Christianity of Convenience!
- 4 days ago
- 9 min read
Christianity of Convenience!
Our home conversation was surrounded by the worship of a church in the country I grew up in, and the worship there was offered every evening throughout the Lent season, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, with different notable speakers taking the pulpit every evening and leading prayer for ALL 40 DAYS!
Hema and I have traveled to a few nations where materials and other gadgets have not occupied most people, and when they come to the meetings, they do come with such hunger and thirst to receive. I was referring to my own life back when I was growing up. Everything was difficult to get because of the poverty in which I grew up. There, I longed for ice cream, and I could not afford it. Here, there is plenty of ice cream, but I should curtail my desire to have it, though it is readily available!
The Point – We have everything our soul and our flesh desire is readily available, but WE MUST BE EXTRA DILIGENT TO COME AWAY FROM THE PLACE OF COMPROMISE AND CONTAMINATION AND LIVE BY GOD’S PRINCIPLES IN HIS WORD, OR ELSE WE WILL RESORT TO CHRISTIANITY OF CONVENIENCE!
Here are the factors leading up to a life of convenient Christianity:
Wrong Understanding of Faith!
Hebrews 11 starts with the definition of faith: “Now faith is the substance (realization) of things hoped for, the evidence (confidence) of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). The chapter then uses examples of extraordinary faiths whose lives were not easy. Enoch walked with God as a stand-alone in his generation, Noah built an ark to the mockery of his world around him, and Abraham offered up Isaac upon the altars. Belief, Obedience, and Trust were the hallmarks of their faith in God! Their faith was always tested, as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego faced the fiery furnace and Daniel was cast into the lions’ den, to prove their faith in God!
Paul wrote to the Romans: “So, then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17, NKJV). Here is what it says in the expanded Greek in the Amplified Bible: “So faith comes by hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the preaching [of the message that came from the lips] of Christ (the Messiah Himself)” (Amplified Bible). The same Messiah (Jesus) told us: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:24-26).
Taking up our cross and following Christ will cost us and cost us everything that this world or our flesh desires to have. To avoid CONVENIENT CHRISTIANITY, we must pick up our cross daily.
Wrong Understanding of Grace!
Let us never forget that Christianity is only special by the GRACE of God through the blood that was shed on the cross of Calvary! Today, grace is used as a pass for all that we claim and desire in our flesh without a single thought of the sacrifice of Jesus, our Lord!
Grace is God’s endowment for a believer in several ways:
1) Salvation: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).
2) Sustenance in Our Weakness: “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet (beat) me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (II Corinthians 12:7-9).
3) Grace Empowering: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-2).
4) Gifts and Calling: “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness” (Romans 12:6-8). “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift” (Ephesians 4:7). GOD IS REMARKABLE IN THAT HE HAS GRANTED EVERY GIFTED SERVANT GRACE NEEDED TO COMPLETE OUR CALLING WITH OUR OWN HUMILITY WITHOUT ANY RIVALS TO COMPETE WITH!
5) Grace Abused: “For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 1:4). Use not God’s endowment of grace and the special powers that come with it to what the flesh wants - lust and greed!
6) Grace Fully Appropriated by Our Own Death in Christ: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain (for nothing)” (Galatians 2:20-21). FINALLY, GRACE RECOGNIZED AND RECEIVED IS THE GRACE SURRENDERED BACK TO THE CROSS WHERE IT CAME FROM, WITH AN ETERNAL LONGING TO BE ‘ONE WITH JESUS!’
“JUSTICE gives me what I deserve. MERCY does not give me what I deserve. GRACE GIVES ME WHAT I DO NOT DESERVE!”
Here is a simple test of the APPROPRIATION OF GRACE - For as long as we live our everyday life by surrendering to God with an internal conviction, “GRACE GIVES ME WHAT I DO NOT DESERVE,” we will receive EVERYTHING GOD OFFERS and BE TRANSFORMED BY GRACE WITHOUT ABUSING IT!
