Are you serious?

Sometimes I think about the state of Christianity in the West.  Actually, I think about it a lot.  I may step on some toes, but I want us to take a personal accounting.  I get upset when Christians refuse to grow.  We actually feel we are OK. 

Recently I was listening to a show where a former terrorist who became a Christian, was talking about his faith in Christ.  He had become a Christian!  His face was concealed because he could be killed if he were recognized.  Do you understand the risk? They concealed his face because he could be killed! 

In the meantime, we continue to sit in our comfortable pews Sunday after Sunday, and we do not change.  We continue to keep ugliness, resentment, even hate, in our hearts.  We gossip, we start rumors, and we jostle for church position. All of this as we listen to the pastor tell us how a relationship with Christ is so important.  Seemingly not connecting the dots. 

There are Christian missionaries around the world, in very dangerous places, with their lives on the line daily.  Some of them are in jails around the world.  But we’re ok with straddling the fence, fitting in, jumping on bandwagons we have no business being on; only calling on God when we find ourselves in an emergency situation. 

How does God feel about this?  We will have to make a decision.  Not just an in the moment, sitting in the church pew decision, although that’s a start.  But a decision where we ask God to forgive us.  A decision where we tell him we believe and trust in him, and that we want to grow in him.  We can continue trying to fool ourselves that we are OK, because we live in a Christian nation with the greatest military on earth.  But none of that means anything, if we the Christians, are not praying for our country.  It means nothing if we are not praying for our military.  It means nothing if we refuse to grow in relationship with Christ.  It means nothing if we pray only when we have to.  And it means nothing if we continually straddle the fence. 

There is no earthly relationship where we can straddle the fence, reach out to the other person only when we need something; or just to use that person.  How long would such a relationship last before the other person asked us for an accounting, or just ended the ‘relationship’? I have one question: Are you serious?