Many people use the term "lukewarm Christian" when describing someone who is neither completely on fire for God or against Him. They're in the middle. They're neither left nor right. The bible says this type of person is spat out of God's mouth. I mean, nobody enjoys warm drinking water. It's useless.
There is another type of person to be weary of becoming: the flat coke Christian.
What?
Okay, have you ever bought a cola and you're so excited about opening it, hearing the pssshhhthththttt of the cap turning, the sweet sugary carbonation slipping and soothing your throat, the inevitable "ahh" sound we all make after drinking that perfect soda...but then...as the liquid reaches your tongue, it's FLAT! Oh nooooo. You make that agonizing facial expression and stick out your tongue in disgust.
What a disappointment.
What a let down.
What a flat coke.
Just like nobody wants to drink a flat cola, nobody really wants to be like one either.
Flat coke looks just like a satisfying coke, sometimes it even makes the same sound when you open the bottle, but you know it's flat by its lack of carbonation when you take the time to taste it.
Just like this flat coke, sometimes we as Jesus followers are flat.
We dress the part.
We talk the part.
But we're flat.
We're complacent.
We're really good for nothing.
Often, we even look like we're busy doing important and holy things...but all the while we are really just mimicking and playing the part of a carbonated Christian.
We are doing absolutely nothing for Jesus.
Now hold up hold up...am I saying singing in the church choir or teaching that Sunday school class isn't a good thing?
No way!
But, what are you doing outside that choir loft and beyond those white church room walls?
Here are a few things Jesus DID tell us to do, actually, command us to do:
Deuteronomy 15:10 (NLT)
Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.
Matthew 5:43-44 (NLT)
"You have heard the law that says, 'Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. [44] But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!
Luke 6:30-31 (NLT)
Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don't try to get them back. [31] Do to others as you would like them to do to you.
Mark 11:25 (NLT)
But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too."
Mark 16:15 (NLT)
And then he told them, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.
Love.
Give.
Serve.
Forgive.
Spread the Good News EVERYWHERE.
Love some more.
This is going to step on a few toes, but Jesus isn't impressed that you sit on the front row and get happy clappy on Sunday.
He isn't impressed that your choir can sing Tide on King Jesus in whatever key flawlessly.
He isn't impressed by your JBQ track record or how many lights your sanctuary has.
He isn't flattered by your constant Facebook posts bashing the leadership the King Himself allowed to step into office.
He isn't giving you a slap on the back when you speak out about how much God hates the gays (He doesn't by the way).
He isn't thrilled by how big your Christmad production is or all the different church functions your organized.
I know, you're hating me right now.
But, I simply can not let you keep thinking you're impressing the Creator of the Universe by being really busy but going nowhere.
Do we all have the call on our lives to be a missionary over seas?
No.
Do we all have the call to get off our big behinds and actually do something for Jesus?
Absolutely.
Often as Christians, myself included, get caught up in how much we can occupy ourselves with inside the walls of our church, we ignore the weak, needy, poor, lost, broken people just down the street.
We become flat coke Christians.
This blog hit me this morning as I sat in my friends' church service.
They didn't have a humongous Christmas display.
They don't have the amount of resources that many power churches tend to have, yet there they were, giving a Christmas gift to every single child in their church.
There they were blessing a family in need with a stage full of gifts.
There they were being run completely by volunteers.
When I asked my friends what they were getting each other for Christmas they replied, "we are giving presents to families in need this year instead."
What? This was incredible to me.
It touched me.
Even more it broke me, because as a child who grew up in church my entire life, I've never known such sacrifice, giving, or humble hearts.
It broke me because I realized many f us have become flat.
We have become superficial and selfish.
We have become stuck up and blind towards the poor.
We would rather complain about food stamps and welfare than go volunteer and feed the hungry.
We would rather be in the spotlight in the Christmas special than behind the curtains blessing the poor.
We have become our worst nightmare.
I want to never reach that place again personally.
I never want to choose my own comfort over the needs of those around me.
I never want to be...flat.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Flat Coke Christians
Many people use the term "lukewarm Christian" when describing someone who is neither completely on fire for God or against Him. They're in the middle. They're neither left nor right. The bible says this type of person is spat out of God's mouth. I mean, nobody enjoys warm drinking water. It's useless.
There is another type of person to be weary of becoming: the flat coke Christian.
What?
