Gordon MacDonald offers an interesting perspective on what it means to be a Christian.

He says that we often describe this in terms of naming a date, place and time when we repented of our sin and put our faith in Jesus, but he goes on to challenge this by saying that to be a Christian is to enter into a “process of spiritual development… a life-journey in which one walks in the ways of Christ and gradually becomes more like Him in conduct and inner orientation.”

“More than anything” he writes, “we’re talking character, Christlike character here. The kind of person I am becoming as a result of my choice to follow Jesus. To come to Jesus was to change life, piece by piece.”

I believe MacDonald is correct and what he says is at the heart of the Sermon on the Mount.

When Jesus spoke of sins such as anger, adultery, and lying, He wasn’t concerned with mere outward performance – He went straight to the heart of the matter.

“Are you so angry with your friend that you wish they were dead? Then you’re guilty of murder!”

“Have you looked lustfully at another person? Then you’ve committed adultery!”

Jesus was more concerned with the inner state of our hearts, not how we looked on the outside to the rest of the world.

This why He said our righteousness must be “greater than the Scribes and Pharisees” because righteousness is about the real state of my heart, not just outward show.

This is the truth of the Sermon on the Mount, and it takes a lifetime to learn and practice.

As MacDonald said, it’s about Jesus changing our life “piece by piece.”