watch countless church groups coming and going, and more importantly, as I interact with the guides.
In the past, I worked really hard to find a true Jewish/Christian guide. Her name is Kira, and she taught me a lot about one percent of the Christians that come to Israel. But this trip she was unavailable, and so I tried hard to find another guide like her. But instead, this year, we ended up with a guide who was actually part of the 99 percent of all Christians, and it really helped me see the difference.
Please understand, I’m not being a Pharisee. I’m not judging the 99 percent – I’m really not. I’m trying to use hyperbole to make a life-changing point. Hyperbole is “an exaggerated statement not meant to be taken literally” but meant to make a strong point. The phrase "One Percent of All Christians" is hyperbole.
It was given to us by our Messianic Jewish guide (Kira) who said repeatedly to me that we were like one percent (or less) of all the Christians who come to Israel, and here’s why she said it.
#1) Because we actually wanted to use only the Bible to make the sites in Israel come alive to us.
We wanted no church tradition, no church history, and no denominational bent on anything we saw.
#2) Even more so because we actually wanted to take the time and make an effort to genuinely meet Jesus in his land.
Right in the middle of the hustle and bustle and picture taking and site seeing and tourism, we fought to stop and truly connect with Jesus in a personal and relational way. And those two things put us (according to our guide Kira) in the one percent of all Christians category.
Does that surprise you? That is a commitment to using only the Bible and a commitment to genuinely meeting Jesus would put us in the one percent of all Christians coming to Israel?
Again, I don’t want to convey that I think we are “all right,” and everyone else is “all wrong.” Instead, I believe this as a strong challenge to all those who call themselves Christians.
So, let’s look at this “way of life” that puts us in the one percent of all Christians.
#1) Learning to actually use the Bible to get our answers and direct our life.
Psalm 119:105 (NLT)
105 Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path
So, how does this work out in Israel and here at home (using God’s Word as our ultimate guide)? Well, in Israel, very few of the Christians who have paid lots of money to go there even carry a Bible or even seem to have a Bible app on their phone.
In the Land of the Bible where the Bible is coming alive at place after place, very few “Christian” groups even have their Bibles with them, because very few “Christian” tours ever have their people look at their Bibles, even though they’re standing at these incredible, supernatural, Biblical sites. Instead, they just have someone “tell them” about what happened there, and then they take a few pictures, check off that box and jump back on the bus.
This is a huge deal because (to me) it is a very similar of how most churches (and Christians) work here. We hear someone talk about the Bible. We remember some general information from the Bible. But we seldom actually take out our own Bible and apply it in a personal way to whatever direction or guidance we need.
I’m not saying we don’t need teachers to draw out the accurate meaning of the Bible – we do. What I’m saying is, we need to make sure that the Bible is the ultimate guide for our lives.
2 Timothy 3:16–17 (NLT)
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.
17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
Unfortunately, it is a very small percentage of Christians who actually use God’s Word on its own to guide and prepare their lives.
What we see so much in Israel is what we see so much in churches here. All these different Christian groups, all following their own church traditions and their own church traditions, and very few of them using only the Bible to guide them through the Land of the Bible. This is very similar to how most Christians guide their life here.
And it’s partly because we have not learned how to use the Bible to get our answers and to guide our life. We call that learning process Discipleship. And I pray that you would commit today to begin learning how to actually use the Bible to get your answers and to guide your life. And then, commit to continue learning until it’s happened.
So, let me give you one short cut to get you started on using the Bible only to get your answers and guide your life. It’s the Got Questions phone app – gotquestions.org
Please start learning how to do this and don’t stop.
- Talk to us
- Get into (or start) a Discipleship Group
- We’ll help you learn how to do this
So, that is the first thing that puts us in the one percent of all Christians.
The second thing is this.
#2) Learning to regularly connect with Jesus in a personal and relational way
In Israel, we always have to fight through many distractions and hurdles to “Get to Jesus.” We have to press in and push through in order to get past the superficial and get to the transformational.
There are logistic struggles and crowd struggles. There are battling Church denominations and the influence of the world. And to top it all off, there’s the fatigue of our bodies from traveling and walking and eating too much. And we have to press through it all to get to a place where we can truly meet Jesus. And how many of you know that is no different than what it takes to truly meet Jesus here today?
Now, in Israel, up in the Galilee area, it’s much easier to meet Jesus in a personal and relational way. On the top of Mt. Arbel overlooking the main ministry area of Jesus, or on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus called the Disciples, or actually on the Sea of Galilee moving silently across the water and talking to Jesus.