Okay, have you ever bought a cola and you're so excited about opening it, hearing the pssshhhthththttt of the cap turning, the sweet sugary carbonation slipping and soothing your throat, the inevitable "ahh" sound we all make after drinking that perfect soda...but then...as the liquid reaches your tongue, it's FLAT! Oh nooooo. You make that agonizing facial expression and stick out your tongue in disgust.
What a disappointment.
What a let down.
What a flat coke.
Just like nobody wants to drink a flat cola, nobody really wants to be like one either.
Flat coke looks just like a satisfying coke, sometimes it even makes the same sound when you open the bottle, but you know it's flat by its lack of carbonation when you take the time to taste it.
Just like this flat coke, sometimes we as Jesus followers are flat.
We dress the part.
We talk the part.
But we're flat.
We're complacent.
We're really good for nothing.
Often, we even look like we're busy doing important and holy things...but all the while we are really just mimicking and playing the part of a carbonated Christian.
We are doing absolutely nothing for Jesus.
Now hold up hold up...am I saying singing in the church choir or teaching that Sunday school class isn't a good thing?
No way!
But, what are you doing outside that choir loft and beyond those white church room walls?
Here are a few things Jesus DID tell us to do, actually, command us to do:
Deuteronomy 15:10 (NLT)
Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.
Matthew 5:43-44 (NLT)
"You have heard the law that says, 'Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. [44] But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!
Luke 6:30-31 (NLT)
Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don't try to get them back. [31] Do to others as you would like them to do to you.
Mark 11:25 (NLT)
But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too."
Mark 16:15 (NLT)
And then he told them, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.
Love.
Give.
Serve.
Forgive.
Spread the Good News EVERYWHERE.
Love some more.
This is going to step on a few toes, but Jesus isn't impressed that you sit on the front row and get happy clappy on Sunday.
He isn't impressed that your choir can sing Tide on King Jesus in whatever key flawlessly.
He isn't impressed by your JBQ track record or how many lights your sanctuary has.
He isn't flattered by your constant Facebook posts bashing the leadership the King Himself allowed to step into office.
He isn't giving you a slap on the back when you speak out about how much God hates the gays (He doesn't by the way).
He isn't thrilled by how big your Christmad production is or all the different church functions your organized.
I know, you're hating me right now.
But, I simply can not let you keep thinking you're impressing the Creator of the Universe by being really busy but going nowhere.
Do we all have the call on our lives to be a missionary over seas?
No.
Do we all have the call to get off our big behinds and actually do something for Jesus?
Absolutely.
Often as Christians, myself included, get caught up in how much we can occupy ourselves with inside the walls of our church, we ignore the weak, needy, poor, lost, broken people just down the street.
We become flat coke Christians.
This blog hit me this morning as I sat in my friends' church service.
They didn't have a humongous Christmas display.
They don't have the amount of resources that many power churches tend to have, yet there they were, giving a Christmas gift to every single child in their church.
There they were blessing a family in need with a stage full of gifts.
There they were being run completely by volunteers.
When I asked my friends what they were getting each other for Christmas they replied, "we are giving presents to families in need this year instead."
What? This was incredible to me.
It touched me.
Even more it broke me, because as a child who grew up in church my entire life, I've never known such sacrifice, giving, or humble hearts.
It broke me because I realized many f us have become flat.
We have become superficial and selfish.
We have become stuck up and blind towards the poor.
We would rather complain about food stamps and welfare than go volunteer and feed the hungry.
We would rather be in the spotlight in the Christmas special than behind the curtains blessing the poor.
We have become our worst nightmare.
I want to never reach that place again personally.
I never want to choose my own comfort over the needs of those around me.
I never want to be...flat.
There is another type of person to be weary of becoming: the flat coke Christian.
What?
Okay, have you ever bought a cola and you're so excited about opening it, hearing the pssshhhthththttt of the cap turning, the sweet sugary carbonation slipping and soothing your throat, the inevitable "ahh" sound we all make after drinking that perfect soda...but then...as the liquid reaches your tongue, it's FLAT! Oh nooooo. You make that agonizing facial expression and stick out your tongue in disgust.
What a disappointment.
What a let down.
What a flat coke.
Just like nobody wants to drink a flat cola, nobody really wants to be like one either.
Flat coke looks just like a satisfying coke, sometimes it even makes the same sound when you open the bottle, but you know it's flat by its lack of carbonation when you take the time to taste it.
Just like this flat coke, sometimes we as Jesus followers are flat.
We dress the part.
We talk the part.
But we're flat.
We're complacent.
We're really good for nothing.
