One of the most penetrating remarks I've heard lately was posted by the blogger at Creative Minority Report. He said, "I don't want a religion that accepts me for who I am. I know who I am and am unimpressed. I want a religion that calls me to be better than I am even as I resist it."
Take a minute to think about that.
Take a minute to think about that.
How many of us want to hear the truth about ourselves? When it comes down to it, wouldn't we rather hear our sins described as "alternative lifestyles"? How many of us are truly comfortable taking responsibility for our mistakes, rather than blaming an unhappy childhood or a broken society? If we're honest, wouldn't we prefer to attend a church that makes us feel comfortable, rather than one that calls us to "turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel"?
I'm willing to wager that most of us find ourselves lulled into a comfortable state of spiritual slumber when we sit in our pews. We've become complacent Christians, and we've put subtle (and perhaps not-so-subtle) pressure on our pastors to become equally complacent. We've even done our best to reshape Jesus. We so emphasize the sweet and loving Savior that we completely overlook that "he will come to judge the living and the dead".
I'm willing to wager that most of us find ourselves lulled into a comfortable state of spiritual slumber when we sit in our pews. We've become complacent Christians, and we've put subtle (and perhaps not-so-subtle) pressure on our pastors to become equally complacent. We've even done our best to reshape Jesus. We so emphasize the sweet and loving Savior that we completely overlook that "he will come to judge the living and the dead".
As I travel along this line of thinking, I found myself rereading 2 Timothy 4:1-4 and being struck more and more by how appropriate it seems to our times:
I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
I like the quotation, but I think we can have both. A God who accepts us as we are, yet works in us to make us into a better person.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, sometimes churches have made Jesus sweet and loving and left out the part where he called people "you brood of vipers". Jesus did not mince words. Eternal life is too important.
When we look in a mirror, do we see Jesus?
ReplyDeleteGod bless.