Living on AutoPilate

Text: John 19:1-16

Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor who handed Jesus over to his soldiers to be crucified, repeatedly said that he didn’t think Jesus was guilty of any crime. Jesus was a problem for him.

Pilate was on autopilot. He wanted to get out of Judea as quickly as possible. The future for any Roman leader with aspirations was Rome; that was the big show. Jesus was a problem for him.

He tried to appease and make concessions with the crowd demanding Jesus' crucifixion. But in the end, he gave in and followed the crowd rather than acknowledge The Truth.

When confronted with The Truth, we can not continue on autopilot. C.S. Lewis writes, "Jesus produced mainly three effects — Hatred — Terror — Adoration. There was no trace of people expressing mild approval."

Jesus is a problem. We cannot continue living on autopilot if we believe He is our Savior and Lord. Mild approval doesn't cut it. Jesus demands our soul...our life...our all.

Here are some signs that you may be living on spiritual autopilot (some of these are from a list from Brett McCracken).

• You rarely think about or ever remember the Sunday sermon on Monday.
• Your friends and coworkers are surprised to learn you're a churchgoing Christian.
• You rarely speak about your faith to your spouse.
• You celebrate your children's athletic or academic accomplishments but never ask about their personal spiritual life.
• You rarely do anything to promote discipleship in your home.
• You rarely feel challenged, only affirmed.
• You've never had to have a "truth-in-love" conversation with a fellow Christian.
• No one in your church could comment on any area of growth they've seen in your spiritual life.
• There's absolutely no friction between your Christianity and your partisan politics.

Steps you can take today:

1. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the issues, sins, or concerns that are dividing your heart.
2. Pray for each of these.  Confess and admit it. Take responsibility for it.
3. Reach out to a mentor, Kgroup leader, or someone you trust and ask them to pray for you in these specific areas. If you would like for me to pray, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..