20 April 2007
The “Shelf Life” of your average chrisitan commitment - part 4
As we near the end of this five part series I have to say that this has been the most difficult set of posts I’ve ever written.
For a lot of reasons…
- I’m still so sickened by the evil and wickedness of this Cho Seung-Hui character that I can hardly give it anymore thought.
- I am almost at my wits end as to how to communicate the simplicity of Jesus alone being the answer to all of this. He always has been the answer. He always will be. Still, it’s mind-boggling how the masses return to what doesn’t work over and over again anyway. Must be what the Bible says in this verse, http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Prov.%2016:25;&version=72;
- I’ve lived with a growing sense of urgency for several years now. I can honestly and wholeheartedly see what the apostle Paul meant now when he said,
What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
Well, that’s a little insight into my world, now on with the post.
I started all of this with a growing frustration over the fact that a lot of times the shelf life of the average believer’s commitments these days seems roughly the equivalent of raw, ungutted, uncleaned catfish placed on a solar panel on top of the steamy hot pavement of a road in the middle of
That’s short, people. Really, really short.
Our commitments to ANYTHING today seem to expire almost before we utter the words or sign on the dotted line. We’re no longer committed to marriage, country, jobs, family, God, a local church…nothing! When we make a commitment it would almost be more honest and beneficial for those counting on us to insert a clause reading, I hereby commit to break this commitment almost immediately, signed Flake Jr.
But why? Why is it this way for so many of us?
Because we’ve come to worship the act of signing, the uttering of vows, and the taking of solemn oaths over the importance of not only ‘our word,’ but also of the one whom we are inevitably making all commitments to in the first place, God.
It also has to do with what I have been writing about for three days now, dancing around the peripheral.
Think about it.
Most Christians would readily admit they want to become more like Christ, yet most would have to reluctantly admit they also have no real idea how. We’ve muddied the waters too much.
Want to be more like Jesus?
√ Buy a bracelet (WWJD).
√
√ Attend a church.
√ Go to small group.
√ Boycott the bad guys.
√ Vote republican.
√ Do your daily 5 minute devotional
√ Pray before each meal.
That list could be a hundred pages long. I mean, we could probably come up with 614 foolproof, guaranteed, unique Christian laws (beating the Pharisees by one) that we all agree you have to live by in order to be a good Christian and all we’d really guarantee is that we’d miss God by a million miles!
It’s all, dancing around the peripheral!
Jesus didn’t come so that we might have rules and regulations. He came that we might have a relationship — a relationship with our Creator, the God who loves us and gave Himself for us (see John
Tired of dancing around the peripheral of that kind of life?
Want to increase the shelf life of your commitments and credibility before God and start getting to know Him?
Me too.
Tomorrow I’ll tell you how.
8 Comments currently posted.
Dee Langley says:
jt says:
I know where you are headed and I’m loving it! Being a Christ-follower isn’ rocket science. The act of accepting God’s gift is EASY once our hearts are right.
We should approach our relationship with God the same way we do with our spouce or loved one. The only difference is that our relationship with God should be the one we put the most work into!! I know it is difficult for some because you can’t see him or touch him, but that is what faith is. Be still and know that I am God. Talk to him like you would a friend. Ask him how his day is going. Ask him what he thinks about things. Ask him how he wants to use you each day. These are practical things that you can do to GROW your relationship with him.
The more we can make God an intricate part of our lives, the more people will see the affect he has on our lives. The more opportunities we will have to share our experiences with others. The more lives will be changed! It’s not rocket science.
Jay Foreman says:
Aw, gee, now you’ve done it. You’ve attacked my list (I actually had 305 foolproof, guaranteed, unique Christian laws…just 1 less than half a Pharisee. My 9th grade English teacher said I’d never amount to much…). So what am I supposed to do, dance naked doing “The peripheral?” In front of my friends? My Daughters? Be transparent?
