What Chair Are You In?

Apr 19

I’m taking a break from cancer and health talk for this post. While our health is one of the most essential things in life, it is not the most important.

This life is fleeting. We are not guaranteed another day. Our life on earth is a tiny dot on the eternal timeline. What matters most is where we will spend eternity.

If you are game, read through this and determine what chair you are in. Perhaps share it with someone else. There are four chairs to choose from.

A NIGHT OF HOPE

To give some background on this content, a few years ago, on March 23, 2021, our church hosted A Night of Hope at a local park during the middle of the pandemic. Adrian Depres, a national speaker who lives in our Columbia, SC, metro area, delivered an introspective message that challenged us to evaluate our position before God. I was struck by how well his “Four Chairs” message gave us a tangible way to assess where we stood spiritually with God.

With his permission, I am sharing my takeaways from his message and book, “The Four Chairs – Discovering what your spiritual life looks like from God’s point of view.”

As he did that day, I challenge each reader to picture four chairs sitting side by side. Imagine you are sitting in one of them. Ask yourself, what chair are you sitting in?

FIRST CHAIR – CRAZY FOR JESUS

The people in the First Chair are “all in” with Jesus. Their love for Him shows in every area of their lives.

People do crazy things when they are in love. Think of when you were dating your husband or wife, how did you show your love to him/her, or him/her to you? Did you drive crazy amounts of miles to see each other? Spend a big wad of money on a gift? Talk on the phone for hours?

“First Chair” people will do crazy things for Jesus. And not just during the dating period. Once in a covenant relationship with Him, they continue to love and spend time with Him, and the relationship deepens. They do life together. It’s authentic.

They:

First, have believed that Jesus died for their sin, rose from the grave victorious, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. They received forgiveness of sins through confession. Have actively pursued being right with Him through repentance – abandoning sins.
Want to know Him better, so they study the Bible and pray on their own. Not just at a church service. And not because they “should” but because they want to deepen the relationship.
Gather with other believers because they want to be around people who believe in Him too so they may grow and be sharpened (“iron that sharpens iron” – Prov. 27:17). They also want to serve as their part of the “body” of Christ (I Cor. 12:12-27).
Seek Him for guidance for their life (Ps. 119:105) and protection from sin (Psalm 119:9).
Talk about Him A LOT. It comes naturally.
They humbly worship and praise God because He is worthy. They fear Him in the sense that they know His great power.
Want everyone to meet God. They know He is the greatest thing in the universe and want everyone to experience Him the way they do. They are constantly introducing people to Him.
They are fruitful. Their love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control are evident (Gal. 5:22-23).
Willingly obey God – even when they don’t understand all He asks. And they do it joyfully as an expression of their love. John 14:15 says, “If you love me, keep my commands.” Adrian says in his book, “If you have trouble with obedience, it’s not that you need more discipline, you need more love.”
They have counted the cost of following Him and are with Him during thick and thin – willing to be ridiculed for the name of Jesus (Luke 14:27-28; Luke 6:22).

It is evident to others that 1st Chair people are “all in” for Jesus.

FOURTH CHAIR – LOST

I will skip over to the 4th chair and work backward to chairs #3 and #2.

A person in the 4th chair is at the other end of the spectrum - spiritually lost. This person either hasn’t been told the Good News about Jesus and His forgiveness of sins OR this person has heard it but has not believed or personally accepted it. Maybe it doesn’t make sense. Maybe they don’t want to be accountable to God. Maybe they don’t want to abandon a sinful lifestyle. But God just asks them to first be willing to consider Jesus and ask Him to reveal the truth.

The “4th chair” person doesn’t understand they are going to die and face judgment. They do not understand that all people have sinned and fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23) and that the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).

They are on a road that leads to destruction – in this life and eternity. The Good News is there is a way to receive forgiveness of sins, and it’s free. But it cost Jesus a lot. He is The Way, The Truth, and The Life, and no one comes to the Father, except through Him. Through Him, we have eternal life and life abundant on earth.

Christianity is the only religion whereby a provision is made for complete forgiveness of sins, and one can be declared righteous before a holy God. All other religions are based on works and earning a way to heaven, and that position may change daily depending on how good they were that day. A work-based hope is, in the end, hopeless.

