My Confession (to my fellow Christians)

To be honest, I am tired of this “Christianity” that we live. As for me, my heart longs for something that is deeper, stronger, and more alive than what appears to be the common Christian life here in central Minnesota. I read the words and stories of men like Charles Wesley, David Livingstone, William Carey, and numerous other men and women who gave their whole lives over to this thing we call Christianity, and my heart is set afire. Oh, my brothers and sisters, where is our passion? Are we so half-hearted that we are unable to fully commit to a cause so great as this? When I compare my life and the lives of those around me to the examples set forth through the pages of God’s word and on books that cover the history of the church, I question whether we have really any idea what we are meant to do. Do our hearts truly beat with the same Spirit that inspired Amy Carmichael to give her life to the slums of India? Have we truly met the same God and read the same word that drew William Tyndale to translate the Bible, even if it meant being burned at the stake? Where within us is the Spirit that inspired Jonathan Edwards to write his 70 resolutions during his college days that so shaped the rest of his life? I fear the evidences against us are terribly numerous when we compare ourselves even to the lesser-known servants of the gospel. I must say as Spurgeon said to the Christians in his time, “We are Christianized, but I question whether we are thoroughly so. The Spirit of God hath not entered into us to give us that life, and fire, and soul, which they had in those ancient times.”

So I sit here at 11:43 PM on a Tuesday night after spending a few hours after Junction122 at Applebees with friends and ponder how I am to address the pathetic state of our hearts. I have had enough of this foolish state where we dabble between this earth and spiritual things. Something must be done, for Christ declares that he shall accept no half way converts. I want to be lifted heavenward and inspired to greater things when I come together with my brothers and sisters, not drawn closer to worthless, earthy things. I want to be a part of a people who are daily growing in the love and knowledge of the Lord, not a knowledge of sports of television shows. I want to be surrounded by a holy people, a royal priesthood, and not just another group of young adults and college students. What then is the problem? It is obvious that we do not live like so many of Christ’s followers have, but what is it that keeps us from doing so? Let us examine ourselves and discover.

As I search myself and what I know of my fellow believers I see first that we are far too caught up in earthly things. Our hearts are ships filled with mud and tepid water, and we wonder why the wind in our sails barely moves us. We are full with the fat of entertainment, comfort, and pleasure. Our entire being shies back from anything that would bring us trouble. Oh! Where are the men and women with hearts like the Apostles and Christians who have come before and who took joy in suffering, glad that they were counted worthy to enter into trials like Jesus did? Our backs have lost their spine from lounging our lives away. I call you coward, oh man, who will not take Christ and carry his name into battle. Do you not believe the Word when it says that you have God himself as your protector? Surely you have read that we are to strive, to run the race, and to work. Paul writes in 2 Timothy that, “No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.” Church! Free yourself from such low civilian passions. Be like Joseph and flee, casting off all that would entangle you in wickedness! Do you wonder why you fall so easily into sin? It is because you are only inches from it at every moment when your mind is full with the things of the world. Turn from earthly things and gaze upon Christ, the author and perfector of our faith. See how he lived, denying himself nearly all pleasure in this life and walking with determination to his death, knowing God’s promises and being confident that they would be fulfilled.

The second problem I see both stems from and leads to the first problem. Christians today have next to no knowledge of the Word. What was it that held Christ upon his course? What was it that inspired other men of God? It was an intimate understanding of the Bible; God’s promises and commands to men.  It is little wonder then that we have such a lack of the power of God in our lives if we have not even taken the time to learn what His power is. Jonathan Edwards, while he was still in college, made this resolve;

Resolved, to study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly, and frequently as that I may find and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.

And what amazing fruits that resolve bore! Edwards is seen as the father of the Great Awakening, a revival that brought thousands to Christ, and is also known as one of modern times’ greatest thinkers. We are weak in our knowledge of God’s word, oh generation of mine. How many of you have ever memorized more than a chapter of Scripture? How many have cared enough to read the entire Bible from cover to cover more than once a year? Where is the one who has made it his or her goal to study even one section of Scripture so deeply that it transformed their lives? Do not be astounded to look about and see evil at work as much in the corporate body of the church as in the rest of the world if we have no more of God’s word abiding in our hearts than they do from their several years in Sunday school as a child.

There again is another great tragedy and grievous wound in the faith; what is said to be the church – you and I and the others who claim to make up the body of Christ on earth – is little different than the culture that surrounds it. Our talk is the same, what we breathe and eat and hear and watch are the same. As Christians we should be beyond the influence of those who surround us, unless it is an influence that guides us further up and further in to the things of God.  We must be like the prophets of old, like Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah, who though they were surrounded by those who called themselves God’s people, rose above what was considered good and right, turning instead to follow the path that God alone prescribed. Do not be afraid to follow Christ, even if those around you who call themselves Christians attack you for doing so. Ron Frost, a man who spoke at Lakewood’s volunteer leader training a few weeks ago, used the analogy of a ship that has put its sails out to catch the growing wind passing a ship that has kept its sails unfurled. Do those in the vessel that is not moving rejoice for the others and spur them onward? No, more likely they will attack the vessel as it passes, hating the fact that it shows them to be what they truly are. So do not be too easily swayed by those around you, my friends. Stand courageous and strong, knowing that the Lord’s right hand is mighty to save.

I have had my fill of such worthless religion. I have found in myself every one of what I have listed above and have found it to be the sign of a half-hearted fool toying with a thing that is meant to change life. I must confess, I have been that which I now cry out against, but no more, no more! Christ, give me my cross so that I might bear it alongside you, that I might die and live to God. I have read of the men and women you have captured and have wept with joy at the works you have wrought through them. Yes, the cost is life itself, but I will gladly pay, for what life have I save that which you give?

And you, fellow Christian, join me! Disentangle yourself from this earth, dig deep into the word of the Lord, and surround yourself with others who will urge you to press onward even in the deepest of opposition. May we unfurl these sails through studying, waiting, and praying till the moment that God sends such a wind that we are carried away as a fleet towards celestial shores. No more men of earth and dirt, but a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a band of warriors led by the God who speaks and causes the very heavens shake.

“Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime… not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”