A Pleasant Diversion

My wife brought to my attention an article in “Our Daily Bread”. You know, the little devotional that everybody keeps in their bathroom. It was dated December 11th (last Saturday). It was written by Anne Cetas and was titled A Pleasant Diversion. I want to share the article with you.

Anne says:

A friend was looking for a church to join and told me she had found just what she was looking for: “I like this church because I don’t have to change my lifestyle of partying. It doesn’t make me feel guilty or require anything of me. I feel good about myself when I’m there.”

Her story makes me wonder how many people are in that type of situation. Their “Christianity” is what author W. Waldo Beach calls “a pleasant weekend diversion.”

But is that the kind of life Jesus calls us to? Beach says, “No amount of air-conditioning and pew-cushioning in the suburban church can cover over the hard truth that…discipleship is costly; that, for the faithful, there is always a cross to be carried. No one can understand Christianity to its depths who comes to it to enjoy it as a pleasant weekend diversion.”

Being a Christian means that we know Jesus personally. We have received Him by faith as our Savior from sin, and we present ourselves to Him. We deny our will and choose His instead. He transforms our thinking, our values, and our priorities to reflect what is acceptable to God (Romans 12:1-2).

Is your religion just a pleasant weekend diversion? That’s no substitute for a vital relationship with Jesus!

If I was a better and more tactful writer, those may have been my words exactly. Those have definitely been my thoughts. Once again, it goes back to being entertained. Entertained and reassured. Reassured that Jesus loves you…just as you are. No need to clean up to come in here. It’s all grace in here. We accept you as clean or as dirty as you want to be. You have problems…we have problems. Hooked on porn?...who are we to judge? Adultery?…nobody’s perfect! We all fall down…you just get back up; again and again and again and again…

Are we taking the Body of Christ seriously? How many people go to church on Sunday to pacify their conscience? How many people work in the church because they’re a good speaker…or it pays good money…or because daddy was a preacher…or to pacify their conscience? How many actually have a passion or a fire for the Lord? How many want to touch the lost souls? How many workers in the church evangelize outside of the church? I’m not talking this small blog spot either. Do you talk to people at the store about the Lord? Or is it like a lab coat? You don’t put it on until you’re at work. I know I’m guilty of not evangelizing like I should. I used to use the excuse that my life reflects my walk. They can see my Lord through letting the little old lady go ahead of me at the bank. Or putting the old man’s cart away for him. These are good things to do. But, I have met heathens that will do the same things. They are heathens with manners, that’s all.

I’m not a preacher, but I can see the state of the church. It’s withering. Many in numbers. I don’t like to judge a church by it’s numbers, but when you step into a small church and can feel/see the dissention and bitterness. When you get to know a few people and hear the back-biting. It’s no wonder we wither. There’s no love; there’s no fellowship; there’s no truth of the Word.

Then you go to the bigger, entertaining churches. There’s no Spirit. There’s a good speaker and a great music ministry. No substance. No commitment.

I guess the point of this post goes back to the falling down analogy. Rather than encouraging to watch where you step so you don’t fall down; rather than calling the porno sites, magazines and movies what they are…sin, death and destruction; rather than calling wrong, wrong and right, right; rather than striving to dump the sin and strongholds in our lives, we say that “life happens”. Accept it, get up and go on…but be prepared to fall again. Yes, God is a merciful God. He does forgive the sins of a REPENTANT man. But, a repentant man turns away from his sin. He doesn’t turn right back into it; knowing God will always give him another chance. At what point does God turn you over to your reprobate mind (Romans 1:28)? After you fall into the same sin three times? Four times? Ten times? Why take the chance of reaching the point of no return? At some point, God will allow your heart to get hard to your sin. Grief and sorrow will no longer follow after your sin. At that point, I believe you are lost.

It’s time Christians act like their name suggests’…Christ like. Allow God to challenge you. Get into a church that still calls a sin a sin (if you can find one). Get into the Word. Get out of the comfort zone. God will work on your heart if you allow Him to. He will draw you out of your sin…if you allow Him to. Allow Him to.

God Bless!

“…holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” Heb. 12:14