Treasure of Jesus

A couple of days ago I managed to spontaneously catch a friend for dinner. Over dinner we had a (non-belligerent) debate about whether there was such a thing as a ‘closet Christian’. Basically, whether a person could be Christian and ‘closet’ about it.

We both agreed that there was no such thing as a ‘closet Christian’.

The underlying reasoning was that if you were Christian and trying to live out the Christian life, it was impossible to be ‘closet’ about it. The Gospel message demands that we go forth and tell people about Christ and also that we actively live out the Christian life for all to see.

When I was 17, I had a bookmark with a cartoon of a courtroom with an angry looking judge and a guilty-faced criminal. At the bottom of the bookmark was the question – If you were charged in court for being Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

If I were being entirely honest, had someone posed that question to me during my rebellious teenage years, the answer would be a resounding no. There wouldn’t be enough evidence to convict me for being Christian. I’d like to think things are different now. I am by no means perfect (though, in my sinfulness I often like to think I am), but I can genuinely say I’m trying to live in response to the Gospel message I’ve grown to love over the years.

In my short life thus far, I’ve been blessed to have suffered very little. I also haven’t been grievously persecuted for being Christian. A constant worry is that should the day come, and I’m sure it will, where I face suffering or persecution, will I still call God my God?

I hope I will.

I’d like to end this post with a song I’ve been listening to and thinking about. It reflects a verse from my favourite book in the Bible – Philippians. Chapter one, verse 21 says ‘for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain’.



Treasure of Jesus
Steven Curtis Chapman

What can I do?
How can I live?
To show my world
The treasure of Jesus

What will it take?
What could I give?
So they can know
The treasure He is

And if I can sing,
Let my songs
Be full of His glory
If I can speak
Let my words be full of His grace
And if I should live or die
Let me be found
Pursuing this prize
The One that alone satisfies
The treasure of Jesus