*bases: plural of "basis" :-)
"Victim" Christians
I've been attending the same church here in Boulder, CO pretty regularly for a few months now. My basic priorities when choosing a church are rougly something like #1. sermon quality, #2. community atmosphere, #3. worship quality, etc etc.... #10. is there free coffee? (kidding) .... etc.
Even though I've been attending this one church consistently, I've been a little hesitant to feel whole-heartedly committed to it, and that has been primarily because of the worship experience. In a nutshell: too many sappy songs and "me-centered" songs, and not enough victorious, Christ-centered, Kingdom-centered songs.
The songs that are problematic for me have multi-layered issues, but the one issue that ties in with and somewhat inspired my point here is the issue of seeing ourselves as victims -- victims of the world, of pain, of our own sin, of our own weaknesses, etc. Now, before I harp on "victim mentality," I want to say that I believe there is a place in our Christian lives for retreat, and there are times in our lives when we're in need of healing and comfort because of loss or struggle. And the Psalms show us plenty of examples of pleading to God in states of desperation, despair, and depression. HOWEVER, those Psalms always end with something like "But You, O God..." where the psalmist proceeds to praise God and talk about His victory and faithfulness. So, my argument here is that we need to approach our issues from a position of victory and not from a place of "we are victims ... this is our lot in life." And I find that the most productive way of changing my behaviors in the past has been reevaluating my identity.
Jesus came as the long-awaited Jewish Messiah, established God's Kingdom, and ascended to His throne where He is currently "in charge" and reigning over the earth. We are on the winning team, and it helps immensely when we identify ourselves in that way. We are NOT a team that's going to be beaten down until all seems lost, at which point Jesus will come back and set things right. We are on the team that is currently working to bring God's Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. We have hope: the hope of victory. More importantly, we MUST stop thinking of the "Christian Life" as an individual, me-centered endeavor. It's a communal experience. We suffer together, we rejoice together, and we engage in the mission of God's Kingdom together, which is restoring creation, preaching Christ, bringing justice, loving His law, and loving people. Your "personal" salvation (to use a term that is not mentioned in the Bible) was not the ultimate goal of Christ's advent, death, and resurrection. Nor is your happiness on this earth a goal of the normal Christian life. God is for GOD. And Christ came to bring God's Kingdom onto the earth, innaugurate a new age, and begin the process of restoring and reconciling all of creation to Himself. So please, can we stop with the "woe is me, life is hard, I need a hug" form of worship and remind ourselves of who we really are? We are citizens of a powerful Kingdom that is already in existence here on the earth -- a Kingdom that will never be stopped.
Psalm 42:11
1 John 5:4-5
"House-built-on-the-Sand" Christians
Or "Christians with no anchor."
Some of us Christians fall into the trap that all non-Christians find themselves in -- that is, the trap of trying to be your own source for truth and your own moral compass. We allow culture and our own experiences to be the determining factors for truth. What if I told you that even your own life experiences do not trump God's Word?? By allowing ourselves to be the judge of what is true, what is right, or whether or not every word of the Bible is true, WE are trying to be the "anchor." We're essentially putting the anchor into the boat and hoping that that's enough to keep us steady ... but the point of an anchor is to find solid grounding outside of oneself. Whatever you use to determine what is ultimate truth IS your ultimate truth. If you look within yourself to find truth, you're putting yourself in THE position of ultimate authority. But isn't that God's place?
If you say "I sought after God and found Him," but the Bible says "No one seeks after God," who are you going to believe? If the Bible says something that you're uncomfortable with (which is does), are you going to try to let God be the anchor and shape yourself around it, or are you going to try to be your own anchor and attempt to shape God's Word around yourself? If you hold onto your Christian faith merely because "it makes sense to me" or "I'm comfortable with it" or "it may not be true, but look at all the good that comes from it," you are putting yourself in the position of judge over what is true. And in order to do that, you must put yourself in the position of God Himself. Either He is the source of all truth and knowledge, in which case, you must start with Him in order to know anything, OR He is not, in which case, you can't know anything unless you know everything.
The reason this type of Christian has trouble advancing the Kingdom of God (or may even be a hindrance to it) is because they have not acknowledged that all authority and truth is God's alone. This Christian is trying to obey their own heart, their own mind, or the culture around them instead of being an obedient citizen of God's Kingdom, anchored in His unchanging Word.
Proverbs 1:7
Proverbs 1:29
Proverbs 1:7
Proverbs 1:29
Colossians 2:3
Job 38:4
"Lazy" Christians
Lazy....bland...ineffective... I'm having trouble coming up with an appropriate adjective for this one. But here's what I'm talking about: Christians have the responsibility and opportunity to hold themselves to a higher "standard of living" than the secular world. I'm talking about quality of work, work ethic, creativity, art, raising our kids, relationships with others, recreation, and more. We advance the Kingdom of God by being a light to the world and by actually behaving as participants in His established Kingdom. When we become so adept at working hard (without creating idols), working well (without saying "look at me!"), creating excellent art (to the glory of God alone), raising the best kids in the neighborhood, and loving others fiercely, the world is forced to look at Christians and say, "We have to imitate that in order to succeed as well as they are." THAT is being salt and light to this earth!
I'm lucky to have a handful of friends that set this kind of example for me. These are people who make excellent grades in college (if they happen to go that route; I understand college is not for everyone), go above-and-beyond in their responsibilities, do amazing work, and somehow manage to maintain incredible humility and Christ-likeness. (Looking at you, Aaron Hendrix, as well as many others). These people will eventually be in positions of authority (college professors, for example) and will have tremendous potential for influence, especially if they have established themselves as a respected person in their field of work. What an opportunity to advance the Kingdom!
We must not excuse poor art or poor work, nor should we lower our standards of excellence merely because "well, he's our brother in Christ, so we should just be nice and not critique his work... It's the effort that counts...etc." On the contrary, we must maintain high standards for others and for ourselves so that they can withstand the harshest criticism. When we settle for mediocrity under the guise of "my value is in Christ, therefore why do I need to work hard and achieve a higher status in this fallen world?," we miss the point. Being all that we are capable of being is not an end in itself -- it is a means for bringing God glory. So, whatever it is you do -- singing, drumming, painting, writing, teaching, raising children, chemistry, computer science, carpentry, or the dishes -- do your absolute best, because you are a participant in God's ever-expanding Kingdom on Earth, and your job is to bring glory to His name. Poor work does not bring Him glory. (And this is the motivational speech I give myself every time it's time to do homework or practice or do projects for school.... It is very difficult, and to say I've mastered this stuff would be laughable).
Proverbs 12:24
Proverbs 22: 1
Proverbs 22:29
Luke 16:10
Colossians 3:17
Colossians 3:23-24
Romans 12:11-12
Philippians 2:14
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