Good morning Jesus I begin my morning intentionally drawing closer to you, who longs to draw closer to me.
ʻI know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot! So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth! Because you say, “I am rich and have acquired great wealth, and need nothing,” but do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked," Revelations 3:15-17.
My morning blog post is different today. In stead of of blog I have written I am asking you to read a short article entitled, "Dear Christians There is One Thing Worse Than Being An Atheist."
“As Christians, we tend to think that atheists are in the most dangerous spiritual state. Indeed, they are in a dangerous state. But not the most dangerous. The atheist is surely closer to redemption than the “Christian” who hangs onto the name but empties it of its substance. There is nothing worse than being a casual Christian who lives, and acts, and thinks, and in most every way believes just as the atheists do. It is better to be an unbeliever and know you are an unbeliever than to be an unbeliever and think you are a Christian.
Whenever the “decline of Christianity in America” is discussed, the focus is always on the dwindling number of professed believers. But that is not really the problem, nor is it the truest evidence of Christianity’s decline. If the Church had lost 5 or 10 percent over the years, but the remaining 70 to 75 were truly on fire with the faith — if they were authentically and substantially Christian — our culture would still be in fine shape. It is not in fine shape. By their fruits you shall know them, and the fruits of our “Christian country” seem strongly to suggest that we are not a Christian country at all. And if we are not a Christian country, despite our majority Christian population, then we must consider whether America’s Christians — many of them — are really so much different from her atheists.
Let’s consider two hypothetical people:
First there is Bob. Bob is not Christian and does not claim to be. If he were pressed to pick a label, he’d probably call himself an agnostic. Bob lives a normal American life. He doesn’t think much about spiritual things. He doesn’t consider his own mortality. He does what normal people do. He loves porn. He drinks too much on the weekends. He watches a lot of TV. His goal in life is to be comfortable. He seeks pleasure, not joy. He works in order to enrich himself. Whatever money he has, he spends or he hordes. He is nice to people but he will not sacrifice anything for them. He is fond of his wife but he will leave her if his feelings ever fade. He is affectionate towards his kids but he will leave them, too, if his home life becomes too boring or too difficult. He is a normal person. A nice person. An empty person.
Then there is Jim. Jim calls himself a Christian. He does not think much about what that label means. He believes, vaguely, ambiguously, that something like God probably exists. He accepts that Jesus Christ died for his sins, but he accepts it like he accepts that Bangkok is the capital of Thailand. He accepts it passively, disinterestedly. He doesn’t believe that the fact — if it is a fact — has any bearing whatsoever on his life. He thinks very little about these things at all. He doesn’t contemplate spiritual matters. He doesn’t consider his own mortality. He doesn’t pray. His inner life is mostly indistinguishable from Bob’s. His external life is entirely indistinguishable. He does everything that Bob does, indulges in all of the same vices, and feels the same lack of guilt while he indulges them. His life is spent pleasing and enriching himself. He is no more likely to sacrifice, no more likely to refrain from sinful activities, no more likely to remain faithful to his wife and his children. He is a normal person. A nice person. An empty person. He “believes,” yes, but there is scant evidence of this belief, and the belief means almost nothing to him.
Both Bob and Jim are in a dire state. Jim, I think, has it worse. Jim has the same spiritual emptiness and the same moral indifference, but he also has the false sense of security that the “Christian” tag affords him. Bob is honest about who he is and what he believes. He knows that he has rejected God. He knows that he doesn’t have God in his life, and so there is always a chance that one day he will come to feel that absence, hit rock bottom, and then begin the slow and painful climb towards the light.
Satan, after all, is not an atheist. He is much closer to Jim. You might say he was the first Jim. And now Jim is following him, ever so comfortably, ever so confidently, into Hell.”
As the Lead Follower of One Direction Community trying to get people to embrace becoming disciples of Jesus Christ, of spending time daily reading their Bible, iset aside time for real prayer, and gathering in a Band for true accountability, my greatest struggle are Christians that have "found comfort in a label" of calling themselves a "Christian." They have at one point been baptized, got the Tee shirt to prove it to themselves and others, and may even wear it to church now and then. So they are "good" in their faith, and wear the tee shirt to rationalize leading a life that is absent from signs or fruits of their salvation. Compare your life to Jim and Bob and that of Jesus. Who are you a disciple of? 4 things Jesus committed himself to and set as an example what true followers of Him engage in daily that neither Jim of Bob do: Jim and Bob do not set aside time daily (1) embracing God in his Word and (2) in prayer. Bob and Jim are not (3) in a Band, Reunion group, or other from of deep Christian accountability. Jim and Bob do not (4) serve others on a regular basis. Jesus embraced and encouraged all four of these. Honestly, how many of these four are a part of your daily life? Are you committed and honestly prioritizing and embracing these four things as a "Disciple" of Jesus and embracing his cross? Or are you a simply using the label "Christian" like Jim and wearing the Tee Shirt?
My family, We are nearing the day we celebrate the birth of Christ, Emanuel, “God With us.” I pray today you will seriously and honestly reflect on not the label of being a "Christian", but your true relationship with Christ. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your thoughts and reflections in the comment box below.
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