Uhhh, yep. That’s the ticket. Hey, I can be real…vulnerable, loved, even better, I can be an F.O.J. (Friend of Jesus). Forgiven for ever, yes even for the 1/2 a Pharisee I was, and yes some times still am.
Gang, people pay big bucks to go to “Positive Motivation” seminars to hear this stuff Rob blogs about. And…. this is from his heart after HOURS of prayer. Not hours of re-writing by a personal speech coach.
Bring it on Rob - (whom by the way is an awesome example of a REAL F.O.J.)
Christopher Wall says:
The events that took place a Virginia Tech;
If I try and find anything positive, it is this, the families, friends, and survivors will not face the next 2-5 years re-living the events of that day in our court system as they tried to decide what should or should not be done with the person that caused all of this. (no I do not use his name because un-like the media, he does not warrant my recognition in name)
His fate has already been sealed and we know where he is now spending eternity. The loss of any human life is a tragedy and it seems the life of this young man was lost many many years ago. Evil had control and it was evil that caused him to take his own life. By doing so, evil lost the opportunity to drag out the pain and suffering of many many people and left an open door for those confused and suffering to come to know Jesus Christ.
We never know what tomorrow will bring let alone the next hours of our life. Only God has that master plan. Our task compared to keeping up witrh the master plan is simple. Live our life for God at all times in all things that we do.
By spending every hour of every day following Christ, when your day on this earth comes to and end, you will know where you stand and those that you leave behind, will take great comfort in knowing where you were in your relationship with God at that moment in your life.
Kris McGraw says:
I wonder, if we as christians, responded the way Christ did, with compassion, instead of condemnation, how different would the world be? Maybe better, maybe worse. I feel that too many of us have blood on our hands from responding in a carnal, human perspective as opposed to how God would have us act.
Sarah says:
RIght on Kris! Shouldn’t we as “the body”, be reaching? Just a thought.
Michael says:
Rob, you have me intriqued. I am not sure what new thing you can say about living 100% for God that God has not already said. The problem is not that we, Christ-followers, have never heard. No, we have refused to obey completely. It is that simple!!!
I am not saying that I will not come to hear with open ears and an open heart, but unless I take up my cross every day and every hour and every minute, I will continue “to let God down”.
What you say will be great and powerful because I know that God will be speaking to the hearts of those who have fertile, plowed up hearts. Unfortunately, as long as our collective hands cover our collective hearts refusing to really let God break us, we will have to continue to come back to this same message.
Personally, I am one who needs to be reminded but the more I surround myself with fellow believers in home group, at work, in my community I do not need to be reminded nearly as much. Also, the more opportunities I look for to proclaim Christ to non-believers, fence sitters and fellow believers, the less I need to be reminded. I think that principle is in the Bible (like the whole New Testament).
We can continue to live our lives following a list of things: wearing crosses, saying “Ain’t God so neat!”, going to church on Sunday to be seen, etc., or we can start living like it is our last chance before a crazy gunman puts a bullet in our heads. I do not do well with checklists.
Rob, the way I see it, it is about time for a line to be drawn in the sand. I am sure that we will lose in numbers for a time, but that is how things grow. Christ-followers have to grow, or they are not Christ-followers by definition. Follow is an action verb. I am looking for some action, as I can sense you are.
So, go ahead. Proclaim God’s command to us, challenge us, and prune as needed. I am not here to take up a seat and be a record-setting number. I am excited about what God is saying, but I NEED to see the action, starting with me.
Robsingleton.net » Year End Reflections (updated) says:
[...] Hey Clayton, did they even have blogs then? Favorite blog series? There are a few, “The Shelf Life of Your Average Christian Commitment” “Southbrook Urban Legends” that one was just fun. And, the single post, More [...]
Do we really have to wait until tomorrow? Why not start today!!! I know that good things come to those who wait but I think we have been waiting tooooooo long! If we have been living 30 some odd years without God I want to start today with him! I don’t know just my thought. But hey I would be coming at it from the wrong direction. Just one more check to put on the list? Lord give me a clean heart, everyday, that I may seek you first above all else!