Faith Expressions of a Christian

            If a spiritually relaxed Christian (Chillin Christian) is one who relaxes much after receiving blessings from the Lord, then, I submit to you, there is another - an ignorant one.

            An ignorantly chillin Christian is the one whose faith expressions are obligated attendances to a weekly worship service of a church, daily prayers aimed to please God and receive blessings, and a self enforced participation in Godly activities to receive heavenly brownie golden points. Please allow me to elaborate.

            If going to church makes us a Christian, then going to a garage should make us a car is a bizarre yet humorous quote (paraphrased)! Regular attendance to a church worship service is not salvific. Sadly many Christians live in this quicksand belief to constantly drown themselves and their protégés into ignorance. If a gentleman believes he is saved by virtue of regular church attendance, then he is yet to study and integrate God’s Word in this context. But let us be gentle with this gentleman! Many church leaders intently dump this notion into minds only to have a full show in their church. A packed church whose worship is an unbiblical perfunctory performance is catastrophic. Today, a packed church is considered a spiritual church – a juvenile thought (Cf. Matthew 18:20)! A well decorated, regular church attendance where the body is stationed inside but mind either drifting into unconsciousness or unmindful of worship amounts to zilch.

            "Jesus did not give the Lord’s Prayer with the intention that it would be repeated mindlessly" said R.C. Sproul. Many fall into this sinful and mindless pothole! There are prayers ranted and raved as a frightened ritual, as if God would pour HIS wrath if we did not pray. Then there are prayers splitting the heavens with ocean-load of petitions to satisfy one’s hedonistic tendencies for the present and posterity. Oh, but let us be gentle with this group as well, for there are church leaders who delude people with their greed-centered enticements. They play mind games with their members through veiled threats and enticements to pray more to give more (Cf. Luke 6:38; 2 Corinthians 9; Galatians 6:7b)!

            A few years ago, I heard a very famous evangelist advertise for finances by prayerfully promising donors a place in his golden tree - the more one prayerfully gives, the higher his placement in the tree. A friend once humorously quipped that the pastor who prayerfully preaches material-prosperity gospel is the one who elevates into material prosperity, whereas his abundantly generous and prayerful congregation will plunge into material obscurity!

            Are prayers meant only as rituals to receive material blessings? If your honest answer is yes, then your Bible study needs to roll on the right track, else you will continue your stroll deep into Christian wilderness.

            Every Christian is graciously given spiritual gift(s) (Ephesians 4:7-13 et al.) Unfortunately many of us do not realize that the graciously given gift is to build God’s people for works of godly service. Some assume this gracious gift as a lottery for self-aggrandizement. They use spiritual gifts to build their own kingdom instead of God’s, and wax eloquent about their spiritual successes. Some serve in church programs with blinded arrogance implying God would suffer in their absence. Their motive is to delight God with their competent service because they are so full of themselves. In their distorted fullness, they think their service scores heavenly golden points for a greater reward. Must we not be foundationally involved in Christian ministry out of sincere love for God and man?

            These spiritually gifted Christians strive to erase Luke 17:10 through their vain boast. Instead of unworthiness and servant-hood, they proclaim sole ownership and lordship (Cf. Matthew 20:25-27; 1 Peter 5:3). The body of Christ (church) becomes their playground, Christians their primary victims; thus Christianity morphs into a godless and heartless tyranny!

            We live a lie if our church attendance, our prayers, and our service to God and man are as above. The question is, “where is our heart?”

            But, this is the truth. We regularly attend church worship to worship and glorify God in the community of saints by sharing God’s love and grace. A church worship encompasses preaching and practicing of the glorious “unity in diversity”, and souls are enlightened of God’s presence and activities. Vertical (God-man) and horizontal (man-man) relationships are strengthened in the church, and the community of believers learns and strives to obey the commands and commission of the Lord. The believer grows in holiness so to be presented holy and blameless in the Father’s presence (Cf. Colossians 1:22; Jude 1:24). If our church worship actively integrates these components, then our presence and worship is indeed in spirit and in truth. Our heart should crave for the Lord.

            Worshipping in spirit and in truth is a 24-hour pursuit. Prayer is an integral component of our worship. Thus, prayer is a constant endeavor (1 Thessalonians 5:17); prayer and worship cannot be compartmentalized. We pray to glorify God (Psalms 50:15; John 14:13) and to commune with HIM always. Prayer is an act of love, a desire of our soul to align ourselves with God’s will for our life. We pray in all circumstances for we (are to) love the Lord with all our life. Our heart should yearn for the Lord and HIS will for our life.

            Money is essential for existence, but greed is sinful (Cf. Matthew 6:24; 1 Timothy 6:10; Hebrews 13:5). Giving to a godly cause is a blessing, but giving to receive more is business! We are not called to transact business with God. The Bible preaches sacrificial giving (2 Corinthians 8:1-7). I shall share my thoughts on this subject later.

            Love is foundational to serving God and man (Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18 et al.). We serve God only to glorify HIM, but as unworthy servants in utmost faith and cognizance that HE will sustain what HE has begun in us. We serve as empty vessels filled by the Spirit and power of God, knowing all glory and praise is due to HIM alone. As we serve HIM and HIS people, our constant and conscious endeavor is for us to become lesser and for HIM to become greater (John 3:30). We serve as mere donkeys carrying our Lord Jesus in our body, which is HIS temple. All accolades poured out are for the Master but never for the donkey (Matthew21:1-11). We serve for our heart loves God and man.

            Therefore, let us not mindlessly chill, but may we be donkeys on fire for the Lord, this we ask in Christ’s name. Amen. 