Lacking LOVE!
We can become mechanical, like the Church at Ephesus that received Jesus's warning: “Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love” (Ephesians 2:4). Love is the criterion that signifies authentic Christianity, not a form of it.
Let us take heed to the warning of Jesus with one of the signs of the last days: “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved” (Matthew 24:12-13).
“This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:12-13). Let us remember that true Christianity is following our Lord by laying down our lives for our brethren and not resorting to convenience to give what we WANT rather than what God demands.
Lacking Worship!
“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations” (Psalm 100:4-5).
How often do we thank the Lord for His goodness and praise Him for His attributes when we are alone by ourselves? If worshipping God means that we make it to church according to our convenience and join the singing with all our distractions of cell phones and information gathering of people, THAT IS NOT TRUE WORSHIP! We thank God for what He has done, and we praise God for who He is, to ENTER HIS HOLY PRESENCE, at home, at a church, or in a hotel.
Lacking the Desire to be Like the Son!
We die to ourselves to conform to the image of Christ. We give up, sacrifice, and surrender all that could glorify our flesh for the sake of gaining Christ as Apostle Paul writes to the Philippians: “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:8-11).
It is not just a one-time commitment on our part but a progressive pressing on, as Paul states in the same passage: “Not that I have already attained or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).
Giving up our desires for Christ takes us away from Christianity of Convenience!
Pressing on continuously keeps us with the Resurrection Power of Christ and takes us away from dead religion!
False Teachers!
Stay away from false teachers to follow authentic Christianity: “But know this, that in the last days perilous times (times of stress) will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving (irreconcilable), slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was” (II Timothy 3:1-9).
How not to follow false teachers? A True Sheep of Jesus knows his/her Shepherd and the Bishop of our souls. The Spirit of God will alert us against any false teacher who is NOT teaching the whole counsel of God.
“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables” (II Timothy 4:3-4). Let us stay in the place of conviction, admonition, and sound doctrine to learn from a vessel of conviction and compassion with great examples of their lives seasoned with the WORD OF GOD, rather than chasing after to hear what is pleasing to us!
Influence of the World!
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (I John 2:15-17).
Jesus overcame the temptation of the flesh (stones to bread) by yielding to the Word of God!
Jesus overcame the lust of the eyes (kingdoms of the world) by worshipping God!
Jesus overcame the pride of life (jumping from the pinnacle) by NOT tempting God!
Let us follow Jesus to overcome the world!
Lack of Desire for God’s Word!
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly (wicked), nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates (ponders by talking to himself) day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers (channels) of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper” (Psalm 1:1-3).
We must prioritize to spend time in God’s Word and get to KNOW OUR GOD!
“As we UPDATE ourselves with the WORD OF GOD every day, we will experience an UPGRADE by the HOLY SPIRIT with the POWER to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think by HIS INDWELLING POWER WORKING WITHIN US!”
Let us love God with Belief, Trust, and Obedience to Build Faith!
Let us grow in Grace with Humility to finish strong in our calling!
Let us love God and one another to be an example of Christ ourselves!
Let us worship God in our private times to enter God’s presence!
Let us grow longing to be more like Jesus with the Power of His Resurrection!
Let us hear more of our Shepherd’s voice to stay away from strangers!
LET US SURRENDER TO GOD’S WORD, GOD’S WILL, AND GOD’S GRACE TO BE TRANSFORMED BY HIM IN THE LIKENESS OF HIS SON, JESUS!
Prayer
“Heavenly Father, I love You and adore You. Please keep me in the center of Your will and help me follow You and not the world. Help me to be Your witness. I receive ALL that You offer and SURRENDER ALL THAT I AM in Your hands. In the Most Precious and Wonderful Name of Jesus, I pray. Amen! Amen!!”
__________________________________________________________________________________________
John Jeyaseelan
Comments