The Convenient Christian
I rewrote this post in it's entirety. I wasn't happy with what I wrote. What happened was that I tried to take a very important topic, edited the good parts out because I used the wife as part of the story. When I did that, I came up with something that really didn't make much sense.
I think the topic is important because I think it's a trap a lot of people fall into. Please know I'm not judging anyone. What I want to do with the blog now is offer encouragement, to praise God, to share my story of finding Him, hopefully leading people back to God. It's my way of sharing the Good News that Christ died for our sins!
What do I mean by being a convenient Christian? This is what I'm talking about...believing in God, but not following God. Look at the price I paid in my life for that. I broke God's law about being faithful. I was sick in my heart and soul, and at the depth of my depression, I found God again.
Being a Christian is easy in theory, but much, much harder in practice. God asks a lot from us, but if the world lived the way God intended us to, think how much better a place it would be. There would be no war (and most of my friends would be unemployed!), no jealousy, no coveting, no killing, stealing, lying, bearing false witness. I read the Book of Romans tonight. It was written by Paul, who when he was known as Saul was one who persecuted the early Christian Church. It was through God's love and forgiveness that Paul became a new man, and so much of the New Testament is a result of that transformation.
My friend Matt actually gave me the idea for this story. He talked about getting rid of the past, and told me if I could bottle it, I'd be rich. I am rich. I have good friends, I have God and Jesus in my life. I have a job and what's left of my family. God has a new plan for me because I have faith and I'm a new man. I've left the old behind.
No longer am I a Christian when it's convenient. I really believe what God says about following him, and part of why I edited the post so severely was that I still FEAR God and don't want to meddle in what he's working in my life. I also know that whatever happened in my life, God allowed to happen so I could grow as a person. I'm thankful to Him for helping me not be a Christmas and Easter Christian anymore. I'm really trying to follow Jesus' example for us to live by.
I do things now, I never thought I would. I pray for people I never would have even thought of lifting up to God the Father. That was definitely hard for me to do, the first time, because it had to come from the heart. I said I forgave, then I put that forgiveness to the test. That was a tough test of faith.
I do things now, I never saw myself doing. I attend church regularly again, something I haven't done in almost 30 years. My beloved Redskins teed it up on Sunday at 11:00. I was in the pew, listening to a very well done sermon that I needed to hear. I always find something useful from church. It wasn't a chore to go. It would have been easy to skip Sunday, but I'm so pleased I didn't.
When I talk of it not being easy to be a Christian, I'm not suggesting God makes it hard for us. Quite the contrary, I look at most successful married couples that I know and I find they have a strong foundation in God. Somewhere I forgot that because I got upset at an impressionable age by something someone did to someone else at church. I didn't think people hurting other people for selfish reasons was very Christian, then I spent a good part of my life doing the very same thing.
Because I'm new at being a good Christian, I'm bound to make a few mistakes. I give you the mess that happened as a result of talking about my life on the blog, as an example. But something came out of that mess. It wasn't convenient for me, but I had an opportunity to confess my sins to a very large group of people. It says in the bible that we should talk about our sins with others. Welcome to technology as a way to confess sins. I'm really OK with that. I didn't run, nor hide. I owned what I did, and denied what wasn't true.
I did something else during that mess, too. I gave up my need to be right all the time for something more important. You see, I know who the person was who so nicely asked me to stop the mess. Those that know me know I never back down when I'm right. Or, let me say, never used to. I put the wife's feelings before mine.
There is a dime on my little vision board. It's there to remind me that what's mine, is mine, and what belongs to God is God's. I'm not quite there, but will be by next Friday. I'm also learning to manage my money better. The Bible even talks about this and I've prayed for some help to be better as I move forward in life.
The hardest test I've had since finding God came on Saturday. I went to the park on Saturday and offered up a prayer. Immediately I heard this loud, almost shouting "no!" I didn't get discouraged, I just came home and thanked God for being in my life. During the ride home, I found myself tempted to do this or that because my prayer hadn't been answered. I rejected those temptations and chose to thank God for the blessings in my life, and for the best six years of my life. They weren't always easy. They were the best, though. And I thanked him for the many blessings that have come out of the worst year of my life, by far! I did though, stop at the church later in the evening and ask him "WHY?". Hey, I already know that answer, but it's nice to know it was all right to ask. At the end of the day, I really felt at peace.
I still do and know that God is working a plan for me and my future.
I think my new seed of being a Christian is planted in the good soil this time. Only time will tell, but it seems that I'm able to say no to things that used to consume me. God is more to me than just Christmas and Easter. I don't just believe in Him, I'm following Him. I'm walking with Jesus. Because He forgave me of my many sins, I'm able to forgive others.
My therapist told me once "sometimes, there just isn't enough sorry". I know this is a leftover from the other post, but it's a very big misstatement. There's more than enough sorry. What there's a lack of is forgiveness. Forgiveness is the magic elixir Matt was talking about. The recipe for it is in the Bible.
So where do I go from here? Good question. I'm trying, one last time, to keep something from happening that I truly don't want, and believe that God doesn't want, either. I already know the outcome if I don't try, so I'll do what I can. It's the right thing to do. Not the convenient, cheap, and easy way out. If it works out, it's a hell of a commitment on my part. It'll cost me a lot more than if I just cut and run. How this one works out, I don't know, but I feel if I've done everything I can, I'll be absolved of the responsibility for it.
