For Those Addicted to the Checklist

Santa Claus isn’t the only one who likes to keep a naughty and nice list.  Sometimes as a Christian, we compile all the different things that we think will make us a good Christian.  In our minds, we jot down pray, read the Bible, serve, give, etc.  

Although doing these things are good, minimizing Christianity into a to-do list is insulting to God and can cause pharisaical tendencies.  Our Christian acts should be motivated by love and not by trying to “fulfill the requirements.” After all, if you make a list of everything a “good Christian” does, it’s hard not to look down on all of those who aren’t following your guidelines to your exact specifications. See, your list might look something like this:

Fool-Proof To-Do List for Being a Great Christian

ü     Read the Bible in the morning

ü     Pray for an hour everyday

ü     Go to church every Sunday and Wednesday; attend special events too

ü     Share my faith once a day

ü     Give old clothes to Goodwill

ü     Eat everything on my plate

 When we decide that our personal habits are God’s design for the Christian life, we muddle God’s truth.  That’s why God tells us that love is the most important commandment.  If we are motivated by love for God and people, all the important aspects of Christianity will fall into place.  Matthew 22:37-40 [NIV] says, “Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  Loving God is a Christian’s sole pursuit. 

But I know that some of you are disappointed.  You’re organized, and list-making is how you live your life.  You don’t mean to limit your relationship with God, but without lists, you are hardly able to function.

Not to worry, you obsessively-structured souls.  God has provided you with a specific list that you can blissfully check off throughout your days.  He shared it in James 1:27 [NIV]:   “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this—to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

God’s To-Do List for Pure and Faultless Religion

ü     Look after orphans in their distress

ü     Look after widows in their distress

ü     Keep from being polluted by the world

Although checking things off a list can bring satisfaction, you still must examine yourself.  Are you doing these things because of your love for Him?  Are you trying to justify yourself through obedience instead of clinging to His grace?  Do you feel superior to Christians who are not following this list in the same manner that you do?  Psalm 66:10 says, “For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver.”  See, while you’re busy checking items off your list, God is checking your heart. 

You Are Not Who You Think You Are

Do you ever look in the mirror and are surprised by what you find?  The pool of oil on your face is not how you hoped to shine that day.  And hair that is sneaking out of your chin or nostril should have been trimmed weeks ago (if not obliterated by laser removal).  You worry about just how long you have flaunted your flawed face to your family, coworkers and even the guy at Krispy Kreme. 

Looking in the mirror is viewed as superficial, but a little self check-up can save face on those mortifying days.  Personal reflection is just as important for your soul—although admittedly, less convenient than picking up a mirror. 

Two Fatal Misperceptions

In our spiritual walk, we view ourselves as a certain kind of Christian.  Life goes by, bringing new situations and many changes in life dynamics, but we may still hold a picture of who we once were.  We don’t realize how much we have changed, and we still think we are showing that old picture to the world. 

1.  The Glory Days.  If you are the person who doesn’t update your weight on your driver’s license, then you are living in denial.  You remember your best days, and that’s how you want people to see you.  As a Christian, you might remember your passionate days that were committed to evangelism, loving the poor and sacrifice for the glory of God.  When life gets busy, you get lax in your pursuit of His kingdom, feeling like you always serve, and someone else should step up.  Eventually, you become an inactive Christian, but you still believe you are the zealous Christian of your former days.  Take a deep look at who you are today, and while you are at it, update your driver’s license.

2.  The Hall of Shame.  You know your disgraceful past, even if no one else does.  Those memories weigh heavy on you, and you live with it everyday.  With God’s grace, you have let go of your sin and become a new person in Him.  The problem is that you forget that you are brand new.  You trudge along everyday in woeful remorse and don’t take time to see your new self.  Look at the change in yourself and move on from the you of the past. 

After you evaluate who you truly are today, don’t be distraught by what you find.  Cling to the grace of the Lord and meditate on 2 Corinthians 5:17 [NIV]—“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

God Keeps Secrets

God doesn’t tell us everything that’s going on in our lives, which is one of the most frustrating parts of being a Christian.  We want to share in His omniscience, which we feel is deserved since we have an “in” with God.  But God continually reminds us that we will never be on His level.  “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’” [Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV].

Job knows this frustration.  Job didn’t understand God’s unseen plan when he lost all his wealth and children.  He was also covered in sores that were so excruciating that he scraped himself with a piece of broken pottery.  He said, “Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?” [Job 3:23 NIV]. 

God keeps secrets so we can risk putting our faith in Him.  For without faith, it is impossible to please God.  A hero cannot show his bravery without a conflict to overcome; in the same way, a Christian cannot show devotion without following God into the unknown.  We are comfortable saying we are followers of Christ, but once something especially treacherous confronts us, we want to be controllers of Christ—making life turn out in a way that makes sense to us. 

Choosing faith often means waiting on God to move, which we must do in prayer.  Oh, and don’t worry about Job.  God gave him twice as much as he had before.