If the person in the “4th Chair” is willing to consider that this Bible is true and ask Him to reveal the truth, they will find He will reveal the truth to them.

SECOND CHAIR and THIRD CHAIR – THEY LOOK THE SAME

Unfortunately, many people in the “Second Chair” and “Third Chair” are sitting in the pews in the church. People in these two chairs are hard to tell apart. In fact, sometimes only God knows whether someone is in the second or third chair. These folks are often performing and pleasing for outward approval and inward pleasure. They hope they are pleasing God, too, to gain entrance to heaven.

THIRD CHAIR – DECEIVED

I will speak the most about this chair. The “Third Chair” person may be found at church most Sundays. In fact, this person could be a priest, pastor, or leader. They know about God, but their intellectual knowledge does not lead them to a relationship with God. They will call themselves a Christian, but they are deceived into thinking they are saved. They believe they are heaven-bound, and probably others assume they are too. This is a dangerous chair to be in because they will be the ones who hear, “Depart from Me, I never knew you,” from Jesus.

Matthew 7:21-23 says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name and in Your name drive out demons and in Your name perform many miracles?’. Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

So why will Chair 3 people hear, “Depart from Me, I never knew you?” It says clearly, 1) They did not do the will of the Father in heaven, and 2) Jesus does not know them. They did not follow God’s ways, and they did not have a relationship with Jesus.

They did not do the will of the Father in heaven.

For all of time, people have justified sin and ignored the will of God and His Word. They teach wrong is right and right is wrong. It is false teaching. Pastors, priests, congregants, churches, and denominations are doing it. When we look at how cultural norms and traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs are challenged, we can see how Timothy’s words are being fulfilled today:

I Timothy 4:1 says, “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.”

2 Timothy 4:3-4 says, “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”

Our responsibility is to know God’s Word and not rely only on what the priest, rabbi, or preacher says. Do we believe God’s Word is true and the source of truth in our life? Do we believe it is authoritative and infallible, or is it non-binding and subjective? It is dangerous to believe the latter.

Jesus did not know them.

Think of the marriage relationship. Those of us who are married, do we do things for our spouse to earn their love? Or do we do things because we want to demonstrate our love? Motivation is key. If it’s to earn their love, we have a relationship based on fear. If it’s a demonstration of our love, we have a relationship based on love and devotion. And so good works are necessary to demonstrate love to God.

Daily communication, a desire to please the other, and service to one another –are all things we do in a healthy marriage. We work through life together in the ups and downs. But Chair 3 people do not have that type of relationship with Jesus.

We can’t fake our way into heaven, and we cannot work our way into heaven. A works-based religion is false.

Some people want others to see their good work because it makes them look good and feel good about themselves. Jesus says do not be that person who does things to be seen by others, for that will be your reward in full. If we’re honest, we all like to impress others and feel good about ourselves. But if that is our primary motivation, we’re in the wrong chair. People in chair 3 people depend on good works to enter heaven. They may think God will let them in if they do more good work than bad.

The only work necessary to enter heaven is the finished work of Jesus dying on the cross, paying our sin debt, resurrecting, and sitting at the right hand of our Father God.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.
Romans 3:38 We are justified by faith apart from works of the law.
Romans 3:20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight ...
Galatians 2:21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
Titus 3:4-5 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

Yet, while good works cannot save us, God still expects us to do good works BECAUSE of our faith. In fact, if we do not do good works, then our faith should be doubted because they should be evidence of our faith when done in love.

James 2:14-18 says, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

So if we are saved by faith, we WILL do good works.

Consider if you have been stuck thinking you need to perform to please. Maybe you grew up in an oppressive environment where love was conditional on you doing certain things or how well you did them. Maybe you have believed that God is the same way. He is not. God wants you to be free from a performance-based religion and to come into a relationship with Him that is not based on fear, but on true love. He loves you, no matter what. He is not like people who have hurt you or oppressed you.

Let’s look at Ephesians 3:17b-19 which says, “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

God will not force Himself on us. He has loved us unconditionally and extravagantly. He wants us to choose to love Him back. If we do, we will naturally do things that are in obedience and to demonstrate our love.