That's what I mean by not being a convenient Christian. Love your enemies. Love your neighbor, give, and follow Christ's teachings. Above all, love God with all your heart. And reap the rewards both here and in the afterlife. Don't just believe...Follow!
I think the topic is important because I think it's a trap a lot of people fall into. Please know I'm not judging anyone. What I want to do with the blog now is offer encouragement, to praise God, to share my story of finding Him, hopefully leading people back to God. It's my way of sharing the Good News that Christ died for our sins!
What do I mean by being a convenient Christian? This is what I'm talking about...believing in God, but not following God. Look at the price I paid in my life for that. I broke God's law about being faithful. I was sick in my heart and soul, and at the depth of my depression, I found God again.
Being a Christian is easy in theory, but much, much harder in practice. God asks a lot from us, but if the world lived the way God intended us to, think how much better a place it would be. There would be no war (and most of my friends would be unemployed!), no jealousy, no coveting, no killing, stealing, lying, bearing false witness. I read the Book of Romans tonight. It was written by Paul, who when he was known as Saul was one who persecuted the early Christian Church. It was through God's love and forgiveness that Paul became a new man, and so much of the New Testament is a result of that transformation.
My friend Matt actually gave me the idea for this story. He talked about getting rid of the past, and told me if I could bottle it, I'd be rich. I am rich. I have good friends, I have God and Jesus in my life. I have a job and what's left of my family. God has a new plan for me because I have faith and I'm a new man. I've left the old behind.
No longer am I a Christian when it's convenient. I really believe what God says about following him, and part of why I edited the post so severely was that I still FEAR God and don't want to meddle in what he's working in my life. I also know that whatever happened in my life, God allowed to happen so I could grow as a person. I'm thankful to Him for helping me not be a Christmas and Easter Christian anymore. I'm really trying to follow Jesus' example for us to live by.
I do things now, I never thought I would. I pray for people I never would have even thought of lifting up to God the Father. That was definitely hard for me to do, the first time, because it had to come from the heart. I said I forgave, then I put that forgiveness to the test. That was a tough test of faith.
I do things now, I never saw myself doing. I attend church regularly again, something I haven't done in almost 30 years. My beloved Redskins teed it up on Sunday at 11:00. I was in the pew, listening to a very well done sermon that I needed to hear. I always find something useful from church. It wasn't a chore to go. It would have been easy to skip Sunday, but I'm so pleased I didn't.
When I talk of it not being easy to be a Christian, I'm not suggesting God makes it hard for us. Quite the contrary, I look at most successful married couples that I know and I find they have a strong foundation in God. Somewhere I forgot that because I got upset at an impressionable age by something someone did to someone else at church. I didn't think people hurting other people for selfish reasons was very Christian, then I spent a good part of my life doing the very same thing.
Because I'm new at being a good Christian, I'm bound to make a few mistakes. I give you the mess that happened as a result of talking about my life on the blog, as an example. But something came out of that mess. It wasn't convenient for me, but I had an opportunity to confess my sins to a very large group of people. It says in the bible that we should talk about our sins with others. Welcome to technology as a way to confess sins. I'm really OK with that. I didn't run, nor hide. I owned what I did, and denied what wasn't true.
I did something else during that mess, too. I gave up my need to be right all the time for something more important. You see, I know who the person was who so nicely asked me to stop the mess. Those that know me know I never back down when I'm right. Or, let me say, never used to. I put the wife's feelings before mine.
There is a dime on my little vision board. It's there to remind me that what's mine, is mine, and what belongs to God is God's. I'm not quite there, but will be by next Friday. I'm also learning to manage my money better. The Bible even talks about this and I've prayed for some help to be better as I move forward in life.
The hardest test I've had since finding God came on Saturday. I went to the park on Saturday and offered up a prayer. Immediately I heard this loud, almost shouting "no!" I didn't get discouraged, I just came home and thanked God for being in my life. During the ride home, I found myself tempted to do this or that because my prayer hadn't been answered. I rejected those temptations and chose to thank God for the blessings in my life, and for the best six years of my life. They weren't always easy. They were the best, though. And I thanked him for the many blessings that have come out of the worst year of my life, by far! I did though, stop at the church later in the evening and ask him "WHY?". Hey, I already know that answer, but it's nice to know it was all right to ask. At the end of the day, I really felt at peace.
I still do and know that God is working a plan for me and my future.
I think my new seed of being a Christian is planted in the good soil this time. Only time will tell, but it seems that I'm able to say no to things that used to consume me. God is more to me than just Christmas and Easter. I don't just believe in Him, I'm following Him. I'm walking with Jesus. Because He forgave me of my many sins, I'm able to forgive others.
My therapist told me once "sometimes, there just isn't enough sorry". I know this is a leftover from the other post, but it's a very big misstatement. There's more than enough sorry. What there's a lack of is forgiveness. Forgiveness is the magic elixir Matt was talking about. The recipe for it is in the Bible.
So where do I go from here? Good question. I'm trying, one last time, to keep something from happening that I truly don't want, and believe that God doesn't want, either. I already know the outcome if I don't try, so I'll do what I can. It's the right thing to do. Not the convenient, cheap, and easy way out. If it works out, it's a hell of a commitment on my part. It'll cost me a lot more than if I just cut and run. How this one works out, I don't know, but I feel if I've done everything I can, I'll be absolved of the responsibility for it.
That's what I mean by not being a convenient Christian. Love your enemies. Love your neighbor, give, and follow Christ's teachings. Above all, love God with all your heart. And reap the rewards both here and in the afterlife. Don't just believe...Follow!
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