Are You Attending the NEBA Conference? Henry Ford Would.

Often times, a new Christian wants to live out their newfound life privately.  Perhaps that reflects poorly on our emphasis of discipleship, or maybe it just reveals the individualism of our society.  Either way, we cannot neglect the power that comes from uniting in Christ. 

Hebrews 10:22-25 says, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” 

There is significance in working together toward a goal—it revitalizes the soul.  Henry Ford believed in the power of mutual effort; he said, “If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.”

We don’t normally think of Christianity in terms of success, but we do attempt to move forward toward the goal of becoming like Christ.  And in the end, we know we achieved success when we hear God say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!”  That is the finish line, and God made it clear that we should run together. 

That is why tonight will be a blessing.  The NEBA Evangelism Conference is a chance for us to meet and “spur one another” toward our goal.  Join us at 7:00 pm to fellowship and worship with other believers.

Home Is Where the Hurt Is

As Christians, we try to reflect God’s peace and grace in every interaction we have during the day.  But let’s be honest—some days we are a little more sensitive than others, and those plans don’t pan out.  You misplace your reports at work one day and a coworker makes a snide comment about it, and even though your blood is boiling, you are civilized enough not to retort—until you go home. 

See, you probably patted yourself on the back for being so “Christian” at work, but if you were honest with yourself, refraining from revenge was more about image-preservation than Christian love.  And once you walk in the door of your home, sweet home, all the frustration and anxiety that was pent-up from the workday can now be released—or rather, ambushed on any soul within your path.  If this is a common occurrence, the noise from the garage door opening may be a signal for your family to take cover, instead of produce an onslaught of adoration with hugs and kisses and squeals of “You’re finally home!”

There are two crucial parts of the day that can set the tone for the rest of your communication with your family:  when you wake up and when you return home.  Starting the day with a smile and a pleasant “good morning” makes you and everyone living at your house more inclined to respond kindly—it’s contagious.  If you have ever tried to pick a fight with someone who refused to be pulled down, then you know the power of a kind word.  When the first words you growl after returning home are, “Why isn’t dinner ready yet?” and your spouse tries to cheer you up you instead of throwing wood onto your tongue of fire, then the fire grows dimmer.  Proverbs 15:1 says, “A kind answer soothes angry feelings, but harsh words stir them up.”

We sometimes hold ourselves more accountable around the people we care less about.  Even though our actions at home are not publicly displayed, these moments have the deepest impact on others.  Frustrations and hurt will always creep into our day, but we can continue to embed our lives with His peace and grace if we actively choose kindness day after day.

Wearing Our Sunday Best (and why it might be the worst)

If you grew up in the average Christian home, Sunday morning was set aside for looking nice.  Your dad donned slacks and even a tie during special services, and your mom wore heels and a floral-printed dress.  And as a child, you wrestled with your parents as they held you down and pulled similar attire over your screaming head and flailing limbs.  But this isn’t a post about disobedient children—it’s about why Christians feel compelled to wear nice clothes to church services.

You might be surprised, but this practice didn’t start with our grandmas.  It goes back to the Industrial Revolution, where the manufacturing of mass textiles allowed the middle class to buy finer clothes—something to which only the wealthiest were accustomed.  In order to imitate the aristocracy, the middle class proudly displayed their new threads to social events, including church services. 

At first, the early Methodists and Baptists condemned the wearing of fine clothing to church because it separated the rich from the poor—sometimes those in fancy clothing weren’t even permitted to come inside!  Attitudes changed when Horace Bushnell, a minister in Connecticut, wrote an essay called “Taste and Fashion.”  Bushnell asserted that sophistication and refinement were characteristics of God, and Christians should work to be like Him.  This began the idea that we should wear our best clothes to church to honor God.

Admittedly, this isn’t as prominent of an issue as it once was.  It wasn’t too long ago though, that people were apprehensive about entering the church without proper attire.  A woman might decline attending a service solely because she didn’t own a dress. Although no one would say it, frumpy people were unwelcome.

Dressing up for church gives the impression that we must clean-up before we come to God—an odd notion from a people who admit their own depravity and claim purification comes through Christ alone.  Wearing our Sunday best is nothing but a human tradition that was not sanctioned by God.  To decide that church-goers must practice this is similar to the Pharisees criticizing Jesus’ disciples in Mark 7 for not following the traditions of the elders.  Jesus responded, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’  You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”

Naturally, the point is not that we ban ties from our church.  Rather, we must have a watchful eye on our motivation behind our dress.  Is it for our own glorification?  Does it make outsiders feel distant and lowly?  Our church gatherings should draw attention to God, not ourselves.  On Sunday mornings, we should put on the attire God called us to wear—the full armor of God (Ephesians 6). 


Sources:
Barna, George, and Frank Viola.  Pagan Christianity:  Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices.  USA:  Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2008.