Often, we even look like we're busy doing important and holy things...but all the while we are really just mimicking and playing the part of a carbonated Christian.
We are doing absolutely nothing for Jesus.
Now hold up hold up...am I saying singing in the church choir or teaching that Sunday school class isn't a good thing?
No way!
But, what are you doing outside that choir loft and beyond those white church room walls?
Here are a few things Jesus DID tell us to do, actually, command us to do:
Deuteronomy 15:10 (NLT)
Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.
Matthew 5:43-44 (NLT)
"You have heard the law that says, 'Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. [44] But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!
Luke 6:30-31 (NLT)
Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don't try to get them back. [31] Do to others as you would like them to do to you.
Mark 11:25 (NLT)
But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too."
Mark 16:15 (NLT)
And then he told them, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.
Love.
Give.
Serve.
Forgive.
Spread the Good News EVERYWHERE.
Love some more.
This is going to step on a few toes, but Jesus isn't impressed that you sit on the front row and get happy clappy on Sunday.
He isn't impressed that your choir can sing Tide on King Jesus in whatever key flawlessly.
He isn't impressed by your JBQ track record or how many lights your sanctuary has.
He isn't flattered by your constant Facebook posts bashing the leadership the King Himself allowed to step into office.
He isn't giving you a slap on the back when you speak out about how much God hates the gays (He doesn't by the way).
He isn't thrilled by how big your Christmad production is or all the different church functions your organized.
I know, you're hating me right now.
But, I simply can not let you keep thinking you're impressing the Creator of the Universe by being really busy but going nowhere.
Do we all have the call on our lives to be a missionary over seas?
No.
Do we all have the call to get off our big behinds and actually do something for Jesus?
Absolutely.
Often as Christians, myself included, get caught up in how much we can occupy ourselves with inside the walls of our church, we ignore the weak, needy, poor, lost, broken people just down the street.
We become flat coke Christians.
This blog hit me this morning as I sat in my friends' church service.
They didn't have a humongous Christmas display.
They don't have the amount of resources that many power churches tend to have, yet there they were, giving a Christmas gift to every single child in their church.
There they were blessing a family in need with a stage full of gifts.
There they were being run completely by volunteers.
When I asked my friends what they were getting each other for Christmas they replied, "we are giving presents to families in need this year instead."
What? This was incredible to me.
It touched me.
Even more it broke me, because as a child who grew up in church my entire life, I've never known such sacrifice, giving, or humble hearts.
It broke me because I realized many f us have become flat.
We have become superficial and selfish.
We have become stuck up and blind towards the poor.
We would rather complain about food stamps and welfare than go volunteer and feed the hungry.
We would rather be in the spotlight in the Christmas special than behind the curtains blessing the poor.
We have become our worst nightmare.
I want to never reach that place again personally.
I never want to choose my own comfort over the needs of those around me.
I never want to be...flat.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Condemnation and Car Rides
We've all heard this before: "there is no condemnation in Christ! Tell your past to be gone!"
What? Is this some sort of magic trick? I can just wish my struggles away? I can command my past to flee?
This is a joke.
Jesus doesn't mean that we will never struggle again once we are Christians. He doesn't mean that because we change our life that our old one simply disappears and all the baggage that comes along with it is no more.
No. The past is real. Your struggle is real.
Jesus says "There is therefore now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus; the old is gone the new has come!"
He doesn't mean, "Well, all the people you've hurt before don't remember that you hurt them and oh that eating disorder you had, I got that all covered you will never suffer from insecurity again."
Jesus knows we will fall.
He knows we will fail.
He knows we might take a small drink again.
He knows we might visit that website again.
He knows we might skip a day of eating again.
He knows we might hurt people again.
He knows we might lash out in anger against our spouse again.
He knows, but He has paid the price of your shame.
He sees His children as the small weak children we are, so desperately in need of grace and rescuing.
Jesus is like the father witnessing his child learn to walk on its own. It's so unsure of everything, yet gets into everything it can touch. It bumps into the precious heirlooms, breaking a few irreplaceable pieces of china along the way. It cries from confusion in its new ability and doesn't understand why dad smacks its hand away from the untouchables. The father helps the child around, holding its hands, steering it from harm, sometimes the stubborn child approaches danger despite its fathers subtle warnings. The child is confident in its own ability to walk straight and ends up face planted into the hard concrete.
The father does not leave the child screaming for help. The father does not pick the child up, spanking and scolding the child. The father does not say, "Son, I told you so! See, you fell now get back up on your own!"
No. No.
