Starting with Basics

My daughter, Asherel, and I taught our little art class at the nursing home yesterday. Our subject was a tall ship, as requested by the class. As always, we guided the class by drawing basic shapes first, then adding details at the end. One woman was really struggling. She had ignored our advice to draw in the basic shapes first and she was focusing on details in one segment of the picture. Unfortunately, her proportions were off, and she was dissatisfied with her picture. She looked at my guide picture, with the basic shapes and said it seemed so easy, but it was so hard for her. I explained that it was hard because she was doing it backwards.

"You can't concentrate on details till the important parts are all in place first. The first thing you draw is the main, largest shape, then the other main shapes, then correct the outline, then draw the details."
She still seemed unconvinced.

"Look, I'll show you," I said. I drew in the large ship shape first, and then piece by piece the other major shapes. Next I corrected the outline and added the curves and notches that transformed the basic shapes more closely to the part they represented. She watched with intense interest.
"NOW, the details," I instructed. I sketched in the wires, and flags and painted designs, and port holes. For a ten minute drawing, it was a pretty good image of a tall ship.

"I SEE," she said suddenly, "I started with what I should have ended with. I did the details first!"
"Yes," I told her, "And so when the basic drawing was incorrect, you had to erase not only the incorrect drawing, but all those details you spent so much time with."

This is exactly where we Christians go wrong, I think. With all good intentions, we desire that everyone should know God, and should find abundant life in Jesus. But sometimes we get bogged down in details without first laying a foundation. We get hung up on lifestyle changes and issues unessential to salvation before the person has the basic foundations. None of those details of how someone lives matter until those basics are in place. But what do we end up fighting over and losing converts over? The details!

The Basics: Recognize I am a sinner and acknowledge that no matter how I try I cannot be good for very long, understand that a holy righteous God created me and longs to have a relationship with me but a perfectly just God must demand consequence for sin, know the wages of sin are death, accept God's merciful way back to Him through the propitiation of sin through the substitute of Jesus' death in my stead, and receive the gift of eternal life by believing Jesus died to pay the penalty for me. After all those basics are in place, we can talk about whether I am living a life obedient to and worthy of God.

"I have been doing it backwards!" cried the lady again, "May I keep the picture and try it again the right way?"
"Of course," I said, "I think you will find it much easier."

************************

John1:29
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Romans 3:23
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 4: 22-25
22 That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness." 23 But the words "it was counted to him" were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Romans 5: 8-11
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

John 3: 16-18
16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.