Chillin Christianity

            A dear young man asked me to share my thoughts on a particular aspect of “Chillin Christianity” (a term I fabricated). The Urban dictionary defines “chillin” as a state of being in a relaxed mode or prolonged satisfactory boredom i.e. not in the process of doing anything worth elaborating upon. A “Chillin Christian” is a spiritually relaxed Christian (as opposed to being on fire for the Lord).

           

            “Chillin Christians” could come in various forms and sizes, but I am going to attempt dissecting a particular aspect the young man asked me to. Let us consider a Christian actively praying for a favor from the Lord. The Lord favors this person. Subsequent to receiving the favor, he cools down his fellowship with Christ. His prayer life and his Bible reading studies dwindles. In a nutshell, his love for the Lord languishes.

            Let me affirm again that salvation is only by grace through faith in Christ. As long as this person believes in the Lord Jesus, his salvation is guaranteed. The “Chillin Christian’s” intensity of love for the Lord is questioned here. Was he in love with the Lord to begin with? If so, why is this love diminishing? What is the future for this person?

            I wholeheartedly believe in the total depravity of mankind. (I am neither a Calvinist nor an Arminian, I am a Christian who endeavors to dig deep into the Word by HIS grace to grow in my love for the Lord.) We are sinners from birth. Even after we are “born again,” we continue to sin (Cf Romans 7:14-25). However, our ardent desire and intent is for our sinfulness to decrease constantly by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we live a life of constant repentance for our continued sinfulness, but with the total confidence that we are saved by grace through faith. The danger is that our innate depravity will tempt us to move away from the Lord even after continually receiving blessings. Our depravity is the cause of our spiritual disease – “Chillin Christianity.”

            The Bible portrays this aspect of our depravity through the illustration of the ten lepers, where the nine forgot the Lord after receiving healing (Luke 17:11-19). The one who remained grateful to the Lord was a Samaritan! Out of ten lepers, only the grateful-one returned to the Lord. Do we belong to the ungrateful-nine or the grateful-one? We should intentionally move into a permanent placement in the “grateful-group.” But how?

            I believe “faith” is the antecedent to “love.” In other words, without faith, one cannot love. We can alternately state that love presupposes faith. Without faith, the ten lepers would not have appealed to the Lord for healing (Cf Luke 17:19). I submit that the depraved mind of the nine ungrateful lepers led them to believe that they deserved to be healed, thus bringing justice into the equation. (The question, “why me, or, what did I do to deserve this sickness?” implies the thought, “I don’t deserve this,” which in itself is a very selfish and a proud opinion of a depraved self.)

            Once we firmly believe that justice was rendered to us upon healing, we evade the need to thank the Healer. Our thought could be, “Well, HE has only done what is just and right, so why do I even need to thank HIM?” Thus, I reckon the ungrateful-nine departed from the Healer’s presence for they were unmindful of HIM, since their depravity caused a proud and an inwardly selfish mind. However, their faith is not to be negated. Even though their faith was in the Lord, their selfish and depraved nature prevented them from loving HIM. The depraved mind loves oneself.

            What caused the grateful-one to thank the Lord? I reckon he believed that he was undeserving of the healing. Here is an attitude that is devoid of pride and selfishness. Thus, the grateful mind refuses to focus inward but focuses outward – to the source of healing. Pride and selfishness are nonexistent in a grateful mind. A Christian desiring a grateful mind should PRAY for a miraculous elimination of pride and selfishness from his life.

            When, through prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit, we displace pride and selfishness from our life, love sets in (Cf 1 Corinthians 13:5). When selfishness departs, the love that sets in us has an object, which is definitely not the self. The object of our love in this instance is the source of our blessings – the Lord! Thus, the grateful life loves the Lord and longs for union with HIM always.

            Permit me to caution you here. Do we speak the following statements?

            1. “This is my hard-earned money…..”

            In this proud statement, there is a colossal conflict between “my” and “hard-earned.” Who gave us the strength to work hard? Who gives us breath to breathe, sanity to think, and strength to move? Is it not the Lord? So if the very basics of our life are graciously offered by God, how then do we stake claim to anything? Please think about this. An appropriate statement would be, “What I have is God’s money, HE enabled me to work hard….”

            2. “I am so happy that I was able to do ‘this’ and ‘that,’ thank God.”

            Please observe the warped wickedness, insane intellectuality, and pigheaded pride in this statement! The owner of this statement deems himself a spiritual intellect that a “thank God” is added to that statement so to be politically spiritually correct.

            I pray this statement from Apostle Paul would contrast our spiritual depravity. “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” (1 Corinthians 15:10, NIV) A diligent reading of this verse would help us understand that the Apostle Paul undermines himself wonderfully to exalt God. Therefore, an appropriate statement would be, “It is by the grace of God I was able to achieve ‘this’ and that.’ I thank God for choosing me, as unworthy as I am, to accomplish HIS will and purpose.”

            If we do not spiritually discern of the Lord, then we will be spiritually depraved. We are called to pray and pray like never before. The Lord will always answer the desperate prayer of a man in need of deliverance from pride and selfishness (Cf Matthew 7:7). The Lord will fill him with his love and power, so that the praying man will be spiritually aligned with the Lord. Thus the desperately praying man will be on fire for the Lord and never chillin away from the Lord.

            May we always pray to continually eliminate our pride and selfishness so to love the Lord and enjoy HIM forever.

P.S: For those of the Christian Universalistic persuasion, here is another point to ponder. If Universalism is true, then it implies negation of “faith-in-the-Lord-Jesus-Christ-for-salvation-of-mankind.” Why even bother to believe in the Lord Jesus, if all are going to be saved? So my question to you is what is the need for Christianity or even the Bible?