The father runs to his child, scooping him up in his arms kissing and cuddling the child into his neck saying, "shhhh...daddy's here. He's here. I know, I know."
We are like this child, learning to walk on our new spiritual legs. We ignore warnings. We trip. We fall. We get beat up.
But my God is not the God that turns His face from one of His children because they fell while learning to walk.
He knows we are weak.
He knows we need a Savior.
He knows we need mercy time and time again.
Sometimes the enemy comes in like a flood and bombards my heart with guilt, shame, fear, confusion.
But my Daddy comes in like a whisper while I'm riding in my car on the freeway.
The rain runs down my front window as I blare my music as loud as I can to shut out every demon that has its eye set on me that day.
My Daddy sits in the passenger seat and touches my face with His Grace and reassurance.
"You are MY daughter, not the daughter of shame. You are MY child, not the child of fear. You are captivatingly beautiful in My eyes, not an invisible insecure girl like you sometimes see. You are strong because I am. You are brave because you are mine. You are mine."
Jesus never promised easy.
He never promised we'd always love the Christian walk and all it entails.
He never promised the world would go soft on us.
He never promised the enemy would stop fighting to entrap our hearts.
Take heart, for He has overcome the world.
Take heart, for He has overcome the addictions only you know about.
Take heart, for you are worth far more than many sparrows.
I know my past is real.
I know my struggle is real.
But I know Daddy's here.
Romans 8:1-4 (NIV)
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, [2] because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. [3] For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, [4] in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
What? Is this some sort of magic trick? I can just wish my struggles away? I can command my past to flee?
This is a joke.
Jesus doesn't mean that we will never struggle again once we are Christians. He doesn't mean that because we change our life that our old one simply disappears and all the baggage that comes along with it is no more.
No. The past is real. Your struggle is real.
Jesus says "There is therefore now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus; the old is gone the new has come!"
He doesn't mean, "Well, all the people you've hurt before don't remember that you hurt them and oh that eating disorder you had, I got that all covered you will never suffer from insecurity again."
Jesus knows we will fall.
He knows we will fail.
He knows we might take a small drink again.
He knows we might visit that website again.
He knows we might skip a day of eating again.
He knows we might hurt people again.
He knows we might lash out in anger against our spouse again.
He knows, but He has paid the price of your shame.
He sees His children as the small weak children we are, so desperately in need of grace and rescuing.
Jesus is like the father witnessing his child learn to walk on its own. It's so unsure of everything, yet gets into everything it can touch. It bumps into the precious heirlooms, breaking a few irreplaceable pieces of china along the way. It cries from confusion in its new ability and doesn't understand why dad smacks its hand away from the untouchables. The father helps the child around, holding its hands, steering it from harm, sometimes the stubborn child approaches danger despite its fathers subtle warnings. The child is confident in its own ability to walk straight and ends up face planted into the hard concrete.
The father does not leave the child screaming for help. The father does not pick the child up, spanking and scolding the child. The father does not say, "Son, I told you so! See, you fell now get back up on your own!"
No. No.
The father runs to his child, scooping him up in his arms kissing and cuddling the child into his neck saying, "shhhh...daddy's here. He's here. I know, I know."
We are like this child, learning to walk on our new spiritual legs. We ignore warnings. We trip. We fall. We get beat up.
But my God is not the God that turns His face from one of His children because they fell while learning to walk.
He knows we are weak.
He knows we need a Savior.
He knows we need mercy time and time again.
Sometimes the enemy comes in like a flood and bombards my heart with guilt, shame, fear, confusion.
But my Daddy comes in like a whisper while I'm riding in my car on the freeway.
The rain runs down my front window as I blare my music as loud as I can to shut out every demon that has its eye set on me that day.
My Daddy sits in the passenger seat and touches my face with His Grace and reassurance.
"You are MY daughter, not the daughter of shame. You are MY child, not the child of fear. You are captivatingly beautiful in My eyes, not an invisible insecure girl like you sometimes see. You are strong because I am. You are brave because you are mine. You are mine."
Jesus never promised easy.
He never promised we'd always love the Christian walk and all it entails.
He never promised the world would go soft on us.
He never promised the enemy would stop fighting to entrap our hearts.
Take heart, for He has overcome the world.
Take heart, for He has overcome the addictions only you know about.
Take heart, for you are worth far more than many sparrows.
I know my past is real.
I know my struggle is real.
But I know Daddy's here.
Romans 8:1-4 (NIV)
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, [2] because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. [3] For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, [4] in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
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