So, if previous earthly relationships have held you back from trusting God as a loving Father, husband, friend, counselor, redeemer, protector, and much more – please talk with Him about it. Open the dialogue with Him.

Is it an intellectual belief? 3rd Chair people may believe that God the Father sent Jesus the Son to die and that He was resurrected and rose again on the 3rd day to provide forgiveness of sins. When Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life,” in John 3:16, He spoke of a heart belief, knowing we cannot be saved without His sacrifice.

Evaluate your situation. If you haven’t realized how much your sin hurts God, you might be in the 3rd Chair. If you haven’t turned to Jesus in desperation, knowing you cannot find forgiveness for your sin anywhere else, then you may be in the 3rd chair. If your belief hasn’t changed how you live your life, then you may be in the 3rd Chair.

People in the 3rd chair may look the part of a Christian, but looks can be deceiving. Maybe this is you or someone you know. Don’t be deceived any longer! If God is speaking to you now, talk to Him! Receive Him!

SECOND CHAIR – LUKEWARM

Lastly is the 2nd Chair. The majority of people sitting in churches are in the 2nd chair. The people in the 2nd chair are like the spouses who, after getting married, take their spouse for granted. With God, they were excited to believe in Him and get a ticket to heaven; got excited about God at first, but a focus on themselves and worldly things eventually took first place. They become apathetic to things of God.

Sure, they are still at church most Sundays, listen to the sermons, sing hymns and worship songs, and even serve on committees and do good work. The motions are still there. But there is no passion and their love for Him grows cold as they have lost their first love. They may think God exists to serve them and make them happy.

There is not much of a relationship with God, so they are critical of things in the church and complacent. Their lives are worldly – often in disobedience. They look like people in chairs 3 and 4 in some ways because they are often sexually immoral and indulge in activities and relationships that are no different from those who are lost.

2nd chair Christians may feel uncomfortable around 1st chair Christians because it makes them aware of their apathy and disobedience. They may think these people are “over the top” and think and speak of them negatively.

What’s worse is Chair 4 people have a problem with Christianity because of Chair 2 and 3 people. They can spot the hypocrisy. If non-believers see Chair 2 and 3 people as representatives of Christianity, what are they to conclude about a genuine faith in Jesus Christ?

These 2nd and 3rd chair folks are unwittingly turning people away from God instead of to Him! How this grieves the heart of God!

If you are in the 4th chair, please forgive the Chair 2 and 3 people. Hopefully, they will wake up soon.

WHEN I MOVED CHAIRS

I remember when I moved from Chair 2 into Chair 1. It started with an “aha” moment one day at college when God jolted me. A fellow co-ed and I were having a conversation that turned to spiritual matters, and I stated my belief in Jesus. He said, “Oh, I didn’t realize you were a Christian.” Shocked, I thought…”Wow, you should be able to know that I’m a Christian by the way I live.” I went to my sorority house room and evaluated my life. Sure enough, there was really no good evidence for someone to think I was a Christian.

I decided I wanted to change and surrender all my life and live for God. That following summer, I got married, and Tod and I started attending church, joined a Sunday School class, and went through a newly married class. Then I started a weekly inductive Bible study. I could not get enough of God’s Word! Words and stories I had read previously became the Living Word to me. I started praying and seeing answers to prayer. I prayed for specific things and saw specific answers. I started to view everything through the lens of God. I abandoned sins. This did not happen overnight, but week by week, month by month, my trust, faith, devotion, passion, and knowledge grew. I wasn’t perfect and still am not, but my love for God has not waned through the years. I want to know Him more and more. I’m still seeking Him because I know that is where my joy comes from, and there is always more of Him. What I have found is a relationship that is superior to any earthly, natural relationship – because it is supernatural and has eternal significance.

I look forward to the incredible things ahead.

1 Corinthians 2:9 but just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”

DO YOU WANT TO CHANGE CHAIRS?

Talk with God about the chair you are in and the chair you’d like to be in.

How do you get to chair 1? Ask God to forgive your sins. Decide to follow Him and love Him with your whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. Matthew 16:24 says, “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.’”

Mark 8:36 “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

Chair 1 is the best place to be!

Adele Little