Oh To Serve An Average God

We are lost without Jesus.

Our sin goes too deep, it's too pervasive, it cannot be avoided--only embraced or dealt with--that is our only two options.

I believe that God desires to purify His children and to do that He brings us to places where we can see with some clarity that we have to be very real with our Saviour.  He is not in the least interested in the games we can sometimes play where we give Him lipservice while trying to fit Him into all the other things we still want to hold on to in life.

The best chefs in the world have a way of combining different foods in such a way that brings out the best in flavours that please our taste buds.  I think we can try to do the same with our lives: we try to hard to please God while combining many other things that we like in our lives, and the result is not something beautiful but something that tastes like it was only half-cooked and comes out luke-warm.

Francis Chan, in his book Crazy Love writes a few summaries of what luke warm Christians do:
1)"Lukewarm people attend church fairly regularly.  It is what is expected of them, what they believe 'good Christians' do."
2)"Lukewarm people give money to charity and to the church. . .as long as it doesn't impinge on their standard of living.  If they have a little extra and it is easy and safe to give, they do so.  After all, God loves a cheerful giver right?"
3)"Lukewarm people tend to choose what is popular over what is right when they are in conflict.  They desire to fit in both at church and outside of church, they care more about what people think of their actions, then what God thinks of their hearts."
4)"Lukewarm people don't really want to be saved from their sins; they want only to saved from the penalty of their sin."
5)"Lukewarm people rarely share their faith with their neighbours, coworkers, or friends.  They do not want to be rejected, nor do they want to make people uncomfortable by talking about private issues like religion."

And Chan's list goes on for quite some time.  Let me tell you, it is a disheartening list indeed.  Why?  Because I and many of my friends are guiltly of so much of it.

So what are we to do?

Well the first thing I would suggest is to remember that being a Christian is not primarily about feeling good about oneself.  In fact, a big part of the journey of following Jesus has to do with taking a good hard look at yourself and being honest in the light of the Gospel that shows us for who we really are.  2 Corinthians 13:5 says that we should "examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves."

What does it really mean to "take up your cross and follow Jesus?"  The cross was the place where people were sent to pay a price for their crimes.  It is a place of exteme suffering, and even death.  Jesus tells us that we are to die to ourselves in order to follow Him.  If He is asking me to take up my cross, then this must include facing the sin in my life and not trying to sweep it under the rug. 

It certainly isn't easy to do this, because I can feel deep shame when I consider my sin and my lack of desire to overcome it.

I have a great temptation to end this blog with verses that will ease our discomfort--tell you verses from the Bible that remind you of how Jesus understands and loves you.  It's true that He does understand, but He understands both the good and bad about us--about me, and about you.

Maybe that's how real love works: it doesn't shy away from anything.  It is not shocked or swayed from its course.  It will accomplish its work the way it is meant to be accomplished and no other way.  Jesus loves me this I know. . . . .true but a different spin on it right?

No, we do not serve an "average God", one who is content with followers who ask the question "How much do I have to give?"  instead of the question "How much can I give?" 

Jesus, you are no average God happy to set lukewarm standards and encouraging people to just get by.  We know that you call us to a way of life that is incredible and beautiful, but this requires us to conquer our sins.  We simply can't do it alone--we need you desperately.  Cause us to know that your understanding of us does not mean that you are happy to let us sit in our sin, living lukewarm lives.  And help us to accept that you want to bring us to places of victory by your power, by your forgiveness, and resting in your hands.

BT