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me,
happens to many Christians today.
Let me tell you what happened to me. See if you can relate
to this. As long as I can remember, I thought I was a
Christian. Heck, I'm an America -- isn't this God's
Country? Aren't we a Christian nation? Aren't all
Americans Christians? Why, my Mama and Daddy dedicated me
as a baby to the Church. Our family went to church every
Sunday, Sunday school, and even Sunday night devotion and
prayer time at church. Why, one Sunday at the age of 12 I
was Baptized by full immersion into "Holy
Water." We said the blessing every meal. My mama read
me the 23 Psalm every night before bed, and I always said
my prayers before going to sleep. Shoot, I even read
Christian magazines for kids. My mom and dad did a great
job in raising up their children to be Christians. I had
it all, so I thought -- I was an American, had a Christian
family, and grew up in a mainline Church. So I thought I
had it all. But someone was missing from the picture. That
someone is now my Friend; that someone is Jesus Christ.
What happened along the way? Why was Christ missing? Now I
can look back and say: Well, He was missing because I did
not want Him in my life. I just wanted a God of
convenience. A God who is there when I need Him, how I
need Him, and for any reason that suited me at the time I
needed Him. Voltaire once said, "God created man in
HIS own image; man has been returning the favor every
since." Well, I had created the perfect God. In
college he was a God I could place on the bookshelf, and
if I was really struggling could take Him down and use him
for a little while. Then it was back to the bookshelf.
Kind of like a fire-extinguisher God, there just in case
of emergency. Now I think, what a patient God he is! The
things HE puts up with.
After college I married my college sweetheart. (A huge
blessing from God, by the way.) Then it was off to the
marketplace in a family business to get, not earn, my
slice of the American Dream. My wife and I started
attending a church. All our friends were going there. Many
people I did business with were going there. I thought
this is great. Go to church on Sunday, generate some
business for Monday. Learn a few things on Sunday, put God
in my desk drawer, and take Him back the next Sunday. This
was easy Christianity.
One day I guess God became tired of being put in that dark
desk drawer. He had other plans. My wife and I started
going to a Sunday School class that was different. It was
not the Sunday morning "Rotary Club" class. I
did not do business with the people in the class. We were
attracted to this class. The class was studying the
"Real Meaning of Christmas." The Holy Spirit
ambushed me for the first time in a long time. The basic
simplicity of learning whom Christ is, struck my heart. By
the way, that Christmas was the best ever for me. That was
just the beginning. My heart stirred and stirred. I want
to know more and more about this Person, our Savior Jesus.
The Holy Spirit had changed my heart, and instead of
putting God back in my desk drawer on Monday morning, I
let Him stay out a little longer. My spurt in growth soon
sputtered. I soon became disillusioned with this thing
called Church. God still had to go into the drawer when He
was not convenient to me, or when He got in the way. But
as I grew, I became increasingly disturbed with going to
church with cultural Christians who were my best friends
on Sunday, only to stab me in the back on Monday morning
during a "business deal". The picture just did
not look right.
There appears to be a trend in the Church today. This
trend may be an old trend, but it is one I have
experienced and recognized. This trend is the preaching of
the "Gospel of Addition". What is meant by the
"Gospel of Addition?" It is simply adding Jesus
Christ to your present life, without subtracting sinful
ways in your life. Paul states in Acts 26 verse 20 "I
preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove
their repentance by their deeds." What Paul is
saying, is that we should add Jesus and repent (subtract)
the sins, and prove this by our actions. What we say we
believe, and what we actually do must be consistent. We
are not only challenged to be a believer, but also a
"doer". The picture in our hearts must equal the
picture we paint by our deeds. Think about it. Are your
actions consistent with your values and with the way God
wants them to be, not what you want? Aha, another ambush
by the Holy Spirit. I need to act on beliefs. I need to be
in the image God created me. I need to stop re-inventing
God and let God mold me.
Questions
or comments? Email david@e-devotionals.org. |