And my question is: Do we have a Galilee type place in our life – here? A place where it’s just a bit easier for us to meet Jesus in a genuine way? And even more importantly than having that place is, do we make use of it?
Guys -we must fight off all the demands of the world, and we must create a place where we can genuinely meet Jesus on a regular basis. And then, once we get there, we have to learn how to meet Jesus there in a personal and relational way.
And sometimes we have to huddle up with other believers and genuinely seek God together like we did here in the synagogue in Capernaum – in Galilee. And the Holy Spirit fell on us powerfully right here, and the crowds were just out of this picture. And while they were taking pictures and checking the box that they had been there, we were huddled up in the corner meeting Jesus and experiencing the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
The point is, we have to make a way to meet Jesus in the easier places because there are also harder places that we must be able to meet Jesus in.
The Galilee is easier to meet Jesus, but we have to meet him in Jerusalem as well – which is a bit harder. Like here at Holy Sepulcher, this top holy site in Jerusalem, and inside of that same holy place, we have to be able to look past all the distractions. Like here, at that same holy place, these are the Orthodox Church’s location for the Cross and the Garden Tomb (Resurrection). It’s not easy, but you can see past it and meet Jesus there.
But here is the Garden Tomb where we meet Jesus, and here is where Danielle saw Jesus (in a vision) coming to worship with us here.
And you can find a place to meet Jesus in the midst of all the craziness, like we did here, praying hard at the Pools of Bethesda where Jesus healed the paralytic and a very special place for me. These sites are all inside Jerusalem, with crowds and annoyances and distractions all around. But we have to fight to get to these places and to genuinely meet Jesus there, just like we have to fight to get to these places in our own lives today.
No matter how crazy or busy or distracting our lives are here, we have to fight to make a place to regularly connect with Jesus in a personal and relational way.
What is so missed in the Holy Land and what we truly need – both in Israel and here, is a real, life-changing personal relationship with Jesus Christ and a true desire to know Jesus (personally).
And having a genuine commitment to get to that place will put you in the one percent of all Christians.
And let me give you again, my constant encouragement on how to learn to have this personal time with God. Please watch/listen/read Alone With God on both phone apps, both websites, and ROKU/Apple TV, and soon we’ll have that series in print – please get it.
The masses in Israel were happy to hear the story and check the box. Unfortunately, this is the perfect illustration of many in our churches today. Because to press in, to fully commit to developing a true, life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ is hard. It takes time, and it requires sacrifice.
But the one percent of all Christians have made a no turning back commitment to develop a true, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We’ve accepted that to truly follow Jesus is hard, and that requires dedicated time and sacrifice. And we are completely confident that it is eternally, so, so completely worth it.
The battle cry of the one-percenters is the same as Paul’s in Philippians Chapter 3.
Philippians 3:8–10 (NLT)
8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him . . .
10 I want to know Christ . . .
Wanting to know Christ at this level is what divides the majority from the one percent.
We stood on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus called his first Disciples, and we responded to the same call that he made to them.
And we stood in Caesarea Philippi, where Jesus asked Peter that famous question in Matthew 16:15 “Who do you say that I am” and after Peter answered correctly “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” just a few verses from that is Matthew 16:24-26.
Matthew 16:24–26 (NLT)
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.
25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.
26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?
The call to truly follow Jesus is a call of abandonment of self. It is a call to know Jesus, personally, and powerfully. It is a call to find your life by losing it. It is a call to gain heaven by losing the things of this world.
And what the guides see and what we see in Israel is that few Christians seem to be going there with that call in mind, which seems to be pretty much the same in the Church the world over.
But this hypothetical one percent of all Christians, they realize that in abandoning the things of this world. In order to follow Jesus, there is:
- True Fulfillment
- True Peace
- True Power and
- True Purpose
But the one percent gate is a narrow gate, and the way is not easy, but it is actually the only gate that Jesus offered.
Matthew 7:13–14 (NLT)
13 “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.
14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.
My word to you, after all I’ve learned from taking groups to the Land of the Bible, is this: be in the one percent of all Christians!!
HOW??
#1) By learning to actually use the BIBLE to get your answers and to direct your life.
#2) By learning to regularly connect with Jesus in a personal and relational way.
If you will commit to this lifestyle, you will be in the one percent of all Christians. And you will find a life that is:
- Supernaturally powerful
- Spiritually abundant and
- Confidently eternal
Please commit to be part of the one percent.