“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!”-Acts 20: 28-30
I recently had the pleasure of discussing the term ‘Christian’ with a few close friends of mine. Here, in my opinion, is the first of our hurdles as modern-day believers. How many people do you know that claim to be Christians- quite a few? Please understand, I am not questioning the validity of anyone’s faith (I would be a fool to do so, only God can judge one’s heart). What I am calling into question is our lack of conviction. Our nation is full of spineless saints living in giant bowls of jello… an odd visual image if ever there was one! I see self-proclaimed believers walking about their lives with not so much as a second glance upwards to their savior. What’s worse, I all too often catch myself becoming accustomed to this easy-believe society! Christianity is not about sitting in a church pew once a week, or listening to the latest Christian music artist, or wearing Christian clothing with catchy phrases. Jesus isn’t your homeboy- he’s the sacrificed Lamb of God who plucked you from your filth and, amidst tears of love, died for your soul.
I recently received a postcard from a local church that read something like this- “Not in to the Church thing? That’s okay with us! Come check out our new game room and see if we fit you.” I stared for a moment in disbelief and then began to take a closer look at the world around me. It doesn’t take a genius to see it; it’s everywhere. Christianity isn’t taught as a lifestyle anymore, it has become trendy, trite, and all-encompassing. It’s not popular to talk about sin- after all, who wants to hear that their actions hung a holy man to a wooden cross and then bled him dry? Terms such as salvation, grace, and eternity are now replaced with the user-friendly fate, destiny, and accessibility. The personal relationship has become commercialized- we’ve turned Jesus in to a brand name.
Come now! We are called to be different; what a wonderful thing to be the one that sticks out in a crowd. At what point do we as the Christian body draw the line? I have heard the arguments before, “But Stephen, we are reaching millions who would never have otherwise given the gospel a second look?” That is all good and well, but what are you feeding these people? Are you giving them anything that is radically different from their own lives? It seems that all too often we are giving these people a lifestyle that is exactly the same as their own. The only difference is that the name ‘Jesus’ has been stamped on it… how is that spreading the gospel message? People aren’t stupid- they see through the smoke and mirrors. They make very real (and often all too true!) judgments of character concerning these individuals- “If that’s what being a Christian is, then I certainly don’t want any part in that!”
So where are we left at this point? It feels like an uphill battle; we are brothers and sisters amidst false sheep. It’s so easy to get frustrated, to want to throw the towel in and say, “I quit!”, but it is times like these that we need to stick in there and fight the good fight. Though churches all around us are crumbling to the ground under the shackles of easy-believism, we can make a difference through our thoughts and actions. Again, people aren’t stupid- they realize when something is real, when a life is led with conviction. Though we may be unwillingly caught up in the debate of Christian semantics, we can make a difference by doing one painfully simple thing- following Christ to the utmost letter.
I don’t write this to be discouraging- I hope it is quite the opposite! We serve a God who knows no bounds. I pray that our words would be full of God’s graceful redemption and that our actions would speak louder still! Hope you are all well- may you continue onward in this runnable race.
