As Americans, we have gotten to be quite good at sorting, organizing, and compartmentalizing everything in our homes and lives. we organize our belongings to simplify our lives so that we control our stuff, instead of our stuff controlling our lives.
All of this is well and good when pertaining to the "clutter" in our homes, but it can be dangerous in our Christian walk. Many times we compartmentalize our lives into segments that we control--areas like work, entertainment, finances, relationship, and faith. We go to church on Sunday, and we tell Jesus, you are welcome to come into my life, but you have to stay in this little box here. We don't want Jesus spilling over into the other parts of our lives that might be a little messy. We don't want him to clean up those areas, because after all, those things are working well...since everything is in its place.
When we live like this, we become quite comfortable...after all, if Jesus is not involved in the other areas of our lives, then we can't be convicted to change our behavior and attitudes. We become comfortable with our Sunday morning Savior...as long as he is not meddling in our lives.
It is no wonder why people who are not Christians are frustrated and turned off by Christians. This kind of behavior is hypocritical, and frustrates those searching for the answers. When the world sees us living in this manner, they can not see any difference between us and them. Why would they want what we have? It is just superficial and a show for others to see. After all, anyone can say things and put on a show.
The truth is, Christianity is not supposed to be like this. It is a relationship where Jesus has free reign in our lives and acts as a filter to control what comes into and out of our lives. He is also the one who is in control of the organizing and prioritizing. When Jesus is allowed to get into our lives and we choose to have a relationship with him, things will change. They will change from superficial to authentic. We will go from being a hypocrite to living authentic lives transformed by a living savior. Our dreams are exchanged for His dreams, His priorities become my priorities. When the world meets this kind of Christian, I believe we won't have to hit people over the head with a Bible to evangelize. They will see the difference in how we live our lives. through our contentment, and through the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives on a daily basis.
I guess, the question that we are faced with, is what kind of god do you want to serve? Do you want a wimpy god that we pull out on Sundays, because that is what we are supposed to do, or do you want a God of power who will turn your life upside down to transform you into the person that he knows that you can be? Anything less than total surrender to God is denying that God can control and care for us as His precious child. Anything less binds us to be a slave to religion instead of freeing us to live our lives as children of the Almighty God.
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