Well, after an eventful day at work almost cracking my skull open on a cube display (and not entirely convinced that I don’t have a concussion), I’m back to complete the second part of my series of soap-box lectures.
Today I’d like to start off by recalling a story from my days back at Washington Square. The following story actually prompted me to begin to write a book about the subject, but it never got past the introduction. It seems appropriate to bring back that story given my subject.
It was my lunch break, I’d meandered up to the food court at the mall, gotten something that clearly wasn’t healthy for me, and in a rare occurance, actually ate it in the food court. The problem I have with the food court is mostly accouting for the fact that it’s impossible to think with that much noise around you, and I typically wind up next to some loudmouth talking to his buddy about the gnarly foot fungus he just got over and, before long, I’ve wasted five bucks on food I can’t eat. But, I happened to take the chance, and, as usual… Ended up next to someone whose voice carried over the noise. Two people, actuallly, both women.
While I wasn’t exactly trying to listen into their conversation, I sort of got stuck listening in anyway as a result of the close proximity and the volume at which they spoke. They seemed to be discussing a mutual friend who was making some poor choices. The snippet of the conversation that sparked me to begin what became an otherwise doomed book attempt was as follows.
“He says he’s a Christian.”
“Well of course he’s a Christian! As long as she’s wetting his wiener, they’re all christians!”
Thankfully, I was almost done with lunch at this point, as I made quite the scene nearly choking on the terriyaki chicken in my mouth at the time. That part of the conversation just sort of stuck with me the rest of the day, however, which sent me into my short-lived writing spree. As hard as I tried to comprehend it, I just couldn’t make sense of someone using “It’s okay, I’m a Christian!” as an excuse to get laid.
An interesting illustration my pastor used involved the healing miracles of Jesus, and Jesus would take those he healed by the hand. He pointed out several things in regard to this, probably the most interesting being that when he lifted them up, he lifted them up so that they would be healed, yes, but he also lifted them up to send them off in a different direction from before. The man healed at the pool in John, Jesus even said, “Arise, take up your bed and walk.” was also told “Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.” (John 5:14 KJV)
This all coincides with a Bible study I’ve been doing with Michael on “The Miracle of Life Change” by Chip Ingram. It’s an incredibly interesting series on basically the exact subject that I started with, people accepting Christ’s free gift of salvation, but otherwise living a completely unchanged life.
Before I start, I will start with a disclaimer: I am, in no way, shape, or form, trying to say that one could lose their salvation for not living a changed life. I am, however, pointing out that by not allowing Christ to change our lives, we don’t look any different to the world than the rest of the world. We’re just more of the same, basically adding fuel to the fire of skeptics who say “All Christians are hypocrites”.
I’m also not saying, in any way, shape, or form, that I’ve never been a hypocrite; The fact is, I’m as guilty as anyone else at times. As my pastor always says, “This church isn’t a gathering of saints, it’s a hospital for sinners.” I don’t consider myself any holier than the next person, and I’m not judging anyone else’s actions. Take my words at whatever God impresses on your heart.
Part of what irritated me about the vast majority of my class (and, in hindsight, my own personal actions) was that they took God’s grace lightly. instead of taking it at what it was meant to be, God’s forgiving us for the fact that we are, in fact, sinners, and we do, in fact, screw up, they took it for carte blanche to do basically anything they wanted with the mindset, “Oh, God will forgive me for this.” and didn’t bother to make an effort to change. I don’t understand people’s thinking on this, maybe it is just that they think that Grace was carte blanche to do whatever we feel like, maybe it’s more they wanted God to bless them with more grace. The fact is, the Apostle Paul ran into the same thing in the book of Romans. In chapter 6 he wrote:
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Rom. 6:1-4, KJV
The part that stands out for me is in verse four, where Paul writes that “even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Notice he said newness. Not the old life, but a compeltely new one. It’s as if God actually expects us to change. I’ve noticed in my experience with churches (Since the age of about 5, I’ve been in several) that there aren’t a lot of churches that are willing to go so far as to preach that. I’ve been in churches that painted the picture that if you’re saved, that life is going to be all wine and roses, you’ll never be in a difficult position, life will be just swell. The fact is, if you look at the life of Paul, he was constantly sick, frequently imprisoned, and eventually put to death for his beliefs. Not exactly the rosy picture one might be led to believe.
One truly convicting statement that I heard was, oddly enough, in a rap I heard at an open mic night at New Hope Community church in Clackamas. I don’t know the guy’s name, but the idea came up again at Bible study last week, so I’ve felt the need to share it with others. The basic premise of the song was “If you were put on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you, or would you get off scott free?” That hit me hard, because there are been times when I’m not so sure I would’ve been convicted, and if I profess to be a Christian, I should have been.
It’s getting late again, I need to rise early tomorrow (and that’s assuming I don’t have a concussion and manage to put myself into a coma tonight… I guess be in prayer about that. :P). I’m half tempted to turn this into a three part series, but the fact is if I don’t cut myself off soon, this blog might very well end up to be me constantly on the soap box, and that’s something I try to limit myself to once every couple of months. For now, my thoughts are out on the table, take them at what you will.
Good night, god bless, and I hope I wake up tomorrow!
(I guess if I don’t… See you on the flip side. :))
~Andrew =)
Tags: Religious, Writing by Andrew Laine
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