Occasional Musings Continued

As I mull over the question, “Why it is that Believers in America seem less zealous in devotion to Jesus than Believers in some other nations?”, one of the many possible answers (for surely no one answer will apply equally to all people) is that do to our country’s strongly Christian founding there are an inordinate number of people who have a religious affiliation or claim without any real knowledge of God. And while that is undoubtedly true, it is not my intention to focus on those who claim to know Christ as Savior but do so out of cultural convenience or familial tradition or whatever other reason people might falsely claim Christ. No, I want to think of only those of us who truly deep down have a genuine faith in and knowledge of Jesus. I only want to think of real Believers.

As for why it seems that American Believers often lack the zeal of their brothers and sisters in other lands when they both claim the same Lord, I want to focus on one answer in particular: worldly comfort made possible by wealth. Jesus often spoke about wealth as a danger and distraction to genuine faith (Matthew 6:19-21&24, 19:23-24, Luke 6:24, 12:16-21), and the basic idea is that wealth in this life often causes one to think less of the next life. For why would you long for the next life, when you have so much of this world’s stuff here and now. What’s the hurry for Heaven?

Don’t get me wrong, I think we want to go there. After all, it sounds like a pretty nice place…but does the average American Believer with his surplus of comfort really desperately long for Heaven? I think in many, MANY cases, the answer is no. At least not like our brother in repressive China or our sister in the Christian hating Sudan. Their desperate situation often allows them to see the promises of Christ and His coming more clearly and powerfully than those of us with money in bank, food in our bellies, cars in our garages, plenty of worldly worries, and no real threat of persecution for our faith. We have so much of this world…its easy to see how we could be distracted by it.

So is the answer for us to forsake all and move to those countries so that we might see Jesus more clearly? Well for some, the honest answer is yes. But for many others, The Lord’s call is to be His “Light” here in this land. But if we are to zealously cherish Christ above all else as He Himself deserves and demands, we MUST come to a place where we see our possessions as blessings from God to be used for God! God gave you a home, you could host a life group. God gave you a car, you could drive the kids of the neighborhood to church. God gave you clothes, you could give many away to the less fortunate. God gave you a good job, you could joyously give generously to His church and all kinds of worthy ministries. The point is this: comfort and wealth will either drive you to Christ in humility, thankfulness and joy or dry up your affections toward Him.

Jesus asks, “How hard is it for a rich man to enter Heaven?” And the answer isn’t that its harder for God to save a rich man, but that its harder for the rich man, because of his enjoyment of this world’s things, to realize that he needs to be saved. Believers, do not fall into this trap! My believing brothers and sisters…let us be determined to let go of this world so that we might more fully take a hold of Jesus!

Global Facts:
Over 3 BILLION (roughly half the global population) people alive at this moment live on less than $2.50 per day
Over 1.2 BILLION people alive at this moment live on less than $1 per day

Occasional Musings

Do you have any recurring questions that seem pop up in your mind from time to time? I sure do.

They always seem to start rolling around my mind when I really need to be thinking about or doing something else, but just don’t want to. Musings like, “Why is it that a lot of young Believers don’t seem to take abortion more seriously as an issue?”, “Why don’t Christians seem to understand how important church unity is?”, “Why aren’t we more thankful year round?”, and “Will my beloved Mavs ever win a championship?!” And maybe all but the last of those questions is at least partially addressed by another query that occasionally pops into my mind: “Why don’t American Believers seem to love God more than we do?” Please don’t misunderstand me, I’m not suggesting that you don’t love The Lord at all…or even that you only love Him a little. The question is, “Why don’t we love Him more?”

I’m sure you hear the same stories I do of millions of Chinese Believers who meet in secret “underground churches” and risk imprisonment by seeking to share the truth of Jesus with others. Or the stories of Sudanese Believers being tortured by radical Muslims and even being crucified for their faith. Country after country has stories of Believers being willing to risk so much in order to glorify Jesus...even to the point of giving their lives. And that raises the question in my mind, “What do Americans Christians risk? What are we willing to give?” And I don’t mean those brave and holy American missionaries to go to far off lands…I mean you and me, here at home. Comfortable. Safe. What are you willing to risk for Christ? What am I willing to give for God? Certainly, He is worth more.

(More on this tomorrow...but for now, pray through this question)