Christian Cop-Outs

I teach Sunday school, and every so often, I catch my students out there. I’ll ask a question and look around the room for a response. When I call on a student who is clearly not listening, the student will invariably answer the question with “God?” or “Jesus?” The funny thing is that, in Sunday School, that answer is never really wrong. But the truth is, it’s just a Christian cop-out.

Just as we often put our brains on autopilot (see Take Your Brain off Autopilot), we sometimes put our spiritual minds on autopilot as well. We’re content with the easy answers, but refuse to search God’s Word for deeper understanding. We do the least amount of work that we can, because we know that He will supply our need for the rest. We are okay with being good enough, but refrain from pushing ourselves toward excellence. We succumb to our Christian cop-outs and call it a day.

Once, someone at a church was overheard explaining that they could put together a major event at the lat minute. And with great pride, they said, “I did it before, and it turned out really good!” It was quickly brought to their attention that it had to be good, because it was done for the glory of God—and God is good. It didn’t fail because God doesn’t fail. But that didn’t absolve the individual of the requirement to push to make it the best it could be—with proper planning and procedure.

So often, we Christians settle for “good enough,” when God’s desire is for us to be great. God calls for our personal best. That was the difference between Cain and Abel’s offerings to God. Cain’s offering was good enough. Abel’s offering was his best. And Genesis 4:4 reveals, “…The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering.”

I want to resist the urge to fall into a Christian cop-out. Instead, I want to give my best to the Lord.

Eye of the Needle

A reader of the blog recently asked the following question: “Jesus said, ‘It is easier for a camel to go thru the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’ What is the thrust of that statement? What would be your answer? This is a passage about which many myths circulate!” Here’s my take on that…

This passage is found in Matthew 19:16-30, Mark 10:17-31, and Luke 18:18-30.

As a kid, I often pictured a double-humped camel trying its best to squeeze through the loop of a sewing needle. (Yeah, pretty impossible!) In recent years, I’ve heard that the “eye of the needle” was a passageway through Jerusalem that was very difficult for travelers to navigate while riding camel-back. (Very difficult, but not necessarily impossible.) My overall take is that this passage is not a condemnation of wealth, in general—although I’ve commonly heard it used to scorn those who have gained financial success.

In Jesus’ day—just as today—I believe people faced many moral and spiritual challenges, either to obtain wealth or sustain it. With wealth comes great issues. One of the greatest issues is the temptation to rely on one’s money more than God. When your finances give you access to the best doctors money can buy, for example, would you be as likely to drop to your knees and pray to God for your healing? Then there are the issues of greed, pride, and wastefulness. God has called each of us to be careful stewards of what He has given us, but if we are surrounded with plenty, how many of us have the fortitude to try to safeguard it all? Finally, immorality and sins of the flesh can become much more accessible when you have the funds to gratify them.

I simply believe it takes a more focused, deliberate kind of piety to accumulate and maintain wealth—and then continue to lead a moral, just, and righteous life. Some say that in this society, it’s downright impossible or pretty difficult, at best. However, in all three gospels, Jesus declares in the passage that what is impossible for man is possible with God. While we look at someone like Bernie Madoff and shake our heads at the shame of his fortune, in my opinion, through the grace of God there is still hope for the wealthy!

Thanks to reader Dennis Rigstad for his great question! What are your thoughts? Leave a comment!

Christian Nightmares

It’s funny how God can use things in the secular world to bring us back to spiritual understanding. Not too long ago I discovered a show that quickly became my favorite reality-TV indulgence called “Kitchen Nightmares.” It wasn’t long before God used that show to demonstrate some of the “Christian Nightmares” in my own life.

In each episode of “Kitchen Nightmares,” world-famous chef Gordon Ramsey visits a local restaurant that’s about to go out of business. Upon arrival, he immediately turns things upside down—revealing the restaurant’s dirty little secrets and exposing the owners’ personal and professional flaws.

Once you can get past the roaches, dirty refrigerators, and disgusting-looking food at these places, you start to see some of the real problems. Usually, it boils down to the owners’ lack of passion for the business, which has pretty much been lost over the years. They’ve gotten complacent and lazy. And the people they serve have just gotten used to it. When Chef Ramsey comes in to shake things up, the owners’ eyes are opened to the crisis they are really in. By the end, they have literally cleaned up their act, remodeled, and become inspired to do things better.

God asked me, “In what areas of your life have you gotten complacent over the years?” And I had to take a good hard look. God had shaken things up within me and I realized it was time to make some changes to better serve Him.

Are you experiencing any Christian Nightmares of your own? Invite God in to shake some things up. He’ll inspire you to make the necessary changes!