Jesus In The Box

I am totally thrilled with the response that my last blog received. It was great to hear so many different stories from people about their own struggles with Soft Christianity and what they’re doing to get rid of it. It even made me re-evaluate my own willingness to put Christ first and foremost in my life.

It is strange how some things seem completely obvious only after you think of them. After hearing Harvey share his story in church, I began to notice how easy it was to keep God inside my box. I have a Sunday box. It’s a little box I keep on my shelf that has all my favorite things in it: my favorite clothes, my best behaviors, my Bible, and 10% of my paycheck. Every Sunday I open it up and carefully lay out all of the items. I put on my favorite clothes and nice shoes, grab my Bible, scoop up my tithe, throw on a smile and head to church. Some of you might be able to relate. The problem is, there are some verses in Scripture that threaten to knock my box right off the shelf.

The first is one that Harvey brought up, Proverbs 3:5-6, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will keep your paths straight. If we take the Bible at its word (or Word?) then my box is in serious trouble. The key phrase for me here is all your ways. Not one seventh of your ways, not half of your ways, not all of your ways except when you get really angry, but ALL your ways. James teaches us that as Christians we are largely defined by our perseverance. To persevere is to not give in, to not be overcome. When you are overcome by anger, when it’s Friday afternoon and those words you know you just shouldn’t say come tumbling out of your mouth after a long week: Satan wins. Put another way, we cease to acknowledge God in all our ways. If we are different people on Sunday then we are on Wednesday or Friday, we are living a life that stands in direct contrast to Scripture, which brings us to the second verse that comes to mind.

Matthew 5:16, In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Now back to James. James tells us to expect trials in life, in fact to be grateful for the chance to grow in our faith. Proverbs tells us to acknowledge the Lord in all our ways. Can you hear my box shattering on the floor? Being a Christian is about bringing God to church and taking Him with you when you leave; bringing him to work with you, to school with you, to the dinner table with you. It’s about shining your light into the darkest places, showing patience and kindness on Friday and Sunday and Monday. It’s easy to be a Christian on Sunday morning, but following Jesus is a 24/7/365 gig. Some of those days will be harder than others, but it’s in those trials that we get to see how much we really buy into this whole Jesus thing.

By Aaron Blackwell

Taking Care

What follows is a letter from Adam Hunt, a former youth leader at Cottonwood who now lives in Tulsa. I couldn't have said it better myself, so I won't. Adam writes:

I'm still working at the coffee shop and church. I love making coffee, even if doesn't pay much. I'm not really sure how I feel about church. They just announced a plan to renovate the building and I can't help but thinking there is a better way to spend 300 thousand dollars... When you work for a church, you get a different perspective on things. I believe that there are the best of intentions, but it's ridiculous how they do so many things that are designed to get people to tithe more. The ministries that receive the most money and focus are the ministries that bring in the most money... I don't know that it's wrong, but I feel like often people get so caught up in making the church as an organization work that they forget what we are really trying to accomplish. The church is not supposed to be a shelter from the world, but a radical force within it that impacts everything and everyone it touches. Does the world even know we care?

So much of what is taught in church today pertains to how a person can better live his life, or how to have a closer relationship with God, or better yet, how to stay married to your wife. These are not really bad things, but the problem is that we have become an inward focused church. It's about building the size of the congregation, taking care of the congregation, etc.... I guarantee that if the church focused on loving the world, those things would fall to the wayside as petty issues. On top of that, if the church was focused outward, the people in the church would be more mature as Christians. The best way to change someone's life is not to preach a good sermon to them, it is to send them out to do something. People would have a much stronger faith if they actually used it. Anyhow, these are some of the thoughts running through my head lately. The frustrating thing is seeing a need, but not really being sure how to fill it. I want to change the world, but I'm not sure where to